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THERE’S MORE INSIDE
L e PAG E T O D E PAR T M E N T O F LAB O R :
WOMEN’S ADVOCATES: Sen. Snowe leads effort to safeguard women’s role in emerging governments. PAGE A8
LOBBY MURAL MUST GO
Libyan regime defying attacks
Coaxed by ‘A Secret Admirer,’ the governor orders the removal of artwork depicting the state’s labor history – and finds himself again at the center of controversy. By SUSAN M. COVER
Despite allied airstrikes, Gadhafi intensifies his efforts – moving troops and targeting opponents.
MaineToday Media State House Writer
AUGUSTA — Labor leaders and the state’s biggest Latino group expressed outrage Wednesday at Gov. Paul LePage’s decision to remove a mural depicting workers from the Department of Labor’s headquarters and rename conference rooms in the building. Matt Schlobohm, executive director of the Maine AFL-CIO, called the decision “insulting to working people, petty and shortsighted.” “It seems the governor is much more interested in picking fights with labor than creating jobs that people so desperately want,” he said. “We believe their story deserves to be told on the walls of the Department of Labor.” The 36-foot-long, 11-panel mural depicts the state’s labor history, including a shoe worker strike in Lewiston, female shipbuilders and striking papermakers in Jay. It also highlights dangerous working conditions, long work hours and
Please see MURAL, Page A10
By DAVID S. CLOUD and BORZOU DARAGAHI McClatchy Newspapers
Gov. Paul LePage
MORE INSIDE BILL NEMITZ WRITES: Mural mandate from the governor is truly a piece of work. PAGE B1 MORE FROM THE STATE HOUSE: Maine Heritage Policy Center and other groups organize rally in support of LePage’s budget. PAGE B4 Imbrogno Photography photo and detail photos courtesy of Judy Taylor Studio
Maine Gov. Paul LePage has ordered the removal of a 36-foot-long mural, top, depicting the state’s labor history from the lobby of the Department of Labor headquarters in Augusta. In addition, the LePage administration is renaming several department conference rooms that carry the names of pro-labor icons, such as Cesar Chavez. Administration officials say they were responding to complaints and that the artwork and conference room names send a “one-sided” message when state government should be neutral. The 11-panel mural, created by artist Judy Taylor and erected in 2008, depicts moments in Maine labor history, including a 1937 strike in the shoe mills of Auburn and Lewiston.
TRIPOLI, Libya — Col. Moammar Gadhafi’s forces intensified attacks in opposition-held cities, creating panic in the town of Misrata, even as U.S. and allied warplanes broadened their airstrikes across Libya, U.S. military officers and eyewitnesses said. Despite the increasing presence of allied aircraft overhead, Gadhafi has rushed to put down the remaining pockets of the rebellion that has threatened his rule. In the rebel-held town of Misrata, government forces resumed their assault Wednesday evening despite allied airstrikes for the second day on the outskirts of the city. Witnesses there said Gadhafi’s tanks closed in on a large medical center used to treat the injured and as a gathering point for the opposition. Rockets fired by Libyan units have landed
Please see LIBYA, Page A9
School budget for Westbrook targets 53 jobs Teaching positions and some athletic programs would be cut to help cover a $3.7 million shortfall. By LESLIE BRIDGERS Staff Writer
The proposed school budget in Westbrook recommends cutting 53 positions, including 22 fulltime teachers, and all middle school and freshman athletic programs to address a $3.7 million budget shortfall. The staff and program cuts in the budget, which was put together by Superintendent Reza Namin before he resigned earlier this month, will be the subject of a public hearing next week before the School Committee’s Finance Committee. Interim Superintendent Marc Gousse presented Namin’s $33.7 million budget to the Finance Committee three days after the school board named
Interim turnpike director cancels employee banquet
ELIZABETH TAYLOR 1932-2011
A life of celebrity and anguish ends
thority’s senior staff. The event Peter Mills also institutes was scheduled for May. other efficiencies to begin The banquet, which in recent an era of careful spending. years has been held at the By TOM BELL MaineToday Media State House Writer
The two-time Oscar-winning actress became well-known later in life as a businesswoman and philanthropist.
AUGUSTA — The Maine Turnpike Authority is canceling its annual employee recognition banquet, ending a 21-year tradition because of concerns that the agency has been too lavish in its spending. Peter Mills, the new interim executive director, decided Wednesday to cancel the banquet after meeting with the au-
By ADAM BERNSTEIN The Washington Post
Elizabeth Taylor, a voluptuous violet-eyed actress who lived a life of luster and anguish and spent more than six decades as one of the world’s most visible women, died Wednesday at age 79. Taylor’s life offered a mesmerizing series of sagas to rival any movie plot – she won two Acad- Actress Elizabeth Taylor as she emy Awards, but was as well known for her eight appeared in 1958. marriages, ravaging illnesses and work in AIDS philanthropy. Her life had been scrupulously chronicled by the media since her boost to fame as the enchanting 12year-old star of “National Velvet” (1944). By her mid-20s, she had been a screen god-
Please see TURNPIKE, Page A10
INDEX Advice Business Classified Comics Crossword Deaths Dispatches Editorials GO
Please see TAYLOR, Page A11
Please see SCHOOLS, Page A10
Edition: PD Sec/Page: A1 Rundate: Thursday, March 24, 2011
Wyndham Portland Airport Hotel in South Portland, has cost from $15,000 to $19,000. Mills said the authority needs to reduce spending so it operates more like government agencies, which have had to deal with funding cutbacks in recent years. “It’s not that we don’t like our employees. We do,” said Mills, who started at his new post last
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Volume 149 Number 238
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