PORTLAND Even as drivers are increasingly distracted by cellphones, email and texting, the number of highway deaths dipped to the lowest level in more than five decades in Maine and to an all-time low in neighboring New Hampshire in 2011, officials said Sunday. The downward drive continued in Maine, New Hampshire and several other states […]

MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK, Wash. Tactical teams searched Mount Rainier National Park’s snowy terrain for an armed gunman suspected of killing a park ranger. Other officers used the cover of darkness early today to evacuate dozens of tourists who had been kept for their safety at a visitors center. About 150 officers converged on the […]

PORTLAND ( AP) — The number of fire deaths in Maine more than doubled last year from the state’s record low set in 2010. Steve McCausland of the Maine Public Safety Department says the state recorded nine fire deaths in 2010. In 2011, the number grew to 23. He says the worst year for fire […]

DAVENPORT, Iowa The Iowa race remarkably fluid, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney faces a suddenly surging Rick Santorum, an unpredictable Ron Paul factor and the challenge of winning over undecided conservatives in a state that spurned him four years ago. It’s the last full day of campaigning before the caucuses that kick off state- by- […]

PORTLAND ( AP) — Maine’s ice fishing season is kicking off with the new year, but wildlife officials are warning that ice conditions are unsafe across much of the state. Ice fishing season began Sunday, but ice has been slow in forming with unseasonably warm temperatures. The Maine Warden Service says people need to exercise […]