Former First Lady Barbara Bush reads to a group of youngsters at First Steps Child Care in Springvale on Monday. (Jeff Lagasse/Journal Tribune)

BIDDEFORD — There’s a photo of James Sheppard, taken Saturday, that says it all. He’s sitting in the second seat of a Red Tail P-51C Mustang at Biddeford Municipal Airport, getting ready for a flight, and his face is wreathed in a broad, engaging smile. The event was the first time Sheppard, 87, had been […]

Tuskegee Airman James Sheppard of South Portland stops beside a restored World War II Red Tail P-51C Mustang. Sheppard was honored Saturday with a flight in the aircraft ”“ he said it was the first time he’d been in one since 1945. (Tammy Wells/Journal Tribune)

Malachi Gagnon, 4, grabs hold of a Cortland apple Monday at McDougal Orchards in Springvale. Local orchards say it will be a good season for the favorite fall fruit. (Jeff Lagasse/Journal Tribune)

Monday was a perfect day for picking apples. So said Joshua Gagnon, whose bag overfloweth: Cortlands, those sweet cousins to the McIntosh, were packed tight into the orchard’s cloth sack, and as he walked through sun-dappled rows of trees with his wife, Jennifer, he watched his two sons run ahead of him; Malachi, 4, and […]

BIDDEFORD — Two brothers who own Mexican restaurants in Maine, including one in Biddeford, were released from prison after posting bail. They were arrested Wednesday and charged in federal court with one count each of conspiring to harbor illegal aliens and employing illegal aliens. Hector Fuentes, 37, of Waterville, owner of Cancun Mexican Restaurant II […]

BIDDEFORD — The Biddeford mayoral race is taking on all the drama of a high-stakes political race. On Thursday, incumbent Mayor Joanne Twomey criticized her opponent State Rep. Alan Casavant of “dirty politics” while Casavant charged the other side with “rumor mongering and whisperings.” At a press conference called by the mayor on Thursday, she […]

Biddeford Mayor Joanne Twomey speaks at a press conference she called on Thursday, where she criticized her opponent State Rep. Alan Casavant of “dirty politics.” Seated to her right is VFW Post 489 Commander Raymond Doyon. (Dina Mendros/Journal Tribune)

SACO — Job seekers and those looking to make business connections flocked to the Biddeford-Saco Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Business and Employment Expo. This is the seventh year the chamber has been holding an annual business expo, and the first year where a job fair was included. The expo, held at Southern Maine Sportszone, […]

Christine Paul, right, and Cheryl Null greet people at their Saco River Valley Kiwanis booth at the business expo in Saco on Wednesday. (Jeff Lagasse/Journal Tribune)