YARMOUTH — The Town Council on March 18 unanimously accepted the School Board’s fiscal 2011 budget with a zero percent increase from this year. Councilors also received a preliminary municipal budget that would add 20 cents to the property tax rate. School Board Chairman David Ray said the $19.5 million school budget is the most conservative […]

Malia Cross-Roberts of Portland shows she’s got skill, and gets an approving smile from Harlem Globetrotter Hot Shot Branch, on March 19 in the Reiche School gym. Branch was in town promoting the Globetrotters game in Portland on March 26 and the “CHEER For Character” program, which focuses on building good character traits in kids […]

DURHAM — The Maine Arts Commission is inviting artists from all over the country to submit proposals to design, create and install artwork at the Durham Community School as part of the public artwork program Percent for Art. The artists selected will receive a budget of up to $44,000 to create original artwork inside and […]

PORTLAND — A Kansas extremist group that openly hates homosexuals, Jews, Catholics and America in general is threatening to picket a local high school theater production. The Westboro Baptist Church, known for its frequent picketing of funerals for military veterans and gays, posted a news release Feb. 20 on its Web site announcing it would […]

PORTLAND — The city will receive $1.8 million in federal grants over the next two years to combat obesity, Gov. John Baldacci announced last week. The grant was awarded to Healthy Portland, a city program run in collaboration with the Department of Health and Human Services. It will be used to support Power Up Portland, […]

PORTLAND — The School Committee on Wednesday, March 24, will hold a public hearing on next year’s proposed budget, which eliminates dozens of jobs. The fiscal 2011 budget of $89.9 million is about $1.5 million smaller than this year’s budget, but would require a 1.2 percent increase in local taxes due to a $4.7 million […]

PORTLAND — Jewish Family Services will soon be delivering kosher Meals on Wheels to Falmouth residents after winning a $10,000 grant from the Sam L. Cohen Foundation. The program, which will initially provide free hot meals twice a week, is set to start after Passover, which begins at sundown March 29 and ends April 5. […]

PORTLAND — As part of a forestry management plan for the woods at Evergreen Cemetery, the state is looking for volunteer birders to help keep an eye on the cemetery’s avian population. The city was awarded funds through the state’s Project Canopy program in 2007, and has used more than $2,500 to create management plans […]

PORTLAND — A dozen students stayed behind at Portland High School Monday afternoon after their peers left with the ringing of the end-of-school bell. The students were not held back for detention, but stayed voluntarily for a new certification program in Global Studies, believed to be the first of its kind in the state. The […]

PORTLAND — When Michael McCarthy became principal at King Middle School in 1988, the Parkside school was not a place where parents wanted to send their children. “There was a lot of violence and there were low expectations for kids,” McCarthy said. “I knew I had to do something dramatic.” Several years later, King became […]