KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan lawmakers expressed anger today over the U.S. move to fly an American soldier accused of killing 16 civilians out of the country to Kuwait, saying Kabul shouldn’t sign a strategic partnership agreement with Washington unless the suspect faces justice in Afghanistan. Negotiations over the agreement, which would govern the presence […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s where the nation’s capital gathers to mourn, to pray and to seek comfort during tragedies. Now the Washington National Cathedral needs help weathering its own financial emergency. The church has long been a spiritual center for the nation, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors and worshippers each year. It’s the burial […]

WASHINGTON ( AP) — The Senate voted Wednesday to overhaul transportation programs and keep aid flowing to thousands of construction projects while strengthening highway and auto safety. The 74-22 vote stepped up pressure for quick action by House because the government’s power to collect about $110 million a day in federal gasoline and diesel taxes, […]

NORRIDGEWOCK (AP) — Authorities are investigating after a Smithfield man involved in a car crash in Norridgewock died at his home just hours later. An autopsy has been conducted on 54- year- old John Mosher to determine a cause of death. Results were not immediately made public. Police say Mosher was involved in a single-vehicle […]

MADISON ( AP) — State Fire Marshal’s investigators say the fire that destroyed three buildings in downtown Madison earlier this month was arson. Sgt. Ken Grimes said Wednesday that the March 6 fire was set intentionally outside at the back of the buildings at the basement level. He did not say how the blaze was […]

PORTLAND (AP) — A Cape Elizabeth lawyer nominated by the Obama administration to fill a seat on the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston has cleared his first hurdle. William Kayatta Jr. faced a few questions Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington, D.C. The 58-year-old Kayatta, a partner in a Portland […]

PARIS ( AP) — Gov. Paul LePage is meeting with business and community leaders in western Maine for his 13th Capitol for a Day event. The governor is visiting Oxford County today, making stops at Rumford Power in Rumford, Grover Gundrilling in Norway, and Maine Machine Products and Crazy Horse Racing in Paris. He’ll also […]

PORTLAND ( AP) — Former Gov. John Baldacci says he’s not running for the U.S. Senate. Baldacci on Wednesday became the third prominent Democrat to bow out of the race for a Senate seat that Democrats were given good odds of winning with the departure of Republican Olympia Snowe. U. S. Reps. Chellie Pingree and […]

AUGUSTA — The LePage administration laid out a plan Wednesday to restructure the Department of Health and Human Services into a leaner organization that better serves Maine’s needy residents. LePage’s proposed bill would consolidate four DHHS offices into two and reorganize another. It eliminates 91 positions across various levels and creates 44 jobs for a net […]

TOPSHAM — In addition to scheduling a June 12 referendum about regulations concerning sale and use of consumer fireworks the Board of Selectmen on March 8 trudged through several other business items, including an appeal of a grievance filed by the Local S/89 District Lodge No. 4 International Association of Machinist and Aerospace Workers — […]