BANGOR — Maine’s congressional delegation, responding to Friday’s horrific elementary school shootings in Connecticut, agrees that something needs to be done to prevent gun violence, but they are split on how to address the problem. Meanwhile, gun owners in Maine are preparing for possible future weapons bans by making purchases now. “In fact, the day […]

PORTLAND (AP) — A detention hearing is being held for a 44-year-old woman charged with misappropriating more than half a million dollars from a Maine bank where she was a longtime employee. Shauna Quinn of Rockland was arrested Friday on a bank fraud charge for allegedly misappropriating $538,000 at Rockland Savings Bank between 2008 and […]

PORTLAND (AP) — Members of the Portland City Council have unanimously approved a 1.5 percent pay increase for themselves together with Mayor Michael Brennan and City Manager Mark Rees despite objections from some city residents. The Portland Press Herald reported Tuesday that residents urged the officials meeting Monday night to reject a pay hike in […]

AUGUSTA, Maine — The fatal shootings at an elementary school in Connecticut on Friday have prompted many school districts in Maine to take a fresh look at their security procedures, but exactly what changes those discussions might bring about remain to be seen. On Monday, the Maine Department of Education asked local school districts to […]

PORTLAND (AP) — Maine’s education commissioner is asking school districts around the state to review their emergency response plans following Friday’s shooting at a Connecticut school that killed 20 pupils. Stephen Bowen was sending memos to schools Monday that, among other things, asks schools to review their emergency management plans. The plans are required under […]

PORTLAND (AP) — Officials with Maine’s Roman Catholic diocese say they’ll review security policies at the state’s Catholic schools following Friday’s shooting at a Connecticut school that killed 20 children. Bishop Richard Malone said Monday the diocese will review its school security and safety policies and procedures in light of “this terrible slaughter of innocent […]

BELMONT — Mack Page was sound asleep in his bed at 11 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 3, when he was startled awake by the frantic barking of his black Labrador. “What have I got now?” the 63-year-old commander of the Maine Militia remembers wondering. “A raccoon? A coyote?” But it was none of those things. […]

BANGOR — There are 27 people charged with murder or manslaughter waiting for their trials in Maine — an above average number for the state — and only seven are currently scheduled for adjudication in 2013, according to the most recent homicide case list. “We average at any one time 20 to 24 people” in […]

PORTLAND (AP) — Democratic U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree is calling for a reinstatement of the ban on military-style assault weapons and other new federal gun control laws in the aftermath of the Connecticut school shooting. But the Portland Press Herald reports that other members of Maine’s congressional delegation are being less specific about what if […]