It's been two months since a Penobscot County woman reported finding 250 Maine ballots in a package. State officials said they must be 'slow and meticulous' with their review.

Billy Kobin, most recently a politics reporter at the Bangor Daily News, will also join Press Herald reporters Randy Billings and Rachel Ohm in their coverage of Maine’s hotly contested U.S. Senate, U.S. House and governor’s races, as well as the impacts of statewide and federal policy changes.

Republican House candidate Paul LePage said he will emphasize trans-student-athlete policy in his campaign, and Sen. Susan Collins signed onto a petition related to the issue.

Voters in House District 94 will choose a new representative Feb. 24 following the resignation of former Rep. Kristen Cloutier.

In Maine's latest statewide election, half of the absentee ballots cast and counted were returned by Democratic voters, more than twice the number by Republicans.