BIDDEFORD — Reductions of city staff positions will likely be the result of the proposed $26.1 million city budget for fiscal year 2015, to which the city council gave initial approval on Monday. After 3 1/2 hours of at times tense discussion, the council voted in favor of the budget, which is a 1.59 percent […]

WASHINGTON — Segregation is making a comeback in U.S. schools. Progress toward integrated classrooms has largely been rolled back since the Supreme Court issued its landmark Brown v. Topeka Board of Education decision 60 years ago, according to a report released Thursday by the Civil Rights Project at UCLA. Blacks are now seeing more school segregation […]

BEIJING — China on Tuesday warned the United States was jeopardizing military ties by charging five Chinese officers with cyberspying and tried to turn the tables on Washington by calling it “the biggest attacker of China’s cyberspace.” China announced it was suspending cooperation with the United States in a joint cybersecurity task force over Monday’s […]

CONCORD, N.H.— Last week’s killing of a Brentwood police officer cast a gloomy shadow on Monday’s already-solemn ceremony to honor New Hampshire police officers who have died on the job. Officer Stephen Arkell’s name won’t be etched into the state’s granite police memorial until next year, but reminders of the 48-year-old father of two were […]

SANFORD — In recognition of the efforts of teachers, students and their families to help build a bright future for the city, the Sanford School Department is hosting the third annual “Celebration of Learning” on Thursday, May 22 at Memorial Gym on Main Street. The celebration will be held from 4-6:30 p.m., and will highlight […]

DEDHAM, Mass. (AP) — A jury has acquitted a Weymouth man who’d been charged in connection with his father’s death. The Patriot Ledger reports that a Norfolk Superior Court jury on Monday found 22-year-old Michael Beaudry not guilty of manslaughter and assault and battery in connection with the February 2013 death of 58-year-old Ronald Beaudry. […]

AUGUSTA — State Police cruisers around Maine recently began displaying a bumper sticker that reads “No Excuse for Elder Abuse,” to help raise awareness of the problem. The bumper sticker will be displayed through June 15, which is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. Chief of the State Police Col. Robert Williams said in a recent […]