SOUTH PORTLAND — The state Department of Transportation started making safety upgrades on Monday to a two-mile stretch of Interstate 295 in Portland and South Portland. The scope of the work includes adding northbound and southbound travel lanes between Exit 3 (Westbrook Street) and Exit 4 (Veterans Memorial Bridge), where traffic typically bottlenecks during rush […]

PORTLAND — The School Committee will vote Wednesday on a resolution that aims to increase the financial stability of the district. The resolution would direct the superintendent, school staff and Finance Committee chairman to collect information and recommend a multi-year budgeting plan. A final recommendation of the mulit-year process would be delivered to the School […]

PEAKS ISLAND — Ferry passengers planning to take vehicles to Peaks Island this summer should note new traffic rules in the busy Down Front area. The changes are meant to help with traffic flow on Welch Street and Island Avenue, where cars queue for the ride back to the mainland. The area is highly congested, […]

FALMOUTH — Two weeks after a fourth-grade teacher “married” one of his students in a mock ceremony on the school playground, the teacher and the school principal have issued letters of explanation and apologies. The June 18 ceremony between Plummer-Motz School teacher Paul Rosenblum and an unidentified fourth-grader “was held in response to a female […]

PORTLAND — While Kate Nelson, James Brown and the couple’s three daughters enjoyed Independence Day with hundreds of other families on Munjoy Hill, someone was helping themselves to the family’s possessions. “We got up on (July 5) and noticed things were missing,” Nelson said. Among the items gone from the family’s Upland Street home were […]

PORTLAND — After only a few days on the job, Superintendent of Schools James Morse Sr. said he is wasting no time settling in and getting to work.  “To sit back and look at things isn’t my style,” Morse said. “You get to know me by working with me, so that’s why I’ve hit the ground […]

PORTLAND — The School Department will have to wait at least until next spring – possibly longer – to conduct a wind study near the East End Community School on Munjoy Hill. Portland was one of two communities selected last summer by the Efficiency Maine, an energy conservation arm of the Public Utilities Commission, to receive […]

BRUNSWICK — The Town Council’s long search for a new town manager is drawing closer to completion.  And the one candidate with whom the council is most familiar is still in the mix.  On July 16, three separate panels will interview the six remaining applicants hoping to succeed former Town Manager Don Gerrish, who was […]

SOUTH PORTLAND — With the first warm, sunny days in about a month, beaches were undoubtedly on many people’s mind last weekend. This Friday, beach enthusiasts will gather at Southern Maine Community College’s dining hall to discuss the role Maine’s beaches play in driving the summer economy and, more importantly, what’s at stake if coastal […]

PORTLAND — June’s dreary weather may have kept some shoppers from strolling through the city’s Old Port, but retailers are optimistic the return of sun and warmth – and the start of peak tourist season – will have visitors hitting the cobblestones. Several shops, including a few longtime Exchange Street fixtures, closed during the winter […]