The blaze along Highland Avenue was started by a ‘campfire that was not extinguished properly,’ the Scarborough Fire Department says.
Daniel Kool
Staff Writer
Daniel Kool is the Portland Press Herald's utilities reporter, covering electricity, gas, broadband - anything you get a bill for. He also covers the impact of tariffs on Maine and picks up the odd business story. He joined the Press Herald in 2024 as the night reporter. A graduate of Boston University, he previously covered city news, transportation and higher education for the Boston Globe. His work has also appeared in GBH News, the Boston Globe Magazine and Boston University's student newspaper, where he was the city news editor. A midwestern transplant, Daniel lives in Biddeford, where he plays with keyboards and little noise-making boxes.
11 new right whale calves born this season, New England Aquarium reports
The figure is lower than the 25-year average, but it includes a handful of first-time mothers, according to researchers studying the endangered species.
Cruise ship fire in Portland may have been caused by maintenance lapse, NTSB says
An explosion and fire in the Ocean Navigator’s engine room in October 2023 forced about 200 passengers and crew members to evacuate and left one employee burned.
Four of five suspects in 2022 Kennedy Park shooting have been sentenced
Two of the men charged in the 2022 shooting that left bullet holes in a child’s bedroom were given jail time and probation this month.
Four Maine college presidents sign national letter decrying Trump education ‘overreach’
The presidents of Bowdoin, Bates, Colby and the University of New England joined more than 230 college leaders in rebuking the federal government’s ‘political interference’ in higher education.
Hannaford began review of dairy sourcing days before human rights complaint
The complaint by Migrant Justice, a Vermont-based farmers’ rights group, alleges substandard working conditions on some farms that supply the supermarket chain’s milk.
Collins ‘encouraged’ by meeting with Navy secretary at Portsmouth Shipyard
The meeting came after workers at the Kittery shipyard were initially targeted as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to shrink the federal workforce.
FRONTLINE, Press Herald film ‘Breakdown in Maine’ nominated for Peabody award
The film, a joint production of the Portland Press Herald, Maine Public and FRONTLINE (PBS), is 1 of 4 finalists in the public service category.
Aroostook school district votes to follow Trump administration on Title IX
The board of Hodgdon-based MSAD 70 approved a motion to ‘align with federal Title IX by recognizing only two sexes,’ in line with the administration’s interpretation.
Lobster industry’s defamation case against aquarium paused while appeals court interprets libel law
The lawsuit, which has spent years in limbo, claims the California museum’s sustainable seafood certification unfairly downgraded Maine’s fishery over right whale protections.