The Christmas gifts of my childhood in the 1950s are lost memories, but I vividly recall the Christmas gifts of my adolescence in the early 1960s because they were invariably the things every teen and pre-teen needed to be cool. Just how coolness managed to be communicated to the youth of mill-town Westbrook remains a […]
Portland Forecaster
City-wide news from The Forecaster.
Posted inForecaster Opinion, Portland Forecaster, The Forecaster
Superintendent's Notebook: Portland High School students make a difference
Ten students from Portland High School’s Key Club spent a recent afternoon at the Good Shepherd Food Bank. They filled boxes with granola, soup, soy milk and other items to stock the high school’s new food pantry. The first of its kind in Maine, the pantry serves students who otherwise might go hungry. The pantry […]
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Posted inPortland Forecaster, The Forecaster
Speakers at Portland vigil call for gun control
PORTLAND — More than 100 people braved the arrival of the city’s first winter snow storm Sunday night to gather in solidarity with grieving families in Newtown, Conn., and in support of stiffer gun control laws. The organization Maine Citizens Against Handgun Violence held a vigil in Monument Square on Sunday, one day after similar […]
Posted inCoastal Journal, Northern Forecaster, Portland Forecaster, Southern Forecaster, The Forecaster
White House cancels Obama visit to Portland
PORTLAND — Just hours after announcing Friday that President Obama would visit Portland this week, White House officials called off those plans in the wake of the shootings in Newtown, Conn. Obama was to speak at the University of Southern Maine on Wednesday about the so-called “fiscal cliff,” an official said Friday morning. But the […]
Posted inPortland Forecaster, The Forecaster
Portland honoree has dedicated life to helping the homeless
PORTLAND — To a young Josh O’Brien, they were “uncles and aunts.” To many others who passed by them on the street, they were drunks and vagrants. O’Brien, now 41 and the director of the Oxford Street Shelter, first experienced shelter life as a young boy tagging along with his mother or father to their […]
Posted inCoastal Journal, Northern Forecaster, Portland Forecaster, The Forecaster
Topsham elementary school nominated for national award
TOPSHAM — Williams-Cone Elementary School is one of three Maine schools nominated as a 2013 National Blue Ribbon School. The Maine Department of Education announced the nominees – which also include Longfellow Elementary School in Portland and Yarmouth Elementary School – last week. Williams-Cone was selected as a high-performing school, according to Principal Randa Rineer, since […]
Posted inPortland Forecaster, The Forecaster
3 arrested in Portland car break-ins
PORTLAND — After arresting three people Sunday in connection with a string of motor vehicle burglaries near Deering High School, police are looking for the owners of items that were recovered. Joshua Walker, 37, was arrested at about 7:20 a.m. after police found him on Ludlow Street. Walker, who said he was homeless, was in […]
Posted inPortland Forecaster, The Forecaster
Bach to health: Orchestra to provide musical therapy at Portland hospital
PORTLAND — Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast, the saying goes. And perhaps sore backs and carpal tunnel syndrome, too. Patients and employees at New England Rehabilitation Hospital of Portland may soon find out, thanks to a $15,000 grant awarded to the Portland Symphony Orchestra by the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation. The […]
Posted inNorthern Forecaster, Portland Forecaster, The Forecaster
Retiring exec: Despite changes, Portland chamber will remain relevant
PORTLAND — When Godfrey Wood steps down from the leadership of the Portland Regional Chamber at the end of the month, he’ll leave behind a group – and a business community – that are very different than when he started 15 years ago. Wood, 71, announced his decision to retire as PRC chief executive officer […]
Posted inNorthern Forecaster, Portland Forecaster, The Forecaster
Legislator, ACLU: Maine's medical marijuana law falls short
FALMOUTH — Maine’s medical marijuana law does not cover individuals who hope to use the drug for mental health or psychological disorders, but a bill to be introduced in the state Legislature by Rep. Mark Dion could change that. In a press conference Monday, Dion, a Portland Democrat who represents portions of the city and […]