Author: Ted Cohen

The small Cessna that crashed last month while trying to land at Bangor International Airport came close to slamming into an FAA employee near the impact, according to a government analysis. The preliminary report on the Aug. 22 crash quotes the unnamed FAA employee as saying he was driving south along the airport’s perimeter road, west of the runway, when he saw the plane dipping towards the ground – and he reflexively ducked thinking it was going to hit him. “While the plane was landing, I noticed his left wing getting very close to the pavement. He seemed to have…

A Winter Harbor fifth-generation lobsterman has been defeated in a humorous, international competition that centers on provoking a voracious, razor-toothed monkfish. Jacob Knowles is not just any Maine fisherman, mind you. He has become a social-media star by documenting his work – for over six million followers. But despite his popularity teaching the world about the real grind of a Maine fisherman’s life, Knowles also makes sure work isn’t all work. As it turns out, he and a fellow angler from the country of Norway both posted Facebook videos at the same time showing them each teasing a grisly, ugly,…

The class-baiter who may have gotten into Maine’s finest school falsely claiming oppressed-minority status is now all but a shoo-in as mayor of the Big Apple. That’s the upshot of a new poll showing Zohran Mamdani all but clearing the field with 46 percent of the vote over two other liberals and the lone Republican. Mamdani, a 2014 Bowdoin College grad who complained during his years there alleging white supremacy, has apparently found an electorate that hates cops and loves government-run grocery stores. [RELATED: Did Socialist And Fake ‘Black’ NYC Mayoral Candidate Mamdani Also ‘Lie’ On His Bowdoin College Application?]…

Camden cops are hoping someone drops a dime on the pink-stained political activist who damaged $175,000 worth of spanking-new parking kiosks. Online grime stoppers are suggesting that an angry woke Karen was behind the colorful-yet-costly vandalism spree. The culprit used pink spray paint to deface the meters – a unique and hard-to-miss color choice. The unhappy camper also injected spray foam insulation into the meters’ credit-card slots, preventing card payments. Meanwhile, alert Redditors may be onto something by speculating that a left-wing actor who goes by the name “The Raven” on social media might be involved. “Far-left activists have openly…

A native and resident of Lubec, Maine was the oldest to die in the 9/11 terrorist attacks that killed 2,983 souls just a year short of a quarter-century ago. Robert Grant Norton, 85, was flying with his wife Jacqueline on their way to California for a wedding. The World War II Navy veteran from Lubec, Maine, the small fishing community on the eastern tip of Washington County that borders Canada, never made it to 86. Norton and his second wife were passengers on American Airlines Flight 11 from Boston to Los Angeles. They had first flown from Bangor to Boston…

(Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, before the ‘Karen’ haircut)

Bob Marley gets a good laugh at just about anything he can but apparently Budweiser suits don’t appreciate a good frothy ribald chuckle. Marley, who tours the country telling jokes about the Maine way of life, made a quick side trip Sept. 8 to St. Louis to visit his daughter along the way to one of his shows. With some time to kill, he stopped at the Budweiser plant to – among other things – laugh at a Clydesdale’s endowment… Of course! He’s Bob Marley, whose humor always includes sophomoric jokes about the human anatomy. (And this time, naturally, he…

An Augusta perp who allegedly blew a Cushing man’s head off with a shotgun wants to exclude from his trial things he later said to cops. A lawyer for Jason Hewett, 40, is arguing that police failed to read Hewett his Miranda rights during a standoff before his arrest. Hewett allegedly shot and killed Kyle MacDougal, 45, at a Cushing home just over a year ago before leading police on a high-speed chase. After the killing, Maine State Police pursued Hewett in his car, finally cornering him in Augusta, where he eventually emerged from his vehicle after four hours of…

The invasive European green crabs taking a toll on New England lobster breeding grounds pose a double-edged threat to Maine’s favorite crustacean. While marine biologists are doing their best to kill off the crabs, turns out the body oils from the grabby creatures are a way to disguise monkfish as lobster. Judging from resourceful New England chefs, cooks can make monkfish take like lobster by poaching it in green-crab oil. The troublesome crabs are far better dead than alive according to fisheries experts who consider those crabs a harmful invasive species. The weird thing about invasive species, whether they be…

A new $2.2 billion Bath Iron Works contract for another Arleigh Burke destroyer is giving Russian Navy commanders heart palpitations. The new passive sonar radar systems being installed on the BIW-built destroyers put to rest any Russian hopes that their are subs will go undetected. Defense experts said in a newly released analysis that Russian subs can no longer think they have the stealth they once enjoyed. “This breakthrough could reshape global naval strategy,” according to a newly published defense analysis by iStudiez Pro. “Enemy submarines, once secure in deep ocean ‘safe zones,’ may now find themselves constantly at risk.…

So much for Democrat Gov. Janet Mills’ warning that this summer’s tourism numbers would be a bust due to Trump. For the second time in two months Karen’s dire tourism predictions have proven wrong. Acadia National Park just reported it had more visitors in August than any month since 1989 – nearly 40 years. The national park on Mount Desert Island saw a record-breaking 842,827 visitors last month, according to data from the National Park Service. Despite the warnings from Mills about a drop in tourism numbers, Acadia also set a visitation record in July, beating the previous record set…

Maine troopers are marking a century since they lost the second of the state’s police officers to die in the organization’s line of duty. Inspector Fred Foster of Lisbon had only been a member of the state highway patrol for a year. Foster, 27, died 100 years ago when his Harley Davidson struck a horse hauling a load of hay. The Route 3 accident occurred in Belfast on August 30, 1925. He had joined the state highway patrol in 1924. Foster was then only the second Maine state policeman to die while on duty. He was also the second in…

Half a century for kids. That’s the remarkable run so far for a group of otherwise-tough, leather-vested, tattooed guys – and gals – who, let’s face it, are secretly kids at heart. Since 1975, United Bikers of Maine has been thinking of needy kids so they’ll have plenty of cool stuff under the Christmas tree. It’s never too early for the bikers to start thinking of ways to bring Santa to the tots of the Pine Tree State. So in keeping with the early-bird theme, the bikers’ Kennebec County Chapter will be hosting a “pre-event gathering” to the annual Toy…

A Polish executive innocently dragged into a viral internet scandal says he now feels the pain of the innocent Kennebunk woman whose millionaire husband’s famous romantic embrace of his mistress in a global ‘jumbotron’ moment caught her cold-footed. Roman Szkaradek, who owns a Polish paving company, is being confused with Piotr Szczerek, who also owns a Polish paving company but in a different town. It was Szczerek, not Szkaradek, who went viral at the U.S. Open tennis match last week allegedly grabbing a souvenir hat from a little boy in the bleachers. Szczerek has been roundly criticized around the world…

Tore it down to go skinny dipping with Snoop Dog

A Cumberland suds guru is the latest Democrat to announce plans to take on Maine’s senior senator, though the jury’s still out on whether beer goggles are to blame for choice. Dan Kleban, who three months ago said he was considering a run at Republican Susan Collins, has now put a head on it. Kleban, a former attorney who owns a Freeport beer company, says he is in the Democrat primary race – along with two others who have raised over $1 million each (Graham Platner and Jordan Wood) as well as a handful of less viable candidates – hoping…

Two Bangor air-traffic controllers are being recognized for saving a pilot – and innocent civilians on the ground – from what could well have been a crash. Joshua Costello and Bryan Loquet work the tower at the Bangor International Airport, part of the FAA’s New England region. Costello and Loquet will be among 20 sky bosses from FAA regions across the country to be honored at the National Air Traffic Controllers Association annual safety-award conference Sept. 17 in Las Vegas. They will be receiving the Archie League Medal of Safety, created in 2004 and named for the first air traffic…

UK cops cuffed and stuffed Irish comedy writer – and Maine trans critic -Graham Linehan earlier this week for posting anti-trans tweets on X. Linehan, 57, said he was arrested Monday at Heathrow Airport after arriving from Arizona. The Metropolitan Police didn’t name Linehan but said it had arrested a man at the airport on suspicion of inciting violence in posts on X. Linehan, a controversial figure known for his anti-transgender activism that has led to him being jailed and banned from social-media platforms, has enjoyed many a poke at the expense of Maine’s pro-transgender activists. In a March post…

If your body is resting in the anatomical morgue at Maine’s only medical school, you’re in for a honorarium, albeit a low-key affair. Or at least your relatives are. The University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine will be holding its annual body-donation memorial service in Portland on Sept. 14. The event “is an annual, community-centered gathering to acknowledge the priceless contribution of the people who have donated their bodies to the university,” school officials said. A non-denominational service will include short speeches by the college’s dean, medical and health-science students involved directly with the anatomical donors, and members…

A Massachusetts man has been arrested on a murder charge in the violent death of a popular Portland chef who was found dead last month. Christopher Caron, 42, of Scituate turned himself in to police Aug. 30 in connection with Declan Perry’s killing, the Plymouth District Attorney’s Office said. Caron is to be arraigned on a murder charge in Hingham District Court on Sept. 2. Perry, 27, head chef at The Grill Room & Bar in Portland, was found Aug. 23 in a bloody car with Maine plates parked near South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, Massachusetts. New details leading up…

Two New York women died Saturday after a pontoon boat in Eustis flipped over, dumping seven passengers into the water, authorities said. The victims were identified as Farhana Nasir, 53, of Selden, and Kiran Akbar, 23, of Lake Grove. The tragic accident, which happened on Flagstaff Lake, is under investigation. Seven people were boating on the lake in an 18-foot Sea-Doo Switch Pontoon boat, according to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife. As the year-old boat approached the beach area of Cathedral Pines Campground, its bow started to dip underwater, authorities said. The driver, John Morris, 50 of…

Labor Day weekend 1975, four-year-old Kurt Newton was riding his red tricycle at a northern Maine campground. The blue-eyed, blond-haired little boy was never seen again. It’s now been 50 years since Kurt went missing from a campsite where he and his big sister Kimberly, 6, and their parents had been staying. Kurt’s father Ron said he’d gone off collecting firewood, while his wife Jill was with some other mothers at a bathhouse cleaning mud off their children’s shoes. The family was with three other families from Manchester, Maine spending the holiday weekend at Natanis Point Campground, small and remote,…

An enraged motorist brutally attacked a longtime tractor-trailer operator who was on his way home from work on August 27, police say. The attacker allegedly beat Ronnie Bushway II in a bloody assault, gouging his victim’s eyes. Doctors say the 46-year-old Bushway may never recover his sight. Bushway was heading home from his commercial-driving job at Saia LTL Freight, a company with terminals in Scarborough, Maine; Conway, New Hampshire and Colchester, Vermont. Bushway told cops he was driving in his car from Colchester when a motorist began tailgating him. As Bushway slowed to let the other driver pass him, the…

Bill Diamond, a centrist Democrat Maine statesman and statehouse fixture who fought to protect vulnerable children, has died. The former longtime member of the Maine House and Senate, as well as an ex-secretary of state, died Sunday at the age of 80. Not long before his passing, Diamond did several interviews blasting his own party – and specifically its governor – for failing to protect Maine’s underprivileged kids. The conservative Democrat from Windham, who served as a constitutional officer under a Republican governor, said that two-term Gov. Janet Mills needed to take a stronger stance to initiate real change protecting…

A suspect in the killing of a Maine chef allegedly asked neighbors to help him move a mannequin just before cops found the victim’s body wrapped in duct tape. Declan Perry, 27, was found dead Saturday in a bloody car with Maine plates parked outside a Massachusetts hospital. Condo residents in Scituate called police after seeing TV footage of the investigation saying they’d seen their neighbor moving a large item into a black sedan. The suspect allegedly asked a neighbor to help him and another woman move a large object wrapped in a rug into a car. Pursuant to a…

A Maine man has died while swimming after a boat that was drifting away on a Belgrade pond, the second such case in just three months. Robert Gary was trying to retrieve his 12-foot aluminum motorboat on Ellis Pond after it began floating away from the Spaulding Point boat launch on Wednesday. Gary, 66, of Oakland, went under and did not resurface, a witness told police, according to NewsCenterMaine. Gary’s body was found approximately 35 yards from shore in about four feet of water. The tragic drowning case is reminiscent of a similar drowning in June in Nobleboro’s Damariscotta Lake.…

The New Hampshire woman who killed her husband and two children before taking her own life embezzled over $600,000 from the company she worked for, her employer now claims. Emily Long, 34, her husband Ryan Long, and two of their children, son Parker, 8, and daughter Ryan, 6, were found dead Aug. 18 with gunshot wounds in their Madbury, NH home. Long was the director of operations of Wing-Itz, a chicken wing restaurant company with several locations in New Hampshire. The owner of the chain’s Hampton location, Derek Fisher, is alleging that she stole $660,000 from the company over two…

Boston radio talker Howie Carr landed the first interview with acquitted media star Karen Read – but Read’s No. 1 champion wasn’t allowed on the show. Read was expected to do her first public interview on Thursday, following her second murder trial that ended about two months ago. Carr posted an announcement on social media boasting that both Read and her attorney, Alan Jackson, would be on his radio show, which is syndicated across two dozen stations in New England. Yet Carr conspicuously made no mention of the guy who carried water for Read during her entire battle to clear…

When Maine’s House minority leader isn’t catching Democrats trying to pull a fast one, he’s out in the boat. “It’s the biggest lobster I’ve ever caught,” Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham said of his recent catch, an 18-pounder. “It’s probably 100 years old, as big as a child.” Faulkingham on his Facebook page then picked up a 12-pounder he’d also just caught. “Small by comparison,” he said. Faulkingham threw both of them back, but not before giving them a “snack” to take with them. The House leader certainly needs big bugs to distract from the latest political catch – the Democrat…

A Portland restaurant is mourning its head chef who was suspiciously found dead in a hospital parking lot. Declan Perry, 27, ran the kitchen at the The Grill Room & Bar in the Old Port section of Maine’s largest city. Perry’s body was discovered wrapped in blankets and bound with duct tape in the back seat of a parked car outside the South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, Massachusetts, on Saturday afternoon. Police said the car, a black 2019 Honda Civic, had Maine plates – and a bullet hole in the windshield along with blood on the steering wheel. Cops say…

The heir to the Angus King name and fortune is so generous he’s sharing his tips on wealth with Joe Sixpack. The Maine gubernatorial hopeful announced he’s “joining local business and community leaders for a roundtable discussion about growing the economy in Ellsworth.” Angus King III’s out-of-state staff said the Aug. 27 stop was part of a tour of businesses in the area, including MDI Biological Laboratories, Jackson Laboratory and Kids Corner in Bar Harbor. Young Angus is not to be confused with the elder, who has done just fine financially in the private sector aside from his years as…

Things are looking up in a small northern Maine town – and residents are outraged. Looking up in two senses. Surveillance cameras in Houlton, some posted high up on poles, are allegedly being used by municipal workers to look up information about local folks. Creepy is as creepy was. Municipal employees are supposedly using the cameras, which were installed last year, to research details about people and vehicles, according to data obtained by the Bangor Daily News through a Freedom of Access Act request. The paper says it determined that staffers from various town departments – including police, public works,…

Photo from Luigi Accusani’s Facebook page

Photo courtesy of the Town of Berlin

Funny how those empty campaign promises that come back to bite you are made all the more painful when your own party goes south on your false claims. Just ask Janet Mills, who when running against her Republican predecessor complained he wasn’t doing enough for Native Americans. The governor has left unfilled four seats on the Maine Indian Tribal-State Commission. The board, which is supposed to report to the Legislature on state-tribal affairs and provide feedback on issues that concern the Wabanaki Nations, is also charged with regulating fishing in certain waters and approving additions to reservations. Mills, who controls…

A four-foot lizard is on the run in central Maine, sending chills down the spines of Bangor-area residents. The lizard was spotted in the area of Hillside Ave in Old Town but cops said “its current whereabouts are unknown.” “Yo wtf imagine walking outside and this mf drags you into the bushes,” said Jairin Soni of Orono. Police first said they believed it was a Monitor lizard but now think it’s a Tegu. “Tegus have sharp teeth and claws, and strong jaws,” cops said on their Facebook page. “While not inherently aggressive, they can lash out if they feel threatened.…

The Maine man discovered dead in a bloody car parked near South Shore Hospital in Massachusetts has been identified. Declan Perry, 27, of Portland, was found wrapped in several blankets secured with duct tape in the backseat of a black 2019 Honda Civic shortly after 2 p.m. Saturday. The Civic – with a bullet hole in the windshield – had been apparently abandoned adjacent to the Weymouth hospital’s emergency room entrance when Perry’s body was found by passers-by. Perry was declared dead just minutes after his body was discovered in the car, which had Maine plates. TV news video from…

The most celebrated jockey in the annals of horseracing lived in Canada — but kept a post-office box in Van Buren, Maine. Hall of Famer Ron Turcotte, who rode Secretariat to the Triple Crown in 1973, died Friday in Drummond, New Brunswick, his hometown just across the Maine border. The 5’1” self-effacing jockey spent a lot of time in Aroostook County, which was like a second home to him. Turcotte had so many friends and roots in Van Buren he ended up getting his mail there. Imagine, the world’s greatest jockey crossing the international border – just to pick up…

Squirrels covered in pus-filled, wart-like tumors, skulking through backyards. You’re thinking, “that’s just nuts.” But it’s not as squirrelly as you might think. The grotesque-looking gray squirrels, photographed in states like Maine and across parts of Canada, have appeared in recent months with oozing sores and hairless patches on their heads and limbs, the Daily Mail reported, citing a flurry of social media users spotting the critters on Reddit and X. Photos and reports of afflicted squirrels date back to mid-2023, but sightings have surged again this summer. Maybe it’s the return of Ratatoskr, the squirrel in Norse mythology who…

The landscape is littered with self-described political wannabes thinking they can take on the party elites to win the big, important races. U.S. Senate, governor – those are the two big prizes everyone and his brother – or sister – wants. Few seem to care about the lower-rung offices, such as U.S. Congress. (Sorry Chellie. Though former Governor Paul LePage is leading U.S. Rep. Jared Golden in Second Congressional District polls.) Honestly, the challengers who want the Senate seat held by longtimer Susan Collins really don’t have much of a prayer. The only thing any of them can hope for…

Is the Maine Trust for Local News staff, threatening to expand its union, preparing for a ‘strike’ if it doesn’t get what it wants from the suits? Apparently, judging from what the state’s largest paper is promoting as its “strike team.” “The three-person quick-strike reporting team is tasked with identifying strong investigative and narrative stories and getting them to readers quickly,” according to Executive Editor Carolyn Fox. “Follow along as they report on the looming trade war, cannabis regulation and other important statewide topics.” There’s only one small problem – the paramilitary, helmeted team just missed its most-recent chance to,…

A bullet-riddled car with Maine plates was found abandoned over the weekend in a Massachusetts hospital parking lot, police said. Inside the four-door black sedan was a man’s body in the back seat. The vehicle had a bullet hole in the windshield, along with blood spattered near the steering wheel. Cops got a 911 call about the car, parked near South Shore Hospital’s emergency-room entrance, just after 2 p.m. Saturday. Weymouth Police and Massachusetts State Police were calling the case an “unattended death.” For hours, cops blocked off the entrance to the emergency room while they investigated. The car was…

A 9-year-old Vassalboro videographer became an overnight worldwide internet sensation with spectacular footage he took of a fatal Bangor plane crash. Jaxon Cook, an aspiring pilot who his mother said loves planes, was shooting video Friday of a single-engine Cessna at Bangor International Airport. Within seconds of the start of the video viewers can see that it becomes clear to Jaxon that the cartwheeling plane is about to crash land. “Oh no, oh shoot, it crashed, oh shoot, oh no,” Jaxon can be heard exclaiming on the 48-second harrowing video. The plane can be seen taxiing on the runway, then…

The public has now been shut out – literally – from updates on the status of a teenaged suspected campground killer. Deven Young, 17, of Frankfort, was to appear Friday before a Knox County judge to argue why he shouldn’t be tried as an adult. But Judge Eric Walker actually taped the courtroom door shut so no one from the public could witness the proceeding. Outside Friday’s sealed courtroom, two dozen longtime friends of murder victim Sunshine Stewart were wearing yellow and carrying signs saying “#JusticeForSunny.” “We want to make sure that the judge knows that the community wants him…

If you’re still worried that your Maine lobster will feel pain when you toss it into boiling water, relax. Now you can buy an electric appliance that will stun the lobster or, basically, kill it almost instantly. CrustaStun, now available at your favorite online appliance dealer. And for only $4,595.73! Who knew? News that you can stun your bug to death, sparing it the indignity of a possibly painful boiling, comes amid the ongoing debate: Do lobsters feel pain? Yahoo News has revived the controversy, reporting that yes, they do. “Lobsters do feel pain, and being boiled alive is painful…

When the mayor of Maine’s largest city insisted a federal airport-improvement grant doesn’t mean ICE is involved he never mentioned how ‘bushmeat’ is shipped by air. Mark Dion took great pains during a news conference he called to say there’s no strings attached to the $18 million federal cash payout. Unfortunately no legacy reporter was enough on the ball to ask Dion whether monkey meat such as that found at Detroit airport is subject to search at Portland International Jetport’’s baggage carousel. Apparently monkey meat in airports is a thing, whether or not it’s shipped packed in ICE. U.S. Customs…

Twelve years ago — after jurors convicted him of gruesomely murdering his girlfriend — Ted Jaime told them, “I am not responsible for this murder. We will proceed with an appeal or whatever.” “Whatever” came this week when the now-frail Presque Isle monster died at Maine State Prison. Jurors in 2014 decided that the pawn shop owner stabbed and beat his live-in girlfriend to death in a drunken rage. Starlette Vining, a young mother and supermarket bagger, was 38 when she was last seen alive in October 1998. Jaime walked the streets of Aroostook County free for the next 14…

The FBI raided Trump critic John Bolton’s home at dawn Friday, reportedly in search of secret government documents that the former top presidential advisor may allegedly be hiding. Bolton, who served as national security adviser during President Trump’s first term in office, has been very critical of his ex-boss’ handling of foreign policy. About the same time the agents began searching Bolton’s home in Bethesda, FBI Director Kash Patel wrote on X, “NO ONE is above the law… FBI agents on mission.” And Dan Bongino, deputy FBI director, shared Patel’s post with the comment, “Public corruption will not be tolerated.”…

A Camden attorney is facing a felony charge for possessing sexually-explicit material, officials said on Thursday. Thomas Karod, 56, was nabbed on a judicially approved arrest warrant “in reference to an ongoing investigation,” Maine State Police announced. Under Maine law, sexually-explicit material is images of children under the age of 16 year. The investigation is being conducted by the Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit. Karod was taken into custody without incident with the assistance of the Damariscotta and Camden Police Departments, authorities said. His bail was set at $500 cash with conditions not to use the internet or have…

An online petition has been launched urging prosecutors to charge a teen murder suspect as an adult. The petition sponsored by Facebook investigative journalist Phillip Brunelle comes amid reports the files on Deven Young have now been sealed from public access. Young, 17, was scheduled for a hearing Aug. 22 in Knox County Court in Rockland to determine whether a judge would bind him over as an adult. A court spokesperson would only say the case is now no longer public, suggesting he may be treated as a juvenile defendant. If Young’s case is prosecuted in juvenile court he would…

Famed “Hot Mics” host Billy Bush has announced a new iteration of his podcast – “Morning Mics” – coming live from Maine. Bush is going live at 10 a.m. Monday through Thursday from what he calls “an island in Maine.” Though Bush didn’t name the island, one may safely presume he’s referring to North Haven in Penobscot Bay. The Bush family – known more for its Kennebunkport summer hideout than anywhere in Maine – also owns property on North Haven. Billy – whose cousin Jonathan Bush of Cape Elizabeth is a putative Maine GOP gubernatorial hopeful – is the nephew…

The owners of Maine’s largest financially-challenged paper have a new headache on their hands – an expansionist union. The staffers at the smaller weeklies owned by the Maine Trust for Local News (MTLN) want in on bigger wages. Though the weeklies are considered the training grounds, the staffers think they should be paid the same as their big brothers and sisters at the Portland Press Herald. In fact, the staffers at the smaller papers have been lobbying for more than 15 years to try to get the Press Herald union to recognize them. When Maine Today Media bought the newspaper…

Jeff Bezos wants a piece of rural Gorham – but the natives aren’t buying it. Amazon got the council’s green light Tuesday to buy 94 acres along Main Street for $4 million, despite no detailed plans for the property. The residents of the Portland bedroom community are demanding answers, saying it’s unclear what Amazon will do the property. “They hit you between the eyes without any notice at all,” George Gilman told WGME. “No advertising.” Carol Molchior wishes the town council would have provided residents with more notice, and an opportunity to speak their minds. “I don’t think giving notice…

Edward S. Pocock III may be the first optimistic, “post-apocalyptic” town manager ever hired in Maine. Or anywhere for that matter. The former cop, trained sniper, and author of a series of dystopian novels is the new municipal boss in Limestone, Maine. Limestone is perhaps best known as the home of a former Air Force base – and ground zero for America’s post-World War II, easternmost-U.S. A-bomb bunkers. A cold-war-era base structure located in the Aroostook National Wildlife Refuge in Limestone, is known as the Limestone Vampire House. The leftover structure is a relic from the time when nuclear weapons…

A Glenburn man told cops his demons told him to “just do it, kill her, put her out of her misery.” Ethan Herbert, 19, was arrested after allegedly trying Sunday to kill his grandmother with a hatchet and a knife. Herbert faces charges of attempted murder, domestic violence elevated aggravated assault, and domestic violence aggravated assault. The grandmother was taken to the hospital, where part of her skull was removed. She had been trying to keep her grandson from fighting with his grandfather when she was allegedly attacked. The grandparents had banned him from their house before the fight. Cops…

A highly educated military attorney from a small New Hampshire town told a jury he “loved being outdoors” growing up. “I still love being outdoors.” Unfortunately for Nicholas Kassotis, born in Peterborough, New Hampshire and raised in Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire, his enjoyment of hiking and running will be forever no more. The advanced-law grad from Georgetown University who grew up in the “Live Free Or Die” state will never live free again. The only “outdoors” he will ever see is a prison exercise yard surrounded by barbed wire and guard towers. Kassotis, 43, was sentenced to life without parole -…

Veterans needing a friend and pups wanting hugs can be matches made in heaven. “With a goal of ending veteran suicide, Maine Paws for Veterans has created a unique training program that pairs rescued dogs with veterans suffering from PTSD, bringing two troubled lives together to create a bond of love, healing and newfound hope.” Veterans in crisis who end up with smiles. Dogs needing TLC that end up with tails wagging. The only question is which one benefits more – a vet or soldier in needing his face licked by an excited, slobbering puppy or the four-legged creature looking…

A veteran Sebago hunter who gave chase to a suspected killer Friday in Windham – and nearly took him down – is winning high praise from law enforcement. “I was the one in the U-Haul who chased him down and smashed into him,” Matt York, a registered Maine Guide told The Maine Wire in an exclusive interview. York, 38, was giving chase to a man suspected in Windham on Friday of randomly killing a motorcyclist, later identified as Erin Hayne, 33, of Casco, in cold blood along Route 302. York was in traffic, having just pulled out of a nearby…

(Photo courtesy of Volusia County, FLA jail)

A Republican state senator’s unprompted proposal for western Canadian provinces to join the U.S. is drawing sharp rebukes from liberals far and wide. Joe Martin, (R-Oxford), wrote a letter to Canadian government officials laying out how British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba could seek admission “as full American states” if their citizens consent to it. Sen. Martin also criticized aspects of Canadian governance in making his case. His letter – which focused on the parts of Canada farthest from Maine – gained little attention until a British Columbia lawmaker posted online last week a critical reply. The Maine senator’s idea…

It’s scarier even than a great white shark because there’s not even a hint of a warning. You never see a shark fin, you never even see Jaws. It’s flesh-eating bacteria. Just the name brings chills (which are actually one of the symptoms of the killer bug). The bacterium, Vibrio vulnificus, commonly associated with the “flesh-eating” moniker thanks to its ability to cause infections that damage or “eat away” at skin and tissue, has killed eight people along the Gulf Coast this summer. The bacteria is creeping northward farther than usual because of the warming of the water, scientists say.…

A couple who has been trying to buy an historic Camden storefront says they’re caught in the middle of a bureaucratic logjam. “My husband and I have been met with obstructions at every level,” said Amy LaCouture. The LaCoutures earlier bought 39 Main Street, registered in The Great Camden Fire District on the National Register. The building sits over the spillway overlooking Camden Harbor in between the Smiling Cow and Camden Deli. Amid the pending purchase, the structure’s owners had been given a notice of violation due to rotting piers beneath it. But the LaCoutures are now caught in a…

Imagine the gossip at Roger Goodell’s oceanside Prout’s Neck palace’s summer cocktail parties. Is the NFL commissioner sitting in a corner by himself, stewing over speculation he’s an overly-paranoid big baby looking to take over network coverage that he can’t stand? That might be the case, judging from the criticism he’s getting for allegedly trying to strong-arm ESPN’s gridiron coverage. But since we haven’t been invited (yet) to eavesdrop at his $12.8 million Scarborough mansion, we can only imagine. “Pending regulatory approval (which seems to be hardly a given), the NFL eventually will own 10 percent of ESPN,” NBC Sports…

Lily Janelle, born 40 years ago in a Frenchville gravel pit and abandoned, now has a marked grave, thanks to the Maine State Police. After being left to die by her mother in 1985 in sub-zero temperatures, Baby Jane Doe’s body was found several hours later by a dog that gently brought her home to a couple who’d always dreamed of having kids of their own. Police found a large pool of blood, a placenta, tire tracks and footprints in a gravel pit about 1,000 feet from the house. For 37 years, detectives worked every possible lead to try and…

A campground where a Tenants Harbor woman was recently murdered had seen a lot of police activity prior to the killing. That’s the finding of a TV station’s review of police logs showing calls for service at Mic Mac Cove in Union. Using Maine’s Freedom of Access Act, WMTW obtained police-call logs from the two years before Sunshine Stewart’s bludgeoning. The Knox County Sheriff’s Office logs show police were called to the site 28 times from June 1, 2023, to July 1, 2025. The majority of calls happened during the camping season – May through early October – and most…

A fire chief in a popular southern Maine beach town says five surfers nearly died after ignoring orders to keep to the shore. Heart-pounding video shared by the Ogunquit fire chief shows a brave team of world-class ocean lifeguards risking it all to save the kids. The video taken by a bystander shows the tense moments as the children, floating down the Ogunquit River, were pulled toward the ocean by the strong current. The heavily-trained, fearless guards jumped on a jet-ski and tore into huge waves in uncontrolled high seas to grab the scofflaws. The swimmers appeared to be clinging…

The Milford firefighter who was once convicted of assaulting his baby has resigned from the school board just two days after he was elected to it. The school department announced that Morgan Gunnell submitted his notice, effective immediately. Gunnell had gotten elected to the board with seven write-in votes and downplayed any fallout from his child-beating conviction. In 2015, Gunnell pleaded guilty to an assault charge after a grand jury found that he knowingly or recklessly caused bodily injury or offensive physical contact to his infant son. Despite the conviction, Gunnell, who has since been a Milford firefighter seven years,…

The mainstream gubernatorial hopefuls better watch their hind quarters – the fangs are now out in Maine’s hottest political race. “Independent” John Glowa, 71, of South China, the most recent candidate to add his name to the growing list of 2026 wannabes, founded the Maine Wolf Coalition. Glowa worked for the Maine Department of Environmental Protection as an environmental specialist from 1987 until 2016, according to his campaign website. He then retired and ran as a Democrat for state representative, and then for a seat in the state senate. In his role with the coalition, which advocates for wolf recovery…

Two big-name Bushes are coming to the aid of their cousin, who’s toying with seeking Maine’s GOP gubernatorial nomination. Former president George W. Bush and his brother, ex-Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, held a fundraiser this week in Kennebunkport for Jonathan Bush, their cousin who is exploring a run for Maine governor next year. Pundits are speculating that the fundraising affair held at the family’s Walker’s Point compound is evidence that Bush will in fact be seeking the nomination. “He’s been fortunate to receive the support and counsel of Mainers from all over the state and all walks of life, and…

A guy convicted of trying to choke to death the mother of his children got a bad break during sentencing, according to Maine’s highest court. The Maine Supremes said that the prison sentence given convicted attempted murderer Irineu Goncalves was too harsh. The high court ruled that the sentencing judge improperly blamed Goncalves for also assaulting a Waterville hotel clerk. The supremes said there was no evidence he assaulted the clerk who was present as he tried to kill his beloved. So it sent Goncalves back to the lower court for resentencing on his original crime – wrapping his hands…

Two decades ago midcoast fisherman Gary Thorbjornson went to sea and met the fate that befalls too many in his dangerous line of work. After Thorbjornson’s vessel, the Sirius, sank in 2005, taking Thorbjornson down with it, the folks in Port Clyde, Maine, decided they needed to honor the memories of those who go out and don’t come home. The village this fall will be marking the 20th anniversary of the Fishermen’s Memorial at the Marshall Point Lighthouse & Museum. The memorial, a five-foot-high black granite tablet, “stands as a tribute to local fishermen who have been lost at sea…

A well-known liar from Massachusetts’ biggest legacy rag is actually questioning the honesty of an Irish murder suspect from Maine. Kevin Cullen of the Boston Globe is the butt of the joke today on Reddit for writing that Michael Kelley “has a history of saying things that don’t add up, of saying stuff that is off the wall.” That’s ironic coming from Cullen, who has been caught – often thanks to The Maine Wire’s eagle-eyed chief editor – writing stuff that is off the wall. Steve Robinson, besides overseeing The Maine Wire, has also been intimately involved in keeping Taxachusetts…

A Milford firefighter who pleaded guilty to beating his baby ten years ago has won a seat on the town’s school board. Morgan Gunnell, who, received seven write-in votes, said he ran on a lark. And lo and behold, he won. “I wrote my name in as a joke. Kind of like how people write in Mickey Mouse for the president sometimes,” Gunnell said. By the time vote tallying was finished, the joke was up. Gunnell had won and said he would take the position seriously. He was one of 16 residents across Milford to receive at least one write-in…

A leading NYC tabloid newspaper is calling out Bowdoin grad Zohran Mamdani for lying on a competing college’s application by falsely claiming he was black. The question is whether Mamdani also lied the same year – 2010 – on his application to Bowdoin College to gain an advantage over white candidates. Mamdani applied to both Bowdoin and Columbia University 15 years ago – but only got in to Bowdoin. He recently came under fire when it was revealed he checked both “Asian” and “Black or African American” on his failed Columbia application, according to the Post. He was born in…

Two recent fatal oceanic accidents – including one in Maine – are raising questions about the degree to which federal maritime-safety oversight has played a role, and if so whether misplaced priorities had anything to do with that. The Coast Guard in both accidents – one of which occurred off Rockland, Maine – concluded it shared some of the blame. In the 2023 Maine schooner tragedy, a midcoast physician was killed when a rotted mast aboard the Grace Bailey collapsed during a North Atlantic cruise. Also in 2023, Titan, a tiny sub, exploded during an expedition to view the wreck…

A western Massachusetts victim of a brutal assault finally may be able to put the nightmares behind her. Jamie Dodge, 49, of Brownville pleaded guilty this week to aggravated rape and kidnapping in a case stemming from 2000. The cops in Holland, Massachusetts have been looking for their suspect since July 2000, when a woman there reported she’d been attacked. The adult victim told investigators that she was walking around Sand Hill Road when she was grabbed from behind, pulled off the road and dragged into the woods. The unknown attacker who then sexually assaulted her was never found. Police…

Maine lobstermen, fishing with rope-connected traps since time began, may be forced by “environmentalists” to go high-tech to access waters made currently off-limits by federal authorities at the behest of whale enthusiasts. And they’re dubious about a plan to use “ropeless” traps even though it would let them fish in a restricted area. The plan proposed by federal regulators would allow lobstermen to fish an area that closes seasonally to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales. The restricted area, a 967-square-mile stretch of the Gulf of Maine from the New Hampshire border to midcoast Maine, is closed to fishing annually…

A perp who allegedly walked up to a Westbrook couple and randomly shot them both dead is doing well showing the judge he’s nuts. Marcel LaGrange, 26, has spent much of the week refusing to participate in a court hearing designed to determine his mental competence. When he was arrested two years ago after allegedly killing two strangers who were sitting in their car with their two children, a judge asked the South Portland suspect how he was going to plead when his trial came up. “I’m not guilty,” LaGrange said at the time. “Not guilty by reason of insanity.”…

A Mechanic Falls man who disappeared four decades ago while on a solo worldwide sailing dare will be honored by a new bridge in his hometown. Bill Dunlop, 41, arrived in England in 1982 after sailing in a virtual bathtub from Portland. Dunlop had successfully sailed in the smallest boat ever – at nine feet not much larger than a bathtub – to have crossed the Atlantic. He had set sail from Portland in a craft so small he could barely stand up in it. But a year later, setting his sights on circumnavigating the world, he set out from…

As speculation grows over possible 2026 Democrat candidates for U.S. senator from Maine, one most-obvious name hardly ever comes up. Chellie Pingree. So what is keeping Pingree, who has been in the U.S. House for 16 years, from taking a good old-fashioned chance at a promotion and running against Republican incumbent Susan Collins. It’s certainly not the fear of losing money, which Pingree has plenty of, as The Maine Wire has analyzed. Sure she gets a bigger pension the longer she sits on her nestegg, also known as her safe seat in the House. (Quiver Quantitative estimates Chellie Pingree’s net…

A veteran Maine radio jock says he’ll never forget: ladies and gentlemen, the one, the only, Hulk Hogan… walking into the studio. “In 2001, when Q97.9 was just a mere five years old and our studios were still on Warren Avenue in Portland, Hogan and his daughter, Brooke, stopped in to visit,” recalls Jeff Parsons. “I remember it very well and was surprised to see this legend in person without all the hype I was used to seeing on TV.” The Hulk, who died July 24 at age 71, was a regular Maine wrestling combatant. He actually made eight World…

A leading Maine rabbi is calling a foul on the state’s junior senator for dropping Israeli support based on false reporting in the legacy media. King blindly followed the “reporting” that falsely blames Israel for whatever alleged humanitarian crisis exists in Gaza and parlayed it into a cheap political speech. That’s the view of Rabbi Larry Rubinstein, a veteran respected cleric and board member of the Maine Policy Institute. “Israel was attacked by Hamas October 7, 2023 and took many hostages, some of which are still being held under terrible conditions,” Rubinstein told The Maine Wire. “Hamas views any treaty…

A Texas-born former FBI agent has joined the crowd of Democrats seeking to become Maine’s next chief executive officer. Jason Cherry, a lawyer currently living in Unity, said he is focused on increasing government transparency and accountability. Based on academic credentials alone, statistics are in Cherry’s favor. Five of the seven Maine governors in the last 50 years have had law degrees, with the exception of Democrat John Baldacci and Republican Paul LePage. So Maine voters seem, oddly, to have a fondness for lawyers when it comes to choosing their governor. On the other hand, only one governor in the…

A growing leftist ideology in the Episcopal church may be the reason Russian clergymen – former Episcopalians – are expanding their Maine presence. Two Russian religious leaders in Maine say they left the Episcopal obsession with “LGBTQ+” politics to create their own kind of orthodox worship in Bucksport. Deacon James Parsons of Bucksport’s St. Innocent of Alaska Mission, and Archpriest Chad Williams, the rector of the faith’s church in Richmond who travels to Bucksport for services, both left the Episcopal faith they were raised in. Williams, who explained that he left the Episcopal church in the 1980s, said it began…

Maine’s largest newspaper’s experiment in covering its outlier towns from Portland was apparently doomed from the start. Duh. The Portland Press Herald, which had recently decided to cover the central part of the state from 100 miles away, has decided that dog won’t hunt. So rather than doing the job with a staffer from Portland, the paper is now advertising for a freelancer out of the Skowhegan area. The MTLN suits had tried to fill the Skowhegan slot with Portland staffer Alex Lear after the incumbent was reassigned to a different beat. “Lear apparently found it difficult to get the…

Maine’s version of government-run, taxpayer-financed state media, popularly dubbed “public broadcasting,” will likely have to find a new source of bucks to avoid possible layoffs. The announced shutdown last week of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting means a $2.5 million annual loss to Maine Public Broadcasting Network. Coincidentally enough the Pine Tree State’s version of “public” broadcasting, commonly known as Maine Public, kicks off its summer fundraising campaign today August 4. The decision to shutter CPB came a week after President Trump signed a bill canceling its $1.1 billion in federal funding. The White House has called the taxpayer-financed public-media…

Fresh on the heels of blocking The Maine Wire from one of his “public” events, Democrat Senate hopeful Jordan Wood is now taking incoming fire from his own party. “Having no events until a single campaign event at the end of August is not going to be enough to beat Susan Collins,” says a Wood supporter named GoddessFiana. “Does he need staff?” the Goddess asked a Reddit political forum. “I’m pretty good with event logistics.” Though other Wood “backers” are calling out the Goddess for criticizing his alleged lackluster campaign, they seem to secretly feel her – and apparently his…

A supermarket sale flyer denying Maine customers a discount on a gallon of milk has lit a fire under free-market advocates. What are we, chopped liver? In Maine, yes we are, at least when it comes to taxpayer subsidies for dairy farmers. Unfortunately for Maine consumers, the Pine Tree State is one of seven nationwide with a minimum price for a gallon of milk. Though the policy is designed to keep farmers from losing money, it has triggered a firestorm on Reddit as being pure unabashed socialism. “And it costs poor people 50% more than our neighboring states!” noted Standsaboxer.…

Not a good idea to stop on the main road into Acadia or Baxter to bear-watch. No, not because the bear might see you as dinner. But because traffic backs up when a camera-toting naturalist puts his RV in park and everyone behind him sits…and…steams. It just happened in a national park, Yosemite, and motorists caught in the ensuing hour-long traffic jam went viral on the Internet. “Who are you to think you can just park in the road, get out and take pictures?” asked one frustrated park motorist. “We are not on vacation with you. We have places to…

A world-renowned 20th-century sculptor who put Rockland, Maine on the map loved scrounging in trash bins for scrap wood. That’s the reminiscence of Louise Nevelson as recalled by her granddaughter in a CBS Sunday Morning interview promoting a new Nevelson exhibit. “She’d dumpster dive, she’d get into the garbage can, she’d pull out filthy pieces of wood, and we’d have to take ’em home,” said Maria Nevelson. “I would say the streets of New York weren’t paved with gold for her; it was paved with garbage. And she loved it!” Nearly six decades after the artist’s first Whitney Museum of…

The Coast Guard is calling for increased mast inspections of commercial wooden sailing ships in the wake of a fatal Maine schooner accident two years ago. The mast of the Grace Bailey collapsed off Rockland in 2023, killing passenger Emily Mecklenburg. “There are currently more than 275 sailing vessels certificated to operate as small passenger vessels and approximately 110 of those vessels have wooden hulls,” a Coast Guard report says. “The Coast Guard will survey those vessels.” The vessel’s mast maintenance and inspection documentation practices should have been more aggressive, according to the Coast Guard. But the victim’s father is…

A former longtime top editor of Maine’s largest legacy newspaper is blasting its latest iteration as an “embarrassment.” Cliff Schechtman, who oversaw the Portland Press Herald newsroom from 2012 to 2021, is quoted in a Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism analysis of the paper’s new “nonprofit” ownership. “I’m simply embarrassed by what the Press Herald has become,” Schechtman says. “The standards have dropped dramatically, and the productivity is a shadow of what it was.” He is among several legacy media execs quoted in the piece published this week by Medill’s “Local News Initiative.” Meanwhile, the article also quotes the…

A Republican state legislator who bravely sponsored bills to keep boys out of women’s sports and bathrooms quickly found out how to raise hackles in Maine’s woke ecosphere, but the wilderness guide isn’t backing down. Rep. Elizabeth Caruso (R-Caratunk) told the Maine Monitor the point of the two bills she sponsored – L.D. 868 and L.D. 1337 – was to protect girls from discrimination and restore fair competition. Fairly simple and straightforward, one might think. What came next; however, was organized pushback by not only the usual suspect, but also a surprising sub-sect of clergy, driven by a questionable political…

Never try to outdo the animal-rights clique when it comes to creating a media spectacle. To wit, People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which went to court last week to try to stop the Maine Lobster Festival, now has a new grisly tack. “On opening day of the Maine Lobster Festival – where thousands of sentient lobsters will be cooked alive in violation of Maine cruelty-to-animals law which prohibits tormenting sentient animals – PETA supporters will gather for an eye-popping demonstration in which a chef will drag a struggling, screaming human “lobster” to a giant, steaming pot and “scald”…

A longtime liberal D.C. newspaper “fact checker” is on the way out, suggesting that Maine’s newspaper fact police might want to take shelter. “Washington Post’s controversial fact checker exits paper amid anti-woke reboot…and he isn’t being replaced,” blared Daily Mail.com’s headline. The Washington Post’s Glenn Kessler, chief writer of “The Fact Checker,” announced on Monday that he’s leaving the paper. The Daily Mail is positing that Kessler’s ouster may stem from “a slew of recent steps taken by owner Jeff Bezos and CEO Will Lewis to try and help the paper shed its left-wing reputation.” The Soros-friendly Portland Press Herald…

A collective of water-sports enthusiasts and fishermen will hold two ceremonies to honor the memory of a Maine paddleboarder killed earlier this month. The Mic Mac Cove gathering of paddleboarders, canoers and kayakers is set for August 7, which would have been Sunshine Stewart’s birthday. A “maritime celebration of life” is also being planned for August 10th in Tenants Harbor, the town where Stewart lived. Police said they found Stewart’s body July 3 in Union on a Crawford Pond island, the victim of a brutal murder. A teenage Mic Mac Cove camper, Deven Young, 17 – weeks away from his…

The planet-wide intrigue stemming from a high-brow alleged affair between two top-level NY execs has now moved to Kennebunk, Maine. That’s where Astronomer ex-CEO Andy Byron’s wife Megan retreated after reportedly leaving her and her tech tycoon husband’s multimillion-dollar home in Northborough, Massachusetts, in the wake of the Coldplay concert “jumbotron” controversy. She is reportedly recovering from the indignity created by her philandering husband in a $2.4 million mansion in Kennebunk, according to the New York Post. Kennebunk town records reviewed by The Maine Wire show that she and her husband own a mansion at 17 Clubhouse Drive in Kennebunk.…

Whomever dropped an invasive fish into a northern Maine lake is going to be on the hook, big time, if he or she gets snagged. Operation Game Thief officials are offering a $6,000 prize to find out who dumped a largemouth bass in West Musquash Lake. The bass threatens a rare wild fish population of native brook trout, landlocked salmon, and round whitefish in the Washington County lake. The monetary reward is for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for potentially ruining the lake’s native fishery. The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife said the…

An “animal-rights” lobby has gone to court to try to stop Rockland’s annual “egregiously cruel method of steaming thousands of lobsters alive.” People For The Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) filed its lawsuit in an attempt to get a judge to declare the Maine Lobster Festival a “public nuisance.” Barring a Knox County Court order, the 78th-annual, four-day lobster celebration is scheduled to begin July 30. PETA argues that the festival, if allowed to go forward, would be violating Maine law prohibiting “the torture and torment of animals.” The animal-protection organization argues that “lobsters are sentient beings and are entitled…

A Facebook post promoting the removal of Maine’s Democrat governor just got a nice free ad from the Mills-friendly Portland Press Herald. Oops. The 𝕵𝖆𝖓𝖊𝖙 𝕸𝖎𝖑𝖑𝖘 𝕳𝖊𝖗𝖆𝖑𝖉 has been in her corner since Day One so gifting the anti-Mills forces a platform is an instant no-no. The question is: how did it happen? The paper’s “fact-checking” team headlined a Facebook post that says the Mills recall petition has received 500,000 signatures. The fact-checking squad claimed in one of its latest “fact briefs” that the petition hasn’t received that many signatories. But the problem for the Press Herald is that to…