Author: Ted Cohen

A state judge has ruled that 18-year-old Deven Young is competent to stand trial for the murder of Sunshine “Sunny” Stewart last year in Union, Midcoast Villager reports. Judge Eric Walker ruled that Young “has a rational as well as a factual understanding of the proceedings and a sufficient present ability to consult with legal counsel with a reasonable degree of rational understanding,” reports the Villager’s Stephen Betts. The judge impounded the competency evaluation of Young, along with more detailed reasons for the ruling.Walker ordered a scheduling conference for May 7 in Knox County court. The judge has had the…

After Portland Press Herald writer Steve Collins admitted earlier this week he had lied about fellow Democrat Janet Mills, he’s got gall complaining about The Maine Wire. Collins in his latest creative-writing exercise calls the news outlet beating him like a drum “the state’s leading farm of racist and discriminatory content.” At least it has principles😅, unlike the two-faced Collins who hid for months his secret that he believed Mills was too elderly to run for U.S. Senate. The Press Herald writer is apparently piqued that The Maine Wire called out his duplicity on Thursday – the day before he…

Even after he was fired by a Chick-fil-A outlet, Keyshun Jones still had access to its cash register codes. So every once in a while, cops say, Jones would saunter into the Texas store that fired him, slip behind the counter and put in a Mac & Cheese order. Then he’d issue his credit card a refund and go on about his day, according to Fox 4 News in Dallas. Store officials, perplexed by 800 refunded orders of fromage, then checked their security cams. That’s when they realized who had taken them for $80,000 worth of stolen Mac & Cheese,…

Not sure Graham Platner meant to say what he did by trying to praise Janet Mills as she exited stage left. “We both got into this race because we knew how critical defeating Susan Collins is,” Platner said in his campaign statement. “And her decision today reflects that commitment.” So it’s thank you Janet for your commitment to losing – so I can win. Now that’s funny stuff. https://twitter.com/TheMaineWire/status/2049967529624326518?s=20

Boston radio talker Mike Felger is trying his best to explain why the city’s sports reporters are missing the grits on Pats coach Mike Vrabel’s affair. Appearing on the Brandon Contes podcast carried by AwfulAnnouncing.com, Felger, a former tabloid guy who now has a show on WBZ-FM, claimed the media outlets need to assign outside reporters to cover the story. “I don’t blame the Patriots reporters, because that is a tough spot if you’re a beat guy that covers that team,” Felger told Contes. “You gotta go down there and face the coach every day, and you’ve got to talk…

The disgraced NFL reporter who the New York Post caught canoodling with the Pats coach and later credited with saving a car-crash victim was apparently nowhere near the accident. The Post recently ran a story crediting Dianna Russini happening upon the New Jersey scene and rushing to rescue the trapped elderly driver even as her NFL writing career was crashing and burning. But podcaster and NFL analyst Tony Farmer was skeptical and got a copy of the police accident report to follow his hunch. Sure enough the cop investigating the car crash made no mention of Russini in his report.…

Outgoing Maine Gov. Janet Mills, who threw in the towel Thursday on her U.S. Senate dream, is looking for a sale on, aptly, towels. To wit, Janet said in her withdrawal statement she’s going to Reny’s. “While I am suspending active campaigning, I look forward to seeing you at a Reny’s,” Mills posted on her social-media campaign account. As a way of giving thanks to Janet’s tossing in the towel after throwing everything but the kitchen sink at her cash-strapped campaign, Reny’s is offering a special “Bye Bye Janet” kitchen-towel sale! For $7.99, shoppers who meet the long faced governor…

The Maine governor’s political bedfellow over at the state’s largest paper just stuck a shiv in his good pal. Columnist Steve Collins, despite showering praise on Janet Mills as “courageous and compassionate,” offers his own albeit late confessional on what he really thinks of the woman who just quit her Senate campaign. Or more accurately thought but never said publicly. Until now, when it’s easy to say “I told you so” when no, you didn’t ever say it when it might’ve mattered. “When Mills decided to challenge Sen. Susan Collins in the longtime incumbent’s reelection bid this year, I worried…

Boston WEEI’s former on-again, off-again, foul-mouthed-but-ratings-king Kirk Minihane is on again – his own show that is – blasting his ex-colleagues as “gigantic *ssholes.” Minihane on his show earlier this week blasted Rich Shertenlieb, who is co-hosting on WEEI a new weekday afternoon show with Ken Laird and Ted Johnson. “I told people way before Fred did that Shertenlieb is a gigantic *sshole,” Minihane said, referring to Shertenlieb’s ex-partner and now nemesis on a different radio station, Fred Toucher. “That show is f*cking dead. A year from now it’s gone.” Shertenlieb is a veteran Boston broadcaster, first arriving in 2006,…

Bob Marley in his latest Facebook video is questioning the audacity of Maine’s transpo officials suggesting you “snack wisely.” Marley, who is arguably the state’s leading comedic performer, happened to stop at an interstate rest area for a travel break. That’s when he noticed the sign by the rest-area’s lean-to telling motorists to “Snack Wisely.” “I love it here – a little bit freaking weirdo though. Look at this sign. ‘Snack Wisely. Remember, snacks are not meal replacements.’ “Kind of overstepping your bounds ain’t you Maine? I just pulled in here for Christ sakes and now you’re telling me what…

French race car driver Romain Grosjean has angered animal rights group PETA for ‘flippant’ comments after hitting a bird while testing for next month’s Indy 500. Grosjean created quite a flap when describing the 230 mph bird strike in graphic terms earlier this week. “I still have blood on my race suit, there were pieces of the bird on the rollbar. I couldn’t see where I was going any more, there’s plenty on the aero screen,” Grosjean said. “The helmet stinks, the seat stinks. I didn’t get any chicken for lunch; I just walked past it.” Mimi Bekhechi, senior vice…

UMaine is lauding yet-another massive cash haul from a former Black Bear who is now the multi-millionaire vice chairman of the Boston Red Sox. But Phillip Morse’s $20 million gift comes in exchange for the donor’s immortality – Morse’s big checks require a new building be enshrined as Morse’s Arena and that sports programs carry his family’s name. The latest Red Sox exec’s bequest to his alma mater is his family’s second $10 million check, the first $10 million being written four years ago. The initial $10 million “secured naming rights to Morse Arena and Chappelle Court, expected to be…

An aspiring white law student has filed legal notice alleging discrimination against a black-only internship in a case similar to one just settled in the U.S. Sophie Corcoran is challenging the British “10,000 Interns Foundation,” which offers scholarships only to “under-represented groups.” Corcoran, a so-called influencer and GB News Commentator, alleges the foundation is violating Britain’s Equality Act. Hoping to go to law school, she applied to the foundation for a scholarship only to learn it caters only to blacks and other minorities. “This case is not simply about my own experience,” Corcoran told The Guardian. “I am pursuing it…

The president of University of New England’s proposal for a mediator to negotiate with Biddeford officials has landed with a thud. Twice now UNE President James Herbert has reached out to Mayor Liam LaFountain seeking a meeting with a peacemaker present. Judging from a second letter from Herbert to the city’s top elected official the school president’s request won’t be getting its baccalaureate. “As you know, you are in receipt of correspondence from UNE on April 15 requesting an independent mediator to address disagreements and litigation,” Herbert wrote April 27. The college and city have been mired in a fight…

The Daily Mail says a “Patriots insider” reports team management is looking at a former Steelers coach as a Mike Vrabel backup plan. Mail reporters Russ Weakland and Ben Nagle said ex-Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin is a possible replacement. The married Vrabel, distracted for the past three weeks denying an affair with a married NFL reporter, ran from the paparazzi Tuesday in Utah, where he owns a vacation home. Patriots ownership reportedly does not want to fire Vrabel, though as the controversy grows, it’s possible something could happen, The Spun and then the Daily Mail reported Tuesday. PB Sports Talk,…

The Maine State Police said late Tuesday they’ve found a missing Waldoboro man dead. Darryl Sanborn, 64, of Thomaston was last seen in Waldoboro, a town he also frequented, on April 5. A person walking on a dirt road off Wagner Bridge Road in Waldoboro nearly two weeks later discovered the body of an adult male. The deceased was transported to the Office of Chief Medical Examiner in Augusta, where an autopsy was performed. The body wasn’t immediately identified, leading to a delay in the official announcement that it was Sanborn. There was no immediate explanation from police as to…

A federal court has found fraudulent efforts by an art hawker to make and sell copies of iconic Maine artist Robert Indiana’s creations. A jury had awarded $102 million in damages to Indiana‘s former business partner, Morgan Art Foundation. The foundation had sued art publisher Michael McKenzie for fraudulent counterfeiting of Indiana’s work. Indiana died eight years ago, having lived out his retirement on Vinalhaven, an island in Penobscot Bay just off Midcoast Maine. The artist was most famously associated with a sculpture spelling out “LOVE” with the letters “L” and “O” piled atop the letters “V” and E,” and…

The nation’s former top cop was indicted – and the subject of a federal arrest warrant -Tuesday over a photo of seashells officials said threatened to kill President Trump. James Comey a year ago posted a picture on social media of shells on a beach writing out the numbers “86 47,” which critics said referred to killing Trump. The former deputy attorney general and FBI director has denied – with a straight face – the display had any nefarious meaning. “When used as slang, the number 86 can refer to getting rid of or tossing something out,” CNN said. “Trump…

In what had to be a Harvard Lampoon exercise, councilors held a standing ovation for a city manager who’s resigning nine months into the job. Biddeford Mayor Liam LaFountain had to be kidding when he pulled out all the superlatives he could fabricate to thank Trucmai Tran Nguyen-Dever for her dedication to civil service. Problem was he wasn’t kidding. Nguyen-Dever was hired less than a year ago at a salary of $200,000 to straighten out the financial messes in the flailing Democrat-run city. The woman who’s never managed a city before lasted all of nine months before deciding she was…

After traveling to Baltimore over the weekend to meet with – and fire – Alex Cora, Red Sox owner John Henry has been nowhere to be found. Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy is calling Henry, who also owns The Boston Globe, a “f***ing coward” for avoiding the press. “From best Red Sox owner to worst,” said widely followed broadcaster Jim Rome. “If you’re no longer in it to win it, sell it to someone who is.” Casters like Portnoy and Rome hold sway in the stands so if they’re calling for Henry’s head, the Sox boss may actually be feeling…

The wife of the leading Democrat primary candidate for U.S. Senate, who’s made a campaign issue out of her difficulty getting pregnant, has lost her first baby. The Graham Platner campaign announced Monday night Amy Gertner suffered a miscarriage following the couple’s highly publicized IVF treatments in the country of Norway. “Just as the difficulty in accessing fertility treatment is overlooked, so too is the heartbreak of loss,” Platner Saturday social-media post. “We suffered that heartbreak recently, when we experienced a miscarriage.” “While it’s difficult to talk about, we felt it was important to be open, because so many families…

Local boy does good. Great, actually. Cooper Flagg, born in Newport, Maine, took home the NBA’s 2025-26 Rookie of the Year Award Monday night. “It’s surreal,” Flagg said. “Getting thrown in the fire right away helped me long term. I feel I grew in a lot of different areas throughout the year.” Despite an injury scare in March, Flagg dominated in April, scoring 96 points in a two-game span, Yahoo reports. On the season, the former Duke Blue Devil finished with averages of 21 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists. Now with one year under his belt, Flagg will have…

Scarborough Police on Monday announced the passing of former Chief Robert Moulton after a long illness. Moulton began with Scarborough in 1977 as a reserve officer patrolling Higgins Beach, Prouts Neck and working details at Scarborough Downs and Beech Ridge Speedway. He went full-time a year later. During his career, Moulton also was a youth-aid officer working with school programs. He was promoted to detective in 1981, involved in the creation of the Southern Maine Task Force comprised of investigators from a variety of southern Maine communities. Moulton later became a patrol sergeant and then detective sergeant supervisor. He was…

A Nevada judge has sentenced “Dances With Wolves” actor Nathan Chasing Horse to life behind bars for sexually assaulting Indigenous women and girls. A jury had previously convicted him of 13 charges, mostly related to sexual assault of three women, The Associated Press reported. Accusers and their families told Judge Jessica Peterson they continue to suffer from the trauma caused by Chasing Horse, 49, and struggle with their faith after he exploited his position as a spiritual leader. He’ll be eligible for parole after serving for 37 years, and has continued to deny the charges against him. “This is a…

A registered dietitian nutritionist is doing our work for us with a breaking blueberry alert. Before you grab a pint in the grocery store, make sure your pick doesn’t have obvious moisture on it. “It’s all too easy to quickly grab a pack and be on my way while supermarket shopping without taking a closer look at what I’m buying,” says Christina Manian. “On more than one occasion, I open up the containers to find spoiled blueberries just days later.” A New Englander at heart, Manian was accustomed to eating wild blueberries right off the bush while hiking. But alas…

If there’s blood in the historic Charles River today, as it wends its way through Brighton and upstream to Waltham, trace it to 98.5’s Fred Toucher’s latest competitive rantings. Touchebag has again become unglued, this time over his former sports radio pal Rich Shirtenlieb’s partnering with arch-nemesis WEEI Sports Radio. Shirtenlieb’s new afternoon drive-time show premiered Monday on WEEI, much to Toucher’s unbridled disgust. “I hate him so much,” Toucher told his listeners Monday. “I just hate him.” https://twitter.com/bostonmedia617/status/1996815831712649490?s=20 Toucher anchors the early-morning drive-time show at 98.5 in Waltham, a relatively short paddle downstream in the Charles to the WEEI…

If Biddeford city officials thought they were getting calm after a storm by hiring a rookie manager, they were off the mooring by a mile. Trucmai Tran Nguyen-Dever, who took the reins in city hall just nine months ago to succeed the Jim Bennett tumult, has abruptly resigned from her cushy $200,000 salaried perch along Maine’s southern coast. Veteran ten-year manager Bennett had left amid a tit-for-tat storm between him and city councilors, who bet on his inexperienced successor to straighten out their financial messes. Nguyen-Dever, a Californian who’d never run a city, “led the city through a difficult and…

The musical chairs continue to go round ‘n round at Boston’s WEEI all-sports radio, where it competes with 98.5 Sports Hub radio. Today’s star show, so-to-speak, is the WEEI afternoon drive-time slot at 2 p.m, when ex-98.5 co-host Rich Shirtenlieb comes back to sports radio, after a falling-out with his ex-cohost at 98.5, Fred Toucher. Shirtenlieb and Toucher were a radio team for 20 years, starting at the old Boston WBCN radio, in 2008, just after ex-WBCN’s shock jocks Opie and Anthony departed with poor ratings, and who a decade earlier, WAAF had sent packing, after they reported (falsely as…

Two 18-year-olds were arrested for disorderly conduct after filming a social-media stunt driving a lawnmower through a Target store in Florida. Janek Szkaradek drove the mower, and Luke Charske recorded the incident, according to Ocala Police. The night before, Szkaradek used a leaf blower inside of Culver’s restaurant. “These actions endangered people and caused property damage,” the police department said. “They are crimes, not harmless videos. Think before you record – it’s not worth an arrest and a criminal charge.” Szkaradek was charged with criminal mischief and disorderly conduct for the incident at Culver’s, and disorderly conduct for the Target…

Thousands of pounds of steamed Maine lobster went to the birds rather than to the famished legacy press. A shooter – an apparent would-be assassin – made his way into the association’s annual dinner Saturday night after guests got their spring pea and burrata salad. But the next course – Maine lobster – never got plated. “Wondering what happened to the lobster for 2,600 people that never got served,” Nico Perrino posted on X. Perrino is executive vice president of a group calling itself Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, its mission “to defend and sustain the individual rights of…

A mysterious disappearance of a Waldoboro man has an investigatory website speculating about a possible connection to a huge kidnapping/assault/drug bust in the town earlier this month. But followers of Mysteries in Maine say Darryl Sanborn wasn’t into pharmaceuticals and wouldn’t have fraternized with the hard-core element. “Now believed to be deceased,” the Mysteries Facebook page claims, citing likely “foul play.” A local store employee “states Darryl expressed fear for his life right before going missing,” the page administrator said. “He literally came into my store before he went missing and was telling me how he was worried for his…

A new 100-year photographic retrospective exhibit of sex goddess Marilyn Monroe reveals a secret about her first husband, who would go on to become a Maine police officer. Jim Dougherty, who later lived in Maine with his third wife, married ex-high-school classmate Monroe in 1942 when she was just 16 and he was 21. Her name at the time was Norma Jeane Mortenson, baptized as Norma Jeanne Baker, later to become the iconic Marilyn Monroe, a name change she made in 1956. Two years after they married, Dougherty shipped off with the Merchant Marines and while at sea saw a…

The Montana class of battleships with their 16-inch guns would have been the most feared vessels ever put to war by the United States Navy. But just before production started and after years of planning, U.S. defense officials cancelled plans to build them, realizing the new superhero of war at sea was aircraft carriers, not battleships. They became dinosaurs before they ever had their keels laid. The armor plating on the 71,000-ton Montana class was so heavy the ships would have been dead in the water before thru could have gotten out of the way of enemy vessels, according to…

While at work a northwestern Maine hospital employee happened to notice from a third-floor window a potential tragedy unfolding. As Eastern Maine Medical Center’s Trista Burchill noticed a child playing on the nearby riverbank, she alerted Brewer Police and Fire, who rushed to the area. During the search for the child, police learned that an 8-year-old autistic child was missing from a residence in Brewer. Police officers deployed to Indian Trail Park, the Conservation Club, and the Treats Falls Dam. “Sgt. Nickerson, OfficerJohnston, and Officer Brasslett traversed significant distances over rough terrain, and with the assistance of the Brewer Fire…

A tourist in Florence allegedly damaged a 16th-century fountain as part of a pre-marriage challenge to touch a statue’s genitals. Florence city officials said a woman climbed up the Fountain of Neptune, known as the “Biancone,” in Piazza della Signoria and left it damaged. The fountain was built in 1565 to celebrate the opening of a new aqueduct and earned its nickname, which means “great white,” due to the brilliance of its marble. The statues at the heart of the fountain show the Roman sea god Neptune on a chariot drawn by four horses, surrounded by other figures. Cops spotted…

“You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.” That was the now-infamous phrase uttered by Democrat Rahm Emanuel, then chief of staff to President Obama. Learning their lessons well, members of the White House press corpse started pocketing bottles of wine from their annual dinner Saturday night. The bizarre scene was recorded on video and posted on X after shots rang out at the Washington Hilton soiree attended by President Trump and thousands of alleged reporters and their guests. As attendees are leaving the ballroom following the shooting, one of them, a woman in a long black slitted…

The top official at York County’s only emergency nightly-housing supplier issued a blistering defense Sunday, accusing skeptical taxpayers of peddling “misinformation.” “For weeks, Seeds of Hope has remained quiet while misinformation, assumptions, and personal attacks have circulated,” said executive director Vassie Fowler. “But when misinformation begins shaping public understanding and influencing city decisions, silence is no longer responsible. Facts matter. The community deserves them. And we are done being quiet.” Fowler’s defense of the Biddeford low-income services facility, published by BiddefordBuzz.com, comes in the wake of divisive council budget deliberations over funding. Seeds of Hope Neighborhood Center, a nonprofit entity,…

A day after a three-game sweep by New England’s dreaded Yankees, the Red Sox fired manager and ex-infielder Alex Cora over the weekend, promoting Maine’s minor-league manager to MLB coach ESPN reported that Cora and five coaches were canned Saturday night amid Boston’s dismal standings. WEEI’s Christian Arcand was calling it the “Saturday Night Massacre,” a Watergate-era phrase. The Saturday night sweep results in a temporary promotion to The Bigs for Chad Epperson, the manager at the Double-A Portland, Portland Sea Dogs who will serve as interim third-base coach. Boston is in the basement with a 10-17 record, having lost…

A former Hancock County budgeteer and perennial downeast candidate and has been fined $250 for wrecking signs at a land preserve. Ian Schwartz, who initially denied the vandalism, pleaded guilty to damaging several signs and trail markers at the Mount Desert Land & Garden Preserve. The Mount Desert resident has run three times for local, county and state office, all ending in defeat. He competed in the 2018 Democrat primary for state senate, Mount Desert selectman’s race in 2019 and as a Democrat for Hancock County Commission in 2020. Schwartz, a former member of a county budget committee, was charged…

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is revealing riveting new details surrounding the takedown by a Bath-built warship of an enemy vessel. The USS Spruance, built by Bath Iron Works, used its five-inch gun on April 19 to cripple an Iranian Cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz. The nation’s top military officer is now sharing new details on how the guided-missile destroyer shot out the engine of the blockade runner. Air Force Gen. Dan Caine said the U.S. naval attack represented a rare use of force by against a non-combat vessel. Since the U.S. launched its blockade…

An iconic Maine family is now being humorously linked to a video meme claiming that Pats coach Mike Vrabel might be the father of his mistress’ son. TV gadfly Maury Povich, whose family came from Bar Harbor, Maine and who owns property in Bath, Maine, had a famous bit on his wild, long-running, crazy-popular show where he would exclaim “you’re the father!” Now the latest, hottest Vrabel meme on X is speculating that the married Pats coach had a love child with his apparent girlfriend, NFL reporter Dianna Russini, in 2021. “You’re the father!” Povich, flanked on a TV set…

The longtime tenant of the mansion made famous by the “Home Alone” movie, under investigation for child porn, was found dead nearby, police say. John Abendshien, 79, had owned the famed red-brick Colonial featured in the beloved 1990 Christmas film. Abendshien’s body was discovered in a Chicago-area nature preserve, the victim of strangulation, according to the New York Post, crediting ABC7 Chicago and NBC Chicago. Police say Abendshien killed himself amid an investigation into child pornography. Just days before his apparent suicide, he was charged with five felony counts of possession of child sexual-abuse material. He was released with conditions…

The latest effort by neighbors of the airport in the state’s biggest city are making noise again – about jet noise. This noise-abatement thing has been circling the Portland International Jetport for roughly as long as there’s been a runway in the middle of Maine’s most densely-populated area. In other words, people who live in the flight path say they wish the jets would just shut the hell up. Yet of course they’re some of the same people who like to hop on those jets to, well, jet down to Florida midwinter. So that’s really how this works. A new…

Maple producers in Maine’s northern neighbor are demanding that an alleged criminal syrup supplier be held accountable. In court documents, Quebec Federation of Maple Syrup Producers say it’s convinced Steve Bourdeau intends to continue selling fake maple syrup. Bourdeau has strongly denied diluting his syrup with cane sugar, despite claims by retail customers to the contrary. Radio-Canada’s Enquête program first broke the story April 2 that five cans of Bourdeau’s syrup for sale on grocery store shelves in Quebec and Ontario were tested and found to have been cut with more than 50 percent cane sugar, despite being labeled “pure…

Nike got a brisk reminder last week of how edgy marketing can easily blow up in a brand’s face, according to Fortune.com. The sneaker and apparel giant’s ad, at its store on Boston’s Newbury Street ahead of the city’s iconic marathon, declared: “Runners Welcome. Walkers Tolerated.” “It was a striking misreading of the culture of runners, and it came at a moment when Nike is trying to win serious runners back,” writes Fortune’s Phil Wahba. The swipe at walkers or slow runners was taken by the bib-wearing bipeds as mean-spirited. “The language came off as at odds with the sport’s…

“May I ask who is the dumb a55 that has the home on Main Street in Sanford that has all kinds of bull5hit about the Sanford PD??” That’s the question posed by Laura Utgard on the Sanford, Maine community Facebook page. “Sanford Police Sucks” and “Cops Suck” are painted on the house and on a sign in front of it in bright red letters. A third sign says, “Eric Small Bad,” referring to the police chief. “The Sanford, Maine Police Department does the best they can with what they have to work with,” Utgard said. “We need to get together…

Just hours after a new set of damning pictures of a married Superbowl star with his alleged mistress hit the tabloids Thursday, a dour-faced NFL coach admitted to unspecified “actions.” “I take accountability for my actions,” a dour Mike Vrabel told a bank of microphones Thursday night, announcing he would skip the weekend football draft. “This is not an easy thing for me to admit,” the head of the New England Patriots said without specificity. The married Vrabel, who has been dodging questions for two weeks about a supposed affair with a married reporter, told a roomful of reporters he…

NFL three-time Superbowl winner Mike Vrabel has a new slew of scandalous pix to splain to Mrs. Vrabel. The New York Post just published a new slate of steamy photos showing the married now-Pats coach apparently kissing Dianna Russini at a Manhattan speak-easy. The pictures were apparently shot six years ago, six months before Russini got married and 20 years into Vrabel’s marriage. They also show the two sitting close at the bar engaged in heavy, serious conversation. Vrabel earlier this month tried to laugh off a series of pictures the post recently published allegedly showing him and Rossini canoodling…

A female cab driver says it’s only fare she should be allowed to carry passengers while she is nude. But city councilors in Barre, Vermont decided naked taxi jockeys aren’t going to fly in their staid town. They received an inquiry from a woman wanting a taxi license allowing her to drive in the buff. “I drive a cab nude and I have signs on my car telling people I’m a nudist,” the ride jockey said. “I call different places to make sure there are no ordinances. For each city, you have to have a taxi license so I wanted…

Three crewmen on the Maine-built USS Zumwalt were injured in a fire aboard the ship, USNI News reported. The blaze erupted on the vessel while it was docked for repairs at Ingalls Shipyard in Mississippi. The fire, reported Sunday night, was extinguished by the crew. One sailor was transported to a local hospital for treatment for injuries related to the fire and is in stable condition. Two others received first aid at the scene. “The Navy is investigating the cause of the fire and determining the extent of the damage,” the Naval Surface Force said in a statement. The 600-foot…

The low-income population by law denied supermarket rotisserie chickens just had a stroke of good cluck, thanks to a group of poultry sympathizers in the U.S. Senate. A bipartisan coalition in Congress is lobbying to lift the ban on so-called suitcase chickens for low-income Americans. Food stamp recipients are currently prohibited from buying hot prepared foods. Rotisserie chicken is generally ineligible for purchase with SNAP benefits (food stamps) because it is sold hot and considered a prepared, “immediate consumption” food. Federal rules, intended to encourage home cooking, dictate that benefits must be used on groceries intended for home preparation, not…

The married NFL coach caught on camera allegedly spending quality intimate time with a female reporter he denied was an affair is now “going into counseling.” Well that was fast. One day Mike Vrabel calls “laughable” any suggestion he’s been two-timing his longtime wife and the next he’s seeking therapy. Within that time span, he admitted Tuesday, he’s had “difficult conversations” with his wife of 25 years. “As I said the other day, I promised my family, this organization and this team that I was going to give them the best version of me that I can possibly give them.…

Judging from the sad, somber, deflated look on his drawn face Tuesday, the embattled New England Patriots head coach musta gotten a Dear John letter from his suffering wife. Football stud Mike Vrabel has tried for two weeks to pass off lovey-dovey zoom-lens pix of him and a curvy married NYT reporter as just two ships passing in the night. When the long-lens shots recently appeared in the NY Post gossip section the big three-time Superbowl champ tried to dismiss them as quote “laughable.” But Dianna Russini wasn’t laughing a few days later when she abruptly resigned after the New…

Cops ordered the evacuation of a Goodwill store along the northeast coast after staffers found a grenade among the pickins. Ellsworth store officials had called police saying they’d found the weapon while sorting through items to be sold. A police dispatcher told a store clerk to immediately evacuate the popular second-hand outlet. Firefighters and police raced to the scene and put up a safety perimeter around the building. A state police bomb squad then entered the store, finding a grenade they determined no longer had an explosive charge.

When the USS Spruance fired its five-inch gun at an Iran cargo ship earlier this week it made Maine – and naval – history. Not only was it the first time in nearly four decades a U.S. warship struck another vessel with its deck gun. But the last time it happened was 1988 in a duel between the U.S. and Iranian navies in the same area of the world – the Persian Gulf – also involving Maine-built ships. “That’s when the guided missile cruiser USS Wainwright, destroyer escort USS Bagley and guided missile frigate USS Simpson all fired upon the…

Ex-failed Maine gubernatorial wannabe and porn king Eliot Cutler may be in jail, but he’s still up to no good, police say. Cutler was just charged with violating his probation for a fifth time by giving police fake passwords to his alleged secret online accounts. Bangor Daily News reports that probation officers wanted Cutler to give them his Internet passwords. But he allegedly furnished them with bogus information. The disbarred attorney is being held behind bars after his fourth probation violation. He served nine months in jail after being convicted of possessing child porn and was freed on probation. Cutler…

A pie lover who saw a strange fee on his Dominos receipt is suing the pizza conglomerate. The case alleges that Doms charged customers additional fees to cover its expenses, printing them as “Tax 2” on receipts, according to the Top Class Actions website. The class-action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, AL.com reports. Plaintiff John Murphy argues that Doms’ advertised prices did not include the fees or charges customers would have to pay in its stores.

The son of the female half of Sonny & Cher was given a trial date Tuesday on a slew of New Hampshire criminal charges.Elijah Allman, 49, will be tried in June for allegedly threatening and assaulting residents at a New Hampshire prep school.Allman earlier this year was arrested and charged with assault, trespassing, threatening and disorderly conduct in Concord.He was later released on personal recognizance bail, meaning he didn’t have to pay any bail money and agreed to appear at future court dates People.com reports.Allman, a 1994 grad of Hyde School in Bath, Maine, is the son of rocker Gregg…

The Navy destroyer blasting an Iranian-flagged cargo vessel’s engine room in the north Arabian Sea over the weekend shows rare use of force that speaks to the U.S  willingness to fully enforce its blockade on Iran, analysts say.Business Insider published an analysis of the USS Spruance, built in Bath, Maine, fired a five-inch gun Sunday on the cargo vessel.The news outlet accompanied its piece with stunning video of how the attack played out, from warnings to the actual MK 45 shots being fired.“U.S. forces train to escalate from warnings to disabling fire, but they don’t often have to carry it…

The Maine built warship that stopped an enemy cargo ship dead in the water is drawing high fives from the president. The USS Spruance, built by Bath Iron Works, intercepted the Iranian ship Touska in the Gulf of Oman and “gave them fair warning to stop,” President Trump said. “The Iranian crew refused to listen, so our Navy ship stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engine room,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. The 510-foot Spruance had warned an Iranian Cargo ship on Sunday to stop but its captain refused to, Pentagon officials…

The Market Basket board was justified in firing longtime CEO Arthur T. Demoulas, a judge ruled Monday. Delaware Court of Chancery Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster said the board, controlled by Demoulas’ three sisters, was “valid” to suspend and remove Demoulas from his position as president and CEO last year. Demoulas had countersued, arguing that his sisters were “fueled by greed and envy.” “Arthur had the burden at trial to prove that a majority of the Current Directors acted in bad faith,” the judge was quoted by CBS News Boston. “He failed to carry his burden.” The board suspended Demoulas…

In the first such incident in the Iran war, a U.S. ship has intercepted a rogue enemy vessel in the Strait of Hormuz with force. The USS Spruance, which was built in Bath Maine, fired several rounds at a cargo vessel’s engine room to cripple it, the Pentagon said Sunday. “An Iranian-flagged cargo vessel was attempting to pass the naval blockade near the Strait of Hormuz,” U.S. Central Command said. American forces issued multiple warnings and informed the Iranian-flagged ship it was in violation of the U.S. blockade. After the Iranian vessel failed to comply with repeated U.S. warnings over…

An heroic Oklahoma high school principal shot tackling a Columbine-obsessed school shooter was crowned prom king and hailed by students for saving their lives.Pauls Valley High School students gave Kirk Moore the touching prom night tribute Friday night – just weeks after he was shot in the leg while fearlessly wrestling down an armed ex-pupil who stormed into the school lobby with two loaded semi-automatic pistols, according to the NY Post.A now-viral clip shows the principal high-fiving cheering students while walking through the overjoyed crowd after the DJ declared him “our king” and blasted Nickelback’s “Hero.”

A new study shows that lobsters actually do have nerve endings, but don’t give up on your July 4 barbecue just yet.Scientists were bound and determined to finally settle the debate – whether lobsters feel pain.So they separated a bunch of lobsters into two groups.The first group was given aspirin while the second one wasn’t.Then the researchers gave electric shocks to both groups.The result was the lobsters on aspirin showed far-less response to the shocks, as proven when their tails didn’t curl as the electrical current went through them.The second group, not on pain killers, showed a far-more noticeable reaction…

The Bowdoin Socialists are promoting a noted guest lecturer later this fall amid administration orders to tone down their allegedly controversial politics.The group is closely aligned with 2014 alum socialist organizer Zohran Mamdani, now the mayor of America’s largest city.The campus socialists, who organized their chapter after Mamdani’s recent New York City election, say they’ve invited Mamdani’s father to give a “virtual” campus lecture later this year.The plans to bring Mahmood Mamdani to the school come in the wake of a dust-up between the campus socialists and the administration.The school’s socialists received a recent email from administrators claiming their group…

Emmy-winning singer Cher is begging a judge to appoint an adult to supervise her ‘drug-addicted, gravely disabled’ son, who is facing charges in New Hampshire.Elijah Allman, 49, is locked up in a New Hampshire psych ward awaiting court action on several criminal allegations against him.Allman was arrested twice last month in New Hampshire, first in Windham and then in Concord on charges including burglary and trespassing. He allegedly broke into a Windham house, sat down in the living room and smoked a cigarette.Allman also was charged with causing a disturbance at a Concord prep school.Though he lives in California and…

Maine’s own NFL commissioner – Roger Goodell of Scarborough – is among the missing in the growing chatterbox surrounding the head Pats coach and his alleged mistress.A poster on X, formerly Twitter, questioned Friday how Roger can be so isolated.After all, the publicity over the NY Post gossip photos of Pats coach Mike Vrabel and ex-NFL reporter Dianna Russini couldn’t be less avoidable.But Goodell, who for years has owned pricey property in coastal Prouts Neck along Maine’s ritzy southern coast, hasn’t said a word.Is Vrabel under investigation by the NFL for canoodling with a reporter whose beat includes the Pats?Actually,…

A former Waldo County man awaiting trial for the gruesome chainsaw murder of an Ireland farmer has been assaulted while behind bars.That’s according to the Irish Mirror, which says Michael G. Kelley had been in a solitary cell until recently moved to a cell with other inmates. The paper quoted Kelley’s lawyer as saying he noticed marks on Kelley when he was doing a court-related video teleconference with him.Kelley reportedly suffered two black eyes from a suspected assault in Cork Prison earlier this week.“I saw the marks on him today on the video link and I tried to find out…

Megan Waterman was a struggling single mother trying to make ends meet.Unfortunately the Scarborough woman decided a quick way to make money to help raise her young daughter was prostitution.Waterman, 22, ended up in a motel off Long Island, New York, where she was last seen alive.Eventually Rex Heuermann, a Manhattan architect, was linked to murders of eight prostitutes, Waterman among them.“For years, her name sat in that haunting space between missing and forgotten,” says Mysteries in Maine, a website dedicated to trying to solve cold cases.“That was until a stretch of highway on Long Island turned everything into something…

When a humorous website dedicated to the U.S. Navy’s nuclear power program heard about a laundry-room fire at sea, it was all dainties on deck.“The Reactor Is Critical” started a fund drive to replace laundry lost in the March blaze aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford.“When I heard they had a laundry-room fire we were asked to see if we could help them out,” said Kelsey Eckelman, who with Mike Lassiter runs the website.After hearing of the issues facing the crew, they decided to take action in a humorous way with “Operation Panty Drop.” Lassiter was surprised at how fast…

The leftists over at National Public Radio have their panties in a wad, fearing boys may soon lose the right to become girls.“Families left reeling after hospitals in blue states drop transgender care for youth,” is the headline on a story just published by none other than NPR.The NPR (Nongendered Pubic Reassignment) folks carried a story as wordy as the Magna Carta quoting a mother in a tizzy, afraid her son will be denied his alleged preference to become a girl.Under threat by President Trump of losing federal health-care funding if they don’t ban “gender-affirming” procedures, hospitals in some Democrat…

A USA Today NFL writer was handed her walking papers Thursday after calling out a fellow reporter for compromising sports journalism by allegedly fondling the Pats head coach in exchange for insider information.USA Today management said reporter Crissy Froyd’s criticism of The Athletic’s Dianna Russini doesn’t “reflect our commitment to professionalism or uphold our principles of ethical conduct.”Froyd had posted a comment online suggesting that Russini’s publicized resignation letter was a farce.Russini, who quit her NFL beat amid an investigation by her employer into NY Post photos of her and Pats coach Mike Vrabel embracing on the roof of an…

A leading Maine foster-children’s spokeswoman who’s been railing against the state’s dismal record with juveniles says a new so-called advocate position is simply bureaucratic mumbo jumbo.“This ‘advocate’ is much like the ‘ombudsman,’ says Sabrina Rose of Presque Isle.Rose, 31, who’s been traveling Maine promoting her campaign to improve the state’s foster-child program, sees no benefit in simply slapping a new label on a failed approach to allegedly caring for kids.She’s referring to a bill establishing a new Office of the Child Advocate just approved by the legislature.The measure, LD 1893, replaces the child-welfare ombudsman with an “Office of Child Advocate.”“Replacing…

The on-again, off-again legal fight between the president and “historic preservationists” over a new White House dance floor was on again Thursday.For a second time, a federal judge told President Trump to stop work on a new ballroom except for underground national-security bunker updates.Judge Richard Leon had previously issued an order halting the $400 million project until the White House got it approved by Congress, with an exception for “actions strictly necessary to ensure the safety and security of the White House and its grounds.” Trump claims then since the project is privately funded he doesn’t need congressional approval.The president…

A KC-135 tanker showing damage from getting shot at in Saudi Arabia flew into Bangor International Airport for a fuel stop.The huge tanker made its stopover after flying from the mideast on its way to an Oklahoma Air Force Base for repairs.Bangor, home of an Air Guard refueling wing, is also a common refueling depot for international civilian flights.The tanker 59-1444, which  “currently sports a massive number of patch repairs across the airframe was likely among the tankers damaged in the multiple Iranian attacks against Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, during March,” Aviationist.com reports. The attacks damaged at least…

The role of Bath-built destroyers in the Iran war is growing by the day, two of them featured in the latest social-media photos.The USS Donald Cook and USS Mason were seen escorting the USS George H.W. Bush carrier rounding the Cape of Good Hope.The roles of the Cook and Mason, both built at Bath Iron Works, are in addition to the USS Spruance, also a Bath ship that blocked an Iranian Cargo ship from passing through the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week.The Bush and its Maine escorts are expected to reach the Arabian Sea by the end of the…

The widow of murdered TPUSA head Charlie Kirk took a rain check on a rally with the vice president over “very serious threats.”Erika Kirk pulled out of a Turning Point USA event Tuesday that featured Vice President J.D. Vance, fearing for her life if she attended.Kirk was scheduled to appear at a University of Georgia event with Vance.“I was so looking forward to tonight’s event but after all our family has been through, I take my security team’s recommendations extremely seriously,” she posted on X. “Thank you to our amazing Georgia chapter for your support. God bless you all.”Kirk is…

A jury has decided that a woman claiming she was “over served” on a cruise is entitled to far more than a couple of aspirin.$300,000 to be exact.A jury found Carnival Cruises liable for Diana Sanders’ injuries from a drunken fall two years ago.Sanders, 45 claimed she was over-served 14 tequila shots from six bars despite showing obvious signs of intoxication.The California nurse said she fell after stumbling trying to walk down a set of stairs.She was allegedly found unconscious at the bottom of a staircase.Sanders complained of multiple severe injuries, including a concussion, headaches, possible traumatic brain injury and…

Former longtime network anchor Brian Williams, now known more for embellishing than the great ratings he once had, is getting back on the horse.But of course it’s a horse of a different color – anchoring a podcast vs. the top evening-news show in America.Speaking of color, Williams first got in trouble with the NBC suits when he downplayed the need for “diversity.”Twenty-two years ago, no sooner did Williams inherit the helm of NBC Nightly News from Tom Brokaw than he had to apologize for saying there are “bigger problems” than newsroom diversity. So though a truer statement has never been…

A Utah man who worked behind the scenes to bring snowboarding into the mainstream in North America has died.Paul Alden began lobbying ski resorts 40 years ago to open their slopes to boarding.Nowadays only three resorts nationwide prohibit snowboarding, one of them Mad River Glen in Vermont – the only New England Mountain that bans it.Alden’s son, actually, has been actively involved in Burton Snowboards, a Vermont firm named for Jake Burton, one of the inventors of modern snowboards.David Alden was a Burton team member, helping it become a global brand.Besides helping promote his son’s sport into a worldwide rave,…

Cousins Maine Lobster of TV “Shark Tank” fame has announced a new food-truck in the heartland.A new midwest franchise representing the family-owned Maine seafood company will open April 25.The St. Louis, Missouri food truck featuring Cousins “fast casual lobster rolls” represents continued national growth, company officials said.Cousins said it “has built a loyal following by delivering premium, wild-caught Maine lobster through its signature fleet of food trucks and brick-and-mortar locations.”The company features Maine lobster but was actually founded in California by cousins Sabin Lomac and Jim Tselikis. They appeared in 2012 on the TV show Shark Tank, where they partnered…

When members of a town redevelopment board in Connecticut met for an update from its executive director, he didn’t show up.Where, they wondered, was Brian Bidolli, who runs the Norwalk Redevelopment Agency.Oh, funny you should ask, replied Bidolli’s assistant, Stephen Ivan, the agency’s director of housing and capital projects.Ivan nonchalantly informed the board that Bidolli was out of the country – studying for a PhD in Germany, according to Sophie Bellwoar, intern for InsideInvestigator.org.“He has been out for about a year now,” Ivan said, insisting that the absence had not hindered agency functions.“I don’t have an exact return date, but…

“For 20 minutes of his life, Jim Whittaker was on top of the world,” reports the Los Angeles Times.Whittaker and a fellow climber reached the highest point on earth – 29,032 feet – on May 1, 1963.“We were standing in the jet stream, on the edge of space,” Whittaker wrote in his 1999 memoir, “A Life on the Edge.”Whittaker’s climbing partner was Nawang Gombu, a Sherpa mountaineer and the first man in the world to have climbed Mount Everest twice.After summiting Earth’s highest peak, Whittaker “returned home a hero, with his picture on the cover of Life magazine, a White…

U.S. Central Command says a Maine-built warship forced an Iranian vessel back to port.The USS Spruance, built by Bath Iron Works, turned back the enemy vessel on Tuesday, CENTCOM announced Wednesday on X.The Iranian-flagged cargo vessel “tried to evade the U.S. blockade after leaving Bandar Abbas, exiting the Strait of Hormuz, and transiting along the Iranian coastline,” the Pentagon said. At the critical moment of confrontation, U.S. sailors aboard the Spruance told the Iranian ship, “prepare to be boarded.”The guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance (DDG 111) successfully redirected the vessel, which headed back to Iran, the U.S. Navy said.Ten vessels have…

For Animal Control Appreciation Week, Bangor Police are recapping “some of ACO Trisha Bruen’s memorable calls.”“Often she is called upon to capture cats that are not where they should be,” the Bangor coppers said on their Facebook page.“In this case, she rescued a cat that had somehow ended up in someone’s pool.”“This photo is NOT of that cat,” they said in a disclaimer. “ACO Bruen had been too focused on rescuing the poor kitty and forgot to take a picture.  We relied on stock photos to recreate the scene.”The cops posted a stock photo of a kitty doing laps. Because…

The state’s largest paper Wednesday said it’s going high tech (even while it’s scrambling for readers on its regular browser).The new app is called Portland Press Herald+.“The launch is part of the Maine Trust for Local News’ broader effort to strengthen digital access to local journalism across the state and better serve readers wherever they are,” said editor Carolyn Fox.The effort to keep up with the Joneses (AKA Maine Wire) comes amid the paper’s embarrassing lagging numbers compared to the new kid on the block.Judge Portland Press Herald+ for yourselves:Facebook Scorecard ✓ The Maine Wire 161,000✓ Portland Press Herald 93,000

“Only some accounts can reply”No sooner did NFL reporter Dianna Russini quit her job amid a canoodling scandal than she tweeted her resignation letter – and then blocked followers from commenting on it.Russini resigned abruptly earlier this week from her job with The Athletic, an arm of the New York Times, in the wake of scandalous canoodling photos posted on the New York Post gossip page. The embattled, married reporter denied she was having an affair with married Pats coach Mike Vrabel, as did he with her, but Russini’s bosses suspended her pending an “investigation.”Russini decided on her own Tuesday…

A team of taste testers whose job it is to rate eats bad or good is giving a big thumbs down to “Exploremores.”Exploremores were added this year to the Girl Scout Cookie lineup but they fall flat, according to the team from SeriousEats.com.“Exploremores had the most to prove – and unfortunately fell the furthest from the mark,” writes Lee Musho in her cookie recap.Musho described herself as “a senior food and beverage editor and advanced sommelier,” so she’s no rookie at rating.Laila Ibrahim, associate culinary editor at SeriousEats, was quoted that the Exploremores have “really bad-quality chocolate with a strong…

Those darn “self-driving” cars strike again, no pun intended.In a recent Texas incident a car “driven” by a computer ran over and killed a mother duck.There was even a human behind the wheel at the time but the car was being “driven” by its autonomous, self-governing computer.“While humans are responsible for killing animals with their cars all the time, this incident has brought negative attention to the new technology,” reports TechCrunch.com.

A federal appeals court has ordered a district judge to stop limiting President Trump from deporting foreign gangsters.The DC Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that a lower judge exceeded his authority trying to hold Trump in contempt.Federal District Judge James Boasberg has maintained that Trump was ignoring his order against deporting Venezuelan gangs.But the appeals court admonished Boasberg for abusing his discretion.The case involved Trump’s deportation of hundreds of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador a year ago. Boasberg was investigating whether Trump violated his emergency order blocking the flights. The appeals panel said a federal judge has no authority to…

Awkward ole’ Joe Biden never disappoints – or fails to embarrass.Unveiling a portrait of himself at Syracuse University, Biden called to a black man – a school trustee – who was on the dais with him.“I’ve always wanted to turn around and say to some guy ‘hey Barack what are you doing?’ Hey Barack, come up here,” the very white Biden yelled to a black man on the stage with him.“Doesn’t he look like Barack?” Biden asked the crowd, making a supposed joke.If anything were more embarrassing, it was the fact that Biden’s portrait was being unveiled at the college…

NFL writer Dianna Russini has abruptly resigned from The Athletic just days after her boss began investigating pix of her hugging Pats coach Mike Vrabel that hit the NY Post gossip pages. The two, both married, were seen at an Arizona resort embracing on a hotel rooftop and in a hot tub but deny having an affair.The Post last week published the photos of Russini and Vrabel at a romantic hotel where they claim they were never alone. In quitting, Russini claimed she refuses to let the speculation over the photos “define my career.” If her interaction with Vrabel were…

Now that “Local News Day” celebrants are over their self-aggrandizing fake-news hangovers, they are taking a victory lap in honor of … themselves.“As experts in the storytelling business, we often criticize ourselves for doing a poor job telling our story – why the work matters and how people can support us,” the Maine Press Association said in its “Local News Day” recap. “That wasn’t the case on Thursday.”What wasn’t the case – that they did a poor job or that they criticized themselves for doing a poor job? Or both?Hard to tell.Not to be distracted, the association’s members decided they…

The state’s largest legacy-media organization is scolding its own reporters for allegedly ignoring judicial protocol governing trial coverage.In a general email to all its members, the association claimed some of them are taking excessive liberty with court rules designed to limit recording and videography.“We’ve been made aware of several violations, including recording an alleged victim offering testimony and photographs of a victim’s family in a courthouse, which are not allowed,” the association said.“Anyone who covers courts is obliged to follow the rules when seeking the court’s permission for access or risk being removed from the courtroom,” it added.The obvious question…

Portland city officials are pulling a fast one on the taxpayers by claiming they are eliminating jobs to cut taxes.It’s the oldest trick in the book, yet not beneath the braintrust of the state’s most “progressive,” advanced settlement known to human history.When she unveiled the new municipal budget earlier this week, City Manager Danielle West boasted she was cutting jobs.West used that old saw to pull a fake on the working stiffs who are paying her salary.The manager said the taxes would “only” go up a few minor points because God bless her soul she was watching out for them.West…

A poll by a travel journal of Maine seafood joints missed a bunch of the most popular ones.That’s according to Boston.com, which is taking TravelMag to task in behalf of its followers.“After TravelMag went on a seafood road trip in Maine and named 10 ‘can’t-miss’ spots, many Boston.com readers were largely unimpressed and offered more than 20 alternatives they say are better,” reports Kristi Palma.The Clam Shack in Kennebunkport came in as a top favorite but was outvoted by readers who selected “other” as their choice.“Of the 109 readers who answered our informal poll about the TravelMag list, the clear…

The Penobscot Marine Museum is seeking donations to restore Prospect Harbor’s 40-foot-tall fisherman statue, “Big Jim.”“Big Jim has stood as a proud symbol of our coastal heritage for more than six decades,” the museum says.People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals says it has stepped up, offering to chip in to shore up the roadside icon – with a little catch.In a letter sent to the museum, PETA is pledging to help the museum meet its $30,000 fundraising goal, but only if it agrees to put a block of tofu in Big Jim’s arms.The animal-rights group calls tofu, “the most…

When President Clinton was accused of having sex with an intern he denied it claiming oral sex wasn’t “sexual relations.”And when Clinton was asked whether he was having an affair with an intern he famously said “it all depends on what the meaning of the word is is.”Now a California congressman is playing the same word game with allegations that he is guilty of sexual misconduct, including in at least one case, rape. U.S. Democrat Rep. Eric Swalwell first first came onto the public radar on April 10, when CNN reported that four women were accusing him.CNN described three of…

The peak of the pain running Boston’s famous race got its famous name from Tarzan Brown.Brown won the marathon in 1936 and 1939, having first gotten his mojo 90 years ago cresting “Heartbreak Hill.”The hill got its name from Brown having broken hearts when he first beat race favorite Johnny Kelley by getting the advantage on the 100-foot rise.A group of Brown’s fans organized a campaign to raise money for a statue of Brown to be placed in a park in his Rhode Island hometown.Byron Brown, 87, has heard stories about how his uncle once ran the last few miles…

The final political knell dropped Monday on a Democrat congressman and gubernatorial hopeful from California amid sexual-abuse allegations against him.Eric Swalwell, accused by a former staffer of raping her, now says he’s leaving the congressional seat he has held for 13 years, according to CNN.“I am aware of efforts to bring an immediate expulsion vote against me and other members,” he said. “Expelling anyone in Congress without due process, within days of an allegation being made is wrong.“But it’s also wrong for my constituents to have me distracted from my duties,” CNN quoted him. “Therefore, I plan to resign my…