News from June 29, 2012

June 29, 2012

State trooper uses cruiser to stop wrong-way car on I-295

The officer and the other driver escape serious injuries in the collision in Portland.

June 29, 2012

Police investigating York shooting

A 20-year-old man is hospitalized with a gunshot wound to the chest.

June 29, 2012

Downeaster funding in transportation bill

The bill includes subsidies for the Portland-Boston train, which will expand service to Brunswick in the fall.

June 29, 2012

Congress passes student loans, highway bill

The bill keeps interest rates for some loans at 3.4 percent, and includes just over $100 billion for highway and other transportation programs.

June 29, 2012

Cornell du Houx won't seek re-election

The Brunswick Democrat says he is withdrawing from his state House race because he's been called to active duty in the U.S. Navy Reserves.

June 29, 2012

Ex-Maine official coming back to take new post

Ed Meadows will be deputy commissioner of operations and administration in the newly merged Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry.

June 29, 2012

Roberts jokes about trip to 'impregnable' fortress

U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts draws laughter at a conference of about judges, attorneys and others a day after the court's historic ruling on health care.

June 29, 2012

White House wants Democrats to fight on taxes

the White House has sent a memo to House and Senate Democrats pressing them to go on the offensive after the Supreme Court's health care ruling.

June 29, 2012

Aerosol can explodes in campfire, injuring mom, son

The state Fire Marshal's Office says the 28-year-old mother and her 11-year-old are hospitalized with severe burns to their faces.

June 29, 2012

S. Portland motorcyclist dies after crash near jetport

Scott McDonald, 55, of South Portland, was riding his motorcycle on Johnson Road when a car pulled in front of him to make a U-turn, police said.

June 29, 2012

Philadelphia educator in line for Portland superintendent

The school board will vote July 9 on a motion to hire Emmanuel Caulk, an assistant superintendent in Philadelphia's system, the eighth-largest in the nation.

June 29, 2012

Ayla Reynolds reward offer to end on Saturday

Police say it appears the $30,000 reward for information leading to the missing toddler will go unclaimed.

June 29, 2012

Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes call it quits Video clip included

Cruise, 49, wed the 33-year-old Holmes in 2006 in an Italian castle after publicly declaring his love on Oprah Winfrey's television show.

June 29, 2012

TSA fires 8 air marshals for drinking

None of the marshals was scheduled for flight duty the day of the drinking, but the TSA says consumption of alcohol is forbidden anytime they are on the job.

June 29, 2012

Legislators: No need to review turnpike toll hike

The Government Oversight Committee votes 7-2 to not order a review of the proposed 26 percent increase.

June 29, 2012

DEP says Maine beaches cleanest in years

In 2011, the DEP found that the number of days when beaches were posted because of high bacteria levels decreased by almost 50 percent from the previous year.

June 29, 2012

Woman charged with drunk driving in Freeport crash

Susan Muniak, 45, is arrested following the collision that injured two others.

June 29, 2012

Earth's timekeepers adding leap second Saturday night

The fix is needed because it now takes the Earth about two milliseconds longer to rotate on its axis – the definition of a day – than it took 100 years ago,

June 29, 2012

Congress passes student loans, highway jobs bill

The legislation, which also revamps highway and transit programs and shores up the federal flood insurance, now awaits President Obama's signature.

June 29, 2012

High court won't hear 'wardrobe malfunction' appeal

The FCC had wanted to reinstate a $550,000 fine against CBS for Janet Jackson's breast-baring performance at the 2004 Super Bowl.

June 29, 2012

Flight attendant loses cool aboard NYC plane Video clip included

The American Eagle flight to Raleigh-Durham, N.C., was delayed for five hours on Monday. The incident was caught on video.

June 29, 2012

Supreme Court turns down media companies' plea

The media outlets wanted to lift a prohibition on owning both a newspaper and a television station in the same market.

June 29, 2012

Chimps bite, drag man at sanctuary in South Africa

The man was leading a tour group at the Jane Goodall Institute Chimpanzee Eden.

June 29, 2012

Peter Madoff pleads guilty in NYC, blaming brother

Bernard Madoff's younger brother, saying he was "deeply ashamed and terribly sorry," agrees to serve 10 years in prison.

June 29, 2012

Pair of NH beaches get 5-star rating in report

Hampton Beach State Park and Wallis Sands Beach in Rye are among the safest beaches for swimming in the country.

June 29, 2012

Memorial service for fallen Mount Rainier ranger

The private service for family and friends of Patten, Maine, native Nick Hall is being held today at a visitors center in the national park.

June 29, 2012

Closet Rambos live out tank-driving fantasies Video clip included

A Minnesota business named Drive-a-Tank offers customers the chance to pilot surplus military tanks and other armored vehicles and smash junk cars like an action movie hero.

June 29, 2012

European summit finally surprises with bold moves

Meeting for the 19th time since the debt crisis exploded, leaders agree they will let indebted governments funnel bailout money directly to struggling banks as well.

June 29, 2012

Coast Guard rescues 9 teens off Cape Cod

A Coast Guard officer said the teens should have been wearing life jackets – but were not.

June 29, 2012

Man with 100-plus police encounters arrested again

A 71-year-old Winslow man has been arrested again after allegedly assaulting a firefighter.

June 29, 2012

Bill would keep federal funding for Portland buses

The bill could come up for a vote by Saturday. It includes $6 million for Amtrak's Downeaster train between Portland and Boston.

June 29, 2012

Missing N.H. toddler found sleeping in marsh

A Fish and Game officer finds the 19-month-old boy about a quarter-mile from the family's campsite.

June 29, 2012

Agency fails to notify officials before bomb drill

Emergency officials responded quickly Thursday to a reported bomb threat at a Waterville mental health clinic, only to learn moments later that it was a drill.

June 29, 2012

Man under arrest after standoff at Maine home

The incident began after the man was accused of assaulting a woman in Orono.

June 29, 2012

Maine Catholic leader wants health law changes

The Catholic Church opposed passage of the Affordable Care Act because it allows use of federal funds to pay for elective abortions.

June 29, 2012

State police: Trooper, bystanders thwart robbery

A Baptist missionary with a football background made a key tackle Thursday afternoon, helping police apprehend a suspect in a foiled Manchester bank robbery.

June 29, 2012

Navy continues investigation of USS Miami fire

Early estimates put the damage at $400 million after a fire that started in a vacuum cleaner got out of control May 23.

June 30, 2012

For Maine, ruling will be felt almost immediately



June 30, 2012

Decision's impact stretches across Maine

SCOTUS POST

June 29, 2012

Mercy set to resume expansion

The hospital is working on obtaining permits and preparing building designs on its Fore River campus.

June 29, 2012

Assault suspect says actual date of birth makes him a juvenile

 A Somali refugee says he's not as old as a U.S.-assigned Jan. 1 date indicates.

June 29, 2012

Delegation divided on high court ruling

Maine's senators oppose the health care overhaul, which is backed by the state's representatives.

July 31, 2012

Dutson to become Summers' Senate campaign manager

 Lance Dutson will leave his job as director of the Maine Heritage Policy Center effective today.

June 29, 2012

'Iconic gateway' opens to traffic Several photos included in this story

 The new $65 million Veterans Memorial Bridge spanning the Fore River includes a 12-foot-wide pathway -- 'really a wonderful amenity' -- for pedalers and pedestrians.

June 29, 2012

Celebrating Nathaniel Hawthorne's Raymond chapter Several photos included in this story

 Little is known about Hawthorne's boyhood, but the house where he spent it will observe its bicentennial Saturday.

June 29, 2012

Deal reached to shutter MERC plant

If approved, the trash incinerator that has plagued Biddeford for decades will be razed in a year.

June 29, 2012

Dispatches

Biddeford man charged in drug-related shooting / Transient charged with theft in alleged Craiglist scam / Woman gets prison term in spree that led to death . . . and more Maine news.

June 29, 2012

Mercury can lead to declines in loon population, study says

 Loons with high mercury levels lack the energy to incubate their eggs and take care of their young.

June 29, 2012

VIDEO: Erupting with enthusiasm

 EepyBird, the Coke and Mentos guys, brought their special brand of quirkiness to Portland’s Monument Square Thursday evening.

June 29, 2012

Hill residents worried about Mumford & Sons show

Mumford & Sons The band's sold-out Aug. 4 outdoor concert on the Eastern Prom has some worried about potential problems with crowds and alcohol.

June 29, 2012

Analysis: Obama gets lift, but no big edge for fall election



June 29, 2012

Heart of health law still beating Several photos included in this story

 Roberts leads way in ruling that upholds Obama's law

Videos