I’ve just finished my first graduation season in the Portland Public Schools. I was struck by how many paths students followed to reach the moment when they walked across the stage and received their diplomas. Some literally crossed oceans. Arriving in Portland as immigrants, refugees or asylum seekers, they faced the challenges of learning English […]
Portland Forecaster
City-wide news from The Forecaster.
Posted inCoastal Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Northern Forecaster, Portland Forecaster, Southern Forecaster, The Forecaster
Letter: Maine should mandate full-day kindergarten
I encourage readers to support funding LD 1143, “An Act to Provide Full Day Kindergarten Programs,” to mandate full-day kindergarten in all districts in Maine. Early childhood is an incredibly formative time for children both academically and socio-emotionally, and school systems need to take advantage of this time. It has been empirically proved that students […]
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Posted inCoastal Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Northern Forecaster, Portland Forecaster, Southern Forecaster, The Forecaster
Letter: Beem ignores Maine's active seminaries
Edgar Allen Beem recently lamented the loss of Bangor Theological Seminary as another blow to the Christian community in the ongoing drive towards secularism in our country. The fact is that Bangor Theological joined the secular movement years ago and its decline and ultimate closure is in some portion related to that change. Indeed its […]
Posted inPortland Forecaster, The Forecaster
Police make arrest in Old Port stabbing
PORTLAND — Police on Wednesday arrested Christopher Johnson, 23, of Portland, in connection with a June 7 stabbing in the Old Port, Assistant Chief Vern Malloch said Thursday. Johnson was charged with elevated aggravated assault for allegedly stabbing a 22-year-old Portland man multiple times in the area between Fore and Wharf streets. The victim has […]
Posted inCoastal Journal, Northern Forecaster, Portland Forecaster, Southern Forecaster, The Forecaster
'Dreamgirls,' Miss Tess are top picks to start summer
Summer won’t be here for more than a week, but the season is already under way in the arts and entertainment world. Summer-only playhouses are a sure sign of the season, and Maine State Music Theatre opened last week for its 55th year of summer stock in Brunswick with a superb professional production of “Dreamgirls,” […]
Posted inPortland Forecaster, The Forecaster
Portland's Downtown District director resigning
PORTLAND — Janis Beitzer, executive director of business-improvement group Portland’s Downtown District, will resign on Friday for personal reasons, according to a PDD press release. “Jan has been an extraordinary asset over the last eight years executing our mission,” PDD President Doug Fuss said in the release. The board of directors has opened up a […]
Posted inPortland Forecaster, The Forecaster
Portland man indicted on sexual assault charges
PORTLAND — A 31-year-old Portland man was indicted by a grand jury Friday in Cumberland County District Court on two charges of gross sexual assault. Ryan Cook is accused of sexually assaulting an underage girl between January 2011 and February 2013. One charge he is facing is a Class A felony punishable by up to […]
Posted inPortland Forecaster, The Forecaster
Body of missing fisherman found under Portland wharf
PORTLAND — The body of a missing fisherman was found under Custom House Wharf Tuesday morning, City Hall spokeswoman Nicole Clegg said. A body tentatively identified as that of George Manning, 66, was found by Portland and South Portland police divers at about 8 a.m. Manning was a local fisherman who was reported missing Monday […]
Posted inPortland Forecaster, The Forecaster
Affordable apartments open in Portland's Bayside neighborhood
PORTLAND — The city’s stock of affordable housing got a much-needed boost Monday with the opening of Pearl Place II, a complex of 54 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments at 184 Pearl St. in the Bayside neighborhood. U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, Mayor Michael Brennan and state Housing Authority Director John Gallagher were on hand […]
Posted inPortland Forecaster, The Forecaster
Portland building under scrutiny as bricks rain down
PORTLAND — Work crews welded steel braces onto the side of the State Theatre building Monday afternoon after the aging facade came undone, raining brick and debris onto the street below on Sunday. The cause has not been determined. Representatives of Stone Coast Properties LLC, the company that manages the building, did not return a […]