PORTLAND

City shatters heat record that had stood since 1943

Portland broke a 68-year-old high temperature record Sunday and tied a 64-year-old record Saturday.

Stacie Hanes, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray, said Sunday’s high temperature of 85 degrees broke the record of 79 degrees set in 1943.

On Saturday, the city’s high temperature of 81 degrees tied the 1947 record for that date.

Hanes attributed the unseasonably warm weather to a strong ridge of high pressure that is expected to remain over eastern Canada through the middle of the week.

Rain is expected to move into southern Maine on Wednesday night.

Portland chosen to host college-employer event

Portland has been selected to be the host city for next year’s annual conference of the Eastern Association of Colleges and Employers.

Organizers said more than 400 college and university career counselors and employer recruiters from as far away as Ohio and Virginia are expected at the conference. The event is scheduled for June 4-6 at the Holiday Inn by the Bay.

The Eastern Association of Colleges and Employers develops educational programs and facilitates connections between colleges and employers looking to hire college students and alumni.

The Portland conference serves as a regional recruiting event where employers send representatives to develop relationships with career service personnel at member colleges and universities.

AUGUSTA

Deadline for requesting absentee ballot is Nov. 3

State election officials say a Nov. 3 deadline has been set for requesting an absentee ballot for this fall’s voting.

Secretary of State Charlie Summers said the new deadline is the Thursday before Election Day, Nov. 8.

Voters may request an absentee ballot after the deadline if they complete a special circumstances application, citing an unexpected absence from the municipality on Election Day, a physical disability or an inability to travel to the polls because the voter is a resident of a coastal island.

More information about absentee balloting, voter registration and the upcoming referendum election is available at www.maine.gov/sos/cec/, or call 624-7650.

NEWRY

Wife-carrying champions defend title in record time

The weather was nearly perfect Saturday as 47 couples battled course hazards in a wife-carrying contest here.

In the end, defending champs Rocco Andreozzi and partner Kim Wasko of Bethel emerged as winners at Sunday River Ski Resort’s 12th annual North American Wife Carrying Championship.

They finished the final run in 49.64 seconds, shaving 12.27 seconds from their winning time last year.

The Sun Journal of Lewiston reported that the course started with an uphill run and curved to a log hurdle.

Once over the log stand, competitors dashed downhill toward a large trench filled with muddy water called the Widow Maker.

A few husbands fell into the murky drink, dumping their partners.

For their win, Andreozzi and Wasko received a check for $620 and nine cases of beer.

PORTSMOUTH, N.H.

Persistence pays off in case of $2,000 antibiotic bill

A New Hampshire woman just couldn’t believe the nearly $2,000 bill she received for a bottle of antibiotic pills was right, so she persisted in demanding answers.

In the end, it turned out that Susan Chamberlin should have been charged $382.50 by Portsmouth Regional Hospital.

Chamberlain says she was shocked when she first got the $1,912.50 bill for a bottle of cefuroxime pills given to her daughter during emergency treatment.

Chamberlain made several calls to complain and find out her rights, and finally asked Seacoast Sunday for help.

A hospital spokeswoman says the overcharge was due to a billing error.

– From staff and news services