WASHINGTON (AP) — The special counsel’s Russia probe is “close to being completed,” the acting attorney general said in the first official sign that the investigation may be wrapping up. Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker’s comments Monday were a departure for the Justice Department, which rarely comments on the state of the investigation into whether […]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sarah Jessica Parker and Jeff Bridges are bringing a couple of famed characters back to life for a charity in a new Super Bowl commercial. Parker will reprise her “Sex and the City” Carrie Bradshaw role and Bridges will appear as “The Dude” in a Stella Artois commercial to raise money […]

KABUL, Afghanistan — Negotiators for the U.S. and the Taliban insurgents have reached “agreements in principle” on key issues for a peace deal that would end 17 years of war in Afghanistan, the top U.S. envoy said Monday. The statement by U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad followed six days of talks last week with the Taliban […]

Four Ogunquit residents filed a lawsuit Monday to try to block a recall election targeting more than half of the Select Board. The filing of the complaint in York County Superior Court follows months of debate in Ogunquit over the future of board members Charles “Bunky” Waite III, Madeline Mooney and Robert Winn Jr., who could be […]

The Mills administration has tapped a Bath Iron Works executive to be the new leader of the state’s Medicaid program. Michelle Probert, 41, the manager of integrated health services at Bath Iron Works, will become the new director of MaineCare services, one of the top health care positions in state government, starting on Feb. 19. […]

AUGUSTA — Critics of Maine’s two largest for-profit electricity suppliers unveiled a proposal Monday to create a “consumer-owned utility” that they claim would be more beholden to ratepayers than shareholders. The plan by Rep. Seth Berry, D-Bowdoinham, would require Central Maine Power and Emera Maine to sell all of their transmission and distribution assets to […]

A great black hawk found injured in a Portland park during a snowstorm is showing more significant signs of frostbite, according to the group caring for the raptor. The bird is native to Central and South America and its presence in Deering Oaks Park had drawn widespread attention. It was found lying in the snow Jan. 21 and […]

SPRINGVALE — Maine’s forests are quiet right now, but as the weather warms, a quarantine to stop the movement of an invasive forest pest that may threaten the local timber industry could be expanded across the state. In 2018, the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry used a quarantine to contain the emerald ash […]

OLD ORCHARD BEACH — The Old Orchard Beach police are reminding motorists to be aware of the need to stop for school buses. According to state law, a motorist must stop when encountering, in either direction, a school bus stopped with its red lights flashing to load or unload children on a public highway, multiple […]