Author: Ted Cohen

Legendary 1980 U.S. ice hockey gold medalist Mike Eruzione has blasted a current Olympics skier for belittling his homeland – the U.S. Eruzione, who was educated and played high school hockey in South Berwick, Maine, is the most famous and outspoken ex-Olympic star to criticize skier Herman Hess. As the 2026 Olympics opened Friday in Milan, Hess told reporters he feels “mixed emotions over what’s happening in the U.S, right now.” “There’s a lot going on I’m not the biggest fan of,” Hess added. “Just because I’m wearing the American flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in…

Maine U.S. Senate contender Graham Platner announced plans Sunday for $250,000 in TV ads “even though we don’t have the money.” Platner, competing against term-limited Gov. Janet Mills for the Democrat nomination, claims he has no choice if he’s going to “unseat an entrenched politician like Susan Collins and take back the Senate.” Republican Collins, in her fifth term, has yet to actually announce for a sixth term. But Platner says he’s assuming she will be the GOP nominee since “Republican super PACs have already spent millions of dollars on TV ads supporting Collins.” “We’ll only be able to win…

A Coast Guard cutter that previously patrolled off the coast of Maine just hauled in 13,000 pounds of cocaine, officials said. The 270-foot cutter Seneca and its sister ships seized a total of 200,000 pounds in Operation Pacific Viper, the Coast Guard announced. “Operation Pacific Viper has proven to be a crucial weapon in the fight against foreign drug traffickers and cartels in Latin America and has sent a clear message that we will disrupt, dismantle, and destroy their deadly business exploits wherever we find it,” said U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. “The more than 75 million…

Sticking to a promise made last year, President Trump has reopened a huge swath of protected water off New England to fishing. Trump said the move would reestablish fishing in Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, according to The Associated Press. He signaled that he would restore fishing in the area in May. The White House said at the time the move would “support the vital Maine lobster industry by ensuring unfettered access to the coastal waters of the United States.” The area, off the New England coast, is a nearly 5,000-square-mile preserve east of Cape Cod created by…

The Maine-schooled skier who has won more races than any U.S. male is apologizing to investors for a major business crash. Bode Miller, who learned to ski like a champ at Carrabassett Valley Academy, is taking a second stab at manufacturing skis. Miller and a partner have relaunched Peak Ski Co. Though athletes and creditors remain wary while awaiting signs that the revival will settle debt, Miller is asking them to please give him a second chance. “We have an amazing group of investors and advisers but we never used that roster of experts to help us,” Miller tells The…

The sage on high at Maine’s largest newspaper apparently thinks it’s OK to sweep under the rug $7 million in potential funding irregularities. Steve Collins, the Portland rag’s political communist, sorry, columnist, says The Maine Wire is promoting a false narrative surrounding the fundraising scandal that has grown out of the state’s worst mass shooting ever. “Slamming the allocation has become a talking point among GOP leaders, who have been spurred on by coverage by the conservative Maine Wire,” Collins writes. “State Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham, the House minority leader, called it ‘really despicable’ for nonprofits to have accepted any…

Former Maine Democrat Sen. George Mitchell, suffering political fallout from the Epstein files, has resigned from a scholarship group founded in his name. Mitchell’s resignation from The Mitchell Institute comes in the wake of his name appearing in documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice as part of the Epstein Files. The institute, which announced his resignation on its website, is also considering stripping Mitchell’s name from the organization. Mitchell has repeatedly denied claims he participated in any of Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged sexual trafficking. Until his resignation, Mitchell had served as the honorary chair of the organization. “Senator Mitchell…

Gotta feel for the parents of kids who got a free pass to skip class so they could put ICE in the cross-hairs. Worse, for the students themselves, who stats show need to be studying , not holding “F*ck ICE” placards in front of their schools. The latest follow-the-loser student protests sprouted up Friday (National ICE-out Day) in towns and cities across the midsection and coast of Maine. Among them, Camden, one of Maine’s wealthiest communities – where money apparently grows on trees along with failing student achievement. And the leader of the anti-ICE parades? The “teachers.” “Three-hundred protesters convened…

Seventy-eight-year-old Gov. Janet Mills is being forced to fend off her own party’s concerns about her age. That according to CNN, which reports a growing conflict among Democrats in Maine in the party’s U.S. Senate race. “Democratic leaders in Washington were thrilled when Mills entered the Senate race last fall, seeing the two-term governor as the type of battle-tested candidate who could finally unseat Collins and give their party a shot at the majority,” CNN says. “But Mills is confronting a persistent problem: Graham Platner, an oyster farmer and political newcomer just over half her age, is appealing to the…

If New England fans are upset that ex-Patriots coach Bill Belichick was denied a first chance into the Hall of Fame they need to get with their lord. Belichick was actually in the wrong pew when the balloting began recently for his pro-football hall vote. The cheating king of the NFL should have been on the competing ballot – the Hall of Shame, what with his “various cheating scandals.” That’s how Sports Illustrated referred Wednesday to what occurred while Belichick was New England Patriots head coach. “Various cheating scandals.” The question is why any self-respecting football fan – including his…

The store with the red target is trying out a new “customer experience” it hopes will make you feel wanted. Maybe that’s why it’s called The 10-4 Program, employing language that cops typically use. Like, who ever actually says 10-4 Target (Tar-zhay or Tarjay for those appreciating the chic pronunciation) is trying the “10-4” retail approach to counterbalance shoppers offended by the growing use of self-checkouts. “As we automate more, having that personal touch, that personal connection, is very important,” shopping expert Trae Bodge said. Target policy changes, designed to encourage more-friendly interactions between store employees and shoppers, include the…

The effort by anti-potters to halt Maine’s marijuana party failed to catch fire, state officials say. The Secretary of State’s Office says the people behind the citizens petition missed the February 2 deadline, according to WGME-TV. The petitioners were working to gather the nearly 68,000 signatures they needed to make the ballot in November. The secretary of state says they didn’t submit any on Monday. The proposal would have asked Mainers if they wanted to end recreational pot sales. The measure also would have put stricter testing requirements on medical marijuana. The changes would have ended commercial production and sales…

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, a hefty-Maine oceanfront taxpayer for many years, says he’s pulling for Kraft & Co. That would be New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and former highly successful Pats coach Bill Belichick. Both Kraft and Belihick missed entry into the Hall of Fame in the past two weeks, according to ESPN. But Goodell, long-time property owner in Scarborough, is expecting they will eventually get in. “Bill Belichick’s record goes without saying, same with the Patriots and Robert Kraft, who is also a candidate,” Goodell said. “They are spectacular. They have contributed so much to this game, and…

Globetrotter lifestyle guru Martha Stewart’s seen it all, but in the presence of threatened perjury she can’t deny it – Maine is her fave. Stewart’s “no place like home,” it turns out, is Mount Desert Island, according to AOL.com, which broke the news gently to those otherwise offended. “Martha Stewart’s Favorite Travel Destination In America Is A Charming New England Paradise,” the outlet headlines in a new feature on the fashion-and-kitchen icon. “In Maine, Stewart owns a sprawling, wondrous summer home called ‘Skylands,” AOL says. “A three-story manor originally built by Ford Motor Co. mogul Edsel Ford, Skylands is perched…

Hard to believe a seasoned, lifetime politician such as Democrat Gov. Janet Mills can’t come up with a good answer to a simple question. In fact, her inability to do that could be a real challenge in her current bid for the U.S. Senate seat she covets. But it doesn’t have to be this way. The Maine Wire’s Jon Fetherston showed up at her Augusta office – in a respectable, fine-tailored suit no less – to ask Mills about the Epstein thing. https://twitter.com/TheMaineWire/status/2018745859228266787?s=20 The intrepid-but-ever-cordial Fetherston approached the office’s reception desk with his query. “Hi, how are you,” he asked…

The cops in the “Dairy Capital Of Maine” have been milking the internet to shed the stereotypical image of a bunch of lazy, donut-devouring slugs. The PR campaign seems to be a cream-on-the-top success. In fact, the department is now ranked as among the top cop social-media wunderkinds worldwide. The armed lawmen in the small Kennebec County now have 66,000 followers on Facebook, News Center Maine reports. The cops in Maine’s dairyland say they are proud to be helping to change the negative way some people view law enforcement. The department has received messages from people around the world now…

If twice begins a trend, put down embattled Maine political icon George J. Mitchell under the definition. Long respected not only in Maine but on the international stage, Mitchell lost a second successive major notch of prestige Monday. Queen’s University Belfast cut ties with Mitchell over his links to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, the second such institution to do so in just days. The university has stripped Mitchell’s name from the Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice, and, in the ultimate humiliation, removed the bust commemorating him from its campus. The college said it was no longer appropriate to…

Though former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell, D-Maine, has denied any connection to Jeffrey Epstein’s well-publicized sexual exploits, he’s now been banished by a prestigious scholarship program bearing his name. The U.S.-Ireland Alliance said it’s removed Mitchell’s name from its program. Mitchell was sidelined Friday after the the Senate ex-majority leader’s name surfaced in the latest release of Epstein files by the U.S. Justice Department. In a statement, the alliance said: “The board of directors of the U.S.-Ireland Alliance has unanimously agreed that its George J. Michell Scholarship program should no longer bear the former senator’s name.” Alliance officials said removing…

The acclaimed Hollywood actor who put Lewiston, Maine on the map is trying his best to spin on a sick colleague’s outlook. But Patrick Dempsey, heartthrob alum of Grey’s Anatomy, tells Parade.com the reality is that Eric Dane is swiftly losing mobility to the disease. Dempsey and Dane appeared on the wildly popular TV show together for several years, competing behind the scenes for most handsome. The Lewiston native who now calls Kennebunkport his home, apparently finally won, being named as People’s Sexiest Man Alive in 2023. For more than a decade Dempsey played a neurosurgeon on Grey’s Anatomy, alongside…

A dragger from Gloucester, Massachusetts that helped anchor a TV show about the perils of New England fishing is believed lost at sea. The Coast Guard found the body Friday of the Lily Jean’s captain, Gus Sanfilippo, along with debris from the dragger, which disappeared off Gloucester. The agency had received an emergency alert from the 72-foot vessel early Friday located about 25 miles off Cape Ann. Seven people were believed aboard the boat, which fishes for cod, haddock and pollock. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Friday a fishery observer was among those on board the vessel when…

Two candidates walk into a bar. They’re approached by reporter Jon Fetherston of The Maine Wire. Janet Mills, 78, one of the candidates, throws a beer in his face. A second candidate, Graham Platner, 41, buys him a beer. Therein the stark difference between someone who alienates and someone who exudes class. Fetherston, as well as other Maine Wire reporters, have made a career out of trying to engage Gov. Janet Mills, who is running against an oyster-farmer Marine, Platner, for the Democrat U.S. Senate nomination. The bitter, angry, chip-on-her-shoulder Mills simply will not take a question – not one…

The famous $4.99 Costco chickens, of which the company reportedly sells 150 million a year, are facing a lawsuit over a seaweed derivative. In the suit, Costco’s customers are claiming that the food-warehouse behemoth has been falsely advertising its rotisserie poultry. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court, alleges Costco markets its Kirkland Signature rotisserie chicken as having “no preservatives,” even though the ingredient list suggests otherwise. The plaintiffs say the label is misleading because the chicken contains, among other ingredients, carrageenan, a preservative commonly used to help food retain moisture and extend shelf life. Costco officials told The Maine…

An increase in shark attacks should be blamed on the great whites, not on humans ignoring the warnings to stay clear of dangerous waters. But liberal animal-rights activists are loath to hold the killer fish themselves accountable, according to a journalist who studied recent jumps in shark attacks. Fred Pawle says he’s convinced that government protections of the great whites have done as designed – increased the shark populations. Pawle applied his thesis to understand the Australian experience with animal protections but it’s also germane to the Gulf of Maine. Shark protection in the gulf began with federal regulations, including…

A Twitter “satirist” has attracted more than 3.7 million clicks after reporting that the embattled former head coach of the New England Patriots is losing his Maine-born gal pal. If so – Wiki said it was then pulled the report – it’s been quite a week for Bill Belichick, who also failed to get into the HOF. But, which for Bill would be worse – missing out on the Hall of Fame or losing his youthful Maine squeeze? Shane Tuttle, a podcaster on X, the social-media platform perhaps better known as Twitter, set gossips on fire with the following headline:…

A Somali immigrant convicted in Maine for falsifying his citizenship application is now facing new charges, this time in Vermont. Taxi driver Hussien Noor Hussien, 63, was cuffed as he got out of his cab at the Patrick Leahy Airport in Burlington, Vermont. Hussien, who first came to the U.S. in 2004, has lived in Vermont for 13 years, running his own company, Freedom Cab. After coming to the U.S. as a refugee in 2004, he lived in Lewiston, eventually settling in Burlington. This is the second time Hussien has been detained by ICE. Court records show he came to…

A former Brunswick Naval Air Station pilot who went on to fly 40 years for a major airline believes the corporate jet that crashed earlier this week in Bangor was struck down by an ice storm. Steve Scheibner, whose widely followed YouTube channel focuses on determining how airplanes crash, analyzed the Bombardier Challenger 600 crash that took six lives Sunday night. In an analysis he posted Tuesday, Scheibner, known internationally by his YouTube handle as “Captain Steeeve,” says he’s pretty sure he knows why the plane crashed. To back up his theory of ice pellets, Scheibner played for his audience…

A Woodland Pulp worker who was exposed to a gas leak at the Baileyville mill has died, officials said. The deceased employee, a University of Maine intern, was among mill workers injured in the leak Tuesday night. Injured workers were being treated at Calais Hospital for exposure, a mill spokesman said. The Baileyville Fire Department was summoned Tuesday night to the mill after employees were overcome by a gas release. Once on the scene, they worked to evacuate everyone into waiting EMS units. Officials say the toxic gas was contained to the bleach plant at the mill. Authorities were trying…

The shipbuilding segment of General Dynamics, including Bath Iron Works, has put a damper on the company’s annual profit forecast, officials said Wednesday. If it weren’t for the electric boat and submarine divisions of General Dynamics exceeding expectations, company officials said profits would be even lower. General Dynamics beat fourth-quarter profit and revenue estimates on Wednesday, driven by growth in combat and marine systems segments. But the defense and aerospace giant forecast its annual profit below analysts’ expectations. Shares of the company fell nearly 5% in morning trade, Reuters reported on Investing.com. BIW, which became a General Dynamics subsidiary in…

The animal-rights group that lost its bid to put the Maine Lobster Festival out of business says it plans to appeal the ruling. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals went to court last summer to try to prevent the Rockland festival from cooking lobsters. Though a judge found this week that the suit is short on substance, PETA says it’s not quitting its fight to protect the popular Maine seafood from what it considers inhumane death. “Lobsters’ lives shouldn’t be dismissed any more than PETA’s lawsuit should be, and the case is a historic one,” the organization told The…

Acadia may be the fifth-most-visited national park in the country, but as a “digital detox” it’s just not cutting it. A survey of the nation’s 63 parks lists Acadia in a sorry 20th place as a pick for ditching the i-Phone or laptop. Not even in the top tier, let alone close to that. Everglades in Florida, Congaree in South Carolina and Redwood in California make the top three detox sites, in that order. Acadia’s No. 20 ranking puts it behind Theodore Roosevelt in North Dakota (No. 19). Great Basin in Nevada comes in as No. 21. The survey was…

A taxpayer-financed slush fund that Democrat Gov. Janet Mills is proposing violates the government’s definition of poverty. If that isn’t enough of a “red flag,” the “affordability” payments appear to violate the “Rainy Day Fund” spending guidelines. Mills proposed the payouts Tuesday during her eighth and final annual state-of-the-state address. The U.S. Senate candidate would send what she called $300 “affordability relief checks” to eligible Mainers. The governor’s definition of eligibility flies in the face of conventional poverty standards. Under Mills’ proposal, 725,000 people would be eligible, with income caps she described as $75,000 for single filers, $112,000 for heads…

A newly formed fishermen’s coalition is calling on Democrat Gov. Janet Mills to support its fight against potentially harmful industry restrictions. The North Eastern Fisherman Coalition also wants U.S. Senate-candidate Mills to pull back her support of the offshore wind turbines they see as threatening their fishing grounds. In Mills, fisherman Ken Dunn, the coalition’s founder, sees a politician who’s all for working people as long as they like wind mills and restrictions on fishing. While Dunn was busy organizing his new group, Mills was giving her “state-of-the-state address” Tuesday night, touring her alleged accomplishments that Dunn sees as nothing…

An animal-rights group has lost its bid to outlaw the midcoast’s annual, internationally-popular Maine Lobster Festival. PETA was trying to shut down the “world’s largest lobster oven,” claiming that steaming them alive creates a “public nuisance.” Knox County Justice Patrick Larson found no “special injury,” a requirement of such a legal claim. The group known as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals claimed in its lawsuit that cooking lobsters constitutes illegal animal abuse. The suit, filed six months ago, called “egregiously cruel” the common method of steaming lobsters for public consumption. Barring an appellate reversal, the 79th-annual, four-day lobster…

Though the number of fatalities in Sunday’s corporate-jet crash remained in dispute, either way it was one of the state’s worst air tragedies. Bangor International Airport officials claimed all six aboard the private plane perished, while FAA records indicated one of eight survived. Amid the awkward numbers dispute between the two agencies, Bangor airport officials confounded the confusion by calling a “news conference” the morning after the accident to tell reporters they didn’t have any information to share. What they didn’t disclose was that they were fighting with the FAA over how many people were on the plane. When reporters…

For some 45 years Eric Furry held court at his popular hangout known as Pro Libris Books on Third Street. But Pro Libris wasn’t just about books for his customers and yes, friends. “Tacked up around the store were notes, cartoons, and quotes that reflected Eric’s personality and intelligence,” says longtime fan Cindy Campbell. “He knew his stuff when it came to books and could help you find anything you were looking for.” Campbell, news director for Townsquare Media in Bangor and is a co-host of the Q-106.5 Morning Show, wrote a remembrance of Furry, who died January 18 at…

The 2011 pre-Christmas mystery surrounding a missing 20-month-old continues to tug at her family. But cops still have no answers to explain how Ayla Reynolds disappeared from her father’s home in Waterville. The little girl’s disappearance is now the feature of a new documentary aimed at helping find her, “The Unsolved Case Of Ayla.” The YouTube feature was put together by “Hunter.S. True Crime,” which says it “looks at cases that could benefit from added attention through research, news reporting, criticism or commentary.” Ayla was last seen on December 16, 2011 – fourteen years ago – while staying with her…

A group of Catholic parishioners from southern Maine say they have been prevented a second time from meeting with a Falmouth priest to discuss his qualifications. Paul Kendrick of Freeport and Michael Sweatt of North Yarmouth, co-founders of Voice of the Faithful in Maine, said Rev. Steven Cartwright has now cancelled twice on them. As baptized Catholics they said they can’t fathom why their clerical leader won’t meet with them. Cartright has now reportedly put off two proposed meetings with the group. Though Kendrick previously said he saw no reason to explain to Cartwright what its representatives want to talk…

The model of plane that tragically crashed in a Bangor snowstorm earlier this week has been susceptible to wing-ice buildup. The FAA has previously mandated strict pre-takeoff inspections and changes to Challenger 600-series aircraft’s flight manuals, insisting on physical checks of the wings. Wing ice was suspected in a Bombardier 600 crash in 2005 in Teterboro, New Jersey. Other Challenger 600s have also had problems with ice or even light frost on their wings, including one in Colorado in 2004 that crashed while trying to take off, killing the son of Dick Ebersol, chairman of NBC Sports. Before the Paris-bound…

A long-established Popham Beach family is claiming victory in a lawsuit brought by their New Jersey-transplant neighbors. The Hills have owned Popham Beach Estates property along the Phippsburg shore for decades. But three years ago Richard and Sheila Tappen sued their neighbors, claiming they now own the dunes and beach in front of the Hill family’s beachfront cottages. The Tappens had bought out the previous owner’s interest in the so-called common land in front of the Hills. The suit also claimed the Hill’s deck, steps, ramp, shed, boardwalk and beach path are now on Tappens’ property. But the Hills argued…

The first Navy ship to be named for retired Rear Adm. James Stockdale, built in Bath, Maine, and recently fending off multiple national-security threats, is starting to show its age. https://share.google/Jg5lLIx5qXjbAiAOR So the USS Stockdale (DDG-106) will be undergoing a $61 million modernization in a San Diego shipyard starting this spring. In addition to underwater-hull preservation work, the ship’s superstructure, interior fuel and ballast tanks will be reconditioned, and crew living spaces are to be refurbished. The Stockdale was launched by Bath Iron Works in 2008, becoming a member of an elite class of warfare – the Arleigh Burke destroyers.…

The executive editor of Maine’s largest paper has taken a page from a former Democrat White House aide who famously said “never let a serious crisis go to waste.” Carolyn Fox used her oh-so-special column Sunday to boast that, amid the Portland Press Herald’s fine coverage of the ICE protests across Maine, the liberal rag has seen “an uptick in donations.” Fox also gave her readers a big hug in the column apparently designed to prevent them from getting mad at her ICE coverage. Claiming to be a seasoned journalist, Fox averred that “family and friends seek me out for…

Virginia “Ginny” Oliver, known across the state as Maine’s “Lobster Lady,” has passed away at age 105. Oliver died quietly in the hospital, Wayne Gray, a longtime family friend, told News Center Maine. “Ginny” gained national and international attention for continuing to lobster well past her 100th birthday, becoming a symbol of longevity, resilience, and Maine’s working waterfront. “She was an inspiration for not only senior citizens, but everyone in the industry,” Gray said. “Sad news from the Midcoast,” the Maine Lobstermen’s Association said in a social media post. “Ginny was an amazing ambassador for our industry and exemplified the…

A GoFundMe campaign has begun for the mother of an infant whose father is charged with her savage killing. The fundraiser, with a goal of $17,500, is designed to help Leah Collins, the baby’s mom. “Honoring baby Lyla support for the Collins family, the website says. The campaign had raised $10,500 as of Sunday. “Our hearts break alongside baby Lyla’s mom, Leah, and the Collins family who are currently walking through a tremendously dark and difficult time,” said family friend Jeremy Boutot. “They are filled with unimaginable grief and sorrow at the sudden and tragic loss of beautiful baby Lyla.…

The script for the made-for-TV movie in which an ex-sheriff blasts ICE while his successor embraces federal immigration enforcement has quickly gone into rewrite. Mark Dion, the former longtime Cumberland County sheriff and now Portland mayor who once said ICE had no place in Maine, has now switched positions. In a rehearsed statement last week, Dion, who previously had said that federal immigration cops “have no place in our neighborhoods,” reversed himself just days later. Suddenly Dion was now seemingly embracing ICE officers in what he conveniently distilled as their measured enforcement tactics. “Their conduct, at least as it is…

The two leading contenders for a U.S. Senate seat from Maine suddenly changed their travel plans to exploit their anti-ICE political bases. Janet Mills, the term-limited governor, and Graham Platner, the scrappy oyster farmer, were both out of the state last week when immigration police arrived to begin arresting 1,400 illegals in the Pine Tree State. Mills had flown to California on Tuesday for several secret campaign fund-raisers but was forced to cancel one of them to get back home so she could ratchet up the anti-ICE fever in Portland. Platner, who’s been hanging out in the country of Norway…

Fifteen years after Congress closed the Brunswick Naval Air Station, the nonprofit museum that sprung up in its wake is ramping up for a reunion of ex-base personnel. The Brunswick Naval Air Station Museum announced it will hold an alumni get-together September 18-19. “We are hard at work planning,” museum officials said on their Facebook page. “Come celebrate at this two-day event, visit with friends and fellow service members and share the memories.” The air base was in operation for some 70 years before it was closed as part of the nation’s base-realignment process. Now known as Brunswick Landing, the…

The organizer of a fundraising campaign designed to benefit a victimized northern-Maine family says he got reported for an allegedly unauthorized GoFundMe account. But Robert Kearns of Bangor has been cleared by GoFundMe officials of any wrongdoing. Kearns began the GoFundMe account to benefit relatives of three Milford toddlers who were apparently exposed to inhumanely cold conditions. One of the children died, while her twin and an older brother survived. The cause of the twin’s death is still under investigation. Police summoned to a Milford home last month said they found three children – twins, ages 1, and a 3-year-old,…

124,000 vs. 92,000. That would be the numbers of Facebookers who follow The Maine Wire and the Portland Press Herald, respectively. So you can see why the Press Herald’s self-avowed Democrat political columnist felt compelled to take on The Maine Wire’s top editor in his latest dump. Steve Collins got a few things right in his piece excoriating Steve Robinson: Collins is correct that The Maine Wire “has risen from obscurity to become the dominant media player,” whether Republican or Democrat. (The Facebook numbers prove that The Maine Wire’s readership comes from all folds.) He is right that “the site’s…

A widely followed kids’ YouTuber and top ally of NYC’s Maine-educated mayor is under fire for offering a fake apology after ‘liking’ an offensive antisemitic Instagram comment. Internet sensation “Ms. Rachel,” who like her protégé mayor has Maine roots, claims she accidentally endorsed a pro-Hamas account that appeared to “blame the Jews” for the scandal, according to the New York Post. She insisted on Wednesday she had meant to click “hide” on the comment calling for America to be “free from the Jews” instead of giving it a ‘like.’ But she then appeared to endorse another antisemitic trope that was…

For decades a Burnham company that made golf tees and wooden toys has kept hundreds of people employed. But it’s now lost its biggest contract – making wooden cigar tips, that is marking the death knell for Pride Manufacturing. The company has announced it is going out of business in April, putting 115 people out of work. “After our largest customer made the decision to relocate their sourcing for cigar tips, our highest volume product, the facility became financially unviable,” the firm said in a statement. The company has been a world leader in cigar tips for more than 60…

An international hall-of-fame recreational angler has finally confirmed the painful truth: most of Maine’s 376,449 licensed anglers won’t catch enough fish for even minimal bragging rights. But Rip Cunningham says don’t despair – you can learn how to catch fish if you take a minute to understand how this all works. In his latest column in Wired2Fish, the veteran sportsman explains that 10 percent of you will catch 90 percent of the fish. Ouch for the 9 out of 10 of us who will go home after a day on the water with nothing but a tackle box and an…

A national organization founded by a critically wounded combat veteran to help injured public servants overcome the rigors of battle is profiling a former longtime Maine police officer. Travis Mills Foundation, based in Rome, Maine, is highlighting retired Maine State Police Lt. Christopher Coleman in its latest promotion to help solicit public support. Mills, a retired U.S. Army staff sergeant, a quadruple amputee who survived an IED in Afghanistan, became known nationally for his motto of “never quit.” Coleman has completed the foundation’s “PATHH” Program – “Progressive & Alternative Training for Helping Heroes.” During his 25 years as a state…

The University of New England has been set back in its bid to begin creating student housing in a Biddeford convent. Biddeford councilors Tuesday imposed a temporary development moratorium on the school, according to the Biddeford Gazette. The college has been planning to buy St. Joseph’s Convent two miles west of its southern-Maine campus. Good Shepherd Sisters of Quebec’s complaints that the proposed moratorium could kill their planned sale of the convent fell on deaf ears. They said they can’t afford to maintain the property and have been planning its sale since 2017. The sisters that year began planning for…

Maine’s largest paper has outdone even itself in the self-loathing sphere, begging readers for encrypted ICE tips. But judging from the reaction on the Portland Press Herald’s Facebook account, followers think its editors are in sophomoric meltdown. In a post Tuesday, the editor told readers she was “collecting information about ICE activity.” “Our journalists are working to verify ICE sightings and report events as they happen,” editor Carolyn Fox announced with a straight face. “Report events as they happen.” That would be a new genre for the state’s liberal legacy rag. “Have a tip?” Fox asked. “Fill out the form.”…

Six dogs died when fire broke out at the Give a Dog a Home rescue shelter in Sebec, officials said. Fire Chief Mike Harris said crews were called to the shelter on Downs Road around 3:40 p.m. Tuesday. The building was heavily engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived. Harris said cold temperatures made it harder to contain the fire. Fourteen dogs were inside, but only eight made it out. No people were injured, and the building was a total loss, he said. Stacy Shaffer, an animal-rights activist in Sebec, told The Maine Wire she is working with animal-welfare officials investigating…

A Maine diner that became a national sensation after being featured on the popular Food Network is on the auction block. “For more than 40 years, the Maine Diner has been serving up good meals to some locals and plenty of tourists looking for a taste of small town charm,” reports WCYY.com. The listing includes the Maine Diner restaurant, the adjacent gift shop as well as the e-commerce business the diner generates. Sales have been brisk for the diner but the current owner feels like it’s time to move on after 30 years at the head of the table, according…

Let there be no doubt where Maine’s liberal congresswoman holds her core sympathies. Not in Maine, where she has languished since 2009 in the lonely U.S. House seat waiting for a U.S. Senate seat opening. Chellie Pingree traveled last week to Minnesota to rally the anti-ICE crowd because that’s where her heart is – and has always been. Pingree was born in Minneapolis, on April 2, 1955, and attended high school there. She then brought her radical ideology with her in a suitcase to attend University of Southern Maine. Then, realizing it wasn’t leftist enough, she packed up and headed…

An organization defending victims of clergy sexual abuse is calling out a Falmouth priest for allegedly rebuffing its leaders. “Our pastor, Rev. Steven Cartwright, won’t tell us why he is refusing to meet with us,” the group says in an “open letter” released to the media. Paul Kendrick of Freeport and Michael Sweatt of North Yarmouth, co-founders of Voice of the Faithful in Maine, said they are “surprised and disappointed” Cartwright cancelled a meeting with them. “Your outright dismissal and rejection, without explanation, of our desire to meet face to face with you has the scent of clericalism, which, you…

A so-called militia group has announced its formation in Maine to counteract what it calls the “far-left socialist” ICE critics. “Pine Guard” unveiled its plans Sunday on the social-media platform Reddit, saying it “will not allow to happen in Maine what happened in Minnesota.” The group also posted its plans on Facebook a day earlier, attracting online endorsements from what appears to be thousands of followers. The self-described militia cited as its rallying cry its wanting to avoid the “left-wing violence” sweeping the country that it blames on critics of immigration enforcement. “Everyone has the right to protest but we…

A judge Wednesday accused convicted porn-addicted, disbarred lawyer Eliot Cutler of lying about how he came across the term “strip tease” during a Google search. Justice Harold Stewart said Cutler’s claim that “strip tease” showed up while he was searching the internet to find how to strip labels from boxes didn’t pass “the straight-face test.” Stewart ordered that Cutler’s computer activity be limited to checking his bank account – and then only under supervision of a probation officer. The judge also raised Cutler’s bail to $10,000 from the $1,000 amount set at an earlier hearing. The disgraced former two-time losing…

A son of a Maine DOT worker who plunged to his death after being hit by a car has begun a fundraising campaign for the family. Tyler Brown of Waterville is the son of James Brown, 60, who along with Tyler’s stepbrother Dwayne Campbell, 51, died in the tragic accident. The two were working at a Waterville road project January 13th when they were hit by a minivan driven by Samantha Tupper of Augusta, police said. Tupper, 34, reportedly failed to stop as required at the marked construction zone before jumping on to I-95 trying to merge into traffic. As…

The planned circle-of-unity handholding Friday by officials in Maine’s largest anti-ICE beachhead got derailed even before it got cancelled. City and county officials claimed they dropped the idea of the get-together press confab after court administrators worried that protestors pro and con could disrupt their routine. But behind the scenes two of the featured headliners have presented opposing views of whether to cooperate with federal immigration police. Portland Mayor Mark Dion, much in keeping with the liberal city’s anti-ICE narrative, blasted the agency’s reported plans to enter his kingdom. Dion said he “rejects the need for the deployment of ICE…

Mike Eruzione, a Berwick Academy grad who captained the famous “Miracle On Ice” hockey squad, tried his best Wednesday to get through talking about the legendary 1980 victory over the Russians. But try as he might, Eruzione couldn’t do it without losing his composure, pausing, choking back tears, before resuming. Eruzione, now 71, is best known as the captain of the Winter Olympics U.S. national team that defeated the Soviet Union in the famous “Miracle on Ice” game in Lake Placid, New York. He even scored the game-winning goal, made even sweeter by the fact the U.S. was the host…

The Frankfort teen charged with killing a midcoast woman has a history of uncontrolled anger and defiance, according to a newly discovered police report. Deven Young, now 18, has “violent tendencies,” for which he has been medicated and hospitalized, the report says. The report was published late Thursday by the Midcoast Villager, which had gone to court to force its being made public. Police had declined to publish details of its previous interactions with Young and his family until a judge ordered their release. Young was 17 when he was arrested late last summer, charged with murdering Sunshine Stewart at…

Maine’s moribund economy could certainly use a boost in the form of a new Coast Guard training center. But the state’s governor apparently couldn’t care less. To wit, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine just proposed his state be the headquarters of a soon-to-be-built Coast Guard training center. The agency recently urged governors nationwide to pitch their respective states to host the new base. If Maine Gov. Janet Mills has done so, she’s keeping it a good secret, which strains logic on both economic and political fronts. Not only could Maine use the economic infusion but Mills is a candidate for the…

Eliot Cutler, once a prominent Maine lawyer and politician, suddenly in his 70s becomes what police say is a serial law breaker? Hard to fathom, even for those who have made a life’s work of studying the human condition. “I don’t know that anyone has come up with an explanation,” says Steve Gotlieb, who taught deviant behavior for more than 30 years at Southern Maine Community College – and was once Cutler’s neighbor. Gotlieb, a veteran of the U.S. Marines and Vietnam War who also worked as a police officer and detective in Old Orchard Beach, said the Cutler case…

Maine ‘Deadheads,’ who played host to many of the band’s legendary Pine Tree State concerts, are joining millions of their fellow groupies worldwide mourning Bob Weir. (And yes, even enjoying the reprised Weir story about his stealing a famous fellow Grammy-winning singer’s guitar.) The Dead played several iconic shows in Maine, notably memorable concerts at the Maine State Fairgrounds in Lewiston (1980), the Augusta Civic Center (1984), and Oxford Plains Speedway (1988). The 1984 Augusta show, which drew huge crowds of Deadheads to the state, was even released on the 30 Trips Around the Sun box set due to its…

The woman who was behind the wheel of a minivan that fatally struck two MDOT employees Tuesday previously served four years in prison on a drug conviction. Samantha Tupper, 34, allegedly failed to stop at a posted Waterville construction site along I-95 south, entering the highway where her vehicle was hit by a tractor trailer. Tupper’s minivan then hit three high workers, two of whom were thrown to their deaths over a bridge, police say. Tupper in 2018 was sentenced to four years for selling cocaine to an undercover cop while on probation. She was on probation for another drug…

Former two-time “independent” gubernatorial loser Eliot Cutler is now in back-to-back probation and bail violations. Cutler, who served jail time for possessing child porn, first allegedly violated his probation by contacting an online massage parlor looking for an “escort.” Now he’s allegedly violated his bail on the probation violation by possessing more than two dozen screenshots of sexually explicit material. Cutler was already facing a probation-revocation case stemming from accusations that he accessed prohibited websites and used unmonitored electronic devices, in violation of the terms tied to his 2023 conviction for possessing sexually explicit images of children under age 12.…

Maine’s shrewd senior U.S. senator may be able to play off President Trump’s anger towards her to win re-election. If Sen. Susan Collins follows that strategy she may be able to counterbalance Trump’s criticism of her. That’s the argument being posited by Politico, a leading national political-reporting outlet. Collins came under fire last week from Trump for voting to curb his war powers, a move that drew swift criticism from the president. Trump said she should “never be elected again.”It’s far from the first time that Trump has come down on Collins for, in his view, abandoning the MAGA (conservative)…

Maine’s socialist capital of the north has hired a new “homeless coordinator” – with COVID “emergency” funds. Hard to figure out which is more perplexing: hiring a homeless czar or paying him through the federal COVID account. Maybe both. It’s all part of the New Age phase of life in Bangor, Maine, the city that also aspires to taxpayer-fund its own tent city. Bangor, officially known as Maine’s Queen City, just hired Bruce Hews to manage the street population. Hews, who ran a homeless shelter for many years, told Fox ABC Maine he wants to “build good relationships with people…

The never-ending boardroom battle at one of New England’s supermarkets is wearing well on Market Basket’s customers, from all accounts. A new grocery survey rates the supermarket chain – which operates multiple locations in Maine, including Biddeford, Westbrook, and Topsham – as the second-best nationwide. For the second year in a row, the Massachusetts-headquartered supermarket with nearly 100 stores in New England is runner-up on the list of best grocery retailers. The survey data was compiled by customer data science company Dunnhumby. Topping the ranking once again was H-E-B, a Texas-based chain. Dunnhumby said the most important factor in a…

If the chips are down, Maine voters can depend on a U.S. senator who has … “great sperm.” That’s the literal message of a new campaign announcement video produced by Graham Platner, who’s in a highly competitive, fertile race for the Democratic nomination for the senate. But Platner wants Maine voters to know he’s not doing this by himself – wink, wink. Indeed, the video also features the other half of the political couple who says they’re trying to have a baby, so far unsuccessfully. “Amy and I have been all over the state but in the background we’ve been…

A Camden woman who wrote a book-length tribute to her granddaughter – killed in the nation’s worst mass shooting – has died. Mary Carlson’s charmed life on the Maine coast suffered a sudden, devastating blow nearly 20 years ago when she learned that Emily Jane Hilscher had suddenly died. Emily was only 18, a freshman animal-and-poultry sciences major, when she became the first of 32 victims of the Virginia Tech campus-wide killing, the deadliest-ever campus massacre and largest mass-casualty shooting in U.S. history. She was the first member of the Virginia Tech family to be cut down in a hail…

The bulk of the recent, still-unsolved theft of $400,000 in Costco lobster tails likely came from Maine, a respected foodie website suggests. In an article sourcing Costco’s seafood, Chowhound is tantalizingly spilling the beans: lots of it comes from Maine fishermen. “The frozen tails you buy from Costco’s website are sourced from the icy cold waters of the North Atlantic – specifically, from Maine and Canada,” Chowhound says. Police, meanwhile, are still trying to track down who made off with a priceless shipment of the superstore’s lobster. Also still a mystery is the culprit responsible for the first leg of…

A hotly-contested Republican state-senate primary is brewing in the easternmost region of the U.S., along the shores of the Atlantic. The spirited Senate District 6 contest pits term-limited House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham of Hancock County against former state Rep. Kenneth “Bucket” Davis of Washington County. The majority of votes are in Washington County but Faulkingham is arguing he knows the coast and its peculiarities as well as or better than Davis does. Republican Marianne Moore of Calais, the outgoing incumbent who is term-limited, is campaigning for Davis, who claims he understands Down East culture better than his opponent.…

Verna Hammond, co-founder of Hammond Lumber Company, has died, according to her family. Hammond was not only the power behind the throne – she was its financier. In 1953, she loaned her husband “Skip” $50 to start a sawmill – marking the beginning of what would become Hammond Lumber Company. “While Skip was often seen in the mills and yards, Verna was the steady force behind the scenes – handling payroll, billing, and the day-to-day details that allowed the business to grow,” her family said in a statement. “Her discipline, consistency, and quiet determination helped form the foundation of our…

Police in the Portland area are advising residents to be on alert for a roaming and sick coyote. The animal, believed to be suffering from mange, was most recently seen in the Ferry Village area of South Portland. “The Animal Control Officer and Inland Fisheries and Wildlife are aware of an increase in mange in the greater Ferry Village area, most recently observed in a coyote,” police said Thursday in a press release. Mange is a contagious skin disease in mammals (including pets and wildlife) caused by parasitic mites burrowing into the skin, leading to intense itching, hair loss, scabbing,…

If the Maine newspaper guild wants to find out what happens when you force a company’s hand, it should take a look at what just happened in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s owners announced Wednesday the paper will be shutting down in a few months, citing financial losses, according to The Associated Press. Block Communications Inc. announced it will cease publication on May 3. The paper is printed on Thursdays and Sundays and says on its website the average paid circulation is 83,000. A couple dozen union members returned to work at the Post-Gazette in November after a three-year strike.…

The familiar Maine department store Renys has now broken even more hearts, going out of business a day earlier than expected. The Congress Street anchor wasn’t due to call it quits til New Year’s Eve. But it locked its doors forever at 3 p.m. Tuesday. “It is with a heavy heart that we announce the Portland Renys will be permanently closing sooner than expected,” the retailer wrote in a statement on social media Tuesday. “We are incredibly grateful for your understanding and support over the past 15 years, and we truly couldn’t have done it without you!” The store’s “absence…

The recent heist of 40,000 oysters from a farm in Falmouth is now believed to be the first of a series of thefts in a wider New England seafood-stealing ring whose snatches include lobster worth $400,000 and a cache of crabmeat, authorities say. The first seafood vanished November 22 in Falmouth, where authorities say someone stole 14 cages full of oysters from an aquaculture site off the Portland coast. Many of the oysters were full-grown and ready for sale, and together with the cages were worth $20,000, according to the Maine Marine Patrol. “This is a devastating situation for a…

The mother of a 1-year-old twin found dead Sunday in Milford says she is “tired of people making assumptions” about how her daughter died. “I don’t know the exact answers, as I live out of state,” Erika Dupuis posted on Facebook. Dupuis describes herself on social media as a “red neck Barbie” now “living the best life” in West Virginia. Dupuis, estranged from a Milford man, said she doesn’t know yet how her daughter Eleanora died. “We don’t know if she froze or if she starved,” the mother said. “We don’t know if she was in the house or in…

A Bangor organization raising money for the family of a twin girl who died prematurely is either well-intentioned or jumping the gun. “People 207,” headed by Robert Kearns of Bangor, started a GoFundMe campaign following Sunday’s so-far unexplained death of a 1-year-old girl in Milford. Maine State Police say they have yet to determine how exactly the little girl they found “unresponsive” died, but Kearns has his own ideas. When he announced the campaign Kearns theorized the girl died after an allegedly-drunken relative left her, her twin sister and an older 3-year-old sibling in an unheated car. He claimed the…

The dark horse in Maine’s Democrat U.S. Senate primary went full bore on Christmas for his last, big end-of-year money grab. Graham Platner said in his Facebook ad that he needs to post big numbers by the December 31 federal-filing deadline. Platner, identifying himself as “an oyster farmer and Marine Corps veteran” in the primary against Gov. Janet Mills seeking to oust GOP Sen. Susan Collins, seemed to imply the perception is actually more important than the amount. “Our fundraising numbers and everything we’ve been building together is about to become public,” he said. “Our numbers are going to be…

“To the person who took my pocketbook backpack from Hannaford in Hampden would you be so kind to return it?” The simple heartfelt plea comes from Kayla Young of Winterport, victimized last week while gathering groceries for her family. “I’m a single mother and as you found out, I’m broke, when you tried to use my debit card to pay for your Monopoly Go,” she posted in a generally-circulated Facebook message. “Please just bring it back. I need my other stuff in the bag. I don’t even care if you took my gas money. “Just please drop the backpack back…

The Russian Space Agency has warned international and military flights commonly flying over, into and out of Bangor to beware of a planned rocket blast. Russia issued a warning of the potential airspace danger from a missile launch scheduled between December 28 and December 30. The hazard area involved is located above the North Atlantic, which is the world’s busiest oceanic air corridor. The restrictions affect Bangor International Airport, a joint civil-military air field serving as a gateway to the region for international flights and the base for the Maine Air National Guard’s 101st Air Refueling Wing. The airspace is…

Maine leads the nation in one important category, a national news network recently suggested: dynastic politics. Looking ahead to the coming year, candidates with famous names are vying the be the next generation of leaders — all shooting for the Blaine House. “In the crowded Maine governor’s race alone, there are three contenders who are political scions: Democrat Angus King III, the son of independent Sen. Angus King; Democrat Hannah Pingree, the daughter of Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine; and Republican Jonathan Bush, the nephew and cousin of the two Bush presidents,” NBC-TV says in a new report on dynasty politics.…

Former prosecutor and well-known TV crime fighter Nancy Grace is spotlighting a suspiciously-missing Maine girl. On her Christmas-eve show, “Crime Stories on Fox Nation,” Grace featured the disappearance of Stefanie Damron of New Sweden, a tiny Aroostook County town, population 577. Damron, 13, allegedly walked into the woods near her family’s off-the-grid wood-framed yurt in September 2024, never to be seen again. “This little girl just ‘walked into the woods’ and, poof, disappeared? No way,” a skeptical Grace insists. Grace, known for her no-nonsense, cut-to-the-chase style, features missing persons on her telecast. “Not everyone has the luxury of being able…

Longtime midcoast Maine summer visitors Connie Chung and Maury Povich nearly got into it in a verbal battle over a major network’s realignment. Povich’s family still owns property in Bath, where they ran a well-known clothing store starting in 1919. Povich, who claims he’s the cool-headed one at home, says he and Connie got into a heated argument over changes at CBS-TV. CBS is also the network where Chung flamed out after failing to bring in the numbers when she tried her hand at the anchor desk. Povich, who hosted a Jerry Springer-style network daytime show – or, more aptly,…

Former Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) announced he has been diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. The two-term ex-senator, 53, wrote in a lengthy social media post that he received the diagnosis last week. “I was diagnosed with metastasized, stage-four pancreatic cancer, and am gonna die,” Sasse said Tuesday. “Advanced pancreatic is nasty stuff; it’s a death sentence,” he added. Sasse retired from the upper chamber in 2023, having grown frustrated in his final years in office, to become president of the University of Florida. He left that post last year, allegedly due to the health of his wife, Melissa, in…

When a politician resorts to using animals as props, you know there must be a problem. Embattled Maine Democrat Secretary of State Shenna Bellows has enlisted her cat to meet what the gubernatorial hopeful calls in a new X post “a critical fundraising deadline.” To clarify, it’s the Shenna who’s running for governor speaking (not the one flailing in her constitutional duties). Sid is only a campaign gimmick, if you will. Even if Bellows does have ‘cat lady’ written all over here. Sid is Shenna’s Socks (it catapulting from the governor’s mansion in Little Rock, Arkansas to the White House,…

The Maine license plate that was allegedly attached to a rental car used in a triple homicide remains as mysterious as the entire case. The FBI says the plate was used by Claudio Manuel Neves Valente to try to evade police following three murders earlier this month – of two students in Providence, Rhode Island and of a college professor in Brookline, Massachusetts. It’s unclear where and how Neves Valente got the unregistered Maine license plate, which has not been active for more than a decade, U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts Leah Foley said. The plate had not…

The five-day manhunt for a suspect in three campus murders ended with help of nothing more than a Reddit post, authorities say. They found the body of Claudio Manuel Neves Valente late Thursday night in a New Hampshire storage unit. Authorities say he was responsible for Saturday’s mass shooting at Brown University’s engineering building in Providence, Rhode Island, in which two people were killed and nine others wounded. The suspect then allegedly drove 50 miles to Brookline, Massachusetts, and shot dead Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nuno FG Loureiro – a former classmate – at his home on Monday night.…

A federal judge has sentenced the former manager of Harvard Medical School’s morgue to eight years in prison for stealing body parts. Cedric Lodge “exploited for his own benefit the remains of people who could no longer speak for themselves,” Judge Matthew Brann said at Tuesday’s sentencing. “His punishment must fit this horrible crime.” Prosecutors said Lodge sold body parts to people he met online, including in Facebook groups. The buyers were collectors or people who then sold or traded the items again. Lodge spent almost three decades working at Harvard Medical School. His attorney claimed his supervisor called him…

The clams found along Maine’s coast have something peculiar in common with an elderly cousin of theirs found worldwide. Peculiar to us, that is, not to themselves. To wit, they live to be hundreds of years old, making them arguably the longest living animal on the planet. Scientists are still trying to figure out why those succulent clams that end up in your chowder live so long before they do. An article just published in NewScientist.com is marking the 20th anniversary of the discovery of a 507-year-old clam off Iceland. They knew clams lived for centuries but they happened to…

Norman Podhoretz, a longtime chief editor of Commentary magazine who once said he lost many good friends over his support for President Trump, has died. Podhoretz was the father of New York Post columnist John Podhoretz, who is now editor of Commentary. The elder Podhoretz was a writer for Commentary and served as the publication’s editor-in-chief from 1960 to 1995. Podhoretz was a member of the executive committee of the Writers and Artists for Peace in the Middle East, a pro-Israel group. His 2009 book “Why Are Jews Liberals?” questions why Jews for decades have been dependable Democrats, often supporting…

A former two-time Maine gubernatorial loser and convicted child-porn fiend is rejecting police claims he violated his probation by going online looking for an “escort.” The twice-defeated candidate Eliot Cutler is accused of accessing prohibited websites and using unmonitored electronic devices. He pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Hancock County. Cutler two years ago admitted to four counts of possessing sexually explicit materials of children as part of a plea deal. Investigators said they had found tens of thousands of pornographic images and videos of children on Cutler’s electronic devices. The conviction included jail time and probation terms ordering him not…

A state senator who was a Republican before he decided the only ostensible way to win the governor’s office was to declare his “independence” is what Maine Republicans ought to look like because that’s how they used to be, the Portland Press Herald has declared. Rick Bennett, running as an “independent,” chose a friendly audience to preach to the choir – a Somali rally in Democrat-heavy Lewiston. Three days after the Saturday rally, Bennett posted on his Facebook page a fawning column praising him for “showing main Republicans there’s another way.” Steve Collins, the Press Herald’s alleged political columnist who…

Ex-Senate President Troy Jackson has a sexy idea designed to appeal to your wallet. That’s right, a Democrat who says he wants to lower taxes! The only problem is that Jackson wants to finance his otherwise attractive tax breaks with a fund financed with – drum roll – taxes. Jackson, running fifth according to the latest poll among a five-person primary field, announced Monday at Bangor Public Library his “economic plan.” He says he’d cut working-class taxes, lower drug costs, offer down-payment housing assistance, lower child-care costs and fund more long-term care facilities for seniors. Jackson would even expand the…

Maine elections chief Shenna Bellows has a new ally trying to stop the federal government from making sure illegals aren’t stuffing the Democrat ballot boxes. Enter the Maine League of Women Voters, which is now intervening to help Bellows in her fight to – let’s just call it what it is – make sure elections favor Democrats. The League announced Monday it’s received a federal judge’s OK to become a co-defendant in DOJ vs. Bellows. The Justice Department took Maine’s secretary of state and governor-hopeful to court earlier this year to get access to voters’ personal information. The DoJ under…