While the idea of a special tax on millionaires is hotly debated across the country, Maine state Rep. Cheryl Golek characterized her state’s new tax as a modest and reasonable step toward fairness.

That’s because, she said, working- and middle-class households in Maine — including teachers, firefighters and nurses — are paying effective state income tax rates similar to or higher than those of the highest earners.

A judge on Tuesday delayed the criminal sentencing of OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma in order to allow victims to attend the court proceeding in person.

U.S. District Judge Madeline Cox Arleo originally planned to hand down the sentence Tuesday during a court hearing conducted only by videoconferencing. But she said she changed her mind after seeing some victims of the opioid crisis protesting outside her courthouse in Newark, New Jersey. She said they should be allowed to attend in person, too, and moved the hearing to next Tuesday.

LINCOLN — The Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission unanimously signed off on formal regulations over the budding supply chain Monday, nearly a year after issuing the first regulations.

Guidelines have ebbed through temporary 90-day periods since just before July 1. The rules have been extended multiple times and largely define restrictions on medical cannabis establishments, including licenses that can be issued, security requirements, types of products that can be sold to patients and which doctors can recommend the medicine.