AUGUSTA — The chief justice of the state’s highest court asked Wednesday whether the state’s juvenile justice system is failing Maine’s troubled kids. The comments came during oral arguments in an appeal by a Skowhegan teenager, referred to only as J.R., who is challenging his commitment to Long Creek Youth Development Center for up to 18 months […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has approved a plan to impose punishing tariffs on tens of billions of dollars of Chinese goods as early as Friday, a move that could put his trade policies on a collision course with his push to rid the Korean Peninsula of nuclear weapons. Trump has long vowed to […]

ALFRED — Morgan Lewis served as a major in one regiment and a captain another in the Revolutionary War. He died on Nov. 17, 1784, at age 47 of blood poisoning, after encountering a rusty nail helping build the Alfred Parish Church several months before, according to local legend. Documents on file at the Maine […]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Amazon Studios says it’s signed a deal with Nicole Kidman and her production company for TV and movie projects. Under the “first-look” deal, Amazon and Kidman’s Blossom Films will develop original series for Amazon Prime Video and big-screen films. In a statement Thursday, Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke called Kidman “a […]

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s seemingly unstoppable Mars rover Opportunity has been knocked out by a gigantic dust storm that is enveloping the red planet and blotting out the sun. Officials said Wednesday they’re hopeful the rover will survive the storm, which already covers one-quarter of Mars and is expected to encircle the planet […]

Maine’s rental market is among the least affordable in the nation, according to a report released Wednesday that places it alongside high-housing-cost states such as California, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Hawaii. The National Low Income Housing Coalition’s annual reportshowed the gap between an average renter’s wage and the wage needed to comfortably afford a two-bedroom apartment. […]

SANFORD — High School graduation is an ending – and it is a beginning. In Sanford on Wednesday, as the Class of 2018 gathered on the field at Cobb Stadium, it marked not only the end of their high school careers, but the end of an era at Sanford High School. It would be the […]

YORK COUNTY — With all but one York County municipality reporting, Lyman Democrat Nancy Hammond is poised to be her party’s candidate for Register of Deeds in the November election. In voting Tuesday, Hammond bested fellow Democratic candidate Rachel Sherman of Springvale 8,790 to 6,569 in unofficial totals, with all but Newfield reporting. The winner […]

YORK COUNTY — With three of four communities reporting, it appears Democratic voters are poised to select Kelcy McNamara of Alfred over Clifford Krolick of Parsonsfield to be their candidate for House District 21 in November. District 21 includes Alfred, Newfield and parts of Limerick, Parsonsfield and Shapleigh. Unofficial returns show Krolick with 195 votes […]

LYMAN — An unpermitted fire in a wooded area in Lyman resulted in nearly 50 firefighters assisting in putting out the blaze on Tuesday. Goodwins Mills Fire-Rescue was called to the scene of a fire in the woods near 51 Little Acres Drive in Lyman around 5 p.m. on Tuesday, according to a press release […]