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Kase Wickman

Kase Wickman is a senior at Boston University studying journalism and American politics. This semester she will dig into Washington news for The Bangor Daily News and The Houston Chronicle, adding to her past work for The Boston Globe, PoliticsDaily.com, The Huffington Post, Air America Media and The Daily Free Press, Boston University’s independent student newspaper, where she served as managing editor. A native of the Pacific Northwest, Kase is quick to correct mispronunciation of “Oregon” and make jokes about fording rivers and catching dysentery. She hopes to live and work in Washington, D.C., after graduating this spring.

STORIES WRITTEN:

Congressional probe into Fort Hood attack begins

WASHINGTON, Nov. 19 – The Senate hearing Thursday on the Fort Hood shooting began with questions about how federal agencies can cooperate to identify and prevent extremist behavior and unraveled to speculation on whether the First Amendment should apply fully to members of the military.

Collins, Lieberman plan investigation into Fort Hood shooting

WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 —The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will hold hearings beginning Thursday as part of an investigation into whether what some have called a “homegrown terrorist attack” at Fort Hood Army Base in Texas this month could have been prevented.

Snowe’s fellow GOPers have mixed temperatures about her

WASHINGTON, Nov. 12 —Sen. Olympia Snowe has been in the hot national spotlight of the national health care reform debate for the past several months, and some in her party say the Maine Republican is melting away from her conservative roots. 

Hearing held on Maine native’s UN ambassadorship nomination

WASHINGTON, Nov. 4 —If confirmed as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Economic and Social Council, Rick Barton, a West Boothbay Harbor native, promised Wednesday to “help to focus our direction, energize our team and seek to increase the impact of America’s efforts.”

Michaud’s campaign spending is a little fishy

WASHINGTON, Oct. 28 —There’s something a little fishy about U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud’s  latest filing with the Federal Election Commission. The campaign spending disclosure forms of the Maine Democrat are all in order and were submitted on time, but the intriguing fact has less to do with forms than with fins: almost a tenth of Michaud’s campaign outlays have been spent at seafood restaurants.

Czars still in spotlight as Collins pushes for oversight by Congress

WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 —Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Thursday questioned the constitutionality of the so-called czars—senior policy advisers overseeing high-priority fields such as health care and the environment—in President Barack Obama’s administration.

Maine ranked in top 10 states for energy efficiency

WASHINGTON, Oct. 21 —Maine was hailed as the tenth-most energy-efficient state in the country, as well as the state that most improved its ranking from the previous year, according to a report released Wednesday by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.

Rock salt blizzard hits Snowe’s Maine office, but will senator melt?

WASHINGTON, Oct. 20 —One week after lending her vote of support to the Senate Finance Committee’s health care reform bill, Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, has gained countless column inches of newspaper exposure and at least 115 pounds of rock salt.

Senate subcommittee asks whether czars are constitutional

WASHINGTON, Oct. 6 —Lawmakers Tuesday heard from a panel of legal experts on whether President Barack Obama’s appointment of so-called czars in the executive branch sidesteps the Constitution.

Maine troops greeters find themselves in Washington spotlight

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1 —After thousands of hours of waiting in drafty airport halls, more than a million handshakes and four years of filming, three Bangor natives are in the spotlight in the nation’s capital. “The Way We Get By,” a feature-length documentary about the troop greeters at Bangor International Airport, was screened at the U.S. Capitol Wednesday and at Walter Reed Army Medical Center Thursday.

As thousands run out of unemployment, House passes extension

WASHINGTON, Sept. 23 —Maine’s unemployed would receive extended jobless benefits under a House-passed bill  to extend federal unemployment benefits 13 weeks beyond the usual 79-week maximum for states whose unemployment rates currently stand at 8.5 percent or higher. Maine’s average unemployment rate is currently 8.6 percent.

Ten Snowe amendments added to health care bill

WASHINGTON, Sept. 22 —Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) Tuesday called the current markup of the health care reform bill before the Senate Finance Committee “a solid starting point.” To help the measure reach the finish line, Snowe offered 24 amendments before the deadline last Friday. They were but a small part of the 564 amendments committee members submitted.

As ACORN is defunded, Sen.Collins leading charge for inspection

WASHINGTON, Sept. 17 —The House stripped ACORN of its eligibility for federal funds Thursday, following the Senate’s example. The vote was 345-75.

More funds for community colleges, Brunswick schools?

WASHINGTON, Sept. 17 —A House-passed student aid bill would provide money that Brunswick hopes to tap to ease the losses that closing the Brunswick Naval Air Station would mean for public schools in the area.

Snowe to vote no; Finance Committee bill won't have GOP support

TO INSERT IN WIRE STORY

WASHINGTON, Sept. 16 -- Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), one of the Senate Finance Committee’s so-called Gang of Six, has long played coy about whether she would support the committee’s eventual bill. She had long said that she would not support a straight public health insurance option, and instead pushed a “trigger” option, a fail-safe subsidized option that would kick in should the cost of health care not decrease.

Pathogens are the new weapons of mass destruction

WASHINGTON, Sept. 10 –The term “weapons of mass destruction” may be connected in the minds of many with nuclear warheads and rocket launchers, but the latest homeland security legislation, introduced by Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), deals not with giant bombs but with the tiny pathogens that can be found in many labs across the country.

After Obama’s health care speech, Maine delegates left divided

WASHINGTON, Sept. 9 – President Barack Obama has delivered 262 speeches since he took office nearly eight months ago, 28 of them specifically about health care reform. The one health care speech that Obama will be remembered for, however, was delivered to a rare joint session of Congress Wednesday night.

Maine delegates wait for Obama's take on health care reform

WASHINGTON, Sept. 8 — As the debate over President Barack Obama’s push for reform of the health care and insurance industry rolls on, Maine’s congressional delegation finds itself in the eye of the storm.