PORTLAND — Beginning this weekend, ground fishermen will be able to land their fish in Portland and receive a benefit that many have travelled to Massachusetts for: tax-free diesel fuel. But there’s a catch. The privately funded program is only a temporary solution to what many believe is a significant reason ground fisherman leave the […]

PORTLAND — METRO will change its schedules and bus routes starting Jan. 10 so it can begin a daily service to businesses in the Five Star Industrial Park in Westbrook. Some service along Washington Avenue to West Falmouth will also be eliminated. Marketing director Denise Beck said in a press release that Route 4 will […]

PORTLAND — For Cheryl Hamilton, checkered floors are much more than tiles on the ground. The floor represents the patchwork of refugees and natives in the Lewiston-Auburn neighborhoods where she worked during the beginning of the Somali migration to the area. It represents the yin and yang of the sometimes beautiful, sometimes trying juxtapositions she […]

PORTLAND — Renovation has started on a historic fountain on Federal Street, behind Central Fire Station. City Hall spokeswoman Nicole Clegg said work on the Stanley Pullen fountain, which was used as watering trough for horses in the early 1900s, will be completed this winter, with a rededication ceremony expected in the spring. The fountain, […]

Scott Tibbits, right, of Bath, lights a candle held by Peter Garlid of Portland at the Homeless Memorial Candlelight Service on the Brunswick Mall Tuesday night. Tedford Housing, a Brunswick homeless service agency, organized the interfaith event on the longest night of the year to raise awareness about the homeless and to remember those who […]

A father encourages his son to skate to him at the Orland H. Blake Skating Pond in Yarmouth on Saturday.

There was a building boom in Cape Elizabeth this week: lots of gingerbread houses under construction inside The Cookie Jar pastry shop on Shore Road. The usual holiday rush was a little earlier and a little busier than in past years, co-owner Donna Piscopo said as she put the finishing touches on an ornate offering […]

SOUTH PORTLAND — Three task forces are finishing up recommendations that will be considered during the upcoming school budget deliberations. Superintendent Suzanne Godin said it will be up to the School Board whether to implement any of the changes. A group studying the potential outsourcing of custodial services has instead recommended eliminating eight positions, three […]

CAPE ELIZABETH — The Town Council is expected to determine if a driveway permit for 6 Stonegate Road was issued incorrectly. Robert H. Stier Jr., of 9 Rock Crest Drive, is appealing Public Works Director Robert Malley’s decision to issue the permit to Early Bird Group, developers of two lots that abut the public right-of-way […]

Bristyn Leisure, left, and other eighth-graders greet Gov.-elect Paul LePage on Dec. 16 at Lyman Moore Middle School in Portland. LePage made brief remarks and then took questions from the students for a half hour before touring the building.