ROCKLAND – Investigators announced Monday that they believe they have captured the man responsible not only for setting at least six fires in the midcoast area but also several arson fires in Mississippi. John Melvin Moody, 51, of Rockland was arrested Friday and charged with… Read More
    DEDHAM – It was the kind of windblown, bitter snowstorm that hypnotizes car drivers and sends pilots into death spirals, and Roland Labbe was stuck in the middle of it. The 24-year-old was tired. It was just before midnight Sunday. He was in Lincoln, driving… Read More
    At the State House on Monday, Gov. John Baldacci announced the start of state-subsidized health insurance in Maine. DirigoChoice, a critical piece of the governor’s Dirigo Health reforms, took effect over the weekend, with an estimated 1,800 people enrolled – employees of 216 small businesses and 867 sole… Read More
    WASHINGTON – Foreign visitors at the 50 busiest land border crossings in 10 states are now being fingerprinted as part of the government’s new biometric screening system, the Homeland Security Department announced on Monday. The system, called US-VISIT, scans photographs of the visitor’s face and… Read More
    BOULDER, Colo. – About 200 friends and family members gathered Sunday to share memories of Kelly Ann Hillgrove, an energetic humanitarian, college student and globe-trotter who was killed in Sri Lanka by last week’s cataclysmic tsunami. “She was a rare combination of an old soul… Read More
    According to published reports, former Maine Sen. George J. Mitchell, a partner in the law firm of Piper Rudnick in Washington, is becoming chairman of the third-largest legal firm in the world. Piper Rudnick was to merge Jan. 1 with DLA, the seventh-largest law firm… Read More
    PORTLAND – After a six-month lull, container shipments will once again pass through Maine’s largest seaport. This week’s arrival of the Ossian, which will carry Maine goods to and from larger ships in Boston and Halifax, Nova Scotia, marks the port’s first container traffic since… Read More
    NASHUA, N.H. – New Hampshire ski industry representatives say they’re optimistic about business again. The last four seasons have seen more than 8.6 million paid skier visits to the state – one of the highest recorded cumulative totals, according to Ski New Hampshire, an industry… Read More
    Old folks remember the Model T Ford, popular in the 1920s, and available in one color: black. People called it the tin Lizzie. To start it, you had to get out in front and crank the engine. The crank sometimes spun backward and broke your arm. Doctors could… Read More
    The news from tsunami-stricken countries in Asia continues to be heartbreakingly bad. The number of dead climbs daily. Fears of disease, which could kill more people than the deadly wave, are increasing due to knee-deep stagnant water in many areas, a lack of clean drinking water and generally… Read More
    A tip of the New Year’s top hat to downtown Bangor resident and attorney Stephen Smith for his wonderful event – the dropping of the New Year’s illuminated ball from high above Sweet’s Market, ala Times Square in New York City. This low-cost, high-value spectacle was a genuine… Read More
    Recently, Plum Creek executives from Seattle met with local citizens in Greenville to present a comprehensive development plan for more than 400,000 acres of their lands surrounding Greenville and Moosehead Lake. Plum Creek expressed the desire to develop 12,000 acres for small lot subdivisions, an industrial area, and… Read More
    I found the article, “Interim president on the road to tout UM” (BDN, Dec. 24), to be very interesting and informative. The gist of the article was that the University of Maine has a new interim leader who is out in the public attempting to bring UM closer… Read More
    The U.S. government has caused the deaths, as of September, of as many as 100,000 Iraqi civilians. This report appeared in the Lancet, Oct. 29, an internationally respected medical journal. The suggestion here is that for the U.S. political leadership to inflict murder and mayhem in our name… Read More
    I enjoyed your two-section year-end review and all of the wonderful pictures. I live in “the other state of Maine … Washington County,” and could not help but notice that your paper, the voice of eastern Maine, ignored our existence for another year. I know… Read More
    Recruiting temporary foreign workers to take low-wage jobs seems like a win-win for everyone. The employers get cheap hard-working labor. Poor foreigners get the chance to make a better wage, and we all pay less for goods and services. Over the past 30 years, Congress… Read More
    BANGOR – A Newport man was indicted Monday by the Penobscot County grand jury on a charge of manslaughter in the November hunting death of his friend in Levant. Adam B. Nason, 20, fatally shot James Griffin Jr., 21, of Levant on Nov. 8 while… Read More
    BANGOR – LifeFlight of Maine operates two helicopters jointly through Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor and Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston. When it comes to medical emergencies, its crew is used to seeing the worst of the worst. As far as equipment for… Read More
    AUGUSTA – The 122nd Maine Legislature returns to the State House today to begin the process of winnowing more than 2,100 bills, many of which focus on tax relief and current election laws. Margaret E. Matheson, revisor of statutes for the Legislature, said Monday that… Read More
    BELFAST – Accused murderer Jerome Reynolds II entered a plea of not guilty during his arraignment in Waldo County Superior Court on Monday. He is being held without bail. Reynolds, 54, of Brooks, is charged with the Sept. 29, 2004, shotgun slaying of Janet Bacon,… Read More
    GUILFORD – SAD 4 directors have extended Superintendent Paul Stearn’s contract by one year and set his 2005 salary at $77,000 plus a $5,000 stipend in lieu of benefits. In 2004, Stearns received $74,000 plus a $3,500 stipend in lieu of taxes. googletag.cmd.push(function () {… Read More
    HOULTON – It won’t be long before municipal employees and residents can reap the rewards of the town’s new geographic information system, or GIS. Town councilors heard an update on the $82,000 mapping project at a recent meeting, where Code Enforcement Officer Wade Hanson said… Read More
    HOULTON – Features that once were erased from the blueprints of the town’s footbridge are possible again thanks to increased public donations. Bob Anderson, chairman of the Riverfront Bridge Committee, said Monday that about $90,000 has been raised in addition to the more than $1… Read More
    BELFAST – The following divorces were granted in 5th District Court on grounds of irreconcilable marital differences: Stuart R. MacLeod and Allison G. MacLeod, both of Belfast; married at Belfast April 18, 1998; shared custody of one child. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var… Read More
    SHERMAN – Local residents are going to be safer and more well-read thanks to a donation from the National Starch and Chemical Foundation. The foundation, which is a funding arm of the New Jersey-based National Starch and Chemical Co., recently donated money to the Sherman… Read More
    CAMDEN – Make us an offer. That’s the approach the Select Board is taking toward selling the former Apollo tannery property on Washington Street. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i… Read More
    MOUNT DESERT – Two members of the Warrant Committee lobbied unsuccessfully Monday for selectmen to include a $500 donation to Hospice of Hancock County in the town meeting warrant. Carmen Sanford and Donna Beals both questioned the elected officials about how they could increase funding… Read More
    ROCKLAND – The state can’t regulate where a methadone clinic locates in Rockland, but it can recognize the need for one. One of the few clear answers Monday to questions about a methadone clinic proposed for 77 Park St. was that the state has no… Read More
    PITTSFIELD – Pittsfield firefighter and businessman Todd Noble, 31, remained in critical condition Monday at Eastern Maine Medical Center after he suffered head injuries in a New Year’s Day traffic accident, according to police. Noble was injured early New Year’s Day when the 1997 Chevrolet… Read More
    Authorities are investigating burglaries or attempted break-ins to more than a half-dozen businesses in Bangor during the past week. The burglars seemed to focus on money, in some cases leaving other valuables behind, and in one instance tried to leave with a safe. googletag.cmd.push(function ()… Read More
    BANGOR – Pupils’ math and writing skills improved during the past year and a half thanks to a variety of instructional activities and staff development programs, elementary school principals said Monday. Administrators of Fruit Street School, Vine Street School and Fourteenth Street School told the… Read More
    BREWER – Students who do well on the annual Maine Educational Assessment tests in Brewer could have their scores averaged into the Maine Learning Results, if the tests help improve the student’s standing, a new policy states. “The assessment committee proposes that MEA scores, when… Read More
    Dover-Foxcroft District Court Cases Nov. 14-Dec. 21, 2004 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
    PORTLAND – There are stories in the North Woods, and an exhibit at the Maine Historical Society hopes to tell them using photographs and journal entries from a century ago to depict the changes in Maine’s forests. The exhibit, “Umbazooksus and Beyond: the Maine Woods… Read More
    GREENVILLE – Union 60 board members have approved a salary of $79,030 for Superintendent Steven Pound and extended his contract by three years. The new salary represents a 3 percent increase in pay, the same increase provided to his office staff. googletag.cmd.push(function () { //… Read More
    GREENVILLE – Charles A. Dean Memorial Hospital and Nursing Home has added a computerized axial tomography, or CT, scanner to its resources. The hospital recently signed a contract with Shared Imaging of Streamwood, Ill., for lease of a General Electric HiSpeed CT scanner, according to… Read More
    CORINTH – Residents who want to submit articles from the Abner F. Morison Trust Fund for the 2005 annual town meeting should submit their requests by Jan. 10. The deadline for all other articles is Jan. 24. Read More
    NEWPORT – Two students in Nokomis Regional High School’s honors science research class have created a replica of the Sebasticook Valley Middle School’s wildcat mascot. Using taxidermy molds and scientific methods, Jayme Langford of Dixmont and Jessica Swain of Plymouth reproduced a life-size cougar in… Read More
    FORT KENT – A St. Agatha man has been charged with criminal mischief and violation of probation in connection with a disturbance and damage caused at the Northern Maine Medical Center on New Year’s Day morning. Joel Landry, 48, was being held in the Aroostook… Read More
    BUCKSPORT – Potential users of a planned shared kitchen will share their ideas next week with the architects who are designing the plans for the facility. Last month, town councilors awarded the contract for developing the concept design for the kitchen project to Port City… Read More
    MACHIAS – Chris Gardner, a police officer in Eastport and formerly a Washington County sheriff’s deputy, will be sworn in Thursday as one of two new Washington County commissioners at the group’s first meeting of the year. Gardner, a Republican from Edmunds Township, defeated Democrat… Read More
    HOLDEN – The town’s comprehensive plan committee added two planning board members to its rolls last week when two other committee members volunteered to step down, Town Manager Larry Varisco said recently. The 11-member comprehensive plan committee was lacking planning board representation, but at the… Read More
    AUGUSTA – Facing a Tuesday deadline for reporting to the full membership, the Elections Committee of the Maine House of Representatives settled on a recommendation for the last of three disputed House elections Monday by proposing that Republican Lawrence Jacobsen be declared the winner over Democrat Michael McAlevey… Read More
    CONWAY, N.H. – The Maine woman accused of manslaughter in a Christmas Eve shooting would seem an unlikely assailant. She’s a 21-year-old singer-songwriter. The victim’s identity is just as surprising. He was a devout Buddhist, who, according to one close friend, died from a bullet… Read More
    Well, it’s an improvement. “It,” in this case, is the new NBC sitcom “Committed,” debuting tonight at 9:30. It’s better than the show it’s replacing, “Father of the Pride,” an animated series starring computer-generated animals so demeaning that it should have set both PETA and… Read More
    Dear Jim: Our old gas furnace is noisy and the room temperature swings up and down a lot. With record high gas prices this winter, our utility bills will bust our budget. What type of new gas furnace should we get? – Reg M. Dear… Read More
    On Monday, the Penobscot County grand jury indicted Adam Nason on a charge of manslaughter for the death of his friend, James Griffin Jr. Griffin was fatally shot in a hunting incident in November in Levant. Nason also was indicted Monday for night hunting, hunting… Read More
    Happy New Year! While watching the 11 o’clock news the other night -I’m a channel surfer, so I get to see all three local sports reports – I was taken back by the number of Christmas tournament games and regular-season basketball contests jammed in and… Read More
    COLLEGE Tiffany Jones 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