Rachel Ohm

Press Herald

Rachel covers state government and politics for the Portland Press Herald. It’s her third beat at the paper after stints covering City Hall and education. Prior to her arrival at the Press Herald in the summer of 2019, Rachel worked at the Morning Sentinel in Waterville, covering Franklin and Somerset counties, and the Knoxville News Sentinel in Knoxville, Tennessee, covering higher education. She has a master’s degree in journalism from New York University and when she’s not writing and reporting enjoys running, cooking and traveling to new places.

Latest

Published
March 3, 2016

Embden residents again to consider renaming Katie Crotch Road

Also among items to be considered at Town Meeting is making the town clerk, treasurer and tax collector positions appointive, a proposal that was rejected four years ago, as was the road name change.
Published
March 2, 2016

Excise tax revenue soared in 2015 in Anson

Town officials say that because Anson collected and kept all excise taxes this year, the town has more money to fund the budget, a savings that could result in lower taxes for residents.
Published
March 1, 2016

Somerset County select board candidates call their unpaid taxes insignificant

More than a quarter of the county’s candidates have overdue tax bills, and municipal government experts say it’s a bad example and could cause conflicts of interest; but candidates largely shrug it off.
Published
March 1, 2016

Mercer to consider starting emergency response team

The proposal from a Rome paramedic will be considered Saturday as part of an overall $354,969 budget at the annual Town Meeting.
Published
February 28, 2016

Maine’s only Leap Year town considers regular celebrations

Residents in Smithfield, the only Maine town incorporated on Feb. 29, say they don’t do much to mark the extra day, but that could change if a proposal for annual celebrations is approved at Town Meeting.
Published
February 25, 2016

SAD 74 residents question proposed change in local school taxes

The change would shift more of the tax burden onto Anson residents as the town of Embden proposes to withdraw from the school district.
Published
February 25, 2016

Electrical malfunction causes fire in vacant Waterville building

Crews battled a blaze that damaged an abandoned warehouse on Chaplin Street in Waterville near the railroad tracks.
Published
February 24, 2016

SAD 74 residents to consider new school tax formula

The proposed change to the way local school tax dollars are raised would shift the amount towns in the Anson-based district would pay as Embden considers leaving.
Published
February 24, 2016

Susan Sarandon campaigns for Bernie Sanders at Colby College

The actress made a stop Wednesday at the Waterville college as part of a two-day tour of Maine supporting the Democratic presidential candidate.
Published
February 23, 2016

Report: Somerset County jail failed to follow policies in inmate death response

The Department of Corrections found that jail employees did not follow emergency medical polices in Joseph Daoust’s 2014 death, which the attorney general still is investigating.