BRUNSWICK A classroom teacher and social organizer for 25 years, Debby Irving served on multiple diversity committees before she had a wake-up call: “It turns out I had no idea what I was doing.” At the time, she felt that she was a good person and that it was enough, relative to the issue of […]

TOPSHAM As the season turns to spring, Holly Spicer turns her attention to her bees. “People don’t realize how much goes into beekeeping,” she said. “I call it the most fascinating and frustrating thing I’ve ever done.” Spicer, president of the Sagadahoc County Beekeepers Association, spent a recent Monday morning checking on one of the […]

FREEPORT Freeport will be overrun with Boy Scouts Saturday as L.L. Bean again hosts the annual Scout-o-rama on the grounds surrounding its flagship store. The event kicks off at 9 a.m. with a parade of scouts down Main Street. They will then convene at the L.L. Bean Discovery Park for a day of activities to […]

FREEPORT (AP) — While L.L. Bean has seen flat sales in the U.S., the Maine-based company is rapidly growing overseas due to Japanese fashion trends. Company managing director of Japan and Asia Pacific Zane Shatzer tells the Bangor Daily News Japan has trends such as the “yama” or “mountain” girl, who hikes on weekends. There […]

BRUNSWICK Tracy Gregoire didn’t go to the Brunswick Lowe’s Home Improvement store Thursday to get supplies for a project. Instead, she delivered a letter urging the retail chain to remove a paint stripper from the store’s shelves. A chemical found in some paint strippers, methylene chloride, she said, has been linked to more than 50 […]

Jared DeSimio has a day job as an education technician at Mt. Ararat High School in Topsham. But in his spare time he’s an artist, working with discarded fabrics and clothing to turn them into functional and unique items. A modern-day ragman, if you will. He got started in 2008, teaching himself to sew on […]

HAMILTON COLLEGE Julia F. Carpenter of Brunswick, was named the recipient of The David J. Gray Senior Prize in Sociology at Hamilton College’s annual Class & Charter Day, held on May 7 BECKER COLLEGE Mikayla Moore of Harpswell was inducted into Alpha Lambda Delta honor society at Becker College PROVIDENCE COLLEGE John Michael Murphy of […]

AUGUSTA Gubernatorial candidates say it’s time to focus on lingering economic challenges facing rural communities following Republican Gov. Paul LePage’s eight years steadying Maine’s finances. The Associated Press polled the state’s Republican, Democratic, independent and third-party registered candidates ahead of the June primary. Candidates largely agreed that the fiscally conservative governor has improved the state’s […]