PORTLAND — Superintendent of Schools Xavier Botana is proposing a spending increase of more than $7.2 million for fiscal year 2020. The total budget, which Botana was scheduled to unveil during a School Board meeting Tuesday, after The Forecaster’s deadline, is nearly $117.8 million, which represents a 6.5 percent increase in spending. In all, Botana projects […]

PORTLAND — With three sites under active consideration, a City Council committee is closing in on a recommendation for a new homeless shelter. The Health & Human Services and Public Safety Committee, led by Councilor Belinda Ray, spent Tuesday afternoon listening to details about potential sites on County Way, Commercial Street and Riverside Street. On Tuesday, March […]

PORTLAND — With ferry service to Nova Scotia gone, the city has found a temporary use for the vehicle queuing area outside the Ocean Gateway Terminal on Thames Street. The new use could also produce more revenue than the city earned from The Cat ferry. City councilors on Monday approved a request by City Manager Jon […]

PORTLAND — New Mainers are joining Catholic parishes across the state, and nowhere was that more evident than at a special St. Patrick’s Day Mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on Sunday. In delivering his homily, Bishop Robert Deeley looked out over a sea of faces that included families who have attended the church […]

PORTLAND — The first Greater Portland METRO fare increase since 2010 would also add discounts for younger riders and move toward digital payments. Local bus fares would increase 50 cents to $2, with the METRO BREEZ express increasing from $3 to $4. BREEZ connects Brunswick and Portland via stops in Falmouth, Freeport and Yarmouth. METRO would […]