Author: Ted Cohen

The mayor of Portland just hopped into the proverbial political bed with a Democrat gubernatorial hopeful whose claim to fame is a questionable government-grifted home loan.What was Mayor Mark Dion thinking when he endorsed Troy Jackson for the party’s top state office?More to the point, what does Jackson envision as the benefit of a boost from the top elected official in Maineโ€™s most radically-left community?Dionโ€™s political history managing statewide campaigns isn’t exactly anything one would describe as prosperous.The former Portland cop, ex-Cumberland County sheriff and state senator ran a failed campaign for governor against the eventual victor – Janet Mills…

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A so-called illegal “National of the Democratic Republic of the Congo” was pulled from his car by federal agents, as seen from a bystanderโ€™s video.BiddefordBuzz.com exclusively posted the February 27 nab and grab that occurred on Summer Street in Biddeford.In the video, immigration-enforcement cops can be heard asking an individual to exit the vehicle.”If you don’t come out, I’m going to break the window and pull you out,* an ICE agent was overheard telling the driver.โ€œWhen the Biddeford Buzz arrived at the scene, we observed glass shards and a glass window panel on the ground beside the vacant vehicle,โ€ the…

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“Operation Epic Fury,โ€ as the Pentagon coined it, had a little help from Maine.To wit, U.S. Navy photos posted online show the Bath-built USS Spruance firing a Tomahawk Land Attack Missile in support of cashing out Khamenei.โ€œU.S. and partner forces began striking targets at 1:15 a.m. ET February 28 to dismantle the Iranian regimeโ€™s security apparatus, prioritizing locations that posed an imminent threat,โ€ the Pentagon said in a statement. โ€œTargets included Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps command and control facilities, Iranian air defense capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and military airfields.โ€œThe President ordered bold action, and our brave soldiers, sailors,…

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It came 46 years late but the families victimized by the 1979 Iran hostage crisis get to sleep a little easier now that Khamenei is boxed up for shipping.The grabbing of American hostages at the U.S. embassy in Tehran during the failed Democrat Jimmy Carter administration included two Maine residents. A Mount Desert Island man, Moorhead Kennedy, died in 2024 at the age of 93. โ€œI spent my 49th birthday tied up, blindfolded, and tied to a chair,โ€ Kennedy said in 2009.Hostage, Richard Queen, came from Lincolnville. Queen was released early, in July 1980, after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.…

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A charity watchdog organization is questioning whether a Bangor firm supplying the nonprofit Wreaths Across America is inappropriately benefiting from the relationship.CharityWatch says the wreath charity and Worcester Wreath Co. may have too cozy a relationship – one that is hard to separate financially.The charity was created by Worcester Wreath to decorate graves in Arlington National Cemetery each year during Christmas.But the group that investigates charities for questionable behavior says it is looking into whether an inappropriately large amount of money is being transferred from the charity to the wreath company.โ€œThe structure of this charity is highly unusual, especially at…

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A portrait of embattled former U.S. Senate Leader George Mitchell has been stripped from the Maine State House, a move that the stateโ€™s top investigative journalist calls possibly Mitchellโ€™s ultimate indignity.Maine legislative officials have been under pressure to take the Democrat ex-leader’s portrait down from the wall where it has hung for 14 years.The Maine House GOP shared video showing the portrait being removed Friday afternoon.The portraitโ€™s removal comes just three weeks after Mitchell resigned as chairman of the Mitchell Institute following the recent unsealing of documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein sex-abuse case.โ€œThis might be the harshest consequence he…

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When Democrat Troy Jackson and Republican Bobby Charles threw personal insults at each other during a recent debate, it was just too rough for the dainty Portland Press Herald.The paperโ€™s political columnist reports that the debateโ€™s mudslinging tone failed to uphold Maineโ€™s โ€œnational reputation for robust, elevated state politics.โ€Steve Collins went even further, fawning over Angus King for having waged gubernatorial and U.S. Senate campaigns โ€œthat honored the stateโ€™s traditions and decency.โ€That’s absolutely laughable.Angus has a record of just the opposite. You can look it up, as Yogi Berra would say.King is noted for having called gubernatorial opponent, Democrat Joe…

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A year after Maineโ€™s top license-plate boss emerged politically wounded from a scandal over faulty tags, a new chapter of Plategate is emerging.Secretary of State Shenna Bellows is now recommending to the legislature that Maine stop making its own plates altogether.After Bellows hired a Canadian company last year to help with a new plate issue, the result became a political nightmare.The plates feature an image of Maine’s iconic pine tree but the poor tree was misaligned on many of the finished products.Bellows got a lot of negative publicity over the misplaced tree – not helpful as she geared up for…

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The Boston Globe columnist who previously was caught lying about being at the scene of a downtown bombing is now trying to make up for lost time on his latest gaffe.Gaffe is actually too generous a description of Kevin Cullenโ€™s most recent work of literature.Cullen, who wrote sympathetically last week about a white Irish guy who was being deported as an illegal immigrant, faced a firestorm once a Boston media watchdog learned about the suspectโ€™s alleged criminal record.Now Cullen is trying to paper over his malaprops with a new column blaming โ€œleaksโ€ for exposing the truth about the detainee. He…

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Syracuse University College of Law has commissioned an official portrait of its most famous cheater.Not only will Joe Biden have his portrait hung in the place where he got caught plagiarizing as a freshman law student.But he’s been invited for the portrait’s official unveiling April 14, the school has announced.โ€œPresident Biden has never forgotten where his legal career began, and we have never forgotten him,โ€ College of Law Dean Terence Lau said in a press release that must have been conceived by Saturday Night Liveโ€™s comedy writers. It gets even more bizarre.โ€œHis portrait in Dineen Hall will remind every student…

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A technical glitch at Maineโ€™s largest paper was only supposed to be a temporary thing.But it appears the highest-paid journalistic Geek squad in Maine can’t figure out the problem.โ€œSecret insider information,โ€ the paperโ€™s editor posted February 27 on the home page. โ€œWe’re tinkering with the website, and for the next couple of days, the paywall is completely shut off. Read all the things for free.โ€โ€œSecret insider information.โ€Haha.The real question is doesn’t the multi-millon-dollar National Trust for Local News have the wherewithal to fix a website?Asking for a friend.

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Former twice-failed gubernatorial candidate and convicted sex offender Eliot Cutler is denying the latest charge of violating probation. Cutler, 79, appeared in court this week facing police claims that he failed to receive the sexual-addiction treatment that was part of his conviction plea deal.The disbarred lawyer was convicted of possessing child porn in 2023 and served eight months in jail before being released early for โ€œgood behavior.โ€He was arrested again this month for allegedly violating conditions of his release. Several adult pornographic DVDs and a DVD player were allegedly found in Cutlerโ€™s room after a search in South Portland.Cutler allegedly…

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Democrat Gov. Janet Mills may be unwittingly bringing attention to the fact she’s an antique compared to her young opponent.โ€œFolks, I’m the only Maine Democrat to win a statewide election in the last 20 years,โ€ Mills said Thursday in a campaign-donation request as reported by BiddefordBuzz.com.By claiming she’s been in public office as long as she has, Mills, 78, merely advertises Platner’s theme – that he’s a fresh new start.Platner, 41, who polls show is far ahead of Mills in the Democrat primary for the U.S. Senate, has made clear in his campaign that he believes it’s time for a…

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When President Trump got Democrats applauding for a proposal to prohibit federal lawmakers from buying and selling stock, one member of that party was conspicuously missing from the State of the Union address. Chellie Pingree of Maine.Pingree, the alleged congresswoman from Maine’s southern, most-liberal district, boycotted the speech Tuesday and perhaps now we know why.Trump urged lawmakers to โ€œpass the stop-insider-trading act without delay.โ€Leading Democrats even stood and applauded, including senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Chris Coons of Delaware.But Pingree was missing, attending her own โ€œstate of the unionโ€ celebration.Maybe she was also checking her stock portfolio.The legislation Trump…

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The alleged โ€œwhite supremacyโ€ Zohran Mamdani was railing against while attending Bowdoin College was nothing compared to the whiteout he’s now up against in New York City.In his first political firestorm as the first Muslim mayor of the nation’s largest city, Mamdani is being criticized for failing to support cops injured this week in a snowball attack.NYPD had responded to a snowball fight in a city park that had allegedly gotten out of hand.But when the snowballers saw the word POLICE on officersโ€™ uniforms, they began pelting them with chunks of ice, injuring two cops.In fact, some of the snowballing…

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A deadly shooting during a youth hockey game in Rhode Island last week has claimed a third victim, a grandfather whose daughter and grandson were also killed in the attack, authorities said.Gerald Dorgan, who had been in critical condition, has died from his injuries, according to the Associated Press.Dorganโ€™s daughter, Rhonda Dorgan, and grandson, Aidan Dorgan, were also killed in the shooting.Police identified the shooter as Robert Dorgan, 56, who died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Dorgan, who had had a sex-change operation, also went by the names Roberta Esposito and Roberta Dorgano. Robert Dorganโ€™s ex-wife was Rhonda Dorgan…

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Let’s hear it for Maine blueberries – you know, the ones that don’t get โ€œrecalled.โ€Four states are facing a serious recall of blueberries produced not in the wild barrens of the Pine Tree State but in Oregon.Maybe next time they’ll get Wymanโ€™s on the phone and order from Maineโ€™s finest.Just a suggestionโ€ฆThe Oregon-produced berries were recalled in Michigan, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin, as well as in Canada.Nearly 60,000 pounds were recalled due to potential contamination with Listeria monocytogenes, a potentially life-threatening food-borne disease that can cause serious adverse health effects.The FDA characterized the recall as a Class 1, its highest,…

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Former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell has gone from being a metaphorical international peace-making God to his word having no credibility. The Democrat from Maine allegedly having had sex with a 17-year-old girl at pedo Jeffrey Epstein’s request was enough to erase Mitchell from his historic reputation helping bring peace to Northern Ireland.But as bad if not worse, people don’t believe him when he says he didn’t. For George Mitchell, that’s really the tragedy – that his word is no longer reliable. Even his own Maine institute doesn’t believe him. Not even necessarily because he allegedly had sex with a child…

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A new video promo of the upcoming Charlie Kirk documentary โ€œBride of Charlieโ€ has ignited a firestorm of controversy.Firebrand podcaster Candace Owens released the trailer Tuesday of her alleged documentary into Kirkโ€™s savage killing.Owens has been accused of suggesting that Kirkโ€™s widow may have had a hand in his September murder so that she could take over Turning Point USA, his organization.Judging from the trailer, critics believe Owens is once again stoking conspiracy theories surrounding Kirkโ€™s assassination, including whether Erika Kirk had something to do with it.โ€œOwens uses dramatic clips from news coverage of the shooting, leaked audio from TPUSA…

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Breeze Airways will kick off a new service between the Akron-Canton, Ohio Airport and Portland, Maine, this summer.At the same time, the carrier is discontinuing service from Akron-Canton to Los Angeles, deeming it too costly.Portland will be the carrierโ€™s 16th destination from Akron-Canton, according to Cleveland.com.Flights to Portland will run Thursdays and Sundays starting July 2. Eastbound flights will leave Akron-Canton at 8:18 p.m., landing in Portland at 10:09 p.m. Return flights will leave Portland at 7 a.m., arriving at Akron-Canton at 9:01 a.m.The seasonal route is expected to run through late October.No other airline currently flies from northeast Ohio…

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As if the nationโ€™s top defense official doesn’t have enough on his plateโ€ฆPete Hegseth told reporters he just learned about a site on โ€œXโ€ that monitors pizza orders coming from the Pentagon.The originator of the โ€œPentagon Pizza Reportโ€ determined that he could figure out whether there was a major military movement being planned depending on how many pizzas were being ordered in the vicinity of the nation’s defense headquarters.โ€œVarious pizzerias nearby the Pentagon are reporting above average traffic,โ€ the site – which has 376,000 followers – reported Tuesday night. It also shows bar graphs indicating the rate of business at…

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If you plan a seminar featuring a banished anti-Israeli speaker and it gets cancelled, you apparently then need to come up with a quick new excuse for hating Jews.Enter the anemic Portland Press Herald, which is now quoting an organizer for the doomed pro-Palestinian confab as complaining that โ€œconservativesโ€ are at fault for being the skunk at the garden party.โ€œOrganizers said in a statement Tuesday the cancellation was the product of an โ€˜outside pressure campaignโ€™ after the conference was written about in several Jewish and Israeli news outlets, and the right-wing publication The Maine Wire,โ€ according to Maine’s newspaper of…

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Maineโ€™s precarious bridges are only getting worse – and are now among the most vulnerable nationwide.That’s according to a new national analysis of the condition of the country’s highway spans.โ€œMaine and Wyoming were the only states to have an increase in the number of poorly rated bridges,โ€ says a new survey.The Pine Tree State in fact rates No. 1 nationally in failing to maintain bridge upkeep.Maine, with 2,542 bridges, has the fourth-highest ranking nationwide of bridges in bad condition – 392 of the 2,542.The shocking bridge report is consistent with a national survey last year showing Maine has the worst…

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Angus King claims his conscience is forcing him to boycott President Trump’s State Of The Union Speech.That would be the same Angus who last year said Americaโ€™s only Mideast ally no longer deserves foreign aid from the U.S.Apparently the so-called โ€œindependentโ€ claims that label only when he’s running for election so he can avoid Democrat primary opponents.He first did it when he ran in 1994 for governor and then when he ran in 2012 for the Senate.King in that Senate election declared as “hogwash” allegations by some Republicans that he had cut a deal with Democrats to keep Democrat U.S.…

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A man with a telltale style of speaking, identifying himself as John Barron, ripped the Supreme Court and congressional Democrats to shreds in a call to a live C-SPAN show.But once Greta Brawner, the Washington Journal program host on the televised call-in C-SPAN program, seemed to recognize the callerโ€™s voice, she looked like she wasn’t sure what she should do.As Brawner looked into the camera on the live call-in show, she appeared stunned, speechless.If it were actually President Trump on the line – C-SPAN later denied it was – it wouldn’t be the first time he has pulled such a…

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Actor Patrick Dempsey, the Lewiston-born heartthrob alum of Greyโ€™s Anatomy, is a revisionist when it comes to fondly remembering his late fellow actor Eric Dane.That according to an extra who worked on the Grey’s Anatomy set with both actors.Maine-born Dempsey, 60, was just quoted by the New York Post remembering Dane, 53, as the โ€œfunniest manโ€ and โ€œsuch a joy to work with.โ€โ€œI just want to remember him in that spirit because any time he was on the Greyโ€™s Anatomy set, he brought so much fun to it,โ€ Dempsey said.โ€œWe hit it off because there was never really any competition,โ€…

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If Maine legislators are really interested in fixing the nightmare known as the state Office of Child and Family Services, they need to talk to Sabrina Rose.Rose, who lives in Presque Isle, has written and published a new book about how she believes the stateโ€™s foster system failed her and others.The state โ€œremoved me from my mother’s care and placed me with strangers, promised me that life would turn out better that way.โ€œBut I still grew up to be an addict.โ€The publication of Roseโ€™s book comes amid an effort by state Sen. Jeff Timberlake, R-Androscoggin, to investigate the stateโ€™s child-services…

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A disgraced former Waldoboro state lawmaker forced out of office three years ago for forging signatures is taking a second bite at the political apple.Clint Collamore, running again for state office, has created a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for a political comeback.GoFundMe is traditionally used by people who are legitimately hard up on their luck, such as family tragedies.Callamore, campaigning as an โ€œindependent โ€œ for the state house seat from District 45, says on his GoFundMe site that โ€œthe funds raised through this campaign will go directly toward community outreach, purchasing signs and print ads, hosting community events, sending…

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When students walked out of Maine schools recently, allegedly protesting immigration enforcement, they did so with complete impunity. But when the same thing happened in Virginia last week, school officials suspended more than 300 kids. In the Prince William County protest, some kids walked more than two miles to a nearby shopping center.School officials confirmed 303 students were suspended for leaving school grounds without permission.Compare that punitive action to Camden, Maine where a recent obscenity-laced ice protest prompted administrators to do nothing more than inform students of the โ€œexpectation that they be respectful and peaceful during their protest.โ€In Maine the…

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If public art is by design supposed to trigger debate, then a proposed Brunswick sculpture has accomplished its purpose.Social media is being flooded with critics of a public-art โ€œinstallationโ€ in Brunswick slated to mark the location of the old Frank J. Wood Bridge.The “Bridge Remembrance Project,” will use steel beams salvaged from Wood bridge since it was replaced with a new span across the Androscoggin River between Brunswick and Topsham.Brunswick Public Art called for artists to submit their ideas for a new $300,000 privately-funded sculpture.Laura Haddad, a Bowdoin College grad, won the design contest. But it may be a pyrrhic…

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A Boston media watchdog is raising the possibility that controversial Globe columnist Kevin Cullen is somehow on an extended holiday.โ€œHas the infamous Kevin Cullen gone on another โ€˜quiet period?โ€™ Boston Radio Watch asked on โ€œX,โ€ the social media platform. โ€œTen days without a column in the Boston Globe.โ€Cullen, whose column previously went dark after he fabricated claims he witnessed the 2018 Boston Marathon bombing, most recently wrote a questionable piece blasting Trump for deporting a white Irish guy.When the deporteeโ€™s background came under fire, Cullen allegedly went โ€œmissingโ€ from the pages of beantown’s biggest liberal rag. if Colin is indeed…

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A toddler who recently died in northern Maine might be alive but for possible government negligence, a veteran Republican state lawmaker says.Sen. Jeff Timberlake of Androscoggin County is calling on the legislative Government Oversight Committee to investigate.In a letter to fellow legislators, Timberlake is seeking to scrutinize the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.He cites a number of cases needing legislative oversight, most notably the death of a 1-year-old Milford girl.Eleanora Ray McLaughlin died in Milford late last year while in the alleged care of an adult male.The little girl was living in a โ€œhome that reportedly had no…

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Team USA Hockey – again with a former Maine hockey player on roster – has captured an Olympic Gold Medal.Goalie Jeremy Swayman played three seasons (2017-20) with the University of Maine Black Bears.Not since USA hockey last won gold in 1980, when the โ€œMiracle on Iceโ€ team did it with the help of another Maine guy, has American puck fever peaked to this level. The captain of the famous 1980 team was Mike Eruzione, who previously had played hockey for Berwick Academy in South Berwick, Maine. And now the Maine connection scores again!โ€œIt was a game for the ages that…

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A public outcry over an anti-Semitic speaker has killed a University of Southern Maine conference that was to feature a U.N. adviser who has been highly critical of Israel, according to a Jewish news outlet.The cancellation was reported by Jewish News Syndicate, which calls itself โ€œthe fastest-growing news agency covering Israel and the Jewish world.”The seminar, which was slated for February 28th, had Francesca Albanese on the guest list. She has been sanctioned by the U.S. government for her anti-semitic rhetoric.โ€œThe school told Jewish News Syndicate that it had โ€˜terminated the agreement for the use of USM facilities for the…

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Janet Mills got an assist Friday from the newspaper she lied to about whether she would meet with Trump.The Portland Press Herald was so gleeful about being able to interview the flip-flopping Democrat governor it glossed right over this gem:โ€œChaos comes from a chaotic administration which canโ€™t make up its mind whether it wants to hear from Democratic governors,โ€ Mills said.Did you catch that?โ€œCan’t make up its mind.โ€ – Janet MillsThat would be the same Janet Mills who put her foot down insisting maybe she would then would not then would attend a White House governor’s meeting with President Trump.…

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The stateโ€™s top Catholic is calling for a โ€œcommitment to prayerโ€ amid a continually unfolding sexual-abuse controversy.โ€œIf we as a diocese truly repent, truly believe, truly turn to the Father, then something happens,โ€ Bishop James Ruggieri said. โ€œOur parishes will become even more alive. Our charity will become more credible. Our witness becomes even more compelling. And our unity becomes visible.โ€But the leading Maine advocates for victims of priestly sexual abuse are calling Ruggieri out, claiming his words fall short. Voice Of The Faithful In Maine see the bishopโ€™s Ash Wednesday homilyโ€™s excerpt calling for โ€œforgiveness to replace resentmentโ€ as…

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A member of the broadening field of Democrats who think they can be the state’s next governor actually thinks Donald Trump is our problem? Nirav Shah issued a campaign primer on what an alleged problem the president is, according to the website BiddefordBuzz.com.Shah apparently missed the part of the movie where he is the one we need protection from. โ€œThere has never been a candidate for Maine governor who has proven by their actions to be more utterly unqualified for the job more than Nirav Shah,โ€ historian and former Maine Department of Education Commissioner Tom Desjardin said.Desjardin analyzed Shag’s candidacy…

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When U.S. Democrat Rep. Chellie Pingree needed to finger ICE, she apparently couldn’t do it in Maine.Funny how a congresswoman supposedly representing a Maine district has to leave the state to do her job.Maybe she thinks Maine is still a part of Massachusetts.Gotta be. But then again it’s been 206 years since Maine broke away from Massachusetts to become the 23rd U.S. state. Chellie held a โ€œnews conferenceโ€ Friday to publicize her investigation of federal-immigration holding centers.Unfortunately the Democrat paper that she relies on for her publicity never asked her why she couldn’t do her work in Maine instead of…

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A pugged-up sewer that virtually destroyed an elderly Saco woman’s home wasn’t her fault.But city officials stuck her with a bill of nearly $30,000 to clean up the mess in the wake of the sewer backup.The sad story of Elsie Boudreauโ€™s heartache at the hands of city government was unearthed by CBS News 13 investigative team.Boudreau told the news outlet she’s still trying to comprehend the mess she walked into late last year.Raw sewage had backed up into the basement of her home.Everything in her finished basement, from carpeting and paneling to furniture and family keepsakes, had to be torn…

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U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner is receiving some unsolicited advice from a member of his own party – the mayor of Portland.Mark Dion, during an appearance on Maine Wire TV, advised Platner to prove how is going to translate his rhetoric into governing.โ€œI get the speech but what happens after that?โ€ Dion asked. โ€œYou know, how do you put together a governing package? I mean clearly he demonstrated a certain style of campaigning and it seems to resonate with a body of Mainers but I want to know about governing. โ€œI don’t need to hear the commercial. I want to…

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The top elected official in Maine’s largest city called on the governor of his own party – who badly defeated him eight years ago – to stop criticizing federal immigration-enforcement police. Portland Mayor Mark Dion, appearing on Maine Wire TV, criticized Gov. Janet Mills for hyping up the politically-popular public rage against ICE officials in his democrat-socialist city.โ€œI don’t think it’s helpful,โ€ Dion told Maine Wire Editor-in-Chief Steve Robinson. โ€œThe job of a political leader is to keep everyone’s tempers down.” In trying to silence the governor’s political rhetoric Dion was addressing a one-time political opponent. Mills trounced the-then state…

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A Vermont woman who placed an online Burger King order Thursday night realized too late she had actually ordered it from a Burger King in Maine.So once she noticed her whopper, the woman, living in Burlington, Vermont, posted on a Facebook page โ€œJust made a mistake and ordered bk in Bangor, Maine if anyone wants to pick it up.โ€Burlington is 294 miles from Bangor so she figured the food would be cold by the time she got there LOL. Once she offered it to anybody in Bangor who wanted it a second Facebook poster stepped in and helped out by…

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The famous major-league star ballplayer Darryl Strawberry once said all addictions are the same.Strawberry actually wasn’t so prescient because he didn’t realize it until it was too late.He was self-admittedly addicted to drugs, sex – you name it, problems that he didn’t realize he had until he already had wasted many years of his promising life.When Strawberry finally looked himself in the mirror and decided it was time to grow up, he came to understand the bane of addiction. It is, he said, something that runs across all strata of the human condition. Throw shopping addiction into the mix for…

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Amy McCrea has seen crime from both sides, first as a patrol officer and now as a victim-witness advocate.Bangor Police honored McCrea with a service award Wednesday for her 10 years of work helping crime victims. โ€œItโ€™s a sad fact that crime happens all too often. For many people, being the victim of a crime can mean having to navigate the unfamiliar world of the criminal justice system,โ€ Bangor Police officials said in announcing the award. โ€œWhile television shows may give people the sense of how the system works, often reality doesnโ€™t line up. Thatโ€™s where victim-witness advocates come into…

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Three weeks after a Maine fisherman and six of his fellow crew members died when their boat went down, searchers see little hope of salvaging the vessel.The victims of the Lily Jean sinking off Gloucester, Massachusetts included Freeman Short of Presque Isle.Short, 31, a fourth-generation fisherman, was posthumously promoted to staff sergeant in the Maine Army National Guard after the tragic accident.The body of only one of the seven crew members, Aurusio “Gus” Sanfalippo, the captain of the 72-foot vessel, was found at sea. Whether the bodies of the remaining six victims are still with the boat is unknown.Officials announced…

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Try as it might, the shallow, journalism-challenged Portland Press Herald just can’t catch a break. Amid its impotent efforts to actually cover news, it’s again outdone even itself in the category of incompetence.The paper published an alleged retrospective after political icon and twice-failed presidential contender Jesse Jackson died this week, recapping his memorable Maine campaign visits.The only problem is that the Jackson campaign appearances the paper mentioned weren’t memorable.They occurred in 1988 in Orono and Portland, when Jackson was running a second time for president. They were unremarkable, forgettable, routine stump speeches.The state’s biggest newspaper also apparently felt a compelling…

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Democrat U.S. Senate hopeful Graham Platner lobbed a new volley Wednesday at Republican Sen. Susan Collins, accusing her of being an antique.Platner, 41, whose campaign meme has become his wifeโ€™s touting his โ€œgreat sperm,โ€ is blaming Collins, 73, for lackluster constituent service.โ€œThe last time Susan Collins held a public town hall, computers were still running Windows 95,โ€ the tattoo-chested Graham posted on โ€œX.โ€But judging from the first posted response oyster-farmer Platner got he may be shooting blanks.โ€œWhy on earth would she hold a town hall?โ€ asked a guy on โ€œXโ€ whose handle is โ€œAndy the Builder. โ€œIโ€™ve emailed her several…

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Ahttps://share.google/H3svcecgiEsWIKFM1 group of residents in Houlton have finally seen success in their battle to persuade the town to take down dozens of โ€œsecurityโ€ cams.But they remain unconvinced that the secret data collected by the snooping lenses has been disposed of.Houlton officials this week removed nearly 30 cameras as required by council-approved agreement with three area residents, according to TheCounty.me. The three – Mark Lipscombe, Craig Harriman and Patrick Bruce – for two years had tried to obtain information from the town regarding camera use and data storage.They argued that the cameras violated Maineโ€™s landmark 2021 facial surveillance law.โ€œTwo years of…

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The organizers of an upcoming Palestinian-rights conference either pulled a big boner or are crazy like a fox.The Maine Coalition for Palestine is holding a daylong seminar February 28 featuring an anti-Semitic speaker, Francesca Albanese.Ironically, the conference will be held in a building named for Linda Abromson, who in 1982 was elected as the first female Jewish mayor in Maine’s largest city.Abromson, who died in 2017, was also a Jewish activist, serving on the boards of the Jewish Federation, National Council of Jewish Women and Temple Beth El in Portland.Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, called Israel…

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A legal battle is now settled after the Portland International Jetport agreed to pay $125,000 to the city of South Portland.The settlement is over a dispute that ignited last year when the airport cleared land along I-295 as part of a runway expansion, WGME-TV reports.The city of South Portland issued a notice of violation to the jetport and the stateโ€™s Catholic diocese over unpermitted clear cutting.Airport officials said they cleared trees from a lot on Dawson Street last year to comply with Federal Aviation Administration clearance guidelines. The lot is part of the Calvary Cemetery and is owned by the…

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A second worker has died from injuries suffered in a reported gas incident at Woodland Pulp in Baileyville last month, according to a mill spokesperson.The workerโ€™s identity has not been released though the mill confirmed he was an employee of the facility, WABI-TV reports.The incident previously resulted in the death of Kasie Malcolm, 20, a chemical-engineering student at the University of Maine who had been completing an internship at the facility since June.Federal investigators from the Chemical Safety Board are investigating the fatal chemical release, which occurred on January 27th.The incident may have involved the mixing of concentrated sulfuric acid…

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The former Bath Iron Works employee who opened fire on his own family at a Rhode Island hockey game had undergone a sex change.That’s according to the New York Post, which says Robert Dorganโ€™s wife filed for divorce after he began transitioning to a different gender.Dorgan, who also goes by his new name, Roberta Esposito, allegedly killed his son and his wife at a high school hockey game Monday.Rhonda Dorgan filed for divorce in 2020, citing her husband’s unhinged personality and his โ€œgender reassignment surgery,โ€ the Post reports.Police havenโ€™t yet released the victimsโ€™ names.But the family confirmed in a GoFundMe…

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The Maine Press Association, comprised of liberal passรฉ rags, is doing its best to put lipstick on a pig.The organization has announced an upcoming event called โ€œLocal News Day.โ€ Better yet, the celebration is being organized by the scandal-plagued Maine Community Foundation.The excitement is set for April 9.Exciting for purveyors of fake news, that is. โ€œA national effort to celebrate and support local journalism is gaining momentum – and Maine is in,โ€ the MPA emailed members Tuesday. โ€œLocal News Day is a chance for newsrooms to invite their communities to show up for local news.โ€Show up, which is the extent…

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Milo Hanson of Saskatchewan remains an untouchable hero in the eyes of Maine deer hunters.Hanson, 81, who died last week, holds the claim to taking down the biggest whitetail buck ever shot in the world. He killed it with a .308 on his farm in Saskatchewan in 1993. It’s a record deer hunters globally can only dream about. When deer hunters speak of records, they use a language foreign to mortals.To wit, Hansonโ€™s record takedown is measured in inches, not pounds.His deerโ€™s antlers, measured by a special (complicated) formula measured 213 5/8 inches โ€œnet typical.โ€Basically that’s a protocol that measures…

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A world-renowned filmmaker whose body of work included examining life along the Maine coast has died.Frederick Wiseman, who was 96, was a documentarian, theater director and actor.Wisemanโ€™s work was primarily about exploring life within America’s institutions.โ€œThe institution is just an excuse to observe human behavior in somewhat defined conditions,โ€ he told The Associated Press in 2020. โ€œThe films are as much about that as they are about institutions.โ€Wiseman won an honorary Academy Award in 2016 and completed more than 35 documentaries.His legacy includes a four-hour documentary called โ€œBelfast, Maine,โ€ a time capsule of everyday life along the midcoast.The piece about…

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Marauding selfish teen brats aka thugs have been walking into a Bangor women’s clothing store and walking out with thousands of dollars of stolen merchandise. So the owner is threatening to create a dressing room โ€œwall of shameโ€ that will feature mugshots of anyone caught stealing from her.Cool Girl Collective calls itself โ€œA Modern-Day Department Store For Cool Girls – The Trendiest Brands At The Best Prices.โ€But the outlet has been victimized by some pretty uncool, untrendy girls. Ripoff artists would be a more apt description. โ€œAfter Christmas our store was basically ransacked by teenage girl groups coming in and…

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A southern Maine fire department didn’t have to go far to put out the most recent blaze.ย  While Biddeford firefighters were sleeping, one of them awoke to the smell of smoke shortly after 3 a.m. on February 13. He traced the smoke to a stainless bin containing recently laundered kitchen towels. Fireman put out their own fire with an extinguisher and water from the kitchen sink. Biddeford Fire Chief Larry Best says the blaze caused heavy smoke damage to the main Alfred Street fire station. He said he believes that oils that had accumulated in the rags, despite their having…

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If you want a primer on sick celebrity obsession, the case of Nancy Guthrie is a good place to start.The media fixation on the missing mother of NBC-TV darling Savannah Guthrie leaves heartbroken the relatives of thousands of missing people across the country.Just in Maine alone, generations of Maine residents cry themselves to sleep over dozens of their relatives who have been missing for decades and more.The heartache of not knowing, not having a body to bury, strains the bounds of survivorsโ€™ lifelong pain.A national database of missing persons shows 154 open cases in Maine, though a State Police classification…

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The sinking of the first battle ship ever named for the state of Maine marked a solemn occasion Sunday.February 15, 1898 was the day that the USS Maine went down in Havana Harbor.The disaster contributed to the outbreak of the Spanish-American War two months later.The phrase, “Remember the Maine! To hell with Spain!” became a rallying cry for action.Although the Maine explosion was not a direct cause of the war, it served as a catalyst that accelerated the events leading up to it.The 324-foot ship was launched November 18, 1890 from the New York Naval Shipyard.The Maine, sent to Havana…

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The commander of the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Mason has been relieved of duty, military officials announced Sunday.They didn’t disclose the reasons for firing Capt. Chavius Lewis as the top officer of the guided-missile destroyer.Lewis, who had led the ship for just 15 months, was canned Friday by Rear Adm. Alexis Walker, head of a carrier strike group, โ€œdue to a loss of confidence in Lewisโ€™ ability to command,โ€ according to a Navy press release.The Navy – like the Pentagonโ€™s other military services – often cites โ€œloss of confidenceโ€ when relieving leaders of responsibilities without providing a specific explanation.โ€œThe Navy…

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The leading Democrat in Maineโ€™s Democrat U.S. Senate primary temporarily abandoned his plea for campaign contributions to issue a plea to his reproductively-challenged wife. Will you love me forever?At last โ€œcheckโ€ Graham Platner 3 weeks ago had cut short his stay in the country of Norway to jet back to Maine for an anti-ICE rally.In so doing, Platner put what his wife has called his โ€œgreat spermโ€ on ICE to get back to campaigning against Gov. Janet Mills.But we haven’t heard anything since from the sperm king on the progress of the coupleโ€™s IVF treatments in Norway.All we get for…

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As the purchase by a Colorado-based nonprofit of the Portland Press Herald approaches its three-year anniversary, the bean counters must be in a heavy sweat. If the internet numbers are any indication the Maine daily is in a death spiral. The paper in the last week, for instance, has shown pure stagnation on its Facebook page, an indication of what’s going on with its subscription base. The paperโ€™s Facebook following is stuck at 93,000 but that should be no surprise for a paper devoting more space to high school basketball than to the growing scandals enveloping Maine’s Democrat-led state government.…

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When President Trump announced last week he was rolling back greenhouse-gas emission cuts, Janet Mills saw a moment.But the problem with the Democrat governorโ€™s foot-stomping temper tantrum is its all theater, similar to her embarrassing famous White House meltdown over boys in girls sports.Mills is 40 points behind Graham Platner in their U.S. Senate primary race so she needs a good straight man.But Trump won’t work because Janetโ€™s tirade isn’t supported by the facts.Though Trump overturned the 2009 “endangerment finding,” which determined that greenhouse gases threaten public health, the emissions were already being reduced by competition from natural-gas and other…

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A private hospitality guru who has a lucrative contract providing services to national park visitors got an invite five years ago from U.S. Sen Angus King. The Maine โ€œindependentโ€ senator and former two-term governor brought Scott Socha, who President Trump has nominated to head the national parks, before his Senate subcommittee on parks in 2021. Socha is president of the parks and resorts and Australia branches of Delaware North, a concessionaire in national parks. He’s under fire from park โ€œconservationโ€ groups that claim he’s going to benefit financially from his new post. Socha, whose appointment requires Senate confirmation, came before…

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Maine health care scandal, absentee ballots in an Amazon box, fraud surrounding mass-shooting fund, Chinese pot farms galore, Democrat congresswoman insider trading, fake Somali daycare centers. And what does the lead columnist for Maineโ€™s largest newspaper write about? Abraham Lincolnโ€™s decision to fire his Maine-born vice president. Shouldn’t really be surprised that the Portland Press Herald chooses a 162-year-old story as its marquee piece to bookend Lincoln’s birthday, February 12, and Presidents Day, February 16. But seriously? Writing about Lincoln’s decision to can Hannibal Hamlin as his running mate in 1864 gives new meaning to โ€œold news.โ€ Right up the…

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A Maine priest refusing to meet with a group representing sexual-abuse victims has now won the public support of his boss – the state’s top Catholic official. Voice of the Faithful in Maine has been trying to set up a meeting with the Rev. Steven Cartwright of Falmouth. Twice now Cartwright has cancelled scheduled meetings with Paul Kendrick of Freeport and Michael Sweatt of North Yarmouth, founders of the sexual-abuse support group. Kendrick and Sweatt have appealed to the volunteer Parish of the Holy Eucharist Pastoral Council so far unsuccessfully to help set up a meeting. Cartwright “is adding insult…

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World-renowned actress Bette Davis wasn’t just Ogunquit, Maineโ€™s first female lifeguard. Davis also acted in several productions at the townโ€™s storied summer theater later in her career. The playhouse that Bette Davis helped build in stature is now gearing up for a huge makeover. The landmark summer theater has stood in southern Maine for nearly a century, featuring such legendary actors as Davis, William Shatner, Steve McQueen and Betty White. Developers came before the Ogunquit Planning Board on Monday to discuss the $62 million project. “Our proposal is total reconstruction of the Ogunquit Playhouse,” Corey Colwell with land planning firm…

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A report of a camera allegedly hidden in a bathroom of a Bangor electronics store has customers and employees unnerved. Sgt. Jeremy Brock of Bangor Police confirmed to Q106.5 FM that the department received a complaint Tuesday about a possible camera in a bathroom at Best Buy. No further details were released due to the ongoing investigation, so there’s no confirmation about whether this was a customer bathroom or one used by the employees. The electronics store is located on Bangor Mall Boulevard. It is unlawful in Maine to intentionally install or use a device to view and/or record someone…

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Democrat Janet Mills put out a new ad questioning whether Maineโ€™s Republican U.S. senator has โ€œenough courage.โ€ But the real question is whether Gov. Mills realizes she has a senate primary opponent who’s beating her 2:1. The latest Polymarket odds give Democrat Graham Platner 67 percent and Mills 34 percent. Kalshi shows the same problem for Mills – major statistical defeat. So before dreamer Mills even gets to Susan Collins in November, she first needs to dispatch her fellow Democrat. Not โ€œenough courageโ€ to face that reality, apparently. No question five-term Collins has problems – Polymarket and Kalshi both show…

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Now that convicted child pornographer Eliot Cutler is facing three alleged probation violations, the prosecutor says Cutler is likely to be put behind bars at least three more years. Hancock/Washington District 7 Attorney Robert Granger, in an exclusive interview with The Maine Wire, said that as part of the original plea agreement, Cutler was required to serve nine months of what would otherwise have been – and still may come to be with his new charges – a full four years behind bars. Granger said a stiff sentence was the least of what the former two-timed failed gubernatorial candidate was…

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A rogue Georgetown University researcher is making waves with her suggestion we hit the pause button on vacuuming trash from the ocean. Rebecca Helm, a marine biologist, is among a group of researchers now saying that we should pause all ocean plastic cleanup efforts. The very thought โ€œhas left some scientists speechless,โ€ according to Earth.com. โ€œAfter years of people screaming for more action to rid the seas of plastic, a few voices like Helmโ€™s are now encouraging a more careful approach,โ€ the widely followed website reports. Helm and her (brave) colleagues are contending that the plastic trash seen floating in…

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The Republican president brought down by a leftist newspaper once said the only thing worth reading in it was Shirley Povich. Povich, born in Bar Harbor, Maine, was the legendary sports writer of The Washington Post. Now that the paper has abolished its sports coverage as part of a large swath of layoffs, the few Republicans who once secretly scanned its pages won’t have much reason to do so. Povichโ€™s column established the paperโ€™s reputation as a must-read for sports fans, even, yes, Republicans. He spent his entire career 1923 – 1988 with The Washington Post. Povich’s parents were Jewish…

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National conservative TV and radio host Wayne Allyn Root just had to get that off his chest. โ€œRoger Goodell Is A Pathetic, Woke, Liberal Schmuckโ€ – Wayne Allyn Root Root, who grew up with Goodell, isn’t surprised his boyhood chum from a different mum rubs elbows with the rich liberal elites in Prouts Neck, Scarborough, Maine, in his $12.8 million โ€œbeach house.โ€ The two, Goodell and Root, grew up in Bronxville, New York. But the differences stop there. Goodell went to an all-white school while Root went to a predominantly black school. โ€œHeโ€™s an arrogant, entitled, elitist, know-it-all, who had…

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The southern Maine sheriff who went from loving federal-ICE inmates to blasting the federal agency that helped pay his bills will cost county taxpayers big time. Literally if not also politically. After Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce accused federal immigration authorities of โ€œbush-leagueโ€ tactics, they decided to pull all of their detained arrestees out of Joyceโ€™s jail. Or, more accurately, the countyโ€™s taxpayer-financed jail. To wit, the loss of 50 ICE detainees will cost the 315,000 taxpayers in Maine’s most-populous county $2.7 million a year. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security was paying the county $150 a day to house…

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A two-time failed Maine gubernatorial candidate and child-porno fiend has been arrested for violating his probation for the third time. Disbarred lawyer Eliot Cutler, 79, a convicted child pornographer, was nabbed Monday at a South Portland hotel, authorities said. Maine State Police say their Special Victimโ€™s Unit encountered Cutler at the hotel and found that he was violating his bail conditions. He was taken to Cumberland County Jail where he was being held on a probation hold. Cutler has been accused of violating probation multiple times after he was convicted of possessing child pornography in 2023. In May 2023, Cutler…

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The Celtics announced Monday that star forward Jayson Tatum was being assigned to the Maine Celtics for light duty. The Maine affiliate is known as the G League, a minor-league team where Celtic hopefuls hone their b-ball skills for what they hope will be a ticket to the big leagues. Tatum was to be recalled to the NBA club after a practice session with the Maine affiliate. Tatum, 27, suffered a torn achilles tendon in May during the Eastern Conference semifinals against the New York Knicks.

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The Maine Army National Guard is paying tribute to a Presque Isle fisherman lost at sea off Gloucester, Massachusetts. Staff Sgt. Freeman Short was among seven crewmen aboard the fishing vessel Lily Jean who were lost at sea when it sank off Cape Ann on January 30. Short was an infantryman with Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 172nd Infantry Regiment – Mountain. He joined the Maine Army National Guard in December 2012 as an mountain infantryman. During his service, he attended Basic Military Mountaineering School, trained with U.S. allies in Montenegro and deployed to the Horn of Africa in 2021, serving…

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The legendary news wars in Maineโ€™s southernmost county are giving new meaning to war. A website calling itself Biddeford Buzz is now a leading source of news for the 22,552 residents in Biddeford, Maine. But who’s behind the operation in the city Wiki calls York County’s principal commercial center is a secret. Biddeford Buzz claims 5,500 followers on Facebook, compared to other locally-based digital outlets that don’t appear to match those numbers. โ€œThe Biddeford Buzz is more than just a โ€˜newspaper,โ€™ it’s a movement,โ€ its website says. โ€œThe goal of The Biddeford Buzz is to amplify YOUR voice, share YOUR…

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The twice-divorced liberal Maine congresswoman who used to sleep with the owner of the Portland Press Herald has found a new soulmate. Chellie Pingree is now โ€œin bedโ€ with yet-another liberal newspaper boss – former Washington Post editor Marty Baron. Baron and Pingree have found a common bond linking the Postโ€™s rolling demise to an alleged loss of liberal subscribers. For his part, Baron claims that if the Post hadn’t become so pro-Trump it would be doing just fine. โ€œThey lack a moral core,โ€ Baron said in an interview. โ€œThey’re very deferential to Trump. They’ve driven subscribers away.โ€ Baron commented…

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The city of Bangor has ordered power be shut off from at least part of the Bangor Mall, which is now also facing a $1 million fine. City officials recently fined the mallโ€™s owners for a series of allegedly serious code violations. The New York-based company that owns and operates the mall says despite the challenges it intends to keep the shopping space open. A city spokesman told News Center Maine that officials were “left with no choice” but to take enforcement action after weeks of communication with ownership about ongoing issues. The wing formerly anchored by Sears was closed…

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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 Hunter Hess. As the 2026 Olympics opened Friday in Milan, Hess told reporters he feels โ€œmixed emotions over what’s happening in the U.S, right now.โ€ “There’s a lot going on I’m not the biggest fan of,โ€ Hess added. โ€œJust because I’m wearing the American flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in…

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Maine U.S. Senate contender Graham Platner announced plans Sunday for $250,000 in TV ads โ€œeven though we donโ€™t have the money.โ€ Platner, competing against term-limited Gov. Janet Mills for the Democrat nomination, claims he has no choice if he’s going to โ€œunseat an entrenched politician like Susan Collins and take back the Senate.โ€ 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 โ€œRepublican super PACs have already spent millions of dollars on TV ads supporting Collins.โ€ โ€œWeโ€™ll only be able to win…

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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. โ€œOperation 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,โ€ said U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. โ€œThe more than 75 million…

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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 โ€œsupport the vital Maine lobster industry by ensuring unfettered access to the coastal waters of the United States.โ€ The area, off the New England coast, is a nearly 5,000-square-mile preserve east of Cape Cod created by…

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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. โ€œWe have an amazing group of investors and advisers but we never used that roster of experts to help us,” Miller tells The…

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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 ragโ€™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. โ€œSlamming the allocation has become a talking point among GOP leaders, who have been spurred on by coverage by the conservative Maine Wire,โ€ Collins writes. โ€œState Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham, the House minority leader, called it โ€˜really despicableโ€™ for nonprofits to have accepted any…

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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 Epsteinโ€™s alleged sexual trafficking. Until his resignation, Mitchell had served as the honorary chair of the organization. โ€œSenator Mitchell…

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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 โ€œF*ck ICEโ€ 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 Maineโ€™s wealthiest communities – where money apparently grows on trees along with failing student achievement. And the leader of the anti-ICE parades? The โ€œteachers.โ€ โ€œThree-hundred protesters convened…

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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. โ€œDemocratic 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,โ€ CNN says. โ€œBut Mills is confronting a persistent problem: Graham Platner, an oyster farmer and political newcomer just over half her age, is appealing to the…

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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 โ€œvarious cheating scandals.โ€ That’s how Sports Illustrated referred Wednesday to what occurred while Belichick was New England Patriots head coach. โ€œVarious cheating scandals.โ€ The question is why any self-respecting football fan – including his…

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The store with the red target is trying out a new โ€œcustomer experienceโ€ 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 โ€œ10-4โ€ retail approach to counterbalance shoppers offended by the growing use of self-checkouts. โ€œAs we automate more, having that personal touch, that personal connection, is very important,โ€ shopping expert Trae Bodge said. Target policy changes, designed to encourage more-friendly interactions between store employees and shoppers, include the…

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The effort by anti-potters to halt Maineโ€™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…

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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…

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Globetrotter lifestyle guru Martha Stewartโ€™s seen it all, but in the presence of threatened perjury she can’t deny it – Maine is her fave. Stewart’s โ€œno place like home,โ€ it turns out, is Mount Desert Island, according to AOL.com, which broke the news gently to those otherwise offended. โ€œMartha Stewart’s Favorite Travel Destination In America Is A Charming New England Paradise,โ€ the outlet headlines in a new feature on the fashion-and-kitchen icon. โ€œIn Maine, Stewart owns a sprawling, wondrous summer home called โ€˜Skylands,โ€ AOL says. โ€œA three-story manor originally built by Ford Motor Co. mogul Edsel Ford, Skylands is perched…

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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 Wireโ€™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 officeโ€™s reception desk with his query. โ€œHi, how are you,โ€ he asked…

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The cops in the โ€œDairy Capital Of Maineโ€ 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 Maineโ€™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…

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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. Queenโ€™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 Mitchellโ€™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…

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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 Mitchellโ€™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 senatorโ€™s name.โ€ Alliance officials said removing…

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The acclaimed Hollywood actor who put Lewiston, Maine on the map is trying his best to spin on a sick colleagueโ€™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…

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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…

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