By Randall Poulton

Last week's question:

According to the list of Maine's Highest Paid State Employees, as published in Mainebiz, everyone in the top ten works in the medical field: Eight are psychiatrists. The other two, Mark Flomenbaum (#4, $315,00) and Nirv Shaw (#8, $250,725) are administrators. George Loder Jr. ($216,774) is number eleven on the list. What is Mr. Loder's job?

The answer is "C", George Loder is a state police trooper. In fact, 10 of the 25 highest paid state employees are state police. While $200,000 may seem like a lot to pay a cop, at least taxpayers can take comfort in the fact that these state emplyees are not "working from home"!

A. Supreme Court Judge

B. Commissioner of Human Services

C. Maine State Trooper

D. Executive Director of the Legislative Council

E. Director of the Maine Quality Forum

F. No one is sure, Loder has been "working from home" for the last three years. 

Question One for 2023:

According to Mainebiz, MaineHealth, which includes Maine Medical Center in Portland, has over 20,000 employees. This makes MaineHealth the largest private sector employer in Maine. What company is number two in terms of number of employees?

A. Jackson Lab

B. LL Bean

C. Hannaford

D. Walmart

E. Bath Iron Works