A report released Monday found that Maine’s term limits law has left its Legislature “underexperienced and overworked” and has compounded the state’s financial problems. The latest Governance Performance Project report, which scores states on four areas of management – financial, personnel, infrastructure and information –… Read More
BANGOR – After five years of effort, the local school department has completed a computer program that will help teachers and administrators quickly determine which students are meeting the state’s academic standards. Using the software, teachers will be able to easily and efficiently record the… Read More
ROCKLAND – The Friendship man accused of gunning down his boss outside a trucking business four days ago was clad in a bulletproof vest Monday when he appeared in 6th District Court to face a murder charge. Allison Small, a wife and mother of two… Read More
Asthma is such a common condition, it’s easy to forget how lethal it can be. But in a severe attack, just a few panicky minutes can mean the difference between life and death. Children and teens with asthma are at particular risk, since the rapid-relief inhaled medicines they… Read More
The Powerball numbers listed in Monday’s paper contained an extra number. The correct numbers, as listed on the Maine State Lottery Web site, are: 11 16 20 29 41, powerball 12, power play 5. — googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]];… Read More
STAMFORD, Conn. – MeadWestvaco Corp. reported a loss in the latest quarter, despite higher sales, due to charges for the pending sale of its papers business. The maker of packaging also said it would restate financial statements for 2003 and 2002 to correct deferred tax… Read More
AUGUSTA – The current statewide average cash price for No. 2 heating oil is $1.94 per gallon, up four cents from last week and 39 cents higher than this time last year, according to the latest price survey by the Maine State Planning Office. The… Read More
PORTLAND – Low-carb bread? That’s so 2004. The bread industry, hoping for a comeback after last year’s low-carb fad, is trying to get people to eat bread because it’s good for them – especially when it’s made with whole grains the government says we should… Read More
I was moved by the op-ed piece, “Native concerns about LNG, Quoddy Bay LLC” (BDN, Jan. 24), by Vera Francis of the Passamaquoddy tribe. She said, “Our survival as indigenous people has always rested upon the shoulders, backs and hearts of native women. The sooner… Read More
With snow piling up outside, it is hard to get people to worry about water. But, as the drought of 2001 and 2002 brought home, even a wet state like Maine can experience water shortages. That’s why the state is wise to quantify and regulate water use now… Read More
The success of Sunday’s election in Iraq is a victory for democracy and it is a major defeat to terrorists who tried mightily to derail the voting. Despite the murder of candidates and threats against those who planned to vote, millions of Iraqis cast their ballots. Many said… Read More
Regarding Tarren Bragdon’s op-ed, “Dirigo health plan a disappointment” (BDN, Jan. 25). Out-of-state money is once again trying to tell us how to run our lives. The Heritage Foundation is complaining about providing health insurance for the people of Maine. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define… Read More
Commentator and columnist Armstrong Williams recently accepted and later retracted money from the U.S. Department of Education to publicly praise their No Child Left Behind Act. Williams has been criticized for violating industry standards and ethical practices. His public relations firm, Ketchum Inc., has openly… Read More
Recently my third-grade daughter brought home the Weekly Reader. The main story told about our soldiers in Iraq and described their work as “helping to bring democracy to that country.” It went on to explain that “a democracy is a type of government in which… Read More
The abortion debate in America is a festering collection of sore points so putrescent with bitterness that if it was a leg you would have it amputated. It has given birth to many ill-conceived attempts by politicians to pursue the anti-abortion argument into the doctor’s office, including attempts… Read More
BANGOR – For Ernest Thomas, earning a high school diploma is more than just an important milestone. It’s the achievement of a lifetime. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i =… Read More
BANGOR – Rising heating fuel costs and extremely low temperatures are putting a strain on low-income families, causing many to take unusual and possibly unsafe steps to keep warm. Heating fuel suppliers have reported that numerous households not involved in a cost-assistance program are buying… Read More
AUGUSTA – Democrats and Republicans agreed Monday that Maine’s law regulating publicly financed campaigns requires a little tweaking, particularly in the reporting area. Funds available to a candidate choosing to run under Maine’s Clean Election Act against a privately funded opponent are capped at different… Read More
HARTLAND – Despite an air temperature of zero degrees Fahrenheit and water visibility at zero, it took two divers with the Maine Warden Service less than 10 minutes to locate the body of a Hartland man who on Saturday had broken through the ice at Great Moose Lake… Read More
Americans who have been desperate for some good news out of Iraq in the last 22 months take some encouragement in what happened there over the weekend, when 8 million people participated in their first free elections in 50 years. Their ink-stained fingertips raised in… Read More
PRESQUE ISLE – Dr. Kevin McCartney knows how important real dinosaur bones are to kids. The geology professor and director of the Northern Maine Museum of Science said Monday that he seldom completes a tour without several hopeful schoolchildren asking him whether the museum has… Read More
Van Buren District Secondary School Second 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]… Read More
EASTPORT – If the Passamaquoddy move ahead with plans to build a $20 million aerospace maintenance and manufacturing company on tribal land, they may have to look to neighboring communities to annex property. Although the tribe owns thousands of acres in Maine, the Pleasant Point… Read More
FORT KENT – Rep. Troy Jackson, D-Fort Kent, is looking to assist a local group, Community Voices, in keeping alcohol out of the hands of minors. Jackson is author of LR 843, an Act to Require Distributors of Alcohol to Post Signs Regarding the Laws… Read More
CHERRYFIELD – Barbara Mauer bought a home in Cherryfield in 2003 as a seasonal getaway from her New York City life, including 13 years spent marketing conventions, meetings and incentive travel for the German tourism office. Two years later, she is living locally full time… Read More
PLEASANT POINT – A proposed plan to build additional aviation and aerospace maintenance and manufacturing plants on Indian reservations in the state has received mixed reviews from other tribes. Two weeks ago, the Passamaquoddy Tribe unveiled plans to build a $20 million facility at Pleasant… Read More
ORONO – There still is work to do before plans can move forward with the 153-unit housing complex at the end of Colburn Drive. The management plan for Penobscot Commons, being constructed by Rhode Island-based Peregrine Developers, was reviewed Monday night by Community Development Committee… Read More
BANGOR – Area police departments are working together and exchanging information in hopes of capturing the people responsible for a string of burglaries, a crime that one investigator said is on the rise in the area. During the first weekend of the year, burglars broke… Read More
Hermon High School Second 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]… Read More
MONSON – To stave off a hike in the mill rate because of increasing county costs, Monson will have to dip into the town’s surplus account, a local official said Monday. The town’s contribution for the operation of the Piscataquis County budget increased 23 percent… Read More
5th District Court, Belfast BELFAST – The following divorces were granted in 5th District Court on grounds of irreconcilable marital differences. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i… Read More
BANGOR – Six weeks after a woman reported that someone tried to force her into a car outside a Bangor supermarket, the investigation is coming up short on leads, a police official said Monday. Two people were involved in the Dec. 23, 2004, attack in… Read More
Penobscot County Superior Court Cases Nov. 1-30, 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
WINTER HARBOR – A South Portland developer who recently signed a purchase agreement for the town’s last available Navy housing complex said he hopes to have the units ready for sale by summer. Eben Marsh, who has agreed to buy Misty Harbor from Ronaele Winter… Read More
BUCKSPORT – The Eastern Agency on Aging again will seek federal funding to convert the former Gardner School building to a housing complex for the elderly. The agency’s board last week voted unanimously to pursue the grant funding it needs to turn the vacant classrooms… Read More
CAMDEN – The good news is that Rockport Elementary School reopens today for grades one and two and a multiage program. The bad news is that cleaning up mold found inside the walls of one wing will cost at least $100,000 and kindergarten classes will… Read More
LAMOINE – A multiyear dispute over a lobster pound on Seal Point Road could come to an end this week if the local appeals board decides there is nothing more to require of the pound’s owners. Or it could proceed into the county court system. Read More
PITTSFIELD – A public hearing on a grant that will allow a new Pittsfield company to significantly expand and a school expansion referendum will be the key topics of discussion at tonight’s Pittsfield Town Council meeting. Moosehead Cedar Log Homes is constructing a model home… Read More
Belfast District Court Cases Jan. 24-28, 2005 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
MILLINOCKET – Close to $500 and hundreds of pieces of clothing will be on their way around the world this week from Millinocket Middle School to help victims of the recent devastating tsunami. The pupils held two fund-raisers, a clothing drive and a penny drive… Read More
LINCOLN – With 104 snowmobile racers, close to 2,000 spectators and a course thick with snow, the Lincoln Snowhounds Snowmobile Club’s seventh annual Sno-Cross Races this weekend were a success, organizers said Monday. The event drew an estimated 1,200 spectators on Saturday and 800 on… Read More
PORTLAND – Because of a last-minute surge in applications, thousands of motorists will not have new E-ZPass devices when the Maine Turnpike Authority switches to its new toll-collection system and increases toll rates on Tuesday. About 3,000 people did not receive their E-ZPass in time… Read More
These are difficult days for the Steve Norris family of Orrington as they cope with the problems their 10-year-old daughter is experiencing. Emily Norris recently was diagnosed with arteriovenous malformation, known as AVM, said Ed Hackett, the assistant principal of James F. Doughty School in… Read More
PORTLAND – Ruth Farabee Clark will be remembered for singing and dancing onstage, and for her vivacious personality. For many, though, she’ll be best remembered for her efforts to raise awareness about organ and tissue donation. Farabee Clark, who died Jan. 27 at 55, twice… Read More
AUGUSTA – The Legislature’s State and Local Government Committee voted 8-3 Monday against a bill that would require legislative consent before the federal government could begin the process of establishing a North Maine Woods National Park. An amended minority report for LD 73 will be… Read More
OLD ORCHARD BEACH – This seaside tourist town is working with a Portland real estate broker to find a buyer for The Ballpark, the decrepit stadium that was home in the mid-1980s to the highest level of minor league baseball. The challenge will be to… Read More
WATERVILLE – The nose-numbing cold that put Maine in the deepfreeze for much of January was enough to keep many Mainers in the warmth of their homes. It also keeps crime rates down, law enforcement officials say. In fact, crime rates generally go up and… Read More
Patricia B.A. Shea says that people have only one qualm about her bespoke rugs. “Everyone’s so scared of walking on my rugs,” she said, bewilderedly. “But they’re rugs. They’re meant to be walked on.” googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var… Read More
Ten Bucks Theatre Company likes to laugh in the winter. “We try to do an outrageous comedy in January because we think it’s unfair to ask an audience to come out in the cold to see something depressing,” said Julie Arnold Lisnet, a founding member of the Brewer-based… Read More
I don’t remember precisely why I got interested in jumping jacks – not the kind you do in the gym – the kind you cut from paper. With a little clever knotting and tying, when you pull a string, the figure’s arms and legs dance and flip around. Read More
No groundhog in his right mind would try to poke out of his burrow tomorrow – not with two feet of snow blocking the hole. Regardless of how Candlemas Day dawns, whether clear or cloudy, Punxsutawney Phil will stay in his den if he has… Read More
Dear Jim: I have looked at whirlpool tubs for my bathroom remodeling. They all look great, but the prices really vary. What are critical features and will I need a new water heater for the extra hot water? – Joe D. Dear Joe: Not too… Read More
FORT KENT – Plans for the first-ever world championship at the Maine Winter Sports Center’s 10th Mountain Division Lodge March 9-21 are coming together and the University of Maine-Fort Kent said Monday it will again play a part in the competitions. The 2005 Paralympic Nordic… Read More
I couldn’t help but think about Mount View High School of Thorndike athletic director Tom Lynch the other night when I heard the news about the death of late night talk show king Johnny Carson. Mr. Lynch and I were college buddies at UMaine. We… Read More
CARRABASSETT VALLEY – With clear blue skies overhead and the morning sun just beginning to peek over the hills to the east, Dale Weymouth couldn’t wait to get the Special Olympics started on Monday morning. As athletes filed into the snowshoe venue, renewed old friendships… Read More
Tracy Guerette had always planned to leave her hometown of St. Agatha and go to medical school after graduating from the University of Maine. But Guerette, the former Wisdom High star athlete who went on to play four years of basketball at UMaine, has found… Read More
DOVER-FOXCROFT – Bobby Gilbert plays basketball with the same aggression that made him a Fitzpatrick Trophy finalist during the most recent high school football season. Occasionally that works against the senior guard on the hardwood, but Gilbert’s hustle played a decisive role Monday night as… Read More
HIGH SCHOOL At Big Rock, Mars Hill 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
ORONO – The University of Maine has scheduled its second Super Suppah for Sunday, Feb. 13, at the Wells Conference center on campus. Proceeds from the event, sponsored by the Black Bear Board of Advisors, will benefit the Black Bear Scholarship Fund. One person will… Read More
ORONO – The University of Maine men’s basketball game on Sunday has been moved up to a noon start because it has been selected as part of the America East television package. The game, originally set for 1 p.m. against Binghamton, will be televised locally… Read More
COLLEGE Eileen Flaherty 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 =… Read More
BANGOR – Brad Bailey, 45, of Bangor posted his third career 300 game during Monday Night Men’s League tenpin bowling at Family Fun Lanes. Bailey, who holds a 202 average, turned in bowling’s perfect mark – 12 strikes – in his first game of the… Read More
CALAIS – Steve Andrews and Luke Emery each scored 13 points to lead the Mattanawcook Academy Lynx to a 65-50 schoolboy basketball victory over the Calais Blue Devils Monday. Derek Libbey added 11 points for the winners and Adam L’Italien put in 10. googletag.cmd.push(function ()… Read More
EAST SULLIVAN – Jon Coffin poured in 23 points to lead the Sumner Tigers to a 65-58 schoolboy basketball win over the Searsport Vikings Monday. Jeff Burditt added 16 points for Sumner. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes =… Read More
STANDISH – Jason Harvey scored 19 points to lead four Husson players in double figures as the Eagles rallied to pick up their 11th straight win, an 82-70 victory over St. Joseph’s Monday at Alfond Center. Husson’s Buddy Leavitt chipped in with 17 points and… Read More
AUGUSTA – A group of lawmakers is making a push for the University of Southern Maine to take a second look at establishing a college football program. State Rep. John Tuttle, D-Sanford, is leading an effort to require USM to undertake a study of a… Read More
LIMESTONE – Amanda Weatherhead scored 10 fourth-quarter points during a 25-11 scoring surge to lead the Limestone/Maine School of Science and Mathematics to a 64-60 schoolgirl basketball victory over the Fort Kent Warriors Monday. The Eagles trailed 49-39 at the end of the third. googletag.cmd.push(function… Read More