WASHINGTON The United States will not be “taking its eye off the ball” in the Middle East as it looks to strengthen its military presence in the Asia-Pacific, the head of the Navy said Tuesday. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert said that he does not foresee a shift in naval forces from the […]

NORTH CHICAGO, Ill. (AP) — The U.S. Navy has identified the recruit who died while in boot camp training at the Great Lakes Naval Station north of Chicago. Authorities say 19-year-old Christopher Walker of Kittaning, Pa., died Wednesday. The Naval Service Training Command says Walker died during a standard physical fitness assessment. His death remains […]

CONCORD, N. H. ( AP) — Northern New Englanders who feared — or hoped — they’d be in for a long, snowy winter after the first flakes fell in October finally got a second helping Thursday, more than two months later. Many schools were closed in New Hampshire and Maine, and multiple accidents were reported […]

AUGUSTA (AP) — A year after Gov. Paul LePage stirred outrage by saying critics of his decision to skip NAACP-sponsored Martin Luther King Day events could “kiss my butt,” he is politely declining invitations to annual breakfasts honoring the civil rights leader in Orono and Portland so he can attend one in his hometown of […]

AUGUSTA (AP) — The Baxter State Park Authority has accepted a 140-acre gift from a forest management company to the northern Maine wilderness preserve. The land has been donated by Huber Resources. A news conference was held afterward on Thursday in the State House to show images and video footage of the land. Huber Resources’ […]

PORTLAND ( AP) — Maine’s supreme court has upheld the conviction and two life sentences for a Biddeford man who shot two brothers outside his home in a latenight confrontation. Rory Holland maintained he acted in self-defense when he fatally shot 19- year- old Gage Green and his 21-yearold brother, Derek, at about 1 a.m. […]

AUGUSTA ( AP) — State Rep. Sharon Treat says she’s joining 50 other Maine Democrats and hundreds of legislators across the country in filing a “ friend of the court” brief with the U. S. Supreme Court supporting the national health care law. The amicus brief supporting the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act is […]

CARRABASSETT VALLEY ( AP) — A 41- year- old skier has died after hitting a tree at Sugarloaf resort in Maine. Resort management say the man was on a green circle, or “easier” trail, at about 3:45 p.m. on Thursday at the time of the accident. The trail’s condition was described as packed powder. It […]

PORTLAND (AP) — Portland police are looking for an armed man who robbed a city credit union. Police say the man entered the University Credit Union just after 4 p.m. on Thursday with a gun, demanded cash from a teller, and fled with an undisclosed amount of money. There were several customers and employees inside […]

LEWISTON ( AP) — A Lewiston mission that provides clothing, free meals and a safe place for at-risk youth to do homework has been vandalized twice in the past week. Chris Pope, director of The Root Cellar, says a rock the size of a softball was thrown through a double-paned glass door in the rear […]