NORTH YARMOUTH — Clark Baston has informed the Board of Selectmen that he will not seek re-appointment as the town’s part-time fire chief. Baston, who also works full-time as road foreman for North Yarmouth’s Public Works Department, told Board Chairman Paul Napolitano in a Jan. 31 letter that as of June 30, he would not […]

SOUTH PORTLAND — A small-businessman has thrown his hat into the ring for Maine House District 123. Democrat Scott Hamann, a South Portland resident, wants to take the seat currently held by Jane Eberle. Term limits prevent Eberle from seeking re-election. In a release issued Tuesday, Hamann said his goals are to support small businesses, […]

PORTLAND — School officials say Riverton Elementary has made “significant gains” in academic achievement since it was identified two years ago as underachieving by state and federal governments. New England Common Assessment Program test results released last week by the school district show improvement in reading and math in grades three through five. Riverton received […]

PORTLAND — For anyone just dying to get a tour of the city’s waste water treatment plant, there is a way in: Portland 101, a sort of civics class for adults. For everyone else, that process, along with recycling, local elections and the other unseen minutiae of daily municipal life can be a whole lot […]

SOUTH PORTLAND — The tax code– with its forms, credits, deductions and exemptions – can seem like a jungle, and just as intimidating for those unfamiliar with the system. For those people, Joan Jagolinzer is a machete-wielding forest guide. Over the years, taxes have gotten more complex, said Jagonlinzer, a volunteer tax preparer with AARP. […]

PORTLAND — The Maine Charter School Commission will decide by July 1 which charter schools will open to students in September. During a public input session Monday night at Deering High School, members of the commission said that the July 1 deadline will allow charter schools 60 days to enroll students. James Banks, chairman of […]

Their children are a drug like no other. The tykes poured out of their huts, running to road’s edge with their scruffy, smiling faces and ragged clothes, hollering “Hello” and “Bye-Bye” and waving until I thought they’d break a wrist. I often had big alligator tears of joy smudging my sunglasses. BRUNSWICK — Rich Cromwell […]

ALFRED — A Scarborough man faces up to 10 years in prison after his conviction Wednesday on a Class B theft charge in York County Superior Court. Ryan J. Byther, 36, was found guilty by a jury of stealing $50,000 from American Legion Post 56 of York in 2008, according to a press release from […]

SOUTH PORTLAND — Business owners, their customers and residents of the city’s Knightville neighborhood are weighing the options: Make Ocean Street one-way, or lose coveted angled parking spots. For many businesses, the answer is clear.  “I love it,” insurance agent Amy Alward, whose office is located near the drive-in parking spots, said about the one-way […]

SOUTH PORTLAND — When Wendyellen Caisse and her fiance, Bob Young, realized that her engagement ring had been lost somewhere in Mill Creek Park, the high school sweethearts assumed it was gone forever. No one, they reasoned, would pick up an antique 2-karat diamond ring and try to return it to its owner.  The two […]