BANGOR – The final version of a $318 billion defense bill that passed both houses of Congress Thursday included only $5 million to reconstruct the Bangor International Airport runway – half of the $10 million approved last week by the Senate. Despite the reduction, airport… Read More
AUGUSTA – A new U.S. Commerce Department study indicates Maine has a long way to go in building an economy based on science and technology, and some lawmakers are worried the current economic downturn could erode what progress has been made. “I am not at… Read More
BANGOR – The Federal Aviation Administration this week tapped a Virginia-based firm to provide added security at the control tower at Bangor International Airport and about a dozen other Northeast airports. FAA officials signed the $15 million, one-year contract Tuesday with MVM Inc. of McLean,… Read More
A Wisdom player’s name was misspelled in the High School Basketball Preview supplement in Thursday’s paper. Her name is Josee Chamberland. Read More
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – U.S. Navy sonar tests likely caused 16 whales to beach themselves in the Bahamas last year, according to a federal study released Thursday. The whales swam on shore on the islands of Abaco, Grand Bahamas and North Eleuthera on March… Read More
WASHINGTON – Congress approved more than $3 billion in funding for the building of the DDG-51 Arleigh-Burke Class Destroyers on Thursday. The legislation is now headed to the White House for President Bush’s signature. Bath Iron Works, Maine’s largest private employer, shares in the building… Read More
LEWISTON – People have protested the arrival of Wal-Mart in some towns but the discounter has grown so fast since it first came to Maine in 1992 that the company is considering a major distribution hub. The City Council will take up a multimillion dollar… Read More
BLUE HILL – Bruce Cummings has resigned as chief executive officer at Blue Hill Memorial Hospital in order to accept a similar position at a hospital in western New York. Cummings, who has been the CEO at Blue Hill since 1990, will begin his new… Read More
WINSLOW – A deal to take over Crowe Rope Industries’ operation in Winslow could fall apart unless bidder Yale Cordage Inc. sweetens its offer, said Town Manager Edward A. Gagnon.Yale Cordage, a Biddeford-based rope maker, wants to keep Crowe Rope’s growing business but does not want to pay… Read More
WESTBROOK – Bindley Western Industries plans to close its drug distribution warehouse in March, resulting in a loss of 111 jobs. The company had moved the warehouse operation from Portland to Westbrook after the City Council voted in 1998 to approve a tax break to… Read More
I have some concerns over the legislation that directs the Warden Service and its present approach to the missing patient in local towns. I agree that while marshaling the resources they have is helpful and appreciated, local resources and assets commonly exceed that of the… Read More
Yasser Arafat will help to bring about peace if, 1) he gets peace at home (i.e., no more Israeli attacks); 2) Israel withdraws its settlements and troops from the West Bank and Gaza; and 3) Jerusalem is partitioned (“The weeds will win”, BDN commentary, Dec. 15-16). If this… Read More
“Park opponents denounce RESTORE study” (BDN, Dec. 14) has left me with some questions. If the University of Maine’s David Field has not even read the study on the economic impact of the proposed Maine Woods National Park and Preserve, how on earth can he call the study’s… Read More
Thanks to those who have come to the candlelight vigils for peaceful justice in front of the Federal Building on Tuesdays from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. since Oct. 9, shortly after the beginning of the bombing of Afghanistan. The vigil in Bangor has been just one of… Read More
For now, the U.S. State Department is every bit as enthralled with Pakistan as it was when the United States first needed its cooperation in Afghanistan. But as members – perhaps hundreds of members, including leaders and perhaps even the top leader – of al-Qaida and the Taliban… Read More
Maine’s adventures in energy deregulation have only just begun so it may be too early to draw conclusions about its chances for success, but a question of how small energy users (homeowners and some small businesses) in a low-population state are to attract enough major competitors to lower… Read More
The op-ed page of the Dec. 7 issue of the Bangor Daily News featured an article by Arthur P. Grollman, M.D., titled, “Control herbal medicine.” Dr. Grollman makes many inaccurate statements. As an example he writes, “herbs may be marketed without chemical analysis or prior testing for safety.”… Read More
Now there’s an evocative calendar reference! Say “December of ’41,” and the American mind flashes back 60 years to Pearl Harbor and FDR’s “Day of Infamy.” More than 3,000 of our folks died. By that time, London had endured Hitler’s blitz, but “December of ’41”… Read More
CANAAN – Suzanne Dipasquale, 47, of Summer Street, Pittsfield, was killed instantly Thursday afternoon when she lost control of her Buick Regal and it slid into the path of an oncoming tractor-trailer truck. The crash took place about one-eighth of a mile west of the… Read More
PORTLAND – Jonathan Carter is clean and green. He is a member of the Green party and probably will run for governor under the state’s Clean Election fund. But in the coming race, Carter said his primary focus wouldn’t be the environment or campaign finance… Read More
BANGOR – A federal magistrate potentially has cleared the way for a lawsuit brought by the Maine People’s Alliance against a former owner of the HoltraChem Manufacturing Co. plant. U.S. Magistrate Judge Margaret Kravchuk recommended in an advisory ruling that three motions filed by Mallinckrodt… Read More
Again this year, employees of several area businesses have pooled their resources and made a generous contribution to the Santa’s Helper Fund. Today’s contributions included checks and cash from the employees of Brewer Automotive Components, $127; and employees at ZF Lemforder Corp., Brewer, $719.53. Donations… Read More
BANGOR – A federal judge on Thursday threw out much of a civil lawsuit brought against the city by the owner of a State Street strip club, the last such club in the city. Calling the lawsuit the “latest chapter of the tortured history of… Read More
GRAND FALLS TOWNSHIP – The state Medical Examiner’s Office has determined that a man whose burned body was found in July next to his car in northern Hancock County committed suicide. Cause of death for Krishan K. Ahuja, 59, of Monroe Township, N.J., was thermal… Read More
WINTERPORT – The state Department of Environmental Protection has issued a draft permit allowing removal of the West Winterport Dam. Released Thursday, the draft states that DEP intends to give the environmental group Facilitators Improving Salmonid Habitat, or FISH, authorization to remove the dam along… Read More
BAR HARBOR – Developer Thomas Walsh has won planning board approval for a 6,000-square-foot addition to his Golden Anchor Inn. The addition, which Walsh is calling a carriage house, will be built of stucco, granite, brick and wood in a half-timber style to match the… Read More
CARIBOU – Maine State Police is the only agency that has made a proposal to perform Enhanced-911 dispatching for Aroostook County. In September, county commissioners voted to send out requests for proposals for that service to 48 E-911 Public Safety Answering Points, known as PSAPs,… Read More
NEWPORT – On Dec. 15, the Nokomis JROTC held an All Army Drill League Championship at Nokomis Regional High School. The schools that competed were Bangor High School, Hermon High School, Spaulding High School in Rochester, N.H., and White Mountain Regional High in Whitefield, N.H. Read More
The following divorces have been granted in 2nd District Court in Houlton on grounds of irreconcilable differences: Keith Ernest Wyman, Presque Isle, and Laurie Jo Wyman, Bridgewater, married Nov. 25, 1989, at Oxbow. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes… Read More
SCARBOROUGH – Two land conservation organizations have raised more than $700,000 needed to preserve 180 acres of fields and woodlands on the banks of the Nonesuch River. The Scarborough Land Conservation Trust and the Trust for Public Lands, a national nonprofit organization, raised the money… Read More
CARIBOU – The Kiwanis Club of Caribou will sponsor a Christmas dinner from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 25, at Cary Medical Center. The Kiwanis would like to have senior citizens who are alone for the holidays join them for the dinner. googletag.cmd.push(function… Read More
FORT KENT – The University of Maine at Fort Kent is looking to the community for residents interested in establishing a Senior College program in the northernmost part of the state. The program would be designed to provide a curriculum of stimulating learning opportunities and… Read More
HOULTON – Staff members at the Houlton Higher Education Center will be available to advise students interested in University of Maine or Northern Maine Technical College courses during the coming semester. Classes begin Jan. 14, but Jean Henderson and Otis Smith will be at the… Read More
PRESQUE ISLE – Northern Maine Technical College will start its spring semester for full-time and part-time students in the southern Aroostook area beginning Jan. 14. Most of the classes are in the evenings and meet one evening per week. College credits may be earned in… Read More
AUGUSTA – Gov. Angus King is looking to play a part in picking his successor. King, an independent, said that once the June 11 primaries are over, there is a good chance he will endorse someone in the 2002 gubernatorial race. King is barred by… Read More
STONINGTON – The owner of the Little Gull variety store that burned earlier this week says she’ll rebuild the popular stopping place on Route 15. “Our plan is to rebuild,” said Lorena Ray on Thursday. “I’m not sure exactly when. After the holidays we want… Read More
BANGOR – The next meeting of Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder will be from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 8, at Acadia Hospital in the Penobscot conference room. The meetings are held the second Tuesday of each month at Acadia Hospital. Behavior plans, contracts and… Read More
BANGOR – Standing over a pile of entries up to his waist, Santa picked the winner of the Bangor Daily News-Bangor Mall $1,000 Shopping Spree Giveaway. The winner, chosen Monday at the Bangor Mall, was Phyllis Snell of Hammond. “I think I entered every day… Read More
CORINNA – A 17-year-old girl from Corinna died after a snowmobile accident on the Moodys Mills Road on Thursday night. Just before 8 p.m., Amanda Foss was riding as a passenger on a snowmobile driven by 17-year-old Garth Norris of Palmyra. The two were headed… Read More
HAMPDEN – An SAD 22 subcommittee will continue to explore the idea of a districtwide all-day kindergarten program, Assistant Superintendent Emil Genest said Thursday. The board of directors on Wednesday authorized its education committee to review further and analyze costs and other issues associated with… Read More
BANGOR – The lower electric bills promised during last year’s deregulation of the state’s notoriously expensive power industry might not have come yet. But Bangor officials hope a group’s recent offer to drop the cost of much of the city’s electricity supply by 23 percent… Read More
WINTER HARBOR – Housing being vacated by the Navy may provide some relief for an employer on Mount Desert Island whose workers have a tough time finding a place to live. The Bar Harbor-based Jackson Laboratory – the largest employer in Hancock County – already… Read More
MACHIAS – A group of Washington County pupils took an after-school trip to the Bronx Zoo this week, and they returned to their homes in plenty of time for supper. The Machias-area children were the first in the state to experience such a field trip,… Read More
DOVER-FOXCROFT – The Kiwanis Club distributed gifts to 62 children in a total of 33 families throughout the Dover-Foxcroft area on Dec. 15, as part of the service club’s annual community Christmas project. As it does each year, Kiwanis coordinated the Christmas gift-giving efforts of… Read More
ATKINSON- A local home was burglarized Thursday afternoon and Christmas presents were stolen. A side door was forced open to gain entry into the house, located on the village end of the Maple Road, according to Sgt. Robert Young of the Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Department. Read More
GUILFORD – A 55-year-old Milo woman escaped serious injury Thursday morning when her vehicle collided with another vehicle on Route 15. Jo-Marie Copeland had dropped her husband off at Pride Manufacturing Co. at about 4:43 a.m. and was crossing the road to park her 1999… Read More
GREENVILLE – Municipal officials on Wednesday wanted to dispel any notion that the Board of Selectmen and the state were involved in a discussion to close or consolidate one of the two state offices here. Selectmen made it clear that the board had not raised… Read More
ROCKPORT – Thursday’s Wellness Day at Camden Hills Regional High School was just what the doctor ordered. The school has suffered what experts call an outbreak of “contagion suicide.” In the past nine months three students ended their own lives, another died in an accidental… Read More
ELLSWORTH – City officials have been briefed by the city manager about an expected 5.7 percent increase in the city’s 2003 budget. Tim King, Ellsworth’s city manager, told members of the City Council earlier this week that this would represent an increase of about $890,000… Read More
MILFORD – A. Keith Ober, superintendent of School Union 90 for eight years, submitted his resignation at a joint school board meeting recently, citing the inability of the four towns in the school system to work well together, among other reasons. Ober’s resignation follows a… Read More
You give, but you get, as well, when you participate in the American Red Cross annual Christmas blood drive from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday, Dec. 24, at the ARC Blood Donor Center, 900 Hammond St. in Bangor. Foremost, of course, is the gift… Read More
SIDNEY – An 80-year-old Waterville woman lost her life in a highway accident on slush-coated Route 23. June Marshall was killed instantly Wednesday when a sport utility vehicle driven by her husband collided with a pickup truck, state police said. Joseph Marshall, 79, and passenger… Read More
FREDERICTON, New Brunswick – New Brunswick’s Opposition says a moose hunt by Indians in the province is out of control and could pose a health hazard to consumers. Shawn Graham, the Liberal natural resources critic, said about 200,000 pounds of Indian-harvested moose meat is being… Read More
DOVER, N.H. – After two days of deliberations, a juror was replaced Thursday morning and deliberations were ordered to begin anew in the murder trial of a man charged with killing his girlfriend’s 21-month-old daughter. The woman juror was dismissed for unspecified personal reasons and… Read More
PORTLAND – A District Court clerk convicted of pocketing $4,110 in fees that came across her desk faces up to five years in prison. Deborah Willette, who worked for the court system for 21 years before she was fired last year, was found guilty Wednesday… Read More
CASCO – The man who was behind the wheel when a car crashed into a tree early on the morning of Nov. 10, killing all five occupants, was legally drunk, state troopers said Thursday. Tests revealed that the blood alcohol level for driver Aaron Harmon… Read More
DETROIT – Three boys sledding in a gravel pit on Basford Road in Detroit were shocked Wednesday evening when a vehicle pulled up alongside the road and a rifle poked out a window. Shots were fired and the boys ran for home, hearing another shot… Read More
AUGUSTA – A charitable foundation born from the sale of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maine announced plans Thursday to go to the public as it seeks ways to improve health care access for Mainers. The Maine Access Foundation’s new executive director, Dr. Wendy… Read More
PORTLAND – Despite gains made during the economic boom of the 1990s, the poverty rate in Washington County remains more than twice that of some southern Maine counties, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Data being released Thursday indicate that 5,931 people… Read More
Aarts much more than hard-nosed skater Left winger leads Maine in scoring, helps team to solid start
ORONO – University of Maine sophomore left winger Meagan Aarts knows she won’t be receiving any Christmas presents or cards from opposing coaches or players. In the highly competitive but relatively polite world of women’s hockey, where there is no body checking, Aarts is like… Read More
BOSTON – In a $660 million deal that would double the record price for a baseball team, the limited partners of the Boston Red Sox voted unanimously Thursday to sell the franchise to a group led by Florida Marlins owner John Henry and former San Diego Padres owner… Read More
At Bangor Bangor boys 133, John Bapst 41 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]… Read More
There will be informational meetings pertaining to the soon-to-be-opened multi-sport Maine Sports Complex on Saturday and Sunday from 4-5 p.m. at the Ramada Inn in Bangor. The public is urged to attend. The owner welcomes input from the community. There will also be a signup… Read More
HIGH SCHOOL At Caribou 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]… Read More
MADAWASKA – Nicholas Thibodeau buried a buzzer-beating 15-footer from the left corner of the foul line to lift Fort Kent to a 53-52 schoolboy basketball win over Madawaska on Thursday night. Thibodeau finished with 14 points, Anthony Lamarr added 14 and Dustin Nadeau scored 13… Read More
BELFAST – Belfast outscored Rockland 22-11 in the fourth quarter to pull away for a 75-69 boys basketball victory Thursday. Six Lions scored during the period, led by Ben Cowan with eight points and Jesse Robbins with six. Senior forward Cowan finished with 26 points,… Read More
BELFAST – Belfast outscored Rockland 22-11 in the fourth quarter to pull away for a 75-69 boys basketball victory Thursday night. Six Lions scored during the quarter, led by Ben Cowan with eight points and Jesse Robbins with six. Senior forward Cowan finished with 26… Read More
In theaters THE MAJESTIC, directed by Frank Darabont, written by Michael Sloane, 152 minutes, rated PG. 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… Read More
On the morning of Sept. 11, Jack Montgomery, a Portland lawyer, anxiously phoned his teen daughter, Molly, in Greenwich Village. It was just after 9 a.m. and Molly, a freshman in the first week of college, was still asleep. Take your cell phone and go outside, Montgomery told… Read More