Ballot questions top Maine story in ’04

The November referendum that saw Maine voters reject both a California-style property tax cap and broad restrictions on bear hunting was voted the state’s top news story of 2004.

The proposed cap, which would have limited property taxes to 1 percent of assessed valuation, jumped to an early lead in pre-election polls before voter sentiment shifted in response to warnings of potential cuts in public services. The measure went down by a margin of nearly 2-1.

The outcome was closer on the ballot question to outlaw bear hunting with bait, dogs or traps, and its supporters vowed to continue to take a stance on wildlife and hunting-related issues.

The top stories were selected in a year-end poll of Associated Press member newspapers, broadcast stations and staff members.

The runner-up for top news story was this fall’s start of enrollment by small businesses and self-employed individuals in Gov. John Baldacci’s Dirigo Health plan.

Coverage is set to begin Jan. 1 in the state-private partnership that seeks to make health care accessible to 138,000 uninsured Mainers by 2009.

The No. 3 story was the Mother’s Day crash in Carmel that killed three women and four young children from the Portland area as they were speeding north on Interstate 95. It was the deadliest crash on a public road in Maine in more than 40 years.

The driver of the rented SUV had a suspended license and was going 103 mph, police said.

With Maine viewed as a battleground state through much of the 2004 presidential campaign, voters were inundated with political advertising and visits by candidates, family members and other surrogates. But the outcome wasn’t even close as Democrat John Kerry carried the state with 53 percent of the vote to President Bush’s 45 percent. The story was ranked fourth.

In fifth place was Maine’s flirtation with liquefied natural gas. After months of emotional debate, Harpswell voters in March rejected a proposed $350 million LNG terminal, one of several projects being considered in New England and Atlantic Canada. Searsport residents debated a state proposal to build a terminal on undeveloped Sears Island. And Passamaquoddy Indians gave the green light for the tribe to work with an Oklahoma development partnership to bring LNG into tribal land on Passamaquoddy Bay.

The University of Maine System set off a firestorm of protest early in the year with an ambitious reorganization proposal that included campus mergers, consolidation of services and cost cutting. A scaled-down version of the plan was approved by trustees. The story was voted No. 6.

There was a tie for seventh place between the presence of Maine troops in Iraq and one of the largest sales of Maine timberland in memory.

The vote was tallied before two members of the Maine Army National Guard’s 133rd Engineer Battalion were killed last week in Mosul. That brought to seven the number of servicemen with ties to Maine who have been killed in Iraq this year.

International Paper Co. last month agreed to sell 1.1 million acres of woodlands to a timberland investment company for $250 million. The buyer said it would continue to supply wood to IP’s mills and maintain open access to the land for outdoor activities such as hunting and snowmobiling.

The push to introduce slot machines in Maine moved forward during the year as Penn National Gaming acquired Bangor Historic Track and obtained a conditional license for the racino that it plans to open by mid-2006, a story ranked No. 9.

Tied for 10th were the completion of the widening of the southern part of the Maine Turnpike, a five-year project that cost $135 million, and U.S. Sen. Susan Collins’ role as chairwoman of the committee that presided over the reorganization of the nation’s intelligence agencies.