PORTLAND — The School Committee on Wednesday, Oct. 21, will consider a resolution authorizing the superintendent to begin working on a strategy to identify nearly $3 million in potential cuts to the current budget. The resolution follows an announcement by Gov. John Baldacci that state revenues are expected to be down by $200 million more […]

PORTLAND — A one-year seat on the Portland Water District Board of Trustees has attracted two candidates, one with a passion for Sebago Lake and the other an advocate for discontinuing the practice of adding fluoride to drinking water. Kenneth Levinsky and Oliver Outerbridge are running to replace Matt Sinclair, who moved away from the […]

BRUNSWICK — The agency redeveloping Brunswick Naval Air Station is eyeing funds that have been used to subsidize the Amtrak Downeaster. The Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority says the money is needed to operate the airport after the Navy base is decommissioned. Steve Levesque, MRRA executive director, confirmed his group may need a slice of the […]

Maine voters will again decide whether to impose strict spending caps on state government, two years after a similar measure was narrowly defeated. The proposal, known as a taxpayer’s bill of rights, or TABOR II, will appear as Question 4 on the Nov. 3 ballot. The concept is simple: State spending would be capped at […]

Medical marijuana is already legal in Maine, but for patients with recommendations from their doctor allowing its use, growing their own is the only legal way to supply themselves. Question 5 on the Nov. 3 ballot would legalize nonprofit medical marijuana dispensaries, which would be regulated by the Department of Health and Human Services. According […]

Four-year-old Brady Lee, left, of Saco, and Ursula Elmquist, 2, of South Portland, race their dump trucks down a track atop the ecomaine landfill in Portland on Oct. 10 as part of an open house at the facility. Guided tours highlighted the various stages of trash treatment at the 240-acre site.

SCARBOROUGH — Planning staff Wednesday backed the most recent of eight suggested intersection redesigns to control traffic along Payne Road southwest of Haigis Parkway. The plan recommended at a special Town Council meeting would create a new, 550-foot spur of Payne Road  that would intersect with Route 1 to the north of the existing intersection. […]

SOUTH PORTLAND — The City Council signaled support Wednesday night for a new ordinance that would require energy-efficient certification for some building projects, but did not move forward a specific proposal. Instead, councilors are planning to hold a panel discussion with an expert on Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification, and with developers who […]

Four-year-old Kyle St. Clair of Scarborough is a big train buff. So when Make-A-Wish volunteers Teresa Canty and Nicole Matushenko went to his house Monday, Oct. 12, with details about the trip to Walt Disney World they arranged for Kyle and his family, they also organized a ride on the Bayley’s Campground trolley. Just a […]

SCARBOROUGH — A ceremony Wednesday attended by state and local officials marked the opening of the first PlumChoice regional training and support center in Maine and the company’s first expansion from its Billerica, Mass., headquarters. According to Chief Executive Officer Ted Werth, the company’s 12,900-square-foot regional center will employ 125 people by the end of […]