A story about Camden’s Harbor Park in some editions Wednesday incorrectly stated that a 1998 referendum was nonbinding. The vote legally stopped the planned restoration of the grounds surrounding the Camden Public Library. A story on Page B1 of Wednesday’s editions about the Bangor Opera… Read More
    OLD ORCHARD BEACH – This seaside resort town plans to substitute the carrot for the stick in its fight to curb cigarette advertising. Instead of restricting tobacco ads, the Town Council voted 5-0 Tuesday night to reward merchants who voluntarily keep the ads out of… Read More
    WISCASSET – A Wiscasset community development corporation is among seven organizations in the nation chosen to spearhead a program to provide venture capital to businesses in low-income areas. Coastal Enterprises Inc. says the New Markets Venture Capital program is expected to finance 30 new businesses… Read More
    Roxanne Quimby’s assessment of the impact a national park in northern Maine would have on the people living there reflects the views of the Boston-based RESTORE organization. She says in the July 10 Bangor Daily News: “Very few people derive a living from the woods. They cut some… Read More
    In the winter sports department, snowmobiling in Yellowstone National Park has been getting all the attention lately. But around here, Acadia National Park is what counts. The bottom line is that snowmobiling in Acadia will go on as usual this coming winter, but the future remains clouded. Read More
    The International Olympic Committee, ready to announce Friday the host of the 2008 summer Games, has a clear set of standards that a host city must meet to win the Games and all international and economic attention that come with them. The cities are judged, for instance, on… Read More
    I have never been so outraged as I am after reading the June 23-24 article in the Bangor Daily News about the Harriman brothers and the horrible beating of Michael Bryant. I cannot believe the district attorney reduced the charges from aggravated assault, a felony,… Read More
    The story by Kelly Michaud on ruined Salvation Army donations (BDN, July 10) interested me because I have been a homeowner on Bangor’s lower west side for 12 years across the street from a similar organization, the Bangor Rescue Mission, which also collects and distributes and sells donations. Read More
    George Theriault’s letter (BDN July 10) is a perfect example of why I chose to leave the employment of EnvisioNet. However, it is probably not the reason you’re thinking. The main reason I left was because I knew the already poor morale was going to get worse. Read More
    When you don’t want to talk about something, change the subject. It is one of the oldest tricks in the book. But it seems to be backfiring for Boise Cascade (Op-ed commentary, BDN, July 11). The more the company tries to smear its critics -in this case disingenuously… Read More
    Your columnist, Dr. Erik Steele, father of the seat-belt intrusion, is heading toward a society where the people in Augusta will tell us what we can eat and when. His seat-belt argument began; “… because your health care is expensive and we all pay, you… Read More
    ROCKLAND – Do you know mouth-to-snout CPR? American Red Cross instructors are teaching this skill and others at pet first aid classes in Bangor and Rockland. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for… Read More
    AUGUSTA – A portrait of Jonathan Cilley, a former Maine House speaker who also served in Congress in the 1800s, has long taken its place among the long-gone politicians gazing icily from State House walls. On Wednesday, the 197th anniversary of the gun duel in… Read More
    BANGOR – Emergency personnel from the Bangor Fire Department will soon take to their bicycles to bring medical services where ambulances can’t go. A group of seven firefighter-paramedics and two firefighter-emergency medical technicians has started training in a 32-hour bicycling class that will prepare them… Read More
    AUGUSTA – Four of the five members of the Governmental Ethics and Elections Practices Commission on Wednesday exploded in outrage against sweeping changes made to a bill without their knowledge during the closing hours of the Legislature. Members said the commission was “back-stabbed” by changes that were “payback”… Read More
    Veazie police linked two 15-year-old friends to several crimes including the manufacturing and setting off of homemade explosives inside Silver’s Trailer Park. Some of the charges stem from an incident a year ago, while the more serious incidents, those involving the explosives, happened last week. Read More
    SPRUCE HEAD – The oldest of 271 registered Friendship sloops was launched Wednesday afternoon at Spruce Head Marine and will celebrate 100 years of sailing during Friendship Sloop Days later this month. Owners Adrian and Pam Hooydonk of Spruce Head relaunched the 35-foot wooden vessel… Read More
    SKOWHEGAN – Spending an additional $27,000 annually on nursing services for the county jail could actually save money, Somerset County commissioners were told Wednesday. The county has an $85,000 contract with Allied Resources to administer medicines and evaluate medical conditions at the jail. Additional calls… Read More
    NEWPORT – Tax bills mailed this week contained a rate increase of 60 cents per $1,000 of property valuation. The town’s tax rate rose from $16.80 per $1,000 to $17.40, Town Manager James Ricker told selectmen Wednesday night. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var… Read More
    LEWISTON – The planning board has given Central Maine Medical Center the green light to build a nine-story extension to house its new cardiac care center. Construction of the 200,000-square-foot building on the hospital’s Hammond Street side is scheduled to begin next month and be… Read More
    RANGELEY – Bill Hanson, senior biologist with Florida Power and Light, will speak on his work with loons at 2 p.m. Sunday, July 22, at the Wilhelm Reich Museum on Dodge Pond Road. Hanson has done many studies on loons, their environment and humans’ impact… Read More
    SCARBOROUGH – Maine State Police will monitor construction speed zones Wednesdays through Fridays during the next 10 weeks, the Maine Turnpike Authority has announced. The work zone speed limit on the Maine Turnpike is 50 mph and speeding fines are doubled when violations occur in… Read More
    ALFRED – An elementary school teacher from Sanford pleaded innocent Wednesday to two charges of assault against a student. Christopher Ridge, 38, appeared in York County Superior Court, where Justice Arthur Brennan set bail at $1,000 unsecured bond and ordered Ridge to avoid contact with… Read More
    CRYSTAL -The town of Crystal will hold its centennial celebration Saturday, July 28. A ribbon cutting ceremony will be held from 10 to 11 a.m. at the new town office. A free picnic lunch will take place at the Wesleyan Church from 11 a.m. to… Read More
    FORT KENT – The Aroostook Retired Educators Association will meet at noon Wednesday, July 25, at the University of Maine at Fort Kent. Legislative issues will be discussed and a $50 savings bond will be awarded as a door prize. All retired educators are welcome… Read More
    CAPE ELIZABETH – Cmdr. Mark P. O’Malley will replace Cmdr. Roy A. Nash as commanding officer of the Maine safety office and captain of the port and officer in charge of marine inspections for the U.S. Coast Guard, it was announced this week. Nash served… Read More
    CALAIS – A local developer has asked the planning board to schedule another public hearing for a zone change on property he owns on South Street. The board last year, for the third time, rejected Billy Howard’s request. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var… Read More
    BAR HARBOR – The Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory will hold an evening of Mozart, beginning at 8 p.m. Sunday. The event will feature live performances by pianist Bernice Silk and mezzo-soprano Jessica Renfro. The duo will perform works including the Sonata in D major,… Read More
    MACHIAS – Plans are well under way for the 26th annual Machias Wild Blueberry Festival on Aug. 17-18. Two days before the event, a dress rehearsal is planned for this year’s blueberry musical, Club Blueberry. The musical will be performed on Thursday, Friday and Saturday,… Read More
    ROCKLAND – A group of parents and church leaders is hoping to establish a Christian high school in the area by September 2002. And if the group is successful, the school will look and function much like a public high school, with arts and music… Read More
    BELFAST – Waldo County commissioners have officially named the county’s new dispatch center in honor of the late Sheriff Robert M. Jones. The Jones building will be formally dedicated later this year. The commissioners voted unanimously to name the building after Jones during their monthly… Read More
    ROCKLAND – The Friends of Rockland Breakwater Light organization has a new lease on an old light, which will allow the volunteer group to move ahead in restoring the beacon. “I’m anxious to finally give them the freedom they had been looking for for a… Read More
    Central High School, Corinth Fourth quarter honor roll 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 () { // Define… Read More
    ST. ALBANS – It’s not every day that someone’s dream comes true. But for Peter Bither, a 51-year-old developmentally disabled man from Clinton, Wednesday was his big day. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner =… Read More
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    EAST MACHIAS – Construction of a $420,000 salmon weir on the East Machias River has run into additional delays after members of the town planning board postponed a vote on whether to grant the Maine Atlantic Salmon Commission a permit for the project. When the… Read More
    TRENTON, N.J. – The water may smell funny, but state officials don’t think there’s anything harmful about a batch of Poland Spring bottled water. Still, the water was tested after officials received 13 complaints that it smells. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes… Read More
    Island Connections is a nonprofit organization providing services to the elderly and those with disabilities so they may continue to live independently, at home, on Mount Desert Island. Originally funded through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/Faith in Action, the organization began serving MDI residents in… Read More
    KENNEBUNKPORT – Without federal reimbursement, this tourist town will limit the use of its police officers to help provide security for President Bush during visits to his family’s seaside compound. Police Chief Robert Sullivan said Tuesday he is limiting the Bush-related use of his officers… Read More
    BREWER – Members of the Violent Crimes Task Force on Wednesday arrested a man believed to be a Mexican national in the country illegally. The arrest took place about 1:30 p.m. in Brewer. Details remained sketchy late Wednesday afternoon as law enforcement officials worked to… Read More
    BANGOR – The City Council will have at least one new face come November, with council member Judy Vardamis confirming Wednesday that she will not seek re-election. With Aug. 8 the first day nomination papers will be available at City Hall, the vacancy, coupled with… Read More
    Never let it be said you can’t learn something new about people every day. Take, for instance, the other evening at a cookout when the fog was blowing to and from the shore as if puffed by bellows. In and out it went in a game of hide-and-seek:… Read More
    Dolores Piperno, an archaeobotanist with the Smithsonian Tropical Institute, wrote in the June 22 issue of Science that the search for the origins of agriculture is equivalent to the fabled quest for the Holy Grail. Most of us take the vegetables on supermarket shelves for granted and never… Read More
    Seattle. The 72nd Major League Baseball All-Star game is over. Anyone who thought the game was still the important part of the evening, as important as when Ted Williams hit a home run that won the 1941 game, need wonder no more. In the middle… Read More
    Former Pittsfield resident Doug Clapp was knocked out of the Massachusetts Amateur Championship Wednesday after the first round of match play at The Orchards Golf Club in South Hadley, Mass. Jim Renner of Foxborough Country Club beat Clapp, playing out of the Walpole Country Club,… Read More
    Stephanie Dickey and Suzie Zitaner, who have qualified for the USA Track and Field National Junior Olympics, are looking to raise $5,000 to cover their costs for the meet in Sacramento, Calif. Zitaner qualified in the high jump, pole vault and discus in the youth (ages 13-14) group. Read More
    Four local softball teams will be participating in the The Explosion Invitational, a fast-pitch tournament July 13-15 in Brewer and Hermon. The Maine Sting and Bangor BAB of Bangor, Lady Bucks of Bucksport and Old Town will all participate in the event. Other teams are… Read More
    COCOA BEACH, Fla. – The Maine Icebreakers of Hampden reached the quarterfinals of the AAU basketball 13-and-under National Championships Wednesday with a 71-61 win over the top-ranked Connecticut team. The team had dropped its final pool play game to the Burlington Bulls (N.C.) 78-44 on… Read More
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    If you think scrambling around for footage and interviews all day, editing all the material you’ve collected, and then delivering all that information during daily 6 and 11 p.m. sportscasts sounds like a stressful way to make a living, try doing the same thing for three daily sportscasts. Read More
    HERMON – Kevin Colson of Frankfort slipped past Kenny Grover of Bangor on the final lap of the Little Enduro feature race Wednesday night at Speedway 95 to pick up the win. Mike Witham of Milo also outraced Grover to the finish line for second… Read More
    OLD TOWN – Allison Brown and winning pitcher Katie Bergeron had two-run singles in a five-run fifth-inning rally to lift Old Town by Glenburn 8-3 in Little League All-Star softball action for ages 11-12 Wednesday. Old Town’s rally snapped a 2-2 tie and sent it… Read More
    TUNA MELT With a tour schedule that includes Seattle, Portland, Ore., Boulder, Colo., New York City, and Asbury Park, N.J., it doesn’t seem there would be much time to cruise up to Maine for a concert. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes =… Read More
    Marcia Ball understands what makes the blues such a universal sound. “I can appreciate other, more ‘sophisticated’ styles of music,” said blues singer-pianist Ball. “Still the style and the back beats [of the blues] are what move me viscerally, and I suppose that’s what other… Read More
    Wild” animals will roam the streets and rock and folk tunes will fill the air this weekend at CaribouFest: An Agri-Cultural Celebration. Local artists will turn 25 life-size reindeer into funky works of art. The statues will be on display throughout the city and maps… Read More
    Renting a video? NEWS film critic Christopher Smith can help. Below are his grades of recent releases in video stores. Down to Earth – D googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var… Read More
    Every once in a while, one of life’s experiences turns on a little bulb inside your head and the revelation is enlightening. Last week, while guiding a kayak trip in Castine, that little flash happened to me. Actually, it wasn’t really a flash, it was… Read More
    The last time I visited Sunkhaze Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, a foot of snow covered the ground and the wind chill punished us if we stopped for too long. The surface of the snow was hard and crusty, making the noise of our snowshoes deafening. We probably scared… Read More
    Since my earliest fascination with nocturnal entertainment, I’ve been bombarded by the belief that the Greater Bangor area scores a shade above zero in the nightlife department. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for… Read More