Buxton Police Chief Michael Grovo said he was outraged and disappointed when learned about a recent plea agreement in the 2007 Buxton puppy mill case, where authorities seized 250 sick and diseased dogs. Grovo hosted a news conference Friday where he and others spoke out about the animal cruelty charges against John and Heidi Frasca, […]

Stewart Roelke, bassist for The Study of Wumbo, tunes his instrument during practice. (JEFF LAGASSE/Journal Tribune)

The centerpiece of Dylan LeComte’s room in Scarborough is a gleaming chrome-and-black drumkit, the cymbals of which are aflame when struck by early-afternoon light from the picture window behind it. Sitting behind the kit on Saturday, LeComte tapped out a three-count on one of those cymbals, launching his bandmates into a blistering, bottom-heavy instrumental version […]

BUXTON — York County District Attorney Kathryn Slattery on Friday said police and animal welfare officials should have been notified of a plea agreement in the Buxton puppy mill case. “There should have been a discussion,” she said in a telephone interview. Slattery, however, defended the agreement that could lead to dismissal of the animal […]

Dylan LeComte, drummer for local band The Study of Wumbo, practices with bandmates at his house in Scarborough last Saturday. The band, comprised of high school students from Kennebunk and Scarborough, is taking part in a rock competition that is raising money for several teen centers and shelters across the state. (JEFF LAGASSE/Journal Tribune)

Heidi Frasca appears in Biddeford District Court in 2009 on charges of animal cruelty. She pleaded guilty to the charges earlier this month, but those charges may be dismissed if she meets conditions set by the court last week. (KRISTEN SCHULZE MUSZYNSKI/ Journal Tribune File Photos)

ALFRED — A court decision that may eventually result in dismissed charges against the owners of a Buxton puppy mill disturbs animal welfare advocates, who say justice hasn’t been served in this case. But York County District Attorney Kathryn Slattery is defending the work of assistant prosecutor John Connelly and said if John and Heidi […]

John Frasca appears in Biddeford District Court in 2009 on charges of animal cruelty. He pleaded guilty to the charges earlier this month, but those charges may be dismissed if he meets conditions set by the court last week. (KRISTEN SCHULZE MUSZYNSKI/ Journal Tribune File Photos)

SACO — Smoking is a difficult habit to quit, and young people are susceptible to advertising by tobacco companies. These were some of the messages given to students at a Kick Butts Day assembly at Thornton Academy Gym Wednesday morning. On display were diagrams of healthy and unhealthy lungs, as well as a pile of […]

Thornton Academy Middle School sixth grade students Tommy Stiophen and Paige LeBlanc chat Wednesday in front of a pile of 545 pairs of shoes, each representing the lives lost every hour to smoking-related complications, outside the Thornton gymnasium prior to a presentation commemorating the school’s Kick Butts Day, in which middle and high school students […]