FairPoint Communications today released details of its long-awaited bankruptcy reorganization plan. After two months of delays, the financially troubled telecommunications provider said the new blueprint will make FairPoint a stronger company going forward.

The U.S. and Canadian federal governments announced Friday that they have reached an agreement to allow Canadian firms to bid on American stimulus projects. In return, the Canadian provinces have agreed to open their contracts to bidding from U.S. contractors. The news has been welcomed by some of Maine's largest industries.

Critics of the state's citizen's initiative ballot process are calling for big changes in the law, including one that would allow voters to retract their signatures from petitions if they felt they were misled when they signed the documents. Other proposed revisions before a legislative policy committee would require initiative proponents to state the costs of their proposal to voters and explain how it would be funded if adopted. Critics counter the changes are a direct assault on the citizen initiative process.

With drug use rampant in Maine, it's no surprise that in Maine, more babies are being exposed to narcotics during pregnancy. The state Department of Health and Human Services reports that the number of infants experiencing withdrawal symptoms has increased 16 fold, from 13 births in 2000 to 215 in 2008. Pediatrician Brenda Medlin takes care of the sickest of these infants at Maine Medical Center in Portland.

It's the single-biggest question hanging over the Bath-Brunswick area:  What will become of Brunswick Naval Air Station when the Navy leaves little more than a year from now? Steve Levesque is working on that as head of the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority. Levesque also worked on the redevelopment of Loring Air Force Base in northern Maine.  Levesque works in a small building just beyond the security gate at the Maine entrance to the base, which is where he and MPBN's Morning Edition host Irwin Gratz sat down for a talk, part of which you'll hear today and the rest next Monday.  They began with the -- for now -- closed airfield.

Under a new formula adopted by the Obama administration, colder states like Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and even Alaska are seeing a huge drop in emergency federal funding for low income energy assistance. In Maine, it translates to a decline of about 80 percent. Southern states, meanwhile, are reaping the rewards. And all four members of Maine's congressional delegation have joined representatives from other affected states in demanding that the formula be reexamined.

Governor Baldacci's proposed state budget will cost Maine as many as 10,000 jobs, according to an analysis by a progressive think-tank based in Augusta. The Maine Center for Economic Policy says the report shows that the state simply can't cut its way out of the recession. But anti-tax activists say the report leaves out the other side of the equation.

Proponents of a bill that would put more teeth into large-scale animal cruelty laws told members of a legislative panel today that stiffer penalties are needed to discourage so-called puppy mills in Maine. Sen. Deborah Simpson, of Lewiston, and York County District Attorney Mark Lawrence are backing the legislation that would make abuse of 25 or more animals a felony instead of a misdemeanor. But some claim the bill unfairly targets those who simply might not be able to take care of their pets.

The opening of a new cancer center in Brewer is making life easier for local residents who are fighting cancer and certain blood diseases, and who otherwise would have had to travel to Portland or Boston for state-of-the-art treatments. The center boasts some equipment that's the first of its kind in the state, and officials at the facility hope it will lure more doctors and researchers to the area.

Members of the Legislature's Appropriations Committee may allow Hollywood Slots to up the ante in Bangor. The cash-starved panel is looking for new revenue to offset cutbacks in state programs and might consider allowing the racino to offer table games. Although the table games could boost overall revenues to the state's general fund to about $15 million dollars, the plan still faces opposition from the the governor's office.

As part of Maine's school consolidation law, voters have to approve a school budget through a two-step process: first at a town meeting-style forum, and then at the polls. Few could have expected what's happened with the Sheepscot Valley Regional School Unit. Voters in the unit's eight towns have rejected the school budget four times, most recently on January 16.

Some Orrington residents say they are stunned at the actions of their own town, for siding with a major pollutor on a controversial clean-up plan. During the last day of hearings on the future clean-up of the former Holtrachem site, the Orrington town manager announced the town would endorse a remedy that goes against the directive of the Department of Environmental Protection and against many townspeople's wishes. A voluntary state regulatory board is weighing several clean-up options for what is considered to be one of the most hazardsous waste sites in Maine.

This week, Maine gubernatorial candidate Rosa Scarcelli declared in a written statement that she is the only Democratic candidate in favor of mandatory criminal background checks for the purchase of firearms in Maine. But her Democratic opponents say the law cannot be enforced, and that there are circumstances in which guns should be allowed to be transferred or sold without background checks.

Maine's John Baldacci was one of a group of governors from 11 states that met with President Obama at the White House today to discuss energy strategy.

President Obama is calling for $54 billion in loan guarantees for a "new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants." His administration also announced this week that it is dropping plans for underground storage of highly radioactive nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain. The position is drawing mixed reactions from around the country, including Maine, where waste from the decommissioned Maine Yankee plant will have to stay for the indefinite future, and in the rest of New England where nuclear power already makes up about 30 percent of the region's energy supply.

A 38-year-old nuclear power plant in southern Vermont is under intense scrutiny as it seeks permission to operate for another two decades past its scheduled shutdown date. Vermont is the only state in the country that gives its lawmakers the final say on whether a nuclear plant gets a new license. Recent radiation leaks and news that plant officials may have misled state officials have put the plant's future in doubt. As part of a collaboration with Northeast stations, John Dillon of Vermont Public Radio reports.

One aspect of the national debate on health care reform played out at the State House today where supporters and opponents squared off over a bill that would prohibit lifetime and annual payment caps on health insurance. Backers of the measure claim at least 100 Maine families a year are facing financial ruin when they exceed the caps on benefits contained in their policies, and are forced to pay the difference out of pocket. Opponents claim that lifting the limits will only drive up costs and make insurance less affordable.

Following a lengthy debate, members of the Maine House overwhelmingly defeated a bill requiring Maine to elect the president by popular vote. Proponents of the plan tried to convince their seatmates that the current electoral college system is unfair and marginalizes the role of states without large numbers of delegates like Florida. But opponents argued that requiring Maine to go along with the compact for a national popular vote would actually take Maine off the radar screens of national presidential candidates.

The Maine Association of Psychiatric Physicians is calling for a change in the state's medical marijuana law aimed at providing more protections for minors. The law currently allows patients under the age of 18 access to medical marijuana with a doctor's authorization for certain conditions. But Maine psychiatrists believe that kind of access poses longtime risks for some kids to develop psychosis and addiction.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS, is the leading cause of death in babies under the age of one. Yet why thousands of seemingly healthy infants die each year in their sleep is still not understood. Dr. David Mokler of the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine is among the researchers who say some babies are more at risk for SIDS than others. Mokler co-authored a new article published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association that finds SIDS babies had lower levels of the chemical seratonin in the brain.

Pike Industries welcomed a decision by the Westbrook City Council last night, urging the building materials company and its opponents - many of them hi-tech manufacturing firms like Iddex - to reach a compromise over plans to expand quarrying operations at a business park in the southern Maine town.

The Department of Defense has confirmed that it's calling for the elimination of the CG(X) cruiser program, a move that some observers say could have major implications for Bath Iron Works. But some members of Maine's congressional delegation believe the decision will not affect BIW all that much.

It's been described as a landmark environmental agreement -- that's the deal which is about to be finalized between South Portland business owners, municipal and state authorities, and environmental groups to clean up the Long Creek waterway near the Maine Mall.

As independent bookstores struggle to compete with online booksellers and digital reading devices such as Kindle, Maine's largest music, movies and video game retailer announced today it will enter the book business. Bull Moose is expanding its Bangor store to make room for 3,000 square feet of book shelves, and will use it to test the statewide market.

A legislative committee is considering a new online gambling game that could pump as much as $2.5 million into the state annually. Keno is a game in which a player selects 10 numbers from a field of 80. Cash prize awards are based on how many of the player's choices match numbers randomly selected at Keno headquarters. Besides increasing revenues, state officials say the game could provide new options for non-profits.