PORTLAND — Eliminating traditional grade levels and scoring may soon dominate discussions in Maine’s largest school district. One provision of a comprehensive plan framework approved several weeks ago by the School Board would establish standards-based grading throughout the city. “It’s a conversation yet to be had in Portland,” Superintendent James C. Morse Sr. said. Morse […]

TOPSHAM — The Comprehensive Plan Implementation Committee will meet at Town Hall at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 8. The group will discuss proposed amendments to the Zoning and Subdivision ordinances to implement recommendations of Topsham’s Natural Areas Plan. The plan, adopted by Town Meeting, makes several recommendations on subdivisions to better protect the town’s natural […]

SCARBOROUGH — The School Department’s policies on public access are illegal under state law, according to one attorney and a representative of the Society of Professional Journalists. Fees associated with records requests from the School Department exceed the state limit, said Sigmund Schutz, an attorney with Preti Flaherty in Portland and a director of the […]

SOUTH PORTLAND — City councilors on Monday sparred over whether they should receive health-care benefits, which a new legal opinion says is not authorized by the City Charter. The charter specifies “the annual compensation of councilmen shall be $3,000,” which councilors receive in the form of a stipend. Since 1977, they’ve had the option to […]

SOUTH PORTLAND — The City Council informally adopted an update to its Combined Sewer Overflow Facilities Plan, advancing the 12-year, $15.63 million proposal for public comment. Combined sewer overflow, or CSO, occurs when wet weather overtakes the city’s sewer system, triggering a release of waste water and storm water into the Casco Bay or Fore […]

SOUTH PORTLAND — Though his family has been displaced, and nearly all their possessions lost, Mark Calkins will be on stage this weekend in the lead role of a local holiday production. The Calkins family’s home was destroyed Nov. 25 in a fire ruled accidental by the Fire Department. Calkins, his wife Denise, and their […]

SOUTH PORTLAND — A new nonprofit agency hopes to facilitate extracurricular science and math learning for Maine students. The Reach Center launched Tuesday at a conference at the SEA Center at Southern Maine Community College. The group, a joint project of the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance and the Maine School of Science and Mathematics […]

BRUNSWICK — A meeting on Monday night between town officials and members of a neighborhood group that opposes construction of a train layover facility angered some who attended, while confusing and disappointing others. It also raised questions about whether the meeting should have been announced in advance as a public meeting of the Town Council. […]

SOUTH PORTLAND — The Police Department is joining Protection 1 and Family Crisis Services to provide a free panic alarm service to victims of violence, sexual assault and/or stalking. South Portland is the second municipality in the state to sign on to Security Against Violence Effort, or SAVE. The program provides free home alarm systems […]

TOPSHAM — A special Town Meeting on Wednesday approved spending $26,000 on conceptual designs for a Lower Village Waterfront Park. During the half-hour meeting at Mt. Ararat High School, voters also favored a $10,000 Community Development Block Grant to study an expansion of bus service in the area, an ordinance amending the sign section of […]