Governor Janet Mills has directed the United States and State of Maine flags be lowered statewide from sunrise to sunset on Friday, December 12, 2025, in honor of decorated U.S. Army veteran and revered Penobscot elder Charles Norman Shay. Shay will be laid to rest on Friday in France.
Governor Mills previously issued the following statement honoring Shay's life and extraordinary legacy of service:
Governor Janet Mills today honored four Maine employers as recipients of the 2025 Governor's Award for Business Excellence (GABE), the State's premier recognition for Maine businesses that demonstrate leadership, innovation, and commitment to their employees and communities.
For the first time ever, Governor Mills also presented an award to a Maine nonprofit, in recognition of the 7,000 nonprofits in Maine and the important contributions they make to the state's communities and economy.
Nation-leading program created by the Governor provides people who live and work in Maine a refundable tax credit for student loan payments of up to $2,500 annually
Governor Janet Mills announced today that her student loan relief program--one of the most generous in the nation--has provided more than $140 million in debt relief to Maine people with student loans since its creation three years ago.