On a day when regional titles in field hockey and soccer were handed out, some Eastern Maine teams got more than a fancy plaque. Skowhegan field hockey, Madawaska girls soccer and Van Buren boys soccer all recorded wins Saturday over teams that had beaten them… Read More
    A year ago the University of Maine men’s basketball team finished 19-9 and turned itself into a conference contender. Expectations inside the program are high for even more improvement this year. According to conference coaches, the Black Bears will have to fight to move up… Read More
    ORONO – Coach Joanne Palombo-McCallie expects the 1999-2000 University of Maine women’s basketball team to be the deepest in her eight-year tenure. America East coaches seem to be in agreement after selecting the Black Bears as the overwhelming favorite to win the conference title this… Read More
    Last March 26, the University of Maine picked up its first of four NCAA Tournament wins en route to its second national championship in seven years. The Bears beat Ohio State 4-2 in the first round of the NCAA East Regional in Worcester, Mass. googletag.cmd.push(function… Read More
    Historians have described Maine during much of the 20th century as a stagnant backwater that resisted the currents of modern history until well into the 1950s. After all, this was the state that voted against Franklin Delano Roosevelt four times, the state where fully one-quarter of its native… Read More
    The Vietnam War was the most unpopular American war in this century. It helped divide the nation, creating a counterculture of protest. By the end, many Americans wondered whether they were fighting for a patriotic cause or interfering in a civil war aimed at overthrowing an oppressive regime. Read More
    World War II was the most costly war in history. Seventeen million soldiers died, as did even more civilians. The Holocaust came to symbolize the brutality lurking just under the surface of Western civilization. The atomic bomb raised the possibility that humanity would not survive the century. The… Read More
    The transportation revolution changed life in Maine, shrinking distances and dramatically expanding the tourism business. In 1905, the Maine Highway Commission was created to improve rural roads as the automobile started to become popular. It cost $2 to register a car – for the life of the car. Read More
    Scientific study on the use of rockets for space flight began in the early part of the century, but it wasn’t until 1957 with the launching of the first space satellite, Sputnik 1, by the Soviets, that the Space Age suddenly rocketed into the public consciousness. Read More
    First disenfranchised and denied education and other rights, then rounded up and killed in Nazi concentration camps, the Jewish community in Germany and throughout Europe during World War II came to represent the most unspeakable horrors of the 20th century. The numbers speak for themselves: Six million Jews… Read More
    The Cold War heated up when North Korean troops spilled across the border into South Korea at the 38th Parallel, the line that separated the communist north from the noncommunist south. President Truman sent in troops under a United Nations mandate, and the United States began fighting one… Read More
    Americans can expect to live nearly 30 years longer than they did in 1900 because of clean drinking water, antibiotics and many other breakthroughs that have helped control infectious diseases such as pneumonia, tuberculosis and polio. Among the memorable dates in Maine were 1910 when Eastern Maine General… Read More
    World War I originally was known as the Great War, and many believed it would be the war to end wars. The United States didn’t enter until 1917, three years after the fighting began. American troops didn’t fight in large numbers until 1918, but their presence was decisive. Read More
    Political commentators in Maine initially considered Prohibition a bigger issue than the Great Depression. But by 1932, tourism was off 20 percent and Maine Central Railroad was losing money. Income tax collections were a third lower than the previous year. The next year, a fifth of the state’s… Read More
    Growing industrial pollution coupled with the emerging activist politics of the day created the environmental movement. Battles over big plans for dams, oil refineries, the nuclear power plant in Wiscasset and other industrial projects assumed legendary proportions. The result is that Maine’s water and air are cleaner than… Read More
    From the wireless to the Internet sums up the history of communications in the 20th century. Maine played a small role in this revolution. The first photograph sent by radio across the Atlantic arrived at Bar Harbor in 1922, a year before the oldest continuously operated radio station… Read More
    After World War II, the alliance between the United States, Great Britain and the Soviet Union collapsed. One of the results was the nuclear arms race, which spawned military installations such as Loring Air Force Base in Aroostook County. One of the most tense moments in the Cold… Read More
    The most tangible evidence of the modern civil rights movement in this state occurred in 1971 with the founding of the Maine Human Rights Commission. Since then, 13,880 people have filed cases with the commission, and the proceedings have helped 4,776 of them find remedies, according to Patricia… Read More
    Women got the right to vote in 1920, but the right to cast a ballot in an election was only one of the causes they fought for during the century. Another one was equal treatment in the workplace. Anna Hughes McCloskey watched her mother vote in the 1920s,… Read More
    Temperance, like the abolition of slavery, was one of the great reform movements in the past two centuries, and sentiments against liquor in Maine were particularly strong. Long before the 18th Amendment to the Constitution outlawed liquor, Mainers were restricting the production and sale of alcoholic beverages. In… Read More
    Maine had a higher proportion of foreign-born residents in 1900 – more than 13 percent – than it did in 1990. In fact, back then, and for most of the century, foreign-born Mainers composed a larger percentage of the population than in the rest of the nation. By… Read More
    The political upheavals of the late 1960s caused many young Americans to seek a more natural lifestyle in rural areas of America. Thanks to the newcomers, for the first time since before the Civil War, Maine’s population increased faster than the nation’s. Even though they thought they were… Read More
    Project editor: Wayne E. Reilly Writers: Gordon Bonin, Walter Griffin, Tom Groening, Judy Harrison, Rich Hewitt, Dale McGarrigle, Emmet Meara, Wyatt Olson, Leanne Robicheau, Jenna Russell, Roxanne Saucier, Dick Shaw, Debra Sund, Jeff Tuttle, Caleb Raynor, A. Mark Woodward, Susan Young, David A. Zelz Designer: Eric Zelz Photographers:… Read More
    LEWISTON — A Maine woman is free after spending 2 1/2 months in jail rather than complying with a court order permitting her ex-husband to have unsupervised visits with her daughter. Karen Tremblay, who was ordered released less than two weeks ago from Androscoggin County… Read More
    PORTLAND — A federal judge has barred testimony by an undercover police officer about a jail inmate’s alleged plot to recruit fellow inmates to lie for him and help him kill a key witness. In suppressing the information, U.S. District Judge Brock Hornby determined that… Read More
    The Oct. 20 article by Jeff Tuttle describing the escape situation at the Bangor Mental Health Institute left quite a scent behind. Certainly, it brought the readers a few steps back to the cave. By using language like “… the sheer number of dogs on the grounds could… Read More
    I’m writing in response to the “Fur no Fun” article in the BDN on Oct. 11. Before people speak out against and condemn fur trappers, they should get their facts straight. First, the expansion of the United States, after the 13 original colonies, can be credited in part… Read More
    Congratulations to the cast, crew and orchestra of Bangor Community Theater’s production of “Oklahoma!” recently at the Maine Center for the Arts. It was just wonderful from start to finish and the energy and professionalism were outstanding. Here’s to BCT and more musicals to come. Pam Coffey-Paine Hampden… Read More
    It’s been several weeks now, and I still can’t forget the sickening narrative of the moose shoot (BDN, Oct. 5) by John Holyoke, with the input of game warden Alan Dudley. They had been driving the countryside, looking for “a good hunting story” and found a “doozie.” Two… Read More
    Now and then I read one of Maureen Dowd’s columns because she is usually so out of touch with reality that I consider them to be humor. Her May 11 comments on guns, however, frightened me on three points because there is nothing more terrifying than true ignorance. Read More
    In regard to the White Cane Walk, designed to help Maine motorists quickly identify the blind or sight disadvantaged, white canes are not always the easiest things to see from a moving car on a busy street. No one would want to add difficulty or… Read More
    For more than 15 years I have flown from Maine on commercial airlines. In the beginning 90 percent was from Portland’s Jet Port on Continental to Florida for less than $100. If I would have flown from Bangor it would have been around $268. Fliers… Read More
    SULLIVAN — Plans for voters to consider construction of an administrative office building for Union 96 in a January referendum have been put on hold. Union 96 Superintendent Harvey Kelley said Monday that the Flanders Bay School Committee voted to wait until a regularly scheduled… Read More
    BUCKSPORT — An update on the high school’s science and technology addition is planned for the next meeting of the Bucksport school board. The panel will meet at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 3, in the superintendent’s office on Elm Street. Read More
    SWANS ISLAND — U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe’s staff assistant Betty Ann Grant will hold outreach hours from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 4, at the town office. Residents of Hancock County are encouraged to meet with her to discuss specific problems, legislative issues and… Read More
    CASTINE — Maine Maritime Academy will hold an open house for prospective students and their parents at 9 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 13. Registration will take place from 7:30 to 9 a.m. at the Student Center. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]];… Read More
    BELFAST — A free community wellness lecture on asthma will be given by Dr. Robert Weiss at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 4, at the Education Center on Northport Avenue. For information, call Waldo County General Hospital at 388-2500, Ext. 4189. Read More
    ROCKLAND — Rockland poet and author Christine Parrish will be the featured speaker at the annual meeting of the Friends of the Rockland Public Library at noon Tuesday, Nov. 9, at the Congregational Church Hall, Limerock Street. Board members will be elected. googletag.cmd.push(function () {… Read More
    CALAIS — School committee politics in this town have had more twists and turns than the St. Croix River. On Saturday, Danny Leavitt notified Calais School Committee Chairman Maria Tickle that he had resigned from the panel for personal reasons. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define… Read More
    SEARSPORT — The Belfast Institute of Lifelong Learning will sponsor a daylong history immersion program next week at the Penobscot Marine Museum. The program will focus on what life was like when wooden ships plied Penobscot Bay and the high seas. googletag.cmd.push(function () { //… Read More
    CALAIS — Police on Monday were investigating how a tractor-trailer managed to cause $30,000 in damage to one of the city’s two traffic lights. On Saturday, Randall Comeau, 26, of Robbinston was driving a 1987 tractor-trailer loaded with logs when he crossed under the light… Read More
    Polls will be open in Bangor today from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. for voting on City Council and school committee candidates and on referendum questions. The city’s eight polling places, by voting district, are: googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]];… Read More
    BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — Three Maine men were injured when a small plane crash-landed at the Binghamton Regional Airport on Monday morning. The plane was en route from Portland, Maine, to Youngstown, Ohio, authorities said. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var… Read More
    WASHINGTON — Dr. John Y. Connolly of Millinocket has been named as a fellow of the American College of Radiology. Connolly was named as one of 103 new fellows by the College Board of Chancellors for outstanding contributions to the field of radiology. ACR is… Read More
    CALAIS — A 21-year-old Jonesport woman has been charged with stealing checks from her parents and trying to cash them. Police said they became suspicious after arresting Donald Alley, 27, of Jonesport on Wednesday. He was charged with violation of probation. googletag.cmd.push(function () { //… Read More
    CASTINE — Maine Maritime Academy will hold an open house for prospective students and their parents at 9 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 13. Registration will take place from 7:30 to 9 a.m. at the Student Center. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]];… Read More
    ELLSWORTH — Recent works by Liddy Hubbell are on display through Nov. 29 in the Riverview Room of Ellsworth Public Library. The exhibition includes landscapes and book illustrations. Hubbell’s works are known for their vibrant colors and brooding forms. Illustrations include animals from “Waiting for… Read More
    BLUE HILL — Blue Hill Memorial Hospital’s Health Education Center will hold a free program on music therapy and its benefits to patients and those involved in hospice care. The program will be from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 15, in the exercise room… Read More
    MACHIAS — The New England Foundation for the Arts has approved a grant of $2,500 to Stage Front: The Arts Downeast toward the Feb. 4, 2000, appearance of The Core Ensemble at the University of Maine at Machias. Ellen Farnsworth, director of Stage Front, was… Read More
    MACHIAS — An open house for nontraditional students is planned from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Nov. 13, in Kimball Hall’s Portside Lounge at the University of Maine at Machias. The session will include information about applications, the Maine Educational Opportunities Center and the financial… Read More
    CUSHING — The Cushing recycling committee will be host of a Trashy Hat and Trashy Costume Ball from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, Nov. 5, at the Cushing Community School. Adults and children are welcome to dance to a wide variety of music during the… Read More
    LINCOLNVILLE — The sixth annual Lincolnville Craft Show and Luncheon will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 6, at the Lincolnville Improvement Association building, Route 173, an eighth of a mile from Route 1. Knitwear, wooden toys, Advent calendars, gifts and… Read More
    BANGOR — The Eastern Maine Medical Center Auxiliary will hold an annual luncheon at noon Thursday, Nov. 4, at the Bangor Motor Inn Conference Center, Hogan Road. Guest speakers Jan Smith and Donna Gormley of WLBZ NewsCenter 2, will discuss “Buddy to Buddy,” a public… Read More
    ROCKLAND — A group called Friends of the Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse will meet this week as its members prepare for renovation of the landmark. The meeting will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 3, at the Knox Center for Long Term Care Rockland Room. Read More
    NEWPORT — Problems with young people began Friday in Newport and escalated to a near-mob scene by Sunday, Halloween night, according to Police Chief James Ricker. “I took a 14-year-old [male] runaway to the Charleston Correctional Center on Friday,” Ricker said Monday. “It simply got… Read More
    ORONO — A new fact sheet about rabies is available from the county offices of University of Maine Cooperative Extension. The fact sheet answers questions about the nature of the disease, which has been spreading recently from southern into central Maine. It explains how rabies… Read More
    BANGOR — Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 9, at Acadia Hospital, Penobscot Conference Room. The use of medications will be reviewed and those present will have opportunity to share their experiences. For more information on the support group, call… Read More
    Kim Mann of Patten will attend the National Young Leaders Conference Nov. 2-7 in Washington, D.C. The NYLC is for high school students demonstrating leadership and scholastic merit. Mann is among 350 outstanding national scholars to attend the conference, the theme of which is “The… Read More
    Bangor District Court Darrell L. Koch, 30, Bangor, criminal trespass, $75. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i < slot_sizes.length; i++) { if (isMobileDevice()) { if (slot_sizes[i][0] googletag.cmd.push(function… Read More
    ROCKLAND — Police have charged a Rockland man with arson. Police said Monday they believe Malcolm Emery, 28, is responsible for setting fire to a house at 14 Spruce St. on Sept. 24. The house’s front porch and a section of the front wall near… Read More
    NEWPORT — A collision of two trucks at the intersection of the County Woods Road and Route 222 in Newport sent one driver to the hospital Monday afternoon. Peter Nicholas, 17, of Dexter, was eastbound on Route 222 from Corinna, heading toward Stetson. His 1988… Read More
    EDDINGTON — A fire that heavily damaged an unoccupied camper Sunday night was intentionally set, a state fire investigator has said. Stewart Jacobs, an investigator with the State Fire Marshal’s Office, said Monday that he is investigating who set the fire inside the trailer. googletag.cmd.push(function… Read More
    CAMDEN — Selectmen spun their wheels on purchasing a second sport utility vehicle for the Police Department on Monday night, first approving a bid, then tabling it. The town purchased a Ford Explorer two years ago for the Police Department. Under the vehicle-replacement cycle, the… Read More
    CLIFTON — The hunter was from Maine, but the deer he shot Monday afternoon was from out of state. The deer killed was a red deer, a non-native species, reported Maine State Game Warden Alan Gillis, who was called in to investigate after the hunter… Read More
    HAMPDEN — Councilors on Monday revisited last month’s vote denying the Sawyer Environmental Recovery Facility’s application for the larger of its two proposed expansions. The action came after the town attorney told them they hadn’t made their reasoning clear. Maine’s right-to-know law stipulates that if… Read More
    A Bangor man led police on a brief chase about 4:20 a.m. Monday, eventually pulling over in Brewer where he explained that he hadn’t noticed the cruiser behind him as he was just trying to get to work by 4 a.m. The motorist was already… Read More
    HOULTON — A Houlton man allegedly convinced a friend to shoot him with a semiautomatic rifle Monday in order to receive painkilling drugs. Jason Pierce, 20, was treated at Houlton Regional Hospital and subsequently released for what an investigator said was a wound to the… Read More
    Dear Jim: I was at my home center store looking for a water-saving shower head and I saw some that had built-in shower water filters. What dangerous chemicals are these shower filters supposed to remove? — Carol D. Dear Carol: The usage of shower water… Read More
    PORTLAND — The sister of a Brunswick man who was shot to death in his wheelchair during a confrontation with police has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Brunswick police and two of its officers. The suit, filed by Donna Connors of Portland in U.S. Read More
    BANGOR — Over the next few months, the Maine Public Utilities Commission will kick into high gear its consumer education program about electric restructuring which will go into effect March 1, 2000. “The Wattsons,” a cartoon family intended to reduce worry among ratepayers who don’t… Read More
    AUGUSTA — The campaigns involved in the two referendum questions at the top of Maine’s ballots hit the phones, computers and pulpits over the weekend and Monday in a final push for a big turnout in Tuesday’s referendums. While their differences on the issue are… Read More
    ACADIA NATIONAL PARK — Before venturing to a trail or parking area in Acadia National Park next summer, visitors may find the latest traffic patterns and parking conditions are at their fingertips. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt on Monday announced that Acadia will be the official… Read More
    HOWLAND — A 21-year-old man from the Houlton area was in Penobscot County Jail on Monday after allegedly stealing two vehicles and leading Maine State Police on a high-speed chase along Interstate 95 Monday morning. Chad Burpee faces several charges, including two counts of vehicle… Read More
    LINCOLN — A majority of union employees at Eastern Paper’s Lincoln mill, who last month approved a strike, ratified a new five-year contract Monday. Union workers approved the new contract by a vote of 208-109. Officials said a total of 387 members were eligible to… Read More
    AUGUSTA — The U.S. Department of Defense can now send joint field investigation and excavation teams into North Korea to try to account for missing U.S. service members, according to Maj. Gen. Earl Adams, Maine’s commissioner of defense, veterans and emergency management. The decision was… Read More
    ORONO — Virginia Tufts Chaplin, who with her husband, Richard Brokaw, was among the 217 passengers of EgyptAir Flight 990 now presumed dead, was remembered as a woman who left her mark on the University of Maine, her alma mater. On Monday, official confirmation came… Read More
    BANGOR — A district judge will allow an Orono mother increased access to her infant son to improve chances of breast-feeding during his first year of life. However, District Judge Jessie Gunther denied the woman’s request to strictly limit her ex-husband’s visitation during the child’s first few years… Read More
    NEWBURGH — The pilot of an ultralight aircraft which crashed Sunday just after takeoff remained in critical condition at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, a hospital spokesperson said Monday. Dan Fielder, 45, of Levant was airlifted to EMMC with head and internal injuries after… Read More
    ORONO — Native plants for home gardeners and landscapers are featured in the 2000 North Country Garden Calendar published by University of Maine Cooperative Extension. The calendar is illustrated by Jean Ploff, a master gardener from Rockingham County, N.H. Copies are $5 each and can… Read More