AUGUSTA ( AP) — The chief of the Maine Turnpike Authority says financial reforms at the agency have already saved millions of dollars with the potential for millions more. Executive Director Peter Mills presented the agency’s 2013 budget to the Legislature’s Transportation Committee on Tuesday, outlining dramatic reductions in turnpike spending, with the budget dropping […]

PRESQUE ISLE ( AP) — Northern Maine Community College and the college’s foundation will announce a major gift to the school, calling it the largest private donation given to a community college in Maine. A news conference is scheduled for today. College Foundation board chairwoman Vicki Smith is making the announcement in the Edmunds Conference […]

AUGUSTA (AP) — Maine lawmakers are considering a bill to get parents more involved in their children’s schools. Assistant Senate Democratic Leader Justin Alfond of Portland is sponsoring a bill requiring every school board in the state to develop a plan to engage parents in their schools. Those plans would be posted online by the […]

CANTON (AP) — Authorities say a 64-year-old Canton man is missing and presumed dead after running back into his burning home to try to save his dogs. The state fire marshal’s office says the man was last seen yelling for help from a second- floor window as flames engulfed his house Tuesday evening. The fire […]

ROCKLAND (AP) — A tenant of an apartment in Rockland has been charged with arson in a fire that temporarily displaced other tenants of the building. Rockland police say they arrested 35-year-old Christie Look on Tuesday on two counts of arson.

AUGUSTA (AP) — Without taking a final vote, a Maine legislative panel has scaled back a bill aimed at so-called tax zapper computer programs that help tax cheats. The Taxation Committee on Tuesday removed a section that would make the bill take effect immediately after passage. It also removed references to estimated losses tax zappers […]

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (AP) — Demolition crews will wait for daylight to remove the first major component of the 90-year-old Memorial Bridge between Maine and New Hampshire. Workers had planned to remove the 2-million-pound lift span on Tuesday between 8 p.m. and midnight, but the preparation work is taking longer than expected. New Hampshire transportation spokesman […]

PORTLAND (AP) — Smokers could face a $100 fine in Maine’s largest city for flicking cigarette butts onto public property. The Portland City Council on Monday amended its littering ordinance to clarify that cigarette butts are included among the trash items that are illegal to toss on streets, sidewalks, city parks and other public property. […]

MACHIAS (AP) — A former substitute teacher in eastern Maine faces sentencing after pleading no contest to two counts of gross sexual assault involving an eighth-grade student. Dianne Leach, 47, of Steuben entered her plea Monday in a Machias courtroom. A sentencing date has not been scheduled. When she was arrested last May, Leach was […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Rick Santorum is looking to capitalize on a string of stunning victories that snapped his fourstate losing streak and raised new questions about front-runner Mitt Romney’s clout with conservatives. Romney shrugged off his poor showing, but his losses Tuesday in Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado laid bare his stubborn weakness just when […]