Fireworks light up the foggy sky over Freeport during L.L. Bean’s New Year’s Eve celebration on Saturday, Dec. 31, 2011. Children’s performer Rick Charette sings “Alligator in the Elevator” with the help of some of the kids from the audience during the L.L. Bean’s New Year’s Eve celebration on Dec. 31, 2011, in FreeportMegan Blasius, […]

Palm Pilots, umbrellas, consultants among campaign expenses PORTLAND — The 15 candidates who hoped to become Portland’s first elected mayor since 1923 spent more than $300,000 on their campaigns. Some candidates dug deeper than others to get first-place votes in the opening round of the instant-runoff election, but who spent the most per vote ($40) […]

PORTLAND — Despite initial optimism that Casco Bay would be a good location for wind power, a city waterfront project has produced less energy than expected and a project on Peaks Island has been abandoned because there isn’t enough wind. This comes as the City Council prepares to act on a wind energy ordinance that […]

WASHINGTON D.C. — Between a new bill introduced in the U.S. Senate and a U.S. Department of Education request of data from all Maine schools, the restraint and seclusion of students in schools may soon become more transparent. U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, chairman of the Health Education Labor and Pension Committee, introduced the “Keeping […]

PORTLAND — Alan Spear and Mary Allen Lindemann don’t think they look particularly cool. “I mean, look at us,” Lindemann said, pointing to her simple gray dress and  straight, brown hair, pulled loosely back. Spear, her husband, was wearing a black sweater and jeans. But their business, Coffee by Design, was recently called one of […]

BRUNSWICK — A Gurnet Road man is out of the hospital after being stabbed at his home on New Year’s Day. Scott Pelkey, 44, was discharged from Maine Medical Center on Jan. 2. Pelkey was transferred to the Portland hospital on Sunday after he first went to Midcoast Hospital with a stab wound to the […]

PORTLAND — Portland High School is closed Tuesday, Jan. 3, due to a boiler problem. The School Department posted a notice on its website announcing the closure, and said calls were made to all students’ families to alert them of the closure. There was no indication Tuesday if the school would be able to reopen […]

PORTLAND — The public’s right to know is described in Maine by the Freedom of Acccess Act, which clearly outlines the rules and obligations for operating an open, transparent government. For example, a citizen who requests a document from a public agency may not be charged more than $10 per hour for time spent fulfilling […]

Shelly Thorp of Harrison, left, and Anita Day of North Fryeburg run from the chilly waters of Casco Bay during the fourth annual Polar Bear Dip at East End Beach in Portland on Saturday, Dec. 31. They said participation in a polar plunge was one of their bucket list items. Entry fees for the noon […]

SCARBOROUGH — Police are investigating a robbery at Shaw’s Supermarket, 417 Payne Road, on Wednesday, Dec. 28. According to police, the robbery took place at 6:40 p.m. when the suspect, a white man in his early 30s, threatened to shoot a store clerk and demanded money. They said the suspect has a medium build and […]