BRUNSWICK — Town officials are working on a plan to meet the critical needs of more than a dozen asylum seekers who came to Brunswick in recent weeks, and for the dozens more who may be on the way. A task force charged with helping the asylum seekers held its first meeting Wednesday to set priorities and […]

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention is reporting the state’s first case of the tick-borne Powassan virus since 2017.  The Powassan virus – which is rare but can cause severe illness – is much less common than other tick-borne diseases such as Lyme or anaplasmosis. Nationally, about seven cases are reported each year and this […]

MONTPELIER, Vt. — The nuisance bear problem is likely to ease in the next few weeks as nuts, berries and other natural foods ripen in forests, Vermont’s top bear biologist said Wednesday.  Meanwhile, state and federal officials continue to warn people to keep food away from the hungry animals.  The warnings come after Vermont game […]

Portland officials and immigrant community leaders are stepping up efforts to convince dozens of migrant families staying in a temporary shelter to accept housing offers in communities outside of Portland.  City Hall Communications Director Jessica Grondin said staff and immigrant leaders are trying to clear up confusion that may have caused some families to turn […]

The estimated number of animals that were rescued Tuesday morning from an undisclosed property in Solon is now thought to be near 100, officials said Wednesday.  Even so, state animal welfare authorities remained tight-lipped Wednesday about where they seized the animals and any specific allegations about their living conditions.  Contacted by phone, Jim Britt, the director of […]

A federal judge has dismissed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Lewiston and the Lewiston School Department that had been filed by the father of a 13-year-old boy who died on a field trip last summer.  Rayan Issa, a seventh-grade student in Lewiston, drowned during a school field trip at Range Pond State Park in […]

Two of Maine’s four members of Congress – Rep. Chellie Pingree and Sen. Susan Collins – responded Wednesday to a request for comment about the testimony that special counsel Robert Mueller gave to the House Judiciary and House Intelligence Committees about his two-year investigation into Russian election interference.  Sen. Angus King, an independent, was in […]

RICHMOND — Five decades removed from the fact, it’s not clear what prompted William H. Williamson, then a reporter with the Maine Sunday Telegram, to venture north to this town on the Kennebec River and write what might be interpreted as its obituary.  But without that story, it’s also not clear that Richmond residents would […]