BRUNSWICK — In addition to unanimously approving exceptions to a town-wide ban on outdoor wood boilers and approving the town’s application for a road repair grant that Town Manager Gary Brown said would allow the town to offset the school department’s $3 million budget gap by $350,000, the Town Council conducted the following business Monday: […]

AUGUSTA — The Legislature’s Education Committee on Wednesday unanimously approved an amended bill that seeks to set up a uniform system for evaluating Maine’s public school teachers. The bill, LD 1858, is part of a comprehensive education package introduced in February by Gov. Paul LePage and Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen. LD 1858 creates an “effectiveness rating” […]

AUGUSTA — State Rep. John Martin is sponsoring a bill that would make it easier for the Canadianbased Irving family to mine for valuable minerals on a Maine mountain at the same time he is negotiating a $250,000 bankruptcy debt with an Irving-family oil business. Martin, a Democrat, is the co-owner of Bald Eagle convenience […]

BRUNSWICK — Former Maine Street store owner Frederick K. Horch announced Wednesday that he intends to join the race for House District 66 under the Green Independent Party banner. Before a March 15 deadline, David Frans filed as the candidate for that party’s slot on the November ballot. In a letter to The Times Record, Horch […]

BOWDOINHAM — The driver of a tractor-trailer truck that veered off Interstate 295 and crashed into trees Wednesday morning wasn’t injured, but it took recovery workers most of the day to pull the truck from the wooded median area and haul away the damaged vehicle. The crash was reported at about 8:20 a.m. State Trooper Niles […]

LONDON ( AP) — St. James’ Palace says Britain’s Prince William has returned to Britain after his deployment to the Falkland Islands. William has been stationed on the Falklands since February. Flight Lt. Wales, as he’s known in the Royal Air Force, was one of several pilots on call for search and rescue missions in […]

SHERMAN, N.Y. (AP) — A roofing crew is being credited with helping to rescue a western New York couple from their burning home. The Chautauqua County Sheriff ’s Office tells local media outlets that four men were working on a house in the rural town of Sherman on Tuesday morning when they noticed smoke pouring […]

MOGADISHU, Somalia ( AP) — A British tourist snatched by Somali gunmen from a resort island in Kenya was freed today after more than six months in captivity, Britain’s Foreign Office said. Judith Tebbutt was taken in September. Gunmen killed her husband, David Tebbutt, during the attack. Tebbutt told Britain’s ITV in Somalia that she […]

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s finance minister says borrowing will fall modestly in the new financial year and that the country’s economy will return to growth in the current quarter. George Osborne, the chancellor of the exchequer, said in his budget speech today that the U.K.’s gross domestic product is expected to grow by 0.8 percent […]