SANFORD — Police across New England at press time this morning were continuing to search for 2-year-old Hailey Traynham, whom they say was abducted by her father, Gary Traynham Jr., after he allegedly assaulted the girl’s mother just before noon Monday. “We met with the Federal Bureau of Investigation last night,” said Sanford Police Chief […]

Melissa Loisel checks herself out in the mirror as she dresses up in period garb during the “Picture Yourself at the Museum” program at the Brick Store Museum in Kennebunk Saturday. The activity allowed patrons to have custom portraits taken, that were later digitally fashioned to look like early American portraiture. (JEFF LAGASSE/Journal Tribune)

KENNEBUNK — The stern, austere faces of Maine’s past look down on the gallery space like ghosts in a Puritanical morgue. The portraits that line the walls of the museum’s second floor are grave, and yet there is a craftsmanship present that offers a glimpse into the mid-19th Century American mindset: Restraint, refinement and an […]

SANFORD — By mid-week, Sanford’s school student population had just one confirmed case of H1N1 flu from a school population 3,500, but all the signs point to a much higher rate of infection. Superintendent of Schools Betsy St. Cyr Thursday estimated that 9 to 11 percent of the overall student population was absent this week […]

SACO — A new permanent exhibit at the Saco Museum offers visitors a glimpse into the life of a local mill girl from the 1840s. Making Her Way: Mill Girls of Saco and Biddeford opened last week. The exhibit shows aspects of the life of a mill girl outside the mills, said  Education and Program […]

Saco Museum Director Jessica Skwire Routhier looks at fictional letters prepared by the museum as examples of salacious writing engaged in by female factory workers in Maine during the 1800s; Education and Program Manager Camille Smalley looks on in the background. The newly-prepared room is open to public viewing and is being integrated as part […]

BIDDEFORD — With a heavy voter turnout, close to 57 percent, residents overwhelmingly supported the $34 million Biddeford High School referendum bond. The vote was 4,573 in favor of the bond’s passage versus 2,686 against. There was a fear among supporters that voters would not approve a bond that would, on average, add about 93 […]

SANFORD — Once a bustling textile factory where workers produced cloth under the familiar Goodall name, the vacant five-story mill at 13 River St. is scheduled to be sold at auction Monday. The auction of the mill, which is known as the Stenton Trust building, is set for 10:30 a.m. on site and will be […]

The Stenton Trust mill building at 13 River St. (TAMMY WELLS/Journal Tribune)

SANFORD — When Wayne Miller was a boy of 12, he sent away to New York for three pairs of pigeons. The price, he recalled Sunday, was $9.99, plus shipping. “It cost me $6 freight to get them by train to Steep Falls,” said Miller. “They were sent in an orange crate.” That was 50 […]