Maine exports fell last year by over 24 percent. Most of the decline was in wood and paper products, and semi-conductors. For a look at what's behind those numbers, Irwin Gratz talked with Janine Bisaillon-Cary, President of the Maine International Trade Center, who pointed to some bright spots in the figures.

Congressman Mike Michaud is going to be under the spotlight this weekend. The representative for Maine's second congressional district is one of a handful of House democrats still undecided ahead of Sunday's crucial healthcare vote.

Maine Senate President Libby Mitchell has backed away from her controversial paid sick leave bill after facing stiff opposition from business, and from members of the Legislature's Labor Committee. Mitchell, who is also a Democratic candidate for governor, has amended the bill so that it now prohibits employers from firing a worker because he or she calls in sick. But some committee members have problems supporting even that limited degree of protection for workers.

This week the Maine Board of Environmental Protection agreed to take jurisdiction over yet another liquified natural gas terminal being proposed for Washington County. The proposed Calais LNG, led by a former state representative, would consist of a terminal along the St. Croix River that would feed natural gas to the Maritimes and Northeast Pipeline about 21 miles away.

In the face of budget crunches, more schools are looking to the private sector for money. Some have formed education foundations to pay for what school budgets can't, such as arts and sports programs. In Brunswick, the school superintendent is considering all his options, including a more novel approach to bringing in private funds.

Efforts by Hollywood Slots and two prospective casino developers to reach agreement on a competing measure to the Oxford casino that will appear on the June ballot have succeeded. But consensus within a legislative panel charged with approving the plan dissolved as lawmakers worry that backing the compromise might create more problems than it solves. The panel's 9-4 vote against an alternative means that the Oxford casino initiative is poised to go directly to the voters, where it will either be voted up or down.

Maine's public school districts will have access to more than $41 million in federally-issued bonds this year to help fund construction projects. The money is part of $11 billion in school construction bonds allocated nationwide under the federal Recovery Act. The bonds can be issued to finance school construction and improvements at a low cost. That's because investors who buy the bonds will get federal income tax credits instead of interest, so state and local governments can borrow without incurring interest costs.