With the chance that Maine seventh- and eighth-graders will get portable computers they can use beyond the range of teacher or parent supervision, a rookie Republican state lawmaker has submitted legislation to force all school and library Internet connections to block access to pornographic sites and materials. Read More
    BANGOR – Irving Oil Corp. was fined $183,200 Thursday for 458 violations of the state’s maximum driving time limit for commercial drivers during a sentencing hearing at Penobscot County Superior Court. Surcharges assessed in connection with the sentence pushed the fuel corporation’s total penalty to $209,764. Read More
    WARREN – A Massachusetts tower company is suing the town for rejecting its plan to build a 165-foot communications tower on Route 97, claiming that the town’s action violates the Federal Telecommunications Act. In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Knox County Superior Court, American Tower,… Read More
    As the Santa’s Helper Fund draws to conclusion, we would like to thank the many contributors who gave selflessly so that someone else might benefit from their gift. No matter how big or small your donation, you have made a difference to someone less fortunate. Your gift may… Read More
    SKOWHEGAN – With the details of the economic impact of a new labor contract decided just minutes before its Wednesday night public hearing, the Somerset County Budget Committee took no action on passing the 2001 proposed budget. The public hearing was held at 7 p.m. Read More
    PRESQUE ISLE – For many in northern Maine, winter break means travel south, sunny beaches and cool drinks poolside. But for Stephanie Speicher, one out of three is just perfect. On Saturday, the University of Maine at Presque Isle instructor of recreation and a group… Read More
    HOULTON – For the third time in six months, the Town Council has scrapped an order calling for multiple cable television service providers in the town. At its meeting Tuesday night, the council voted 5-1 against an order introduced by Councilor Philip Bernaiche calling for… Read More
    A Brewer man was arrested Thursday afternoon after allegedly snatching a woman’s billfold outside a Brewer supermarket Thursday. Ralph Waters, 52, was apprehended in front of Paradis IGA on North Main Street and identified by an employee as the individual that grabbed a 67-year-old Brewer… Read More
    Waldo County Superior Court Randall N. Sullivan, 19, Troy, theft and criminal trespass, 120 days in jail suspended on each, one year probation and restitution of $1,182 to victim; burglary of a motor vehicle, dismissed in return for guilty plea to the other charges. googletag.cmd.push(function… Read More
    BANGOR – Penobscot County’s former roads and mapping manager and Emergency Management Agency director was fined $500 Thursday in Bangor District Court in connection with a copy of a forged deed he apparently manufactured in October of last year. According to Penobscot County District Attorney R. Read More
    SURRY – A thief made off late Tuesday night with a local woman’s car, only to return it the next morning badly damaged inside and out. Candice Croft, 43, told police that she left her 1989 Mercury Marquis outside her home Tuesday evening in its… Read More
    BUCKSPORT – Corey Guilford forced overtime by sinking one of two free throws with one second left and then popped in five points in the extra session to enable Bucksport to pull out a 76-69 victory over Houlton in boys basketball action Thursday night. Jason… Read More
    NORTHEAST HARBOR — A break in a Millbrook Lane residential water line Wednesday night left 25 homes without water. The break occurred in a service line to a residence and sent water flowing over Millbrook Lane, according to Pat Perry, the manager of the Mount… Read More
    WASHBURN – Jeff Blackstone scored 15 of his team’s 29 points in the fourth quarter to lift Easton to a 75-68 schoolboy basketball victory over Washburn Thursday. Matt Osgood also stepped up in the fourth quarter, scoring nine of 11 points. Derek Carlow contributed 16 points… Read More
    BASS HARBOR – The Hancock County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the theft of a Frenchboro man’s car from the town’s ferry terminal. John Lunt, 70, notified police Wednesday of the disappearance of his 1985 Buick Skylark from the ferry terminal parking lot. googletag.cmd.push(function () {… Read More
    ROCKLAND – Towns face a collective 27 percent hike in taxes and fees with the approval of the Knox County 2001 budget Wednesday night. The spending package totals $5.1 million, up from the 2000 budget total of $4.9 million. During its final consideration of the… Read More
    DEDHAM – A Portsmouth, R.I., man was charged Wednesday evening with operating under the influence of intoxicants after he allegedly lost control of his car and crashed into an abandoned cottage on U.S. Route 1A. According to police reports, Gerald S. Pacheco, 35, was traveling… Read More
    BANGOR – The Bangor Area Visiting Nurses will hold its last flu shot clinic for the season, from noon to 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 29, at Miller Drug, State Street. To be eligible for the flu shot, individuals must be 18 years of age or… Read More
    MONSON – The reward fund set up to find the person or people responsible for wounding a stray cat in Monson in November has jumped to $5,222. The Humane Society of the United States announced Thursday that it was increasing the reward fund by $2,000. Read More
    BANGOR – A Milo man was sentenced Thursday in Penobscot County Superior Court for sexual abuse of a minor, furnishing marijuana to a minor and violation of conditions of release. Jeffrey Banker, 28, entered guilty pleas to the charges. A count of gross sexual assault… Read More
    FAIRFIELD – A hot line that helps people facing homelessness will be shut down Monday unless it can scrape together $1,000 by Jan. 1. “The fund has always been low, but right now, we’re unable to pay three or four months on the telephone bill,”… Read More
    Aroostook County Superior Court Gerard Crosby, 37, Caribou, gross sexual assault, three years in jail, all suspended, two years of probation, $2,872 restitution ordered. 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 – A volunteer firefighter in Medway and her husband Thursday pleaded innocent to arson charges in Penobscot County Superior Court. The couple is charged with setting a Nov. 16 fire that destroyed an abandoned convenience store in Medway. Heidi Carey, 23, of Millinocket and… Read More
    Those of you who settled in for some solid newspaper reading before or after Christmas dinner, may have read the Bangor Daily News story from Cherryfield about the animals and the staff of The Ark, who were settling into their new home on Barber Lane. Read More
    BIDDEFORD – A Portsmouth, N.H., man accused of setting fire to a home while people were inside was motivated by revenge, according to police. Dylan L. Dewitt, 20, was ordered held without bail Tuesday in Biddeford District Court. Initially charged with seven counts of attempted… Read More
    DEER ISLE – One of Stuart Kestenbaum’s favorite Fran Merritt stories involved a school official who stopped by Haystack Mountain School of Crafts after it had moved to its current campus in Deer Isle. “What’s all this?” the official asked when he saw what appeared… Read More
    BRUNSWICK – A railroad car filled with waste from the defunct Maine Yankee plant in Wiscasset may not pose a health hazard, but nonetheless is worrying some people. The flatbed car with warning labels has been sitting off Pleasant Street for the past week, and… Read More
    PORTLAND – A federal judge is giving BroadcastAmerica.com until next week to agree to a sale to an Alabama company or face possible liquidation. The company hopes to have a “firm offer” from Bowman Investments by Tuesday and a binding sales agreement by Thursday, Roger… Read More
    PORTLAND – Workers at a poultry-packing plant have filed a lawsuit in federal court accusing the locally owned company of making them perform tasks for which they are not paid. The suit in U.S. District Court claims Barber Foods violated the Fair Labor Standards Act. Read More
    Mainers who can’t stand to be alone with their own thoughts during the long winter now have plenty of talk talk talk and pop “culture” to distract them on Maine Public Radio. Its mission, according to MPR’s vice president Rus Peotter, seems to have changed and is no… Read More
    Yes, I think we will rally around George Bush just as the Republicans did around Bill Clinton for eight years. Elizabeth Hull 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
    The Republicans seem to be pitching a shutout in the Electoral College, history-wise. It’s ironic that the first Electoral College decision involved a son of a former president. John Quincy Adams, in 1824, lost the popular vote to Andrew Jackson. (There was no Democratic or Republican Party per… Read More
    In reply to George McCann’s letter (BDN, Dec. 22) concerning Tom Sawyer and Jane Saxl; Sawyer has an excellent record in the business field. He is a dedicated worker and before his retirement, his employees were treated with respect and kindness. The citizens knew him for his great… Read More
    We are working hard to pay off our credit cards so we can retire in two or three years. We are slowly but surely paying them off to be free of them. Our biggest gripe is the interest rate. On our MBNA bill this month… Read More
    The success of “green” certification will depend on whether the public accepts certification programs as credible indicators of good forest management. It’s all about credibility. That’s why the Dec. 16-17 commentary by Catherine Johnson of the Natural Resources Council of Maine is so troubling. Once… Read More
    Bravo to Congressman John Baldacci and his ironclad opposition to a Maine Woods National Park. As an article (BDN, Dec. 23) aptly noted, the National Park Service is having a hard time keeping up with its current obligations ($4 billion backlog of necessary improvements to existing parks). Read More
    Barring the sort of miracle that seems to be the Holy Land’s past but not its present, Bill Clinton soon will join the club of former American presidents who tried and failed to advance peace in the Middle East. No president has tried harder or risked failure at… Read More
    A potentially growing federal surplus would give President-elect George Bush room to enact the 10-year, $1.3 trillion tax cut on which he campaigned, especially if he is willing to put off plans for the partial privatization of Social Security. But how he passes such a tax cut –… Read More
    Since when did the expectations of guides and outfitters paying customers become the criteria by which the Allagash Wilderness Waterway should be run? (See Ashley Lodato’s opinion piece of Dec. 25.) The Allagash Wilderness Waterway is not an economic commodity like a loaf of bread… Read More
    HOULTON – Town Manager Allan K. Bean resigned unexpectedly Tuesday, even as questions arose over the manner in which he was forced to do so. Bean’s resignation, which was dated Dec. 26, gave no reason for his sudden departure, but at Tuesday’s Town Council meeting,… Read More
    PORTLAND – The arrest of a fourth man suspected in the burglary of Gateway Auctions in Lebanon is hoped to shed light on the actions of two former Wells men involved in a gunfight with police in a Chicago train station. Christopher Parady, 23, of… Read More
    The Santa’s Helper Fund continues to grow. We now expect to reach our goal of raising $50,000 for the Salvation Army. Please join us in recognizing the following contributors: A donation of $94 in fond memory of Cindy Crain from her friends at the Bangor… Read More
    BANGOR – Irving Oil Corp. is scheduled to be sentenced today for 458 violations of the state’s maximum driving time for commercial drivers during a 1:30 p.m. hearing in Penobscot County Superior Court. Though an investigation by the state police found 565 violations of the… Read More
    The London premiere of George Frideric Handel’s sacred oratorio “Messiah” was witnessed March 23, 1743, in Covent Garden Theatre. When a nobleman complimented Handel on providing London with such fine entertainment, the composer replied: “My Lord, I should be sorry if I only entertained them; I wished to… Read More
    Poor 2001. No one is talking about it. Even the purists who insist that this is the real turn of the millennium seem to have lost a little bit of fervor. After all the excitation and speculation surrounding Y2K, ushering in this new year seems… Read More
    BANGOR – Dig out those Halloween costumes, or the ball gown and tuxedo from some previous wedding, prom or stage play, because the Bangor Public Library is inviting people to come to the “Real Millennium Celebration and Masquerade Ball.” The event is a family celebration… Read More
    The day after U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Donna E. Shalala aborted a new law that was supposed to allow broad re-importation of U.S. manufactured drugs from Canada, one Maine health care organization vowed to plow ahead with its own re-importation plan. Eastern Maine… Read More
    BREWER – The moment Officer Roger Hershey darkened the doorway of Margo Barry Grant’s classroom during a recent visit to Capri Street School, he found himself waist-deep in wriggling, giggling kindergartners vying for his attention. As Hershey settled in for what has become a series… Read More
    WARREN – A town ambulance department paramedic is still dazed by his firing in late October, and along with town officials, is trying to figure out what happened. Rodney Gibbs, 37, was informed through an Oct. 30 letter from Warren Rescue Director Polly Wood that… Read More
    CORINNA – A slippery road surface was blamed for an early morning crash Wednesday that injured a St. Albans man. Jerry Harmon, 47, was treated at Sebasticook Valley Hospital for injuries he suffered when he lost control of his 1993 Saturn on an ice-coated section… Read More
    State police are looking for help in finding a 70-year-old Somerset County man whose car was found several months ago abandoned in the Waldo County town of Searsmont. Authorities are looking for George Boardman, who lived in the Bingham area and whose closest relative lives… Read More
    NEWPORT – Three women were injured late Tuesday night when the car they were in rolled over at least twice on Route 7 between Newport and Corinna. The operator of the 1998 Ford sedan, Jennifer Romanov, 23, of Pittsfield was treated for minor injuries and… Read More
    MARS HILL – Free flu shot clinics will be offered throughout Aroostook County by HORIZONS Health Services. Clinics will be held from 3 to 5 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 28 at the Washburn Regional Health Center; from 4 to 5 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 28, at the… Read More
    CARIBOU – Two men from the St. John Valley were arrested Wednesday after pleading guilty in Aroostook County Superior Court to separate charges involving sexually abusing a teen-age girl and selling illegal drugs. James St. Pierre, 52, of Madawaska was charged with gross sexual assault… Read More
    As a result of an editing error, a story about the retirement of Washington County Building Supervisor Norris Manchester made it appear that Manchester accidentally locked a Superior Court justice in the restroom at the county courthouse in 1993. The justice was locked in the restroom when a… Read More
    SHERMAN – Stacyville firefighters were busy Wednesday morning putting out two fires, one that began at Wheelabrator-Sherman power station and the second about six hours later at Sherman Lumber Co. Fire Chief Charles Heath said firefighters were called to the power company at about 1… Read More
    ROCKLAND – After hearing spirited defenses of spending requests, the Knox County Budget Committee on Wednesday night restored funding it had cut earlier in the review process. The big winners were the sheriff’s department, the District Attorney’s office and the Knox-Lincoln Extension Service. googletag.cmd.push(function ()… Read More
    ELLSWORTH – A fire in the laundry room forced the evacuation of guests at the Holiday Inn on High Street Wednesday night. According to Ellsworth fire Chief Robert McKenney, the fire started in one of the dryers in the laundry room and quickly filled much… Read More
    Man faces possible extradition to Ohio after struggle with Bangor police A 25-year-old man faces possible extradition to Ohio as well as several charges here in Maine after he was stopped in Bangor early Wednesday morning and reportedly struggled with a police officer. googletag.cmd.push(function ()… Read More
    ELLSWORTH – Allan Talgo, 21, of Union pleaded innocent Wednesday to several charges stemming from an August accident that claimed the life of his younger brother. Michael Povich, Hancock County district attorney, said Wednesday that Talgo, his brother, and three passengers were traveling south on… Read More
    BANGOR – Gerry Palmer, a Bangor city councilor, was sworn in Wednesday as Penobscot County’s new treasurer during a brief ceremony at the county courthouse. Palmer, who was appointed by Gov. Angus King to the post vacated this month by Patricia Blanchette, was sworn into… Read More
    I am adopting a slightly different format for Maine Skies starting this month. After 20 years of including a constellation with each column, there is little left to be said about them. Also, there are many books readily available that can tell you more about them than I… Read More
    EAST MACHIAS – Reports that SAD 77 will run out of money by Feb. 15 are not accurate, but a preliminary 1999-2000 audit report indicates the district could be facing a cash-flow problem by the end of next month, the superintendent said Wednesday. Superintendent Klaus-Peter… Read More
    The Friday before Christmas, Tim Kamys of Sebec, a member of the staff at Harmony School, had the privilege of serving as auctioneer for a very festive and successful event. Kamys wielded the gavel for the Harmony School Christmas Auction for which more than $800… Read More
    Americans are an accepting people. No better proof of that comes in the aftermath of the presidential election. An election too close to call was called, there was unprecedented court intervention in the political process, the winner in the Electoral College is not the winner of the popular… Read More
    DYER BROOK – Dan Codrey scored five of his seven points in the fourth quarter, including a free throw in the closing seconds, to lift the Central Aroostook boys basketball over Southern Aroostook 54-52 Wednesday in high school action. Craig Durost paced the Panthers of… Read More
    On Dec. 21, the Bangor Daily News reported the death of a young woman in Orono. The reporter quoted a representative of the Maine State Police: “Whether it was a suicide or an accident, we have no answer for that, and we probably never will.” However, later in… Read More
    LADY LUCK CLASSIC MAINE vs. MARSHALL 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
    I’d like to congratulate the city of Ellsworth. Of all the cities and towns in Maine that are grappling with the problems caused by growth, Ellsworth seems to be the only one addressing what causes it – people (population). Of all the recent articles in the papers about… Read More
    ELLSWORTH – Adam Smith hit a free throw with 6.1 seconds left to lift Ellsworth to a 70-69 overtime victory over George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill in schoolboy basketball action Wednesday night. Derek Awalt and John Morse each paced Ellsworth with 18 points. Joe… Read More
    I would like to express my concerns regarding the power outage this past week. Again many of the citizens of Addison are not happy with the response from Bangor Hydro to restore service. More than half the town remained in the dark longer than most other areas. Some… Read More
    Revelers who put off ringing in the millennium last year because it was overhyped or who stayed home to be on the lookout for Y2K bug, have quite a few celebrations to choose this year. Lubec will not be vying with Eastport for the honor… Read More
    At Ellsworth, Adam Smith hit a free throw with 6.1 seconds left to lift Ellsworth to a 70-69 overtime victory over George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill. Derek Awalt and John Morse each paced Ellsworth with 18 points. Joe Richards added 10 and Smith finished… Read More
    Have you noticed that all your mail is stamped “Happy Wholiday”? I went to the post office and said, “If you don’t know who it is – it’s Jesus.” Then the lady said, “The who stands for the Grinch that Stole Christmas.” It’s sad when… Read More
    Please, Uncle Sam, don’t give me a raise in my Social Security as every year I go behind instead of ahead as my insurances go up more than I get; the same goes for my husband. Maybe if I don’t get a raise my insurances won’t go up. Read More
    I’ve no interest in Somes Sound, and don’t know any of the people involved in the latest size-matters dock fracas. However, I do detect a few logical lapses in your Dec. 20 editorial, “Pier without peer.” One of the Bangor Daily News’ greatest reporters, the… Read More
    Carol Tiffin James of Ellsworth is definitely not alone in her concern for the deterioration of grammar and spelling. There are still many of us who avidly collect James J. Kilpatrick’s columns on language (which, unfortunately don’t yet run in this newspaper), still see the relevance of spelling… Read More
    I am writing in reference to “Glaring media errors” (BDN, Dec. 23-24). No, Carol Tiffin James, your husband is most assuredly not right. Like you, I am appalled at the sloppiness that has crept into the media and into business correspondence. Today’s message appears to… Read More
    Every year around this time, Mother Nature plays a cruel trick on unsuspecting fishermen, snowmobilers and other recreationalists who misjudge the thickness of the ice on Maine’s lakes and ponds, strike out, often alone, and plunge into water cold enough to cause hypothermia in minutes. Read More