KENNEBUNK — When Lisa Lassey last visited Haiti, before last week’s devastating earthquake, it was a very different place. But it was never what one would consider a paradise. The unemployment rate reached 80 percent in some areas. Families lived crammed together in shacks. Children scambled for food, and oftentimes their only possessions were the […]

SANFORD — After Liam Grogan and his family attended the inauguration of President Barack Obama one year ago, the then-second grade student wrote U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a thank-you letter, as the family had been randomly selected to receive tickets to the event from Collins’ office. “Did I tell you I am your Number […]

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins greets third-grade student Liam Grogan at the Margaret Chase Smith Elementary School in Sanford during a visit with students there Thursday. Prompted by a letter from Grogan, Collins stopped by the school to answer questions from students and give a presentation on her experiences in the U.S. Senate. JEFF LAGASSE PHOTO/ […]

Senator Olympia Snowe talks with Craig Pendleton, executive director of the Biddeford-Saco Chamber of Commerce & Industry after a small business forum Wednesday morning. The forum was held at the Holiday Inn Express in Saco. (LIZ GOTTHELF/Journal Tribune)

SACO — Sen. Olympia Snowe said Wednesday that health care reform proposals need to be examined carefully to evaluate the impact they could have on small businesses. Snowe was the lone Republican in the Senate to support a Senate Finance Committee proposal she helped draft, but in December voted against the version passed by the […]

KENNEBUNK — Suggestions and reflections flowed freely Monday night during a community forum hosted by Regional School Unit 21, at the Middle School of the Kennebunks. More than 175 people attended the forum, which was intended to gain community input for the strategic plan of the newly formed RSU. By state mandate, the new district […]

Mildred L. Day Elementary School student Justin practices his chords on a guitar during music class at the Arundel school on Tuesday. A forum was held Monday night to gather community input on the strategic plan for Regional School Unit 21, of which MLD is a part. The importance of music, art, technology and other […]

BIDDEFORD — Lack of money in state coffers is forcing nearly all state agencies to cut back on services. In the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, the cuts are affecting services provided to those with cognitive and other developmental disabilities. Take 32-year-old Michael Doggett: A series of operations shortly after his birth left […]

BIDDEFORD — When she was a teenager, Carol Cole said she used to meet her boyfriends at the old Puritan Restaurant, which was located at the corner of Main and Alfred streets. Before going off to college, she said, her mother took her shopping at Butler’s department store, one of the many clothing stores that […]

Biddeford’s Main Street is reflected in the glass housing a HeartSpots sign on Wednesday; the sign designates that location as an official HeartSpot. (JEFF LAGASSE/Journal Tribune)