PORTLAND ( AP) — The University of Southern Maine is under fire for handing out raises as high as 41 percent to 44 employees at a time of fiscal constraint. The $242,000 in raises this year come to light as the university faces $5.1 million in projected budget cuts in the coming year at campuses […]

BANGOR (AP) — A Clifton couple is going to court to try and block a wind farm from being built near their flower farm. Peter and Julie Beckford said in their complaint filed at Penobscot County Superior Court that town officials in Clifton erred in granting Pisgah Mountain LLC a permit for construction of a […]

AUGUSTA (AP) — Legislation seeking $ 300,000 in money from the state of Maine for an east-west highway feasibility study is moving forward, with a change that makes the developer pay back the cost of the study if the highway is built. The House and Senate have already approved a bill calling for a feasibility […]

EAST MILLINOCKET (AP) — Investigators have been unable to determine what caused a fire that destroyed a concrete factory in East Millinocket. Sgt. Ken Grimes of the Maine State Fire Marshal’s Office says the extent of the damage at Lee’s Redi Mix Concrete Inc. has prevented an investigator from finding the source of the fire. […]

ERIE, Pa. (AP) — A Maine man has pleaded guilty to two counts in what authorities in western Pennsylvania alleged was a kidnapping and sexual assault on a couple in Allegheny National Forest. The Erie Times-News says 37-year-old Mike Beaulieu, of Anson, Maine, pleaded guilty Wednesday to kidnapping and carrying a firearm during a crime […]

AUGUSTA (AP) — Mayors of 10 of Maine’s largest cities are announcing a coalition to push for jobs and economic development. The mayors of Auburn, Augusta, Bangor, Biddeford, Lewiston, Portland, Saco, South Portland, Waterville and Westbrook plan to announce their coalition today in the State House. They will also present a statement of principles that […]

PORTLAND (AP) — Maine Realtors say home sales were up by nearly 30 percent in February, compared to the same month a year ago. Figures from the Maine Real Estate information System, a statewide multiple listing system, show 624 singlefamily homes were sold in February, a 29.5 percent increase over the number sold in February […]

ROCKLAND (AP) — An 18- year-old Owls Head man has been charged with manslaughter in connection with a June car crash that claimed the life of his 17-year-old passenger. State police say Evan Altiero was the driver of a sports car that crashed on Route 73 in South Thomaston shortly before midnight on June 20. […]

PORTLAND (AP) — A man who participated in the Occupy Maine protest in Portland has been sentenced to a year in prison for hitting another protester in the head with a hatchet. Christopher Schisler was sentenced to 8 1/2 years in prison, with all but one year suspended, after pleading guilty Wednesday to aggravated assault. […]

LEWISTON (AP) — An 80- year- old Lewiston man is appealing to the public for help in getting back the motorized wheelchair he says was stolen from right under his bedroom window. Dana Huard reported early Sunday morning that his electric wheelchair was stolen from in front of his apartment building. Police Sgt. Michael Whalen […]