AUGUSTA (AP) — The state’s publicly funded campaign finance system that was backed by Maine voters could run dry after lawmakers repeatedly took money from it for other initiatives. The Portland Press Herald reports that Jonathan Wayne, executive director of Maine’s ethics commission, told the Legislature’s budget-writing committee Tuesday that lawmakers have taken nearly $12 […]

AUGUSTA (AP) — A Maine senator says a proposed law would make it easier to issue protection from abuse orders for victims of human trafficking. Sen. Amy Volk, a Cumberland Republican, says protection orders in the state can be filed against family, household members or a dating partner. She says abusers do not always meet […]

AUGUSTA (AP) — A former martial arts instructor will likely spend the rest of his life in prison after a Maine judge sentenced him to 60 years for raping two boys. Justice Michaela Murphy sentenced convicted 38-year-old child pornographer Wade Robert Hoover on Wednesday. Hoover is already serving a 40-year federal sentence and has been […]

SKOWHEGAN (AP) — The lawyer for a Maine man convicted in the 2013 pipe-beating death of another man is appealing the guilty verdict and the sentence. The Morning Sentinel reports one of Jason Cote’s court-appointed attorneys says the 25-year-old Palmyra man was acting in self-defense when he bludgeoned 47-year-old Ricky Cole to death in Cole’s […]

MILFORD (AP) — Police say one person was killed when a pickup clipped a utility pole, rolled over and caught fire in Milford. The Penobscot County Sheriff ’s Department says two others were hurt, one of them with life-threatening injuries. The crash happened early Wednesday. The identities of those involved were not released. County Road […]

BOSTON ( AP) — A man who authorities say ran a sex trafficking ring in Boston has pleaded guilty to nearly 20 charges. The Boston Globe reports 28-year-old Raymond Jeffries entered the plea Tuesday in federal court to charges related to sex trafficking and enticement of a child to participate in sex trafficking. Jeffries reached […]

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (AP) — A government official in Portsmouth says he will advocate for the use of car and body cameras by “all police personnel” in the southeastern New Hampshire city. The Portsmouth Herald reports Assistant Mayor Jim Splaine plans to bring the proposal to the city council as soon as members begin reviewing the […]

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — A Cambridge police officer has been cited in connection with a hit-and-run crash that injured a bicyclist. Police say 28-year-old Ryan Callinan, of Wilmington, was cited for leaving the scene of personal injury and operating to endanger. The crash occurred around 8 p.m. Sunday at the intersection of Broadway and Portland […]

SEEKONK, Mass. (AP) — The owners of a Massachusetts restaurant are suing the Chiquita banana company, alleging a truck carrying bananas caused a fire that destroyed their business. David Salvatore, who represents the owners of the Old Grist Mill Tavern in Seekonk, tells The Sun Chronicle that a truck carrying bananas rolled over in June […]

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. ( AP) — A jury has awarded more than $32 million to the family of a Massachusetts woman killed when a car crashed into a convenience store where she was shopping. Kimmy Dubuque was inside Cumberland Farms in Chicopee in November 2010 when a car driven by an 81- year-old man that may […]