WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Prosecutors cannot use secretly recorded video allegedly showing New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft engaging in massage parlor sex, a judge ruled Monday, striking a serious blow to their case against him and others charged with soliciting prostitutes at the Orchids of Asia Day Spa. In his 10-page ruling, […]

The chairman of Maine’s Public Utilities Commission has left his job, creating a void in an agency that is at the center of divisive issues including energy policy and power company rates.  Mark Vannoy resigned May 3. His six-year term had officially expired on March 31, but he stayed on an additional month before stepping […]

LEWISTON — A group of environmental activists, including one dressed as a spotted salamander, rallied Monday to press for a plan to create a public utility by buying out Central Maine Power.  The privately-owned electricity delivery company has had its chance, said Rob Levin of Portland, “and they’ve blown it.”  About 20 people gathered beside […]

WEST BATH (AP) — A judge has ruled that a Maine teenager accused of killing his grandmother last year will be tried as an adult.  Dominic Sylvester was 16 when 55-year-old Beulah “Marie” Sylvester was found unconscious inside their Bowdoinham home.  He was initially charged as a juvenile. But a judge’s ruling last week means […]

TOPSHAM — Voters will approve a fiscal year 2020 municipal budget and a set of rules governing local marijuana businesses at Town Meeting on Wednesday, May 15.  Residents will also vote on an update to the 2005 Comprehensive Plan at the Mt. Ararat High School Commons meeting, which starts at 7 p.m.  Articles 2-7, out […]

AUGUSTA — The use of physical restraints or seclusion on students has surged in Maine schools, and disabled children account for the vast majority of students subjected to the controversial techniques, an advocacy group reported Monday.  Disability Rights Maine pointed to a 60 percent jump – from 12,000 to 20,000 instances in four years – as evidence […]

BRUNSWICK — Town councilors narrowly approved a $67.8 million school and municipal budget Monday night, which will raise taxes an estimated 4.97%. The roughly $26 million town-wide budget accounts for a 1.92% tax increase and the $40.1 million school budget, reduced by about $2 million from the original draft, carries a 3% increase. The budgets […]

BRUNSWICK — Gelato Fiasco is selling its Industry Road gelato factory, saying it just doesn’t need the space anymore. The 11,740-square-foot building is listed for $1.35 million by The Boulos Company. Bobby Guerette, marketing director for the maker of the milk-based treat, said the property went on the market in February in the aftermath of […]

BRUNSWICK — A member of the Bowdoin College campus community has been diagnosed with active tuberculosis (TB), according to an email sent to students, faculty and employees Monday morning. The college was notified late last week that someone had been diagnosed, and that person has since been isolated and is receiving treatment. Nobody else has […]