David Farmer

After losing his legal counsel and deputy chief of staff, Gov. John Baldacci has made several staff changes.

Current Communications Director David Farmer will take over as deputy chief of staff, replacing Ryan Low. Low was appointed Commissioner of the Department of Administrative and Financial Services. Farmer will be responsible for moving the governor’s initiatives through the Legislature, and also be the liaison to the Finance Authority of Maine, MaineHousing and the Maine Municipal Bond Bank.

UPDATE: 2:17 PM: The arrestee's name is Manuel Aguilar, a 38-year-old from Brunswick. The Associated Press has followed up on the story, quoting state police Sgt. Glenn Lang as saying the e-mail was a "very nasty racial e-mail that would've caused anyone who read it to have great concern."

UPDATED 12:45 PM EST

An individual from the Brunswick area was arrested yesterday for sending a threatening e-mail to members of the Maine delegation.

The e-mail threatened one delegate specifically, but mentioned a number of other names of delegation members, said David Farmer, spokesman for Gov. John Baldacci. It was directed at the delegate and did not mention Barack Obama.

Farmer broke the news to the Maine delegation at their breakfast this morning.

Baldacci was one of the people to whom the e-mail was sent, however it went into the spam folder, Farmer said.

For all most people know, there could be remnants of “John loves Olympia” etchings in the furniture in the Governor’s office. It has, after all, been around since John McKernan was governor from 1987 to 1995.

Current Gov. John Baldacci isn’t replacing it, but it is time for a touch up, said communications director David Farmer Wednesday.

Soon, the furniture will be shipped off the Maine State Prison’s upholstery shop to be repaired.

At the prison, the upholstery program is federally certified. The money prisoners earn while working there goes toward reimbursing the state for room and board expenses, and also to paying victim restitution and child support.

Petitioners for a casino in Oxford County delivered more than 76,000 signatures to the Secretary of State’s office Monday, meeting their deadline.

Seth Carey, a Rumford lawyer, spearheaded the petition drive. He has proposed a full casino, which he said will bring money to the state.  read more »