As I was driving home last night I hit the red light approaching the Veteran's Memorial Bridge. There are usually two panhandlers at that intersection, but this time there was only one. Of course he was holding a cardboard sign. I thought to myself, "another 'homeless' sign, or 'down on my luck, anything helps' type of thing...
Former candidate for Maine Governor, Pat LaMarche, is holding a panhandling protest today from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. out in front of the Bangor Police Department. Her protest is in response to this past Thursday's post on the Bangor Police Department's Facebook page about panhandling.
A federal judge ruled on Wednesday, that Portland's six-month-old ban on loitering and panhandling in street medians is unconstitutional. The city's ordinance took effect in August 2013 and prohibited people from sitting or standing in street medians, whether to ask for money or not.