WASHINGTON ( AP) — Vice President Joe Biden says he can’t find “any fundamental difference” between Republican presidential rivals Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney, even though the two are fighting each other fiercely for the party’s nomination. Asked in a nationally broadcast interview today to comment on the race in the GOP for a candidate […]

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — The same U.S. Navy SEAL team that killed Osama bin Laden parachuted into Somalia under cover of darkness early today and crept up to an outdoor camp where an American woman and Danish man were being held hostage. Soon, nine kidnappers were dead and both hostages were freed. President Barack Obama […]

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — “ The Ship That Would Not Die” is coming home to South Carolina. The World War II destroyer USS Laffey returns to a berth at the Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum on Charleston Harbor today. The vessel was moved more than two years ago to a dry dock so its […]

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. ( AP) — When Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich finally spoke in court he did not address the judge but instead directed his words at the Iraqi family members who survived his squad’s attacks in 2005 that left 24 unarmed civilians dead. The 31- year- old Camp Pendleton Marine apologized for the loss […]

ALFRED (AP) — A Maine man who told detectives that he and his wife were asleep on the bathroom floor when his gun went off, shooting her in the head, has introduced a new account at his murder trial. On Tuesday, defense lawyer David Van Dyke told jurors that 41- year- old Patrick Dapolito had […]

AUGUSTA ( AP) — A legislative committee has endorsed an anti-bullying bill that would set guidelines for schools statewide. The bill failed to move forward last year when critics said it would restrict free speech and be too costly to enforce. Members of the Legislature’s Education and Cultural Affairs Committee said Tuesday they have high […]

BANGOR (AP) — A Brewer man has been sentenced to six months in prison for continuing to collect his mother’s worker’s compensation survivor benefits for the death of her husband even after she died. Federal prosecutors say 57- year-old Joseph Lebard was also sentenced Tuesday to three years of probation and ordered to pay nearly […]

JEFFERSON (AP) — A Jefferson man has died in a twocar crash in town. Police say 73- year- old Robert Lawrence was pronounced dead at a hospital after the crash on Route 32 at about 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. The driver of the other vehicle, 19-year-old Johnnie James of Nobleboro, was unhurt. Police tell the Kennebec […]

PORTLAND ( AP) — A mariner from Portland has announced plans to challenge Democratic U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree. Republican Patrick Calder admits he is a long shot, but says it’s important that Maine voters have a choice at the polls. The 29-year-old Calder tells Maine Today Media he plans to focus his campaign on “the […]

AUGUSTA (AP) — Maine’s Ethics Commission is considering a request to investigate the 2011 campaign finance reporting by the two political action committees that promoted the 2011 Lewiston casino citizen initiative. That referendum proposal was defeated resoundingly by the state’s voters. Today, the commission will consider the investigation request by CasinosNO! The anti-casino group questions […]