CASSELTON, N.D. Many residents evacuated a southeastern North Dakota town overnight after a train carrying crude oil derailed and exploded, and officials warned that acrid and hazardous smoke could blow into the area. No one was hurt in Monday’s derailment of the mile-long train that sent flames and great plumes of black smoke skyward about […]

WASHINGTON Certain current or former heavy smokers should start getting yearly scans for lung cancer to cut their risk of death from the nation’s top cancer killer, government advisers said Monday — even as they stressed that the tests aren’t for everyone. The long-anticipated decision by the influential U.S. Preventive Services Task Force says these […]

VERONA ISLAND (AP) — The Penobscot Narrows Bridge has reopened to traffic a day after it was closed when large chunks of ice fell off the cables and damaged cars. The bridge that carries U.S. Route 1 over the Penobscot River and connects Verona Island to Prospect reopened Monday night after some ice was removed […]

PORTLAND (AP) — Mainers are jumping into the frigid ocean to raise money to support the state’s largest environmental advocacy group’s fight against climate change. The Natural Resources Council of Maine is holding a 5-kilometer race today at 11 a.m., followed by a coldwater ocean plunge at Portland’s East End Beach at noon. The group […]

FALMOUTH (AP) — Snowmobile shops say business is booming thanks to a snowy December. Wayne Kensiston of Keniston’s Snowmobile & Automotive Services says he is welcoming the early busyness this year after a couple of slow seasons. The early snow also has game wardens warning residents to use caution when using snowmobiles. WMTW-TV reports that […]

SOUTH PORTLAND (AP) — A synagogue in South Portland has been listed by news and entertainment website Huffington Post as one of 50 “stunning” synagogues and temples around the world. Located just off Main Street, Congregation Beth Ha’am’s temple could easily be overlooked by passers-by. But behind its garden walls, there’s a reflecting pool and […]

VOLGOGRAD, RUSSIA Thousands of police officers and paramilitary forces are on duty in the Russian city of Volgograd, which is reeling from two suicide bombings in two days that killed 34 people and raised fears that a terrorist campaign may have begun that could stretch into the Winter Olympics. In the wake of Sunday’s bombing […]

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian activists say a missile has struck a bus in a rebel-held area of the northern city of Aleppo, killing at least 10 people. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said today that another missile landed nearby as medics were evacuating the wounded from the first explosion. The Observatory says the […]