Neighbors say the victim had struggled in recent years with serious medical problems and the deaths of his wife and mother.
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.
’60 Minutes’ segment on El Faro disaster to air Sunday
The show will include video of the sunken cargo ship 15,000 feet below the surface taken by the Navy’s underwater recovery vehicle.
Augusta woman who may have been in car crash reported missing
Brianna Wilson, 19, told her parents, who live in Pownal, on Dec. 21 that she was coming home, but she never showed up, police say.
State to hire Florida company to operate, maintain Casco Bay Bridge
The Maine Department of Transportation says FDI Services Inc. will consider hiring from among the nine state employees who now operate the bridge.
Osher Map Library at University of Southern Maine digitizes its rare globe collection
With a federal grant, the Portland facility is allowing the fragile globes – some rarely seen – to be viewed up close once again.
USM students protesting racism on campus present president with list of demands
They lay out a 10-point plan seeking changes to training, class requirements and hiring during a meeting that school President Glenn Cummings calls ‘extremely productive.’
Craft brewers: Getting hands on 16-ounce cans is one tall order
The growing demand strains Pennsylvania-based Crown Holdings, a primary supplier.
Maine looks to capitalize on education power shift
A new law giving states more say could lead to changes in how teacher and student success is measured here.
Civil rights teams imparting knowledge, skill to Maine students
At a time when immigration, gender equality and other issues can foster very uncivil attitudes, the Civil Rights Team Project is raising awareness in 160 Maine schools.
Maine families join effort to hold El Faro’s owners fully liable in sinking
A federal court ruled in November that TOTE Maritime’s liability was capped at about $15 million in the maritime disaster that claimed 33 lives, including four Mainers.