JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — More than a million Hispanic voters are the prize as Republican presidential rivals Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich campaign hard in Florida after a feisty, final debate that served to heighten political tensions with the state’s GOP primary just days away. Romney was the aggressor Thursday night in the second debate […]

BENTON, Ky. (AP) — Two spans of a southwest Kentucky bridge collapsed after being struck by a cargo ship that carried aviation parts. No injuries were immediately reported, state transportation officials said. The Delta Mariner struck the main span of the Eggner Ferry Bridge on Thursday evening at U.S. Highway 68 and Kentucky Highway 80, […]

LEWISTON (AP) — A former FedEx worker has been sentenced to nearly eight years in federal prison for stealing a shotgun from the delivery company’s Lewiston distribution center and selling it. Raymond Adams of Lewiston was sent to prison for seven years and 10 months and given three years of probation after he was convicted […]

HAMPDEN (AP) — A Vermont man visiting family in Maine has died in a car crash just miles from his destination. Police say 70-year-old Douglas Dapice of South Burlington, Vt., was driving north on Interstate 95 in Hampden just after 4 p.m. Thursday when he apparently fell asleep at the wheel. Police say he awoke […]

AUGUSTA (AP) — Maine Forest Service insect experts say a “bark-peeling” workshop aimed at finding evidence of tree-killing bugs found no evidence of the insects. Using a method reminiscent of an old- fashioned husking bee, entomologists held two bark-peeling workshops that concluded this week. They looked for evidence of the emerald ash borer, an invasive […]

ROCKLAND (AP) — A 43- year-old commercial fisherman is going to jail for 30 days for failing to pay his state income taxes for five years. Daniel Gargan Jr. of Rockland was sentenced this week in Knox County Superior Court after pleading guilty to not paying his taxes. Prosecutors say Gargan didn’t pay taxes between […]

BANGOR ( AP) — The Maine Sheriffs’ Association says it has found no ethical misconduct by Penobscot County Sheriff Glenn Ross who alerted the target of a state police investigation, who later committed suicide. Ross came under fire from Washington County Sheriff Donnie Smith after Ross informed the Rev. Robert Carlson about a child abuse […]

AUGUSTA ( AP) — The Maine Senate has confirmed Gov. Paul LePage’s appointments of a district prosecutor and a family court magistrate to Maine’s District Court bench. Senators voted Thursday to confirm the nominations of Nancy Carlson of Dixfield and Evert Fowle of Vassalboro. The Senate also finalized the appointment of Patrick Keliher of South […]

KITTERY (AP) — Senators from Maine and New Hampshire are blasting a request by the Obama administration for Congress to authorize an additional round of base closings. A joint statement by Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine and Jeanne Shaheen and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire says another round of base closings doesn’t […]

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A 16- year- old Utah student who shared a suspicious text message with a school administrator foiled plans by two schoolmates who apparently were plotting to set off a bomb during a school assembly and run away in a stolen airplane, police said. Roy High School sophomore Bailey Gerhardt told […]