Raymond Frechette, right, accepts flowers from a St. Thomas School student Thursday night at the St. Ignatius Parish Hall in Sanford, which was host to a variety of activities celebrating Franco-American heritage. (JEFF LAGASSE/Journal Tribune)

A pick-up truck makes its way over a barricaded Grammar Road in Sanford this morning. Heavy rain that began Saturday night and continued through this morning made for a number of closed or barricaded roads in York County. (TAMMY WELLS/Journal Tribune)

ALFRED — Upwards of 50 roads were closed in York County this morning due to heavy rains that began Saturday night, county emergency management officials reported. On River Road in North Berwick, a motorist had to be rescued after his car was nearly submerged while he was driving over a barricaded roadway, said York County […]

BIDDEFORD — The last time the University of New England’s Marine Animal Rehabilitation Center was home to a rescued porpoise was in 2004. Now it is in the unusual position of having two, along with a full house of harp seals and sea turtles. The MARC staff, students and volunteers are working with the porpoises […]

University of New England student and swim team co-captain Morgan Lawless spends time in a tank Thursday with one of two porpoises rescued by the Biddeford university’s marine rehabilitation team. Lawless encouraged fellow teammates to volunteer to work with the animals. (JEFF LAGASSE/Journal Tribune)

Tyson and Shannon Trepanier hold hands inside the armory building in Sanford Wednesday. The two will soon be deploying to Iraq, and will leave their children in the care of Shannon’s brother and sister-in-law. – JEFF LAGASSE, JOURNAL TRIBUNE

SANFORD — By now, Sgt. Tyson Trepanier will have hugged his children and said his good-byes. He is on his way to Fort Hood, Texas, the first leg of a journey that will take him to Afghanistan for a year’s deployment with the 1136th Transportation Company of the Maine Army National Guard. He and his […]

Columns about the French language generate interesting feedback. Father Richard Bertrand is a Franco-American Jesuit priest who lives in Portland. He offered expert advice about the Creole and the French languages spoken in Haiti. Bertrand grew up in Biddeford speaking French. He attended Boston College where he earned a master’s degree in French. Later, he […]

LYMAN — The details and financial commitment for a plan that would increase staffing at the Goodwin Mills Fire Department was unveiled at a public hearing Tuesday night, to mixed reaction. An advisory committee has been working for about a year on a plan that would make the Goodwin Mills Fire Department a municipal department […]

The fire station in Lyman, seen Tuesday. The station is seeking community support in expanding its full-time staff and to become a municipal entity. (JEFF LAGASSE/Journal Tribune)