AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage’s administration’s plan to reorganize the sprawling Department of Health and Human Services got a thumbs-up Tuesday from a legislative committee. The Health and Human Services committee voted 9-3 in favor of the restructuring bill, which consolidates four DHHS offices into two and reorganizes another. Meanwhile, partisan tensions hit a fever pitch […]

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The newly named manager of a campaign seeking to legalize same-sex marriage in Maine said he expects the campaign to spend more than $5 million ahead of November’s election. The Maine Freedom to Marry Coalition announced Tuesday it has created a political action committee called Mainers United for Marriage to spearhead […]

WINDHAM (AP) — Authorities say six people have been left homeless after an early morning fire at a Windham condominium complex. The fire on Calla Way was reported at about 3 a.m. today. By the time firefighters arrived at the scene, all occupants of the four-unit building were out safely. Fire Chief Charles Hammond says […]

SCARBOROUGH (AP) — A Scarborough teenager and his mother are asking for the return of his stolen wheelchair, no questions asked. Chris Fitzgerald relies on the wheelchair to travel the quarter-mile from the school bus stop to his home every day because he can’t walk that far. His mom sometimes leaves it at the end […]

AUGUSTA ( AP) — The Maine State Senate has given final approval and sent to the governor a bill to shift oversight of the Maine State Housing Authority. Senate Majority Leader Jon Courtney’s bill gives the authority’s board of commissioners oversight authority and the power to review, compensate, or remove the agency’s director. Present law […]

FORT KENT (AP) — Maine fire investigators say they can’t determine what caused a fire in downtown Fort Kent that destroyed five buildings and left 10 people homeless. But investigators with the Maine Fire Marshal’s office said Tuesday they were able to determine that the Sunday fire started inside a building owned by Nadeau’s House […]

AUGUSTA (AP) — A Waterville man who spent nearly 20 years behind bars for killing his mother has been sent back to prison for approaching a worker at an adult book store wearing just sneakers and socks. Scott Thompson was sentenced Tuesday to six months on an indecent conduct charge and ordered to serve it […]

Trayvon Martin’s supporters pack churches, swarm rallies and wear hooded sweat shirts in solidarity while friends and family of George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who shot the unarmed teen to death, remain largely out of sight. The few that have defended Zimmerman did so reluctantly, most fearing public backlash. Zimmerman, 28, has gone into […]