FREEPORT — Nearly 500 Freeport, Pownal and Durham residents attended the first Regional School Unit 5 town budget meeting Tuesday night and ratified a nearly $23.5 million budget that will increase Pownal’s property taxes by more than 25 percent. The budget now goes to a June 25 referendum vote in all three towns. Residents approved all […]

BRUNSWICK — The Legislature last week approved a bond package that includes $8 million for the redevelopment of Brunswick Naval Air Station. The entire $150 million package still must be ratified by voters in June 2010. The so-called “responsible investment plan” was pitched by Gov. John Baldacci as the state’s version of the federal economic […]

FALMOUTH — The town is seeking public input on a proposed management plan for eight forested properties totalling 758 acres. The Conservation Commission’s Open Space Implementation Subcommittee will hold a forum at 7 p.m., Wednesday, June 24, at the Falmouth Memorial Library to gather opinions and answer questions from residents about the plan, which was […]

Members of the Plane Janes team dig in and pull during the Jet Plane Pull at the Portland Jetport on June 13, all to raise money for the local Multiple Sclerosis chapter. Twelve teams of 20 competed in the event, using brute strength to pull a FedEx Boeing 737 jet 12 feet in as short […]

Rebecca San performs a traditional Cambodian dance during the third annual Bayside World Market & Fair at Portland High School on June 13. Organized by the Bayside Neighborhood Association and the Portland School Department, the event celebrates the rich diversity of downtown Portland. (Rich Obrey photo) Rob Lindsay of Portland plays the didgeridoo during a […]

CUMBERLAND — Requirements for concerts and parimutuel horse racing independent of the annual county fair are expected to be established for the Cumberland Fairgrounds after a public hearing Monday, June 22. Under the newly elected leadership of Chairman Ron Copp, the Town Council will consider those changes, as well as recommendations to increase some town […]

FALMOUTH — The Maine Department of Transportation begins work this week on a section of Brook Road between Blackstrap Road and the Westbrook city line. In a project that Parks and Public Works Director Jay Reynolds said will last through August, workers will tear up the existing pavement and replace it with two new layers […]

A photo on Page 9 of the June 10 edition of The Forecaster should have identified Heather Muzzy as valedictorian of the Deering High School Class of 2009.

CUMBERLAND — The School Administrative District 51 budget, defeated in a tie vote three weeks ago, was approved Tuesday by voters in Cumberland and North Yarmouth. The budget passed by just more than 100 votes, 757-645, or 54 percent to 46 percent. Total turnout was nearly 16 percent in each town, an increase from about […]

YARMOUTH — After a flurry of donations, and despite the resignation this week of its founder and president, GrowSmart Maine is confident it will meet a short-term fundraising goal of $60,000 and be able to remain in operation. Communication Director Christian McNeil on Tuesday morning said the non-profit, which sponsored the 2006 Brookings Institution report, “Charting Maine’s […]