PORTLAND — Responding to reports of mold found at Longfellow and Reiche elementary in recent weeks, Superintendent of Schools Xavier Botana said his top priority is the health and safety of students and staff. Botana on Monday said the School Department has followed all of the “standard operating protocols for dealing with these types of reports,” […]

PORTLAND — Will local Question 1, the Fair Rent ordinance stabilize city neighborhoods or destroy them? “Rent stabilization protects working and middle-class housing, with housing being a crucial resource in the city,” Jack O’Brien of Fair Rent Portland said Monday. O’Brien, a professor of statistics at Bowdoin College, is leading the grassroots effort to pass the measure […]

PORTLAND — Students in the woodworking program at Portland Arts and Technology High School turned a team-building exercise into a community-service project. The students crafted activity boards for residents of The Cedars retirement community. The boards, which include locks and latches, hooks and hinges, lights, colorful beads, bells and more, “provide an opportunity to tinker safely” […]

PORTLAND — The “housing-first” concept to end chronic homelessness was not created in the city, but its implementation has led to national recognition for Portland agencies. “In our world, it is a really big deal. This is the major best practice and best policy center,” Oxford Street Shelter Director Rob Parritt said Oct. 9 about receiving […]

PORTLAND — There are three open seats and three candidates for Portland School Board this fall. Marnie Morrione is the only incumbent. She’s seeking re-election to the District 5 seat, while newcomers Timothy Atkinson and Mark Balfantz are running for the District 4 seat and one at-large seat, respectively. The District 4 seat was vacated by […]

PORTLAND — A family visiting from Tennessee won’t soon forget their trip to Portland after the downtown community came together last Friday to help them find their son’s lost stuffed bunny. Jennifer Dzermejko said her son, Eddie, 5, lost his bunny pal, Bean, when he put him down while playing on the rocks in Tommy’s Park sometime […]

PORTLAND — It was an event that made Frank Reilly bubbly. “I am thrilled, it is beautiful to see the people walking through,” he said Oct. 11 as Lincoln Park was rededicated for public use. As leaders of the Friends of Lincoln Park, Reilly, and his wife, Sharon Reilly, were also front and center for the splashy […]

PORTLAND — Dsychiatrist Dr. Reinaldo de los Heros has had his license to practice suspended for 30 days beginning Oct. 10. The suspension, announced Oct. 11 in a Maine Board of Licensure in Medicine press release, is the third time de los Heros has been sanctioned in Maine since receiving a conditional license to practice in 2006, according […]

PORTLAND — Police are seeking a lone suspect after the robbery of the M.A. Storck Co. jewelry store at 651 Forest Ave. in Woodfords Corner around 4:15 p.m. on Wednesday. Lt. Robert Martin said a white man, wearing a white baseball cap and sunglasses, his face covered by a dark bandana, smashed several glass display cases with […]

PORTLAND — A definitive finding of mold at one elementary school included in a multimillion-dollar bond question could have an impact on how the vote goes this fall. On Nov. 7 city voters will be asked to decide between two questions. Question No. 3 seeks borrowing $64.2 million to pay for substantial renovations and upgrades at […]