High Schools AT UNIVERSITY OF MAINE, Orono Class A State Championships Cheverus boys 87, Portland 43, Brunswick 40, So. Portland 34, Massabesic 32, Old Town 32, Mt. Blue 30, Sanford 29,Biddeford 24, Westbrook 22, Deering 22, Mount Ararat 22, Edward Little 20, Cony 14, Brewer… Read More
    Class B girls track AUGUSTA – The standings after the first eight events were tallied told the story of the girls Class B state track championship here Saturday: Scarborough girls 57 points, Medomak Valley of Waldoboro 18, Marshwood 18. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot… Read More
    I go in search of what USA Today calls the ninth best high school baseball team in the East and among the 36 best teams in the country. Bangor High. Bangor High? googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes =… Read More
    Motor sports roundup HERMON – Jon Austin of Otis capped a double-victory racing weekend by taking the checkered flag in the sportsman feature race at Speedway 95 here Saturday night. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var… Read More
    High school softball The defending two-time state Class D softball champion Jonesport-Beals Royals have the Ashland Hornets standing in their way to another berth in a state championship game as the result of Eastern softball semifinals played on Saturday. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot… Read More
    Ash from residential wood stoves and commercial biomass plants is no more radioactive than typical Maine soil, according to a researcher at the University of Maine. “Levels of radioactivity in Maine wood ash are so low that they pose little danger to people,” said Charles… Read More
    HERMON — The days of the chalkboard and overhead viewer may be gone. In their place imagine a television monitor, a computer and a telephone for each classroom. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner =… Read More
    WASHINGTON (AP) — Janis Gehling agreed to pay $1,300 to put an alarm system around her hog pen, but began to have doubts soon after. So for reassurance, she did what millions of Americans consumers have begun to do — she called the local Better Business Bureau. Read More
    The great D-Day celebration has passed. The old newsreels and old vets have been put back into storage, and we have resumed our usual look-ahead attitude. Let’s not be so quick to put the history aside. In particular, let’s make a real effort to keep it in our… Read More
    Calls to 800 numbers aren’t necessarily free anymore. Many phone pornography, psychic hot lines and other pay-per-call services jumped from the maligned 900-number lines to the once toll-free 800-number circuit. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var… Read More
    BANGOR — The Brewer City Council may have suspended the Penobscot Farmers Market for operating out of the Brewer Auditorium parking lot, but there are several other farmers markets operating within Penobscot County. The original Bangor-Brewer Farmers Market that relocated from the Brewer Auditorium parking… Read More
    GRAY (AP) — Scott Whittier sees little future for himself in the state where he learned to ride a horse, fished for brook trout with his father and spent summers swimming in Thompson Lake. The 1993 class salutatorian at Gray-New Gloucester High School said he… Read More
    BUCKSPORT — Other than financing issues, only the suspicion of asbestos stands in the way of making the town’s public safety building safer. As outlined by the chairman of a committee planning the building’s estimated $425,000 expansion, proposed improvements would allow dispatchers to monitor all… Read More
    Welcome back to 1986, when battle lines falsely turned all environmentalists into screamers, all landowners into corporate greedheads and Maine into a trophy to be snatched. The retrograde look is brought to Maine courtesy of RESTORE: The North Woods. The environmental group from Cambridge, Mass.,… Read More
    LEWISTON (AP) — Political signs exhibiting a spectrum of colors and shades decorate vacant lots, hillsides and highways across Maine. And those hues are picked for good reasons, say consultants. “People relate strongly to colors,” said Portland graphic designer Elizabeth Margolis-Pineo, who worked for the… Read More
    MACHIAS — The ’50s was a time of poodle skirts, greased-back hair, fuzzy dice and hula-hoops. Timeless cruising machines ushered in the era of car hops and drive-in movies. The ’50s also saw the birth of rock ‘n’ roll, and the meteoric rise of Elvis Presley. Read More
    BANGOR — Nine members of the Bangor Symphony Youth Orchestra and Ensemble were awarded music-study scholarships at the spring concert. Erik Briggs, a 1994 graduate of Brewer High School, received the Robert Collins Memorial Scholarship of $100. Scholarships of $50 for summer music camp were… Read More
    Nearly lost in the blitz of politicking in the major races are several legislative primaries that pit friends and acquaintances against one another. Among the weed patches of signs for gubernatorial and congressional candidates on Bangor roadsides have sprouted the black and yellow signs for… Read More
    BUCKSPORT — Only those who room and board within town borders will be allowed room on town boards. Or, to put it plainly, individuals must now own or rent a “place of abode,” and eat and sleep there eight months of the year to qualify… Read More
    DUCK ISLAND (AP) — The body of a missing kayaker was recovered north of Duck Island near the Maine-New Hampshire border in the Isles of Shoals, the Coast Guard said. A utility boat operator found the body of Matthew Baldi, 26, of Peak’s Island on… Read More
    MACHIASPORT — Gene Nichols, a multitalented musician, performer and educator from Machiasport, can add song writing to his list of award-winning achievements. Nichols, associate professor of music at the University of Maine at Machias, was notified earlier this month that he had won first place… Read More
    CRAWFORD — For one weekend each summer, the eastern Washington County town of Crawford sees its population explode nearly tenfold, from about 90 year-round residents to more than 800 music lovers, with the arrival of the annual Breakneck Mountain Bluegrass Festival. This year, the event… Read More
    FALMOUTH (AP) — A trucker who caused a crash that killed an 11-year-old girl had been driving 11 hours without rest and had taken antihistamines, investigators say. Bill Crocker, 40, of Hartford, Conn., had taken tablets of Good Sense, an antihistamine whose label warns, “Avoid… Read More
    MACHIAS — An air quality problem which forced a one-day closure of the Rose M. Gaffney School in Machias may be based partially in the school’s carpeting. School Union 102 Superintendent William Clark told the Machias school committee June 8 that the results of early… Read More
    PRESQUE ISLE — Although his flight was unavoidably delayed, Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell delivered on his promise to be the graduation speaker at Presque Isle High School Friday night. School officials, alerted to the problem by Mitchell’s in-flight telephone call, held up the… Read More
    Lorelei Morse, 34, of East Holden was summoned for assault after an incident Saturday morning, June 11, when she reportedly attacked her ex-boyfriend with a pair of scissors. According to Bangor police, John Collins, 32, of Curve Street, Bangor, complained that Morse tried to stab… Read More
    Bangor and Brewer police reported the following activity during the weekend: Brewer police summoned a man for reckless conduct with a firearm after he reportedly shot out the tire of a relative’s car on Brian Drive with a 9mm semiautomatic handgun. googletag.cmd.push(function () { //… Read More
    There are those among us who weren’t so thrilled to see the snarling face of the female peregrine falcon (BDN, June 4-5) protecting her young at Acadia, or to read that her prey is mainly warblers, robins, mallards and woodpeckers. We are the ones who… Read More
    In response to Fred Vardamis’ letter to the editor June 3 concerning the Waterworks’ “hazardous” condition and how the other members of the Zoning Board of Appeals were “blinded by emotion,” I would like to suggest that perhaps it is Mr. Vardamis and Ms. Day who apparently lack… Read More
    I’d like to urge my fellow citizens to be sure to vote in the upcoming primary on Tuesday, June 14. How appropriate to hold our primary on Flag Day! It is truly such a privilege in America to be able to cast our votes freely. Let’s remember that… Read More
    Re: the car exhaust program. In some ways this car exhaust program which starts on July 1 stinks. Whether the Maine Legislature intended for high-mileage cars to be tested or if it is the recommendation of the public relations officer (spokesman) for the company which… Read More
    A Millinocket town councilor and a current county commissioner are vying for a seat on the Penobscot County Commissioners. George Gagnon, a Millinocket Democrat, is serving his second three-year term on the Millinocket Town Council. He is president of the Millinocket Chamber of Commerce and… Read More
    The federal government rises to more ridiculous heights than most organizations because of its size and unnaturally intense concern for order. The combination produces red tape by the ream and costs everyone in the end. So the Senate’s approval of a restructuring plan to speed the procurement process… Read More
    EASTPORT — A municipal referendum on revisions in the Eastport Port Authority charter apparently is nonbinding. State Rep. George A. Townsend, D-Eastport, reportedly told city officials and residents last week that the charter revision “is already law” and does not require voter approval before taking… Read More
    LEWISTON (AP) — One-fifth of campaign donations in Maine’s congressional primary races have come from the candidates themselves, a newspaper reported. The Sunday Sun Journal based its figures on a computer analysis of disclosure reports from the Federal Election Commission. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define… Read More
    The Lincoln and Dexter school districts are the only two in Penobscot and Piscataquis counties to receive $75,000 technology grants. Officials in both school districts say the grants came at a perfect time. Both are facing financial hardships because of revenue losses, and say technology… Read More
    MEDWAY — Officials do not expect the town’s and school’s budget proposals to have a major impact on taxes. Townspeople will consider proposed gross town and school budgets totaling $3 million during the annual town meeting at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 15, at the middle… Read More
    OLD TOWN — The school board recently gave tentative approval to a policy that would allow 5-year-olds to enter the first grade. The policy was adopted to meet the guidelines of a new state law. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]];… Read More
    LEWISTON (AP) — So you say no one’s interested in that rusting jalopy that’s become part of your property’s landscape? Think again. The Maine Special Olympics has kicked off a program called Recycle for Gold to help the mentally retarded athletes themselves raise money for… Read More
    Many communities have enacted safety regulations governing residential swimming pools, in ground and above ground. It’s up to parents to comply with these regulations. Apart from these laws, parents who own pools can take their own precautions to reduce the chances of their youngsters accessing the family pool… Read More
    Michael Heath of the Christian Civic League, in his May 28-29 letter, is distressed that a number of prominent political candidates have spoken forthrightly about their opposition to Concerned Maine Families’ proposed referendum to limit protected class status under Maine law to those groups already included. Read More
    PORTLAND — It’s Saturday afternoon and the welders, pipefitters and structural steel workers are home for the weekend. Cianbro Corp.’s big cranes hang above the Million Dollar Bridge, poised to continue the Pittsfield company’s portion of the biggest bridge-building project in state history. A bridge… Read More
    I must admit that I had been fairly warned of Rush Limbaugh. A Jewish friend who had lost relatives in the Holocaust had seethed that Limbaugh would effectively trivialize that tragedy by calling feminists with whom he disagreed “femi-nazis.” I dismissed this as an example of Limbaugh’s ignorance… Read More
    BOSTON (AP) — Was it cruelty to crustaceans, or gourmet cooking? Animal rights activists are in a stew over the death by dismemberment and sauteing of a live lobster on NBC’s “Today” show May 18. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]];… Read More
    PORTLAND (AP) — The “brain drain” caused by young people leaving Maine to look for jobs or further their education has become a recurring theme in this year’s gubernatorial campaign. One Democratic gubernatorial hopeful, Tom Allen of Portland, has fashioned his economic plan on the… Read More
    TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Jurors completed a fourth day of deliberations Friday in a lawsuit filed against a Fremont hospital that did not treat a Maine man who had AIDS. The U.S. District jury will resume deliberations Monday. Jurors met for about eight hours each… Read More
    WASHINGTON — Small rooftop antenna “dishes” will start receiving laser-sharp television signals in Mississippi next month, and a battle royal for viewers’ business will begin. The antennas, 18 inches in diameter and resembling a Chinese wok, are part of a kit that also includes a… Read More
    AUGUSTA (AP) — The last weekend before Maine’s primary elections brought a flurry of last-minute campaigning by 32 Democratic and Republican candidates for the governorship and two seats in Congress. Campaign organizers cranked up phone banks as broadcast advertising filled the airwaves with dissonant messages. Read More