The team that hired Zachariah Sherburne, who later was charged with sexual assault in another district, didn’t have a handle on whether it was a violation, a report says.
Noel K. Gallagher
Noel Gallagher covers K-12 and higher education issues statewide. Her stories are a mix of breaking news and trend stories. In recent years, they’ve ranged from why college costs so much, the launch of the state’s first charter schools, how a school welcomed a transgender student and why Maine schools have a hard time finding teachers. She’s enough of a news nerd to enjoy sitting through legislative education committee meetings and hours-long school board meetings so you don’t have to.
The Maine Press Association has honored Noel’s work, but she says she writes for the readers, in the firm belief that an informed citizenry is key to a healthy democracy.
Noel is a California native who has worked at wire services, online websites and newspapers across the country. She was in Washington D.C. during the early Clinton years, covering AIDS activism in 1990s San Francisco, documenting the business of wine in Sonoma County and riding out the boom and bust cycle of the early Internet era in early 2000s Silicon Valley. She arrived in Maine at the beginning of the recession and wrote quite a bit about the downturn here.
In her free time, Noel writes the occasional cookbook review, spends an inordinate amount of time at the Portland Public Library and hangs out with her three fabulous kids and wonderful husband. She is not a former member of the band Oasis.
Portland health plan adding transgender coverage
The change follows the lead of more than 60 cities nationally and several in New England.
Retired pastor from Maine back in U.S. after release from Spanish prison
Joseph Bryon Martin of Dresden had been snared in a ‘romance scam’ and duped into serving as a drug mule.
LGBT community gathers in Portland to mourn, keep fear at bay
Vigils are held around the state in support of the victims of Sunday’s massacre, which came at the beginning of Portland’s celebration of Pride Week.
Mount Ararat senior to boycott graduation over military sash
Greg Woodworth, who joined the Army, is protesting a school policy allowing only honor cords.
Borrowing supported to renovate 4 Portland elementary schools
But some parents worry that a proposed $70 million bond would increase taxes too much – 5 to 6 percent annually for the first five years.
Searchers pull body of teen kayaker from Presumpscot River
Mohammed Al-Ammar, 14, was reported missing Thursday after a tandem kayak he was paddling with another boy capsized. The other boy survived.
Brunswick schools regaining financial footing after base closure
The city has closed two elementary schools as the school district is ‘starting to get out of the abyss.’
USM balances budget without emergency money from UMaine System
The school, which also reports a 19 percent spike in fall deposits, says it closed a $6 million budget gap by leaving vacant positions open, cutting administrative costs and draining its reserves.
Titles shuffled at education department to keep LePage’s choice in charge
The governor, who outflanked lawmakers to make Bill Beardsley commissioner, juggles appointments again to re-empower him.