The annual Greek Festival drew several thousand people to Holy Trinity Greek Church at Pleasant and Park streets in Portland June 25-27 for three days of dancing and food celebrating Greek culture. Here, people joined in a traditional Greek dance while others waited patiently in the long food lines. (Michael Barriault photo)Zack Sentementes, left, and […]

Andrew Feigleson, left, Nick Karahalios, owner of the Maine Lobster & Seafood Co., and Bill Exley serve up lobster and corn on the cob dinners at the Falmouth Rotary’s first Lobster Festival at the Maine State Pier in Portland on June 27. (Michael Barriault photo)Nicole Troe, left, and Taryn Friedman of Portland enjoy the first […]

FALMOUTH — The garter snake had just reached the top of the five-gallon bucket after somehow slithering up the slippery plastic side when Bootz Sharrif, 16, picked it up and examined its tortuous body and gently tried to touch its forked tongue. Mahad Warsame, 16, and Ilhan Hilowle, 18, both drew closer, fascinated by their […]

PORTLAND — A local nonprofit agency is accusing the city of ignoring the needs of low-income and minority residents and has asked the federal government to investigate the city’s allocation of bonus community development funds it recieved as part of the federal stimulus package. Paul Young, a consultant for the Center for African Heritage, said […]

PORTLAND — Two local film producers are continuing their climb up the movie-making mountain with their first nationally distributed film.  Portland residents Aaron Duffey and Jim Cole, who made names for themselves in 2005 with “Sundowning,” are celebrating the national release of their new film, “Three Priests,” which will also be distributed internationally. “Three Priests” […]

PORTLAND — Make no mistake about it, people find police work intriguing. Police shows dominate prime-time television, with more “CSI” and “Law & Order” spin-offs than you can count.  But there are many misconceptions about what actual police work entails.  Yarmouth Police Department Lt. Dean Perry called it the “Starsky & Hutch” syndrome, where two […]

PORTLAND — The School Committee last week voted 8-1 to participate in the state initiative to put laptop computers into the hands of high school students. The program, however, depends on a waiver from the U.S. Department of Education to use about $1.8 million in stimulus money earmarked for economically disadvantaged and special education students […]

PORTLAND — The Maine Red Claws NBA Development League team on Monday announced its not-unexpected affiliation with the Boston Celtics. The Red Claws will also be affiliated with the Charlotte Bobcats. Ever since a group of investors announced in December 2007 they were working to bring a development league team to Portland, the Celtics affiliation […]

PEAKS ISLAND — Island residents and visitors this summer have bright, new ways to recycle soda cans and water bottles. Six recycling barrels designed by island artists have been set out along the busiest sections of Island Avenue and Welch Street. The recycling project was the brainchild of resident Mary Anne Mitchell and was funded […]

PORTLAND — The city is expecting as many as 50,000 people to attend the annual July 4 fireworks show on the Eastern Promenade this weekend. Grucci’s of New York, the same fireworks company that put on fireworks shows at the Beijing, Athens and Salt Lake City Olympics, is planning a 20-minute show. In conjunction with […]