BANGOR – Citing the hardships it would impose on workers from northern Maine, demonstrators gathered in front of the Margaret Chase Smith Federal Building on Friday to protest the closure this month of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s regional office there. Located on the… Read More
    WISCASSET – Legendary Waldo County badman Joel Fuller has been found not guilty of a 19-year-old murder. A Lincoln County Superior Court jury of eight men and four women deliberated for about four hours before reaching its verdict Friday evening. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define… Read More
    You’d expect the Library of Congress, as it begins an effort to preserve and catalog important American sound recordings with the same care already extended to important American documents and memorabilia, to include on its just-published list of the first 50 projects something so thoroughly American as an… Read More
    Longtime health care advocate Joe Ditre of Consumers for Affordable Health Care recently observed that Gov. John Baldacci had three “P’s” in his favor as he tries to overhaul health care coverage in Maine: policy, political will and popular support. The governor has respected policy experts, a commitment… Read More
    Six hundred personnel and eight Coast Guard cutters are being pulled from East Coast stations, including one from Portland and one from Gloucester, Mass., for deployment to the Persian Gulf “to protect Navy ships, oil tankers and military command vessels from attack and suicide bomb threats.”… Read More
    As a longtime resident and former member of the SAD 63 school board, I was interested in the Jan. 23 letter by Ned Payne. Apparently, pizza is cheaper in Holden where Payne resides. Because of the last SAD 63 budget, my taxes went up $285… Read More
    Why do some snowmobilers want to be limited to riding in their own back yards? Why do a few of them insist on having our trails shut down? Is it really that hard to stay on the marked trails? Is it really necessary to make their own trail… Read More
    This letter is in regard to the story titled, “GNP a trophy for hunter Bedard,” in the Bangor Daily News on July 24-25, 1999. It would appear Lambert Bedard has indeed bagged his kill and is ready to go home with full pockets at the expense of the… Read More
    I lived through the 1930s and remember clearly how Mussolini, Hitler and the Japanese empire were allowed to bloom. The League of Nations turned out to be useless. The leaders of England and France let Hitler bully and bluff them at a time when they… Read More
    I want to eliminate Groundhog Day because it gets people’s hopes up. They wish for it every spring and every time it is still winter. Just let winter go on so people won’t be so sad. Everyone wishes for spring to be here because it… Read More
    I accuse the unnamed Department of Human Service worker who transferred $434,000 in a shell game to prevent DHS from losing the money with a grievous offense against the “commonwealth” of the people of Maine who pay taxes. State Auditor Gail Chase has found that… Read More
    In his State of the Union speech, President Bush – well-schooled in the ways of show business – did a pretty fair job of holding his audience through all the boring housekeeping stuff on his way to the grand finale concerning the probable future state of Saddam Hussein’s… Read More
    John F. Kennedy once said: “When written in Chinese, the word ‘crisis’ is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity.” A clever way to restate the truism handed down from antiquity that from bad times better times can come. The… Read More
    George W. Bush recently unveiled a plan aimed at strengthening the economy. The president’s economic agenda will encourage consumer spending, promote investment by individuals and businesses, and deliver critical help to unemployed workers. This plan will boost the economy and lead to job creation. If passed by Congress,… Read More
    EAST MILLINOCKET – The Machinist Union Local 362 is holding an informational meeting about health care and other benefits for members and retirees of all eight area trade union locals at 3 p.m. Monday, Feb. 3, in the Schenck High School gym. Members are urged to attend. Read More
    The Maine Department of Labor on Friday submitted a request to the U.S. Department of Labor for $23 million to establish unemployment and career assistance programs for Great Northern Paper Inc.’s laid-off workers. The money would be used to hire 27 employment counselors to assist… Read More
    People affected by the Great Northern Paper shutdown who need assistance should contact the following: For food: 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++) {… Read More
    Employment assistants and counselors will be available Monday in Sherman to talk with individuals who may lose their jobs indirectly because of the prolonged shutdown of Great Northern Paper Inc. The Maine Department of Labor’s Rapid Response team will conduct an informational session from 10… Read More
    HOULTON – There was more good economic news for Houlton this week: The Canadian doughnut chain Tim Hortons plans to open a restaurant in town this summer. “We’re very excited about coming to Houlton,” Greg Skinner, corporate communications officer for the chain, said Thursday during… Read More
    PORTLAND – A federal transportation panel ruled Friday that the Downeaster passenger train can operate at speeds of up to 79 mph on its Portland-to-Boston run. The U.S. Surface Transportation Board issued a decision that orders Guilford Rail System to permit Amtrak to operate the… Read More
    ORONO – Since completion of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994, trade between Maine and Canada has more than doubled. Today, Maine trades more than $3 billion worth of goods annually with Canada, with the neighboring provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec alone ranking second and… Read More
    UNITY – The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association will hold a short course for novice vegetable growers who are considering producing organic crops for sale. The two-part course will take place March 5 and 12 at the Common Ground Education Center in Unity. MOFGA’s technical services director… Read More
    FLORENCEVILLE, New Brunswick – Application forms are available for the 2003 McCain Group Scholarship program in North America. The maximum value of the scholarship is $15,570 for a four-year university program and $9,350 for a two-year technical or nursing diploma. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define… Read More
    PORTLAND – Verizon officials are warning Mainers about a scam hitting the state that is designed to trick consumers into giving out personal information such as credit card or telephone calling card numbers. In the scam, a con artist posing as an operator calls, usually… Read More
    CALAIS – A call this past week from Maine’s governor has failed to convince a telemarketing firm to keep its doors open. Last week, telemarketer ICT Group Inc. told its 80 full- and part-time employees that it was closing the North Street call center. The… Read More
    SKOWHEGAN – Solon Manufacturing Co. has laid off about 14 percent of its work force as it struggles to cope with a flood of cheap disposable wood products from China. But rather than sit still, the company is developing plans to go into the importing… Read More
    Ron Brodeur admits that trying to get a laugh out of someone who has just been laid off from a job he has had for 30 years might seem an unusual way to gauge resilience and the capacity for hope. But as the Maine Labor Department’s assistant rapid… Read More
    Northeastern states now have opposition in their attempt to fight new Bush administration air policies that they believe will result in increased pollution drifting from the Midwest. Maine is among nine East Coast states that sued EPA administrator Christie Whitman in late December, stating that… Read More
    SOUTHWEST HARBOR – Friday afternoons haven’t been the same at Pemetic Elementary School for the past month. And if everything goes well, they never will be again. Along about snack time in Ellen Mercer’s kindergarten class, volunteers from the U.S. Coast Guard come to visit. Read More
    WOOLWICH – Duck hunters are prohibited from launching motorboats from a new launch on the Kennebec River because the endangered shortnose sturgeon uses the cove as a feeding ground. The sturgeon feed in Pleasant Cove between April and November, and scientists fear that motorboats could… Read More
    PORTLAND – The former top psychiatrist at the Augusta Mental Health Institute told a judge that he quit because officials did not want to hear about recurring problems at the state psychiatric hospital. Dr. Benjamin Grasso, the hospital’s medical director from 1999 to 2002, said… Read More
    AUGUSTA – The Maine State Police recently honored several dispatchers at an annual training session. Kevin Scott, the emergency communications specialist supervisor at Houlton, was recognized as supervisor of the year. Scott has served as a dispatcher at the Houlton Regional Communications Center since 1980. Read More
    PRESQUE ISLE – A Presque Isle man was injured Friday afternoon when his snowmobile collided with an SAD 1 school bus. Oral Gogan, 47, was operating his 1990 Yamaha snowmobile south on State Road at about 2:40 p.m. and failed to see the school bus… Read More
    NORTH ANSON – An Anson man became the state’s ninth snowmobile fatality of the season when his snowmobile veered off a trail and into some trees late Thursday, authorities said. Prescott Daigle, 34, was following three other snowmobiles on a trail shortly before midnight when… Read More
    SACO – Barbie fans were in for a surprise when they went to the Saco Museum for a lecture about the Mattel icon. The speaker was Erica Rand, the author of “Barbie’s Queer Accessories,” which takes a look at how Barbie’s conventional image is at… Read More
    PORTLAND – Three years after her tearful courtroom apology for shaking an infant boy to death, Virginia Stanley is trying to get her 10-year prison sentence thrown out. Stanley says she pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of 4-month-old Jake Belisle because her lawyers… Read More
    WASHINGTON – Less than a week after becoming the third-largest federal organization, the Department of Homeland Security is already susceptible to fraud, waste and abuse, according to the General Accounting Office. And that concerns Sen. Susan M. Collins, the Maine Republican who heads the Senate… Read More
    Inquisitive and energetic, Melissa, 11, brings much love and laughter to her current foster home. She enjoys the outdoors and has a special fondness for animals, especially birds. Melissa’s foster parents describe her greatest strength as a strong desire to achieve. Once she undertakes a… Read More
    SKOWHEGAN – When the Somerset County Jail Committee learned this week that it would cost as much to build a new jail as it would to renovate and add on to the current facility, they decided to step back and look at all their options. Read More
    GUILFORD – Hopes for the proposed replacement of a water main on Elm Street were dashed this week when Guilford-Sangerville Water District trustees learned they had not received a grant for the project. The trustees had hoped to acquire a $400,000 Community Development Block Grant… Read More
    GREENVILLE – Local officials breathed a collective sigh of relief Thursday upon learning that the state had granted the town a variance from siting requirements for sand-salt storage. The variance is the 11th issued statewide by the Department of Environmental Protection since the new rules… Read More
    HOLDEN – A Milford man suffered minor injuries Friday after he rode a snowmobile across Eastern Avenue and struck the side of a moving car. Brian Fournier, 23, was treated at St. Joseph Hospital in Bangor and was released, according to a hospital nursing supervisor. Read More
    CORINTH – Starting today, Mayo Regional Hospital ambulances will respond to emergencies in this Penobscot County town. The Penobscot Regional Dispatch Center was notified Friday that effective Feb. 1, the Dover-Foxcroft-based ambulance service is to be dispatched for all emergency calls in Corinth. Residents will… Read More
    ELLSWORTH – A Mount Desert man who broke into several businesses in Bar Harbor and the Ellsworth area pleaded guilty Friday in Hancock County Superior Court to multiple counts of burglary. Allan Greene, 20, burglarized nine businesses, some of them more than once, and one… Read More
    DANFORTH – Residents voted 20-15 on Thursday at a special town meeting to authorize selectmen to proceed with taking more than 15 acres of shorefront property on East Grand Lake by eminent domain, if it becomes necessary. A second article authorizing them to spend up… Read More
    CAMDEN – MBNA CEO and Chairman Charlie Cawley, a part-time resident who owns an estate on Bayview Street, is seeking a town permit to extend a pier from his property. The Select Board will consider setting a public hearing date on Monday night for considering… Read More
    ELLSWORTH – A Verona man convicted four years ago of giving alcohol to a teenage girl and having sex with her pleaded guilty and was sentenced Friday in Hancock County Superior Court to doing the same thing with another juvenile. Richard Files, 30, last year… Read More
    Rockland District Court Cases Jan. 13-17, 2003 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 Slot… Read More
    HOULTON – After rejecting several amendments, the Town Council on Thursday unanimously approved a budget of $7,438,243 for 2003. The approved budget leaves a gap of about $142,000 between expenditures and expected revenues. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes… Read More
    BOSTON – A federal appeals court has overturned the rape conviction of a former teacher at a private center for emotionally troubled children in New Hampshire. In a 2-1 decision, the court said Raymond Ellsworth’s trial was flawed because he was limited in his ability… Read More
    While this paper has regularly contained information for where workers at the closed Great Northern Paper mills in Millinocket and East Millinocket can receive assistance during this uncertain period, and addresses have been supplied for people to make financial contributions to help those in need, other Maine residents… Read More
    BOSTON – The snowflakes started to fall innocently enough on Feb. 6, 1978, but the blizzard that ensued battered the Northeast through the night. Hurricane-strength winds carved snowdrifts as high as rooftops. Massive waves clawed the coast, swallowing homes and carving up beaches. Thousands of drivers abandoned their… Read More
    University of Maine freshman goalie Jimmy Howard said he “can’t wait” to step between the pipes at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, N.H. Saturday night. Ditto for University of New Hampshire junior netminder Mike Ayers. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes =… Read More
    Swimming HIGH SCHOOL 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 Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]];… Read More
    ORONO – Cindy Biron scored off a Karen Droog assist 54 seconds into overtime Friday, lifting the University of Maine women’s hockey team to a 2-1 victory over Cornell at Alfond Arena. The 7-10-4 Black Bears rallied to tie the game after pulling the goalie… Read More
    MARS HILL – Central Aroostook outscored Southern Aroostook 26-16 in the final period to turn a two-point game into an 80-68 schoolboy basketball victory Friday night. Brian Grew and Jason Woodworth led a balanced scoring attack with 24 points each for the hosts. Andrew York… Read More
    WOODLAND – Chad Pike took a pass from Weston Kochendoerfer and nailed a 15-foot jumper as time expired Friday night, lifting Woodland to a 48-47 schoolboy basketball victory over Calais. Pike had hit two free throws with 19 seconds to play to put Woodland up… Read More
    LEE – Ashlee Gifford scored off a missed free throw with two seconds left in overtime Friday night, lifting Lee Academy to a 65-63 schoolgirl basketball victory over Bangor Christian. Shelby Pickering scored 27 points with 13 rebounds for the Pandas. Gifford netted 15 points… Read More
    Men’s Hockey MAINE vs. NEW HAMPSHIRE 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 Slot… Read More
    Cherryfield’s Andy Santerre, who claimed the Busch North series points championship last season, headlines the list of series participants today at the fourth annual Busch North Poker Snowmobile Run for Charity in Rangeley. The ride is open to everyone and the first group will leave… Read More
    Eastern Maine Class A Championship Time, site: Skowhegan, 8 a.m. weigh-in, wrestling begins at 9:30 a.m. 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
    Even my mother thought I’d lost my marbles when I told her last Monday that I’d been for a dip in the ocean on Jan. 24 in Eastport. As I tried to explain it was for a good cause, her exclamations on the other end of the telephone… Read More
    If the warm weather (OK, these things are all relative … but remember how sore your ears were getting during the cold snap?) has you thinking spring, there’s an event going on that you might want to check out. It’s the Down East Camping and… Read More
    Editor’s note: The following trail conditions report is compiled by members of the Maine Snowmobile Association. Those seeking the complete report can visit mesnow.com Aroostook County googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var… Read More
    Editor’s Note: In Sound Advice, the first Saturday of every month, veteran NEWS entertainment writer Dale McGarrigle, former British music-press writer Adam Corrigan and a revolving stable of NEWS writers review new albums from across the musical spectrum. “Phrenology” (MCA) – The Roots googletag.cmd.push(function ()… Read More
    My electric stove has committed suicide. There was no note, but I suspect it was lack of attention. The suicide came in stages. It started in spectacular fashion in early December, when a kettle disintegrated on one of the large burners. (I don’t know why… Read More
    Oh, they’ve done it again. Those seed companies have me nearly drooling over their slick glossies. Reveling in the possibilities, drinking down the photos as though they were a tall, cool glass of lemonade on a hot August day. Every year this thing happens to… Read More