Maine Democrats pushing for impeachment proceedings against Gov. Paul LePage (R) say they will introduce a measure this week calling for an investigation into eight possible charges against the Republican chief executive, the Portland Press Herald reports.

Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) made a racially charged comment during one of his regular town hall meetings about how he was tackling substance abuse in Maine, the Portland Press Herald reports.

Said LePage: “These are guys with the name D-Money, Smoothie, Shifty… these types of guys… they come from Connecticut and New York, they come up here, they sell their heroin, they go back home. Incidentally, half the time they impregnate a young, white girl before they leave, which is a real sad thing because then we have another issue we have to deal with down the road.”

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court announced that it will expedite Gov. Paul LePage’s (R) request to determine whether he can still veto 65 bills that legislative officers already have written into law, the Portland Press Herald reports.

“The stakes are high for the governor, who faces the prospect of losing a battle that could cost him politically. Among the newly chaptered laws are proposals that the governor and his supporters vehemently oppose, including General Assistance for asylum seekers, expanded use of a medication to treat drug overdoses and birth control for MaineCare recipients. If the court rules against LePage, or declines to intervene, those bills will remain law because the governor and his staff either misinterpreted the Maine Constitution or gambled and lost in pursuit of the goal of keeping lawmakers at the State House through the summer.”

Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) “has issued a handwritten apology to the son of a Bangor Daily News cartoonist who LePage quipped he would like to shoot,” the Bangor Daily News reports.

Maine Democratic lawmakers said that another 51 bills have become law after Gov. Paul LePage (R) missed his deadline to act on them by midnight Saturday, the Portland Press Herald reports.

“But LePage has said he won’t enforce the laws and is expected to take the issue to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. He said that because lawmakers adjourned last month, the requirement that he must act on a bill within 10 days doesn’t apply. Democratic leaders insist the Legislature did not adjourn, but instead ‘recessed’ until Thursday to take up more vetoes expected from the governor and finish other work for the session. A recess would keep the 10-day deadline in place.”

Back in April, Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) stood up at a breakfast forum and told the crowd that seniors were sending him emails demanding that he stop the minimum wage from going up, the Bangor Daily News reports.

The report piqued the interest of reporter Amy Browne, who filed a Freedom of Access Act request with the governor’s office asking for “any emails received by Governor LePage from people identifying themselves as elderly and in opposition to minimum wage increases.”

“Two months later, on June 26, his office sent her the results: two emails. Neither email author gave their age, nor did they cite the specific and personal sort of concerns that LePage raised in his talk.”

Members of the Maine legislature’s Government Oversight Committee voted unanimously to start a formal investigation into Gov. Paul LePage’s (R) use of taxpayer money to force Good Will-Hinckley to fire House Speaker Mark Eves (D), the Bangor Daily News reports.

LePage’s office claims the legislature has no right under the state constitution to investigate him.

Maine Gov. Paul LePage’s (R) chief legal counsel “has told the Legislature’s watchdog agency that it doesn’t have the constitutional authority to investigate whether the governor exceeded his executive power when he threatened to withhold state funding from a private nonprofit unless it withdraw a job offer to Democratic House Speaker Mark Eves,” the Portland Press Herald reports.

Maine Speaker of the House Mark Eves (D) accused Gov. Paul LePage (R) of absuing his power in order to fire him from the position of president of Good Will-Hinckley School, WCSH reports.

“Eves alleges that LePage threatened the Good Will-Hinckley School to either fire him or lose over $500,000 in budgeted state funds and thereby lose another $2,000,000 in private funding. Eves’ lawyer David Webbert said they have the threat in writing.”

Said Eves: “It is a new, dark day in Maine politics. This is why people hate politics. The governor has stepped outside of the political world into my personal life and my ability to provide for my family. It’s extremely upsetting.”

“The first four months of Gov. Paul LePage’s second term have been a supercharged version of his first four years in office. He’s brasher, comfortable and unburdened by the prospects of another election,” the Portland Press Herald reports.

“The result has been a display of power that is feared and respected, despised and yet rarely countervailed.”

Maine Gov. Paul LePage’s town hall-style meeting “ended suddenly Thursday after the former mayor of Biddeford, Joanne Twomey, interrupted the governor and tossed a jar of Vaseline near him,” WGME reports.

Huffington Post: “Video of the encounter shows members of LePage’s security detail blocking Twomey as she tries to approach the stage while arguing with the governor. Then Twomey takes something from her purse and throws it at LePage.”