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If passed, the measure would prevent municipalities with more than 20,000 residents from adopting moratoriums on emergency shelters. But critics contend that would be a violation of Maine's principle of "home rule."
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The warming shelter will be run by Kaydenz Kitchen Food Pantry on a nightly basis into early April.
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Vermont's motel voucher program has been touted by some as a success in helping that state's population of unhoused people find shelter, but the future of the program has become more complicated.
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If approved, the shelter would open this week and operate until early April.
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Most of Portland's largest encampments have been cleared, but there are some smaller sites on private property near the city's outskirts. City officials say they hope a new program will connect at least 45 people living outside with stable housing over the course of a year.
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City officials said because more shelter beds are available, camping throughout Portland is prohibited. But outreach workers argued that more time was needed to successfully help those living outside access some kind of housing, and many showed up Tuesday morning to protest.
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On the winter solstice, advocates and others commemorate those unsheltered people who have died each year.
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City officials said Friday that they begin enforcing Portland's no-camping policy starting Dec. 19, as long as beds remain available at the municipal shelter.
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Maine's six privately-run low-barrier shelters say that collectively, they're operating with an annual deficit of more than $4 million.
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Portland officials said they have not yet set a date to clear the Harbor View encampment, but the Maine Department of Transportation said it will ask some people within a certain area under the Casco Bay Bridge to move on Dec. 11.