Author: Edward Tomic

Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D), who during the COVID-19 pandemic implemented stringent prohibitions on public gatherings and stay-at-home directives, will be joining the U.S. Surgeon General for a discussion on the danger that “loneliness and isolation” pose to public health. The panel discussion, entitled “Building Resilience Through Human Connection,” is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 27, at 11 a.m., and will be hosted by the University of Southern Maine in Portland. Speaking on the panel, which is free and open to the public on a first-come, first-serve basis, will be Gov. Mills, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, and Maine DHHS…

Lewiston was rocked by a series of violent incidents Tuesday evening, with police responding to two separate reports of gunfire and a hit-and-run that ended in the arrest of a recently released suspect from Auburn. [RELATED: Lewiston Grapples with Gun Violence Surge after Two More Shootings in Less Than Two Weeks…] The first call came just after 6:30 p.m., when Lewiston Police responded to the intersection of Ash and Howe streets for a report of shots fired. Police say surveillance footage form the area showed two males firing a handgun down Howe Street toward the direction of Pine Street. Two…

While the mayor of South Portland recently recommended that elderly residents reverse mortgage their homes to handle a growing property tax burden, the City Council approved over $1 million in their fiscal year 2025 (FY25) budget to be spent on assisting migrants in the city pay for housing and buy food. Those seniors have also taken a back seat to higher priorities from the South Portland City Council, which has, in recent years, written into the city budget that addressing the climate crisis and promoting “equity” are top goals. South Portland Mayor Misha Pride’s comments — which have since sparked…

A Lisbon man with multiple previous state convictions for possessing and distributing child pornography pleaded guilty this week to a new federal charge of possessing child sexual abuse material, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maine announced Monday. Joseph Gibson, 36, of Lisbon, pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court in Portland to one count of possessing child sexual abuse material. According to court records, in September and October 2023, the Maine State Police identified and located an IP address at Gibson’s residence that had been used to download child sexual abuse material. When the Maine State Police…

The Mills administration has paid $120,000 to the Maine Trust for Local News (MTLN), the nonprofit that owns the Portland Press Herald and the Lewiston Sun Journal, to publish state-sponsored articles praising the Mills administration’s use of federal education dollars. The articles are intended to bolster “goodwill” toward the state’s public school system and the Maine Department of Education’s (DOE) use of federal funding, according to state records reviewed by the Maine Wire. [RELATED: Five Months Later, “National Trust” Won’t Say Who Funded Takeover of Maine Newspapers…] According to the document, which disclosed the no-bid contract awarded to the nonprofit…

A Brownfield man was arrested on multiple drug and firearm charges following a raid conducted by the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency (MDEA) and Maine State Police at his residence on Wednesday. During the raid authorities seized an estimated $90,000 in illegal drugs, several firearms, a large amount of ammunition, and over $25,000 cash in suspected drug proceeds. Maine State Police say the investigation into the Brownfield residence began several weeks ago, due to the suspected illegal possession of firearms by a prohibited person. Troopers identified the suspect as 52-year-old Joey St. Hilaire, of Brownfield, and learned over the course of…

A traffic stop in Lewiston shortly after midnight on Thursday led to the arrest of two men and the seizure of an illegally possessed firearm. Lewiston Police said the traffic stop occurred on Bates Street just after 12:30 a.m. on Thursday. While the vehicle came to a stop, a male passenger fled from the vehicle, leading to a short foot chase, police said. The male suspect was apprehended a block away from the stopped vehicle. Police say they found a .45 caliber handgun with an obliterated serial number during a search of the suspect’s backpack. [RELATED: Lewiston Grapples with Gun…

Amid discussion regarding recent property tax hikes at a South Portland City Council meeting last month, Mayor Misha Pride suggested that elderly residents living on a fixed income may want to consider reverse mortgaging their homes to manage the growing tax burden. [RELATED: South Portland Residents Passionately Address Property Tax Concerns at City Council Meeting…] At the Tuesday, Aug. 13 meeting, the City Council was discussing a proposal to allocate an additional $50,000 to the city’s Senior Property Tax Relief Fund, in response to a shift of the tax burden from South Portland’s commercial properties to residential ones, caused by…

Six police departments across Maine have been awarded a total of just over $2 million in federal grants to support various community policing initiatives, including the hiring of additional entry-level officers, school violence prevention and improving mental health crisis intervention. The $2,075,000 in grants were awarded to the Maine law enforcement agencies and municipalities as part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant programs. The Justice Department’s COPS grant funding falls into four categories: the COPS Hiring program, to hire new entry-level law enforcement officers; the School Violence Prevention Program, to improve…

Sanford city officials and members of the city council were in agreement during their Tuesday meeting on the need to reform the syringe distribution program which has resulted in a “public health crisis” due to the large number of contaminated hypodermics improperly discarded throughout the city. Syringe Service Programs (SSPS) are authorized by the Maine CDC and are designed as a “harm reduction” initiative aimed at reducing the spread of blood-borne pathogens such as HIV and hepatitis by providing active drug users with sterile syringes. [RELATED: ‘They’re not gonna jump up and bite ya’: Socialist Portland City Councilor Claims ‘no public…

During a town hall event Monday evening in Portland, Somali-American Maine State Rep. Deqa Dhalac (D-South Portland) claimed that immigrants’ “lives are at stake” in the 2024 election, as part of a rant against former President Donald Trump and defense of immigrants’ contributions to the country and state. Organized by the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition (MIRC), Monday’s “Centering and Restoring The Community: Elections 2024” town hall at the Portland Public Library featured representatives from a number of Maine-based progressive nonprofit organizations. Speaking alongside Rep. Dhalac on the panel was Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, EqualityMaine Executive Director Gia Drew and Maine…

A motor vehicle crash on Main Street in Westbrook on Tuesday that left one car flipped on its side led to the arrest of one of the drivers on drug trafficking charges, and the seizure of over 40 grams of cocaine. The Westbrook Police and Fire Departments responded to the scene of the crash on Tuesday afternoon, at about 12:24 p.m., on Maine Street near Cumberland Street. Police say that responding emergency crews found that two vehicles were involved in the crash, with one car flipped on its side. There were no injuries reported from the crash. Source: Westbrook Police…

A Portland man who in 2020 sold fentanyl-laced fake pills that killed a York County woman has been sentenced to more than 15 years in prison, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday. Marcus Mello, 27, was sentenced on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Portland for distributing fentanyl, using or carrying a dangerous weapon in a drug crime, and failing to appear before the court. U.S. District Judge Jogn Woodcock, Jr. sentenced Mello to 181 months in prison, to be followed by four years of supervised release. In court records, prosecutors alleged that in May 2020, Mello sold 12 fake “percs” –…

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC) announced on Tuesday that a Maine resident has tested positive for West Nile Virus (WNV), a case which the agency says is the first locally acquired infection in Maine since 2020. WNV, like the Eastern Equine Encephalitis virus (EEE) and Jamestown Canyon virus (JCV), are viruses spread though the bite of an infected mosquito. The viruses cannot be spread form human to human or from human to animal. Infection with all three viruses usually starts with flu-like symptoms in humans, and can in severe cases develop into brain swelling (encephalitis)…

At a Portland town hall event Monday evening hosted by a collection of progressive nonprofit organizations, a lawyer from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Maine said that he will be urging the State Legislature to pass laws protecting illegal immigrants from deportation, and compared federal immigration authorities to Nazis in 1930s Germany. The Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition (MIRC) hosted the town hall event, entitled “Centering and Restoring The Community: Elections 2024,” at the Portland Public Library. Speaking on the panel was Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, State Rep. Deqa Dhalac (D-South Portland), EqualityMaine Executive Director Gia Drew,…

Bangor Animal Control is continuing to investigate the mysterious disappearance of cats in Bangor’s Fairmount neighborhood, with officials saying multiple factors could be responsible for the recent uptick in unexplained vanishing felines—aside from wild predators. Animal Control Officer for the Bangor Police Department Trisha Bruen told the Maine Wire on Monday that the recent wave of residents reporting their cats as missing began this summer, and is now close to 20 cases. Residents in the neighborhood have been left perplexed by the sudden disappearance of their beloved pets, with some questioning whether wildlife is responsible due to the lack of…

On Tuesday the Sanford City Council is expected to discuss a “public health crisis” caused by a large number of contaminated hypodermic needles littered in the city as the result of a state licensed syringe distribution program. In early 2020, the Maine CDC licensed the Brunswick-based nonprofit Maine Access Points to operate a Syringe Services Program (SSP) in the City of Sanford without notifying city officials, according to a memo from City Manager Steven Buck. [RELATED: Sanford Suspends Syringe Exchange Program, Cleans Homeless Encampment…] Buck wrote that Maine Access Points operated the syringe exchange remotely out of a vehicle near Heritage…

The City of Portland is now seeking applications to fill the vacancy at the top of the city’s Justice, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (JDEI) office, a role which boasts a starting salary of over $110,000. Portland’s JDEI office was launched in 2023 on the recommendation of the city’s Racial Equity Steering Committee, which itself was formed by then-Mayor Kate Snyder in July 2020, in the wake of the death of George Floyd. The city’s racial equity office has been without a director since May, when Umaru Balde, who joined the JDEI office in April 2023, resigned with little explanation from the…

Just ahead of the anniversary of the tragic mass shootings in Lewiston on Oct. 25, 2023, U.S. Senator from Maine Susan Collins (R) has introduced legislation to require the military to utilize state crisis intervention programs when service members pose a serious threat to themselves or others. [RELATED: Independent Commission Reveals Failures and Missed Opportunities by Law Enforcement Before Lewiston Shooting…] Sen. Collins’ “Armed Forces Crisis Intervention Notification Act,” co-sponsored by Senator Angus King (I), comes as a direct response to the investigations into the shootings conducted by the U.S. Army Reserve, the Independent Commission appointed by Maine Gov. Janet Mills…

A Salvadoran national living illegally in the U.S. was arrested last week on Nantucket Island by federal immigration officers after being charged with numerous sex crimes against a Massachusetts child. U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced on Monday that they apprehended 28-year-old Bryan Daniel Aldana-Arevalo, a citizen of El Salvador, as part of an operation launched last week on Nantucket to serve arrest warrants for immigration violations, particularly targeting “violent offenders.” https://twitter.com/EROBoston/status/1835726057942462836 According to ICE, Aldana illegally entered the U.S. on an unknown date, at an unknown location, without being inspected by immigration officials — what is commonly classified…

The Bangor refugee resettlement office run by Catholic Charities Maine is planning to move 150 migrants into cities and towns within a 100-mile radius of Bangor over the next year. Catholic Charities Maine is one of three nonprofit organizations in the state that has been designated by the federal government to be a refugee resettlement agency, alongside the Lewiston-based Maine Immigrant and Refugee Services (MEIRS) and the Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine, based in Portland. [RELATED: Catholic Charities Maine Touts Taxpayer-Funded Migrant Resettlement Plans…] Under the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), the president sets a ceiling for the number…

The New York man charged in April with criminal threatening and aggravated sex trafficking for running his “massage parlor” as a prostitution house received more than $20,000 worth of federal grants before threatening an elderly woman with a handgun, according to records reviewed by the Maine Wire. Changsheng Xiao, 45, who is listed on police records as being from Flushing, N.Y., was arrested in late April at 977 Forest Avenue in Portland — the address of Ping Wellness Center, a massage parlor in Portland’s North Deering neighborhood that advertises reflexology, massage therapy, facials, waxing, and “tui na,” a traditional Chinese…

A joint operation by the Portland Police Department and Maine Drug Enforcement Agency (MDEA) led to the arrest of a 35-year-old woman on drug trafficking charges and the seizure of nearly 90 grams of fentanyl. [RELATED: ‘They’re not gonna jump up and bite ya’: Socialist Portland City Councilor Claims ‘no public health risk’ Caused by Used Heroin Needles…] According to Portland Police, officers with the department’s Crime Reduction Unit (CRU) and MDEA agents made the arrest on Sherwood Street in Portland at about 1:45 p.m. on Tuesday, as the result of an ongoing drug trafficking investigation. Nichole Staples, 35, of…

A Bangor-based homelessness fundraising organization is propagating educational materials aimed at helping homeless individuals avoid arrest for a variety of crimes, including drug possession, criminal trespass and disorderly conduct. The Greater Bangor Houseless Collective describes itself as “a grassroots organization that provides mutual aid and low-barrier support to the unhoused community while building solidarity in the face of institutionalized inequity,” and collects donations to distributed water, food, first aid kits, tents and other supplies to the Bangor area’s homeless population. [RELATED: Bangor’s Lawless Tent City Results in Shooting Near UMA Campus: No Arrests…] On their website and social media pages,…

On Tuesday the Portland City Council’s Health and Human Services and Public Safety Committee voted to advance a proposal from the Portland Police Department to purchase an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS), or drone. Portland Police Chief Mark Dubois first presented the department’s proposal to the City Council committee in July, saying that the department is “significantly understaffed” and that they need to “utilize technology to the fullest extent” in order maintain public safety. [RELATED: Portland Police Want to Buy a $39,000 Drone for Investigations and to Monitor ‘mass gatherings’…] Chief Dubois told the committee that Portland Police had previously used…

The owner of multiple massage parlors throughout Maine has been arrested in connection to a police investigation into alleged sex trafficking and forced labor occurring at a massage parlor in Lewiston. Lewiston Police announced on Wednesday that in March of 2024 they launched an investigation into a suspected illicit massage parlor operating on Sabattus Street in Lewiston. [RELATED: New York Man Arrested for Criminal Threatening, Sex Trafficking at Portland Massage Parlor…] Investigators identified the owner of the massage parlor, which operated under the name Wen Xin Spa at 3 Hartley St., as 58-year-old Richard Qiu of Brooklyn, N.Y. Police say…

Federal authorities in Boston have seized more than 350 internet domains that investigators believe were used for the illegal importation of firearm switches and silencers from China, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts announced on Wednesday. Switches are small devices designed to convert a semi-automatic handgun into a fully automatic machine gun by preventing the handgun’s trigger bar from limiting fire to one round of ammunition per trigger pull. Silencers are devices used to suppress the sound of a firearm when discharged. [RELATED: Kentucky Man Found Dead at Cobscook Bay State Park Had Multiple Firearms, Suppressors…] Possession…

During a Tuesday meeting of the Portland City Council’s Health and Human Services and Public Safety Committee, City Councilor Kate Sykes, former co-chair of the Maine Democratic Socialists of America, claimed that used hypodermic needles littering the city are “not a public health risk.” Sykes’ comments came after a presentation from Portland’s Interim Public Health Director, Bridget Rauscher, on the city’s Syringe Services Program (SSP) and concerns from residents regarding syringe litter throughout the city. [RELATED: Maine Is Handing Out Free “Boofing” Kits to Help Fentanyl Addicts Squirt Drugs Up Their Butts…] Portland’s SSP, commonly referred to as “The Exchange,” is…

A University of Maine employee who worked at the school for nearly four decades with a “completely unblemished” record was fired in October 2022 based on hearsay allegations of harassment against two other UMaine employees, a termination which the University’s labor union challenged as unjustified and biased. The University of Maine Professional Staff Association (UMPSA), backed by the Maine Education Association (MEA) and the National Education Association (NEA), filed a post-arbitration brief asserting that the University of Maine wrongfully terminated Amos Cline, a research laboratory specialist who worked at the University for 37 years. The 65-page brief, dated April 26,…

Maine Governor Janet Mills’ (D) Office of Policy Innovation and the Future (GOPIF) has granted $15,000 to a Portland-based consultant to coordinate a study of the potential effectiveness of “harm reduction health centers,” also known as safe drug consumption or injection sites. In July of last year, Gov. Mills signed LD 1364 into law, a resolution which directed GOPIF to “convene a working group to study methods of preventing opioid overdose deaths by authorizing harm reduction health centers.” [RELATED: Maine Will Study Effectiveness of “Safe Consumption Sites” as a Potential Fix For Opioid Epidemic…] The bill as originally introduced would…

In the span of less than two weeks since Lewiston city officials and the Androscoggin County district attorney announced their plans to address a recent surge of gun violence incidents in the city, Lewiston Police have responded to two shootings which are still under active investigation. [RELATED: Shooting Interrupts Refugee Group’s ‘Family Fun Day’ Back-to-School Event in Lewiston…] On the evening of Sept. 3, Lewiston Police responded to a report from a driver who said that his vehicle had been struck by gunfire while dropping off a friend on Pierce Street. At the scene, police found that a bullet had penetrated and shattered…

Settlement funds received by the City of Portland from a nationwide lawsuit against several opioid manufacturers and distributors could go towards paying drug users cash to incentivize them to properly dispose of their used syringes. The City of Portland has already received roughly $750,000 in settlement payments from the lawsuit, and will also receive approximately $235,000 annually between fiscal year 2025 (FY25) and FY39, according to a memo from Portland City Manager Danielle West. [RELATED: Portland Set to Consider Allocation of $750,000 in Opioid Settlement Funds…] The Portland City Council’s Health and Human Services (HHS) and Public Safety Committee will meet on…

A Bangladeshi illegal alien who earlier this year was arrested by Connecticut State Police on multiple charges of sexual abuse of a minor is in custody on a federal immigration hold at the Cumberland County Jail in Maine. Monir Uddin, 47, was arrested in late April by deportation officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Litchfield, Conn., after he was charged locally with multiple counts of commercial sex abuse, illegal sexual contact with a minor, fourth degree sexual assault, risk of injury to child and the illegal sale of tobacco to a person under 21 years of age.…

A new program aimed at protecting elderly Mainers from scams by attaching informational brochures to prescription bags at Hannaford pharmacies throughout the state was announced on Thursday by the Maine U.S. Attorney’s Office. The Maine Rx Elder Fraud Program, a collaborative effort between the Maine U.S. Attorney, AARP Maine and the Maine Council for Elder Abuse Prevention, is designed at educating Mainers on common signs of scams and how to report elder fraud. The program is slated to launch at 60 in-store pharmacies at Hannaford Supermarkets across Maine, where educational brochures will be attached to prescription bags when they are…

On Wednesday, the Portland City Council voted unanimously to pass a resolution calling upon City Manager Danielle West to divest the city’s funds from entities “complicit in the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.” The passage of the divestment resolution comes nearly a year after the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas attacked Israel from the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023, killing over 1,000 people and taking about 250 hostages, including American citizens. The Portland City Council previously passed a resolution brought forth by Councilor Pious Ali in January of this year calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Israel. [RELATED: Anti-Israel Protesters…

A key web portal veterans use to get their businesses SBA certified was dysfunctional even as Kamala Harris promised new SBA benefits.

A traffic stop early Tuesday morning in Lewiston led to the arrest of a felon out on bail after a large quantity of illegal drugs and a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun were discovered in his vehicle, according to the Lewiston Police Department. [RELATED: Lewiston PD Chief, DA Cite Lack of Funding for Spate of Unsolved Youth-Involved Shootings: 27 Shootings This Year…] Devin Charest, 33 | Source: Lewiston Police Department Police say that at about 2 a.m. on Tuesday, they conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle on Blake Street. Police identified a passenger in the vehicle as 33-year-old Devin Charest. According…

A U.S. citizen has been arrested after border officials thwarted an alleged child smuggling attempt at an Arizona port of entry, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced Tuesday. According to CBP, at about 11:30 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 29, CBP officers at the San Luis, Ariz. Port of Entry stopped a vehicle being driven by a 28-year-old female U.S. citizen for a secondary inspection. [RELATED: Largest Housing Provider for Unaccompanied Illegal Immigrant Children has Been Sexually Abusing Children Since at Least 2015…] During the inspection, the woman reportedly told CBP officers that two children in the vehicle were family…

U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced on Tuesday the arrest of an illegal alien charged with five counts of raping a child in Massachusetts. ICE says that they lodged an immigration detainer against 24-year-old Brazilian national Warley Neto after he was arrested by the Tisbury, Mass. Police Department in January on five counts of rape of a child and five counts of enticing a minor under 16. The Dukes County (Mass.) Superior Court and jail honored the immigration detainer, allowing ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Boston to take custody of Neto on Aug. 23. [RELATED: ‘We work very…

A Dixfield man has been arrested after authorities found a 9-month-old baby girl suffering from an opioid overdose at a home in Mexico, the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office announced Monday. The Oxford County Sheriff’s Office says deputies, alongside Rumford Police and emergency medical personnel, responded to a residence on Roxbury Road in Mexico for a report of an unresponsive 9-month-old infant. The baby was reportedly struggling to breathe and was turning blue. [RELATED: Maine Reports Nearly 10,000 Drug Overdoses in 2023, 16 Percent Decrease in Fatal Overdoses from 2022…] The 9-month-old baby girl was immediately transported to the Rumford Hospital…

Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland, Maine’s only juvenile correctional facility, will be offering its high school-aged incarcerated youth an elective course in playing instruments and reading music. The musical instruction is funded by an $18,240 grant from the Maine Department of Corrections (Maine DOC) to the Portland-based Maine Academy of Modern Music, which previously taught music classes at Long Creek prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The music classes will be offered as an additional elective class during the 2024-2025 school year at Long Creek’s Arthur R. Gould School, the youth correctional facility’s accredited diploma-granting high school. The…

At a special meeting this Wednesday, the Portland City Council will consider adopting a resolution to divest the city from entities “complicit in the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.” A description of the resolution, which is sponsored by City Councilor At-Large April Fournier, reads: “The City of Portland recognizes the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza and seeks to avoid economically supporting this crisis through the City’s financial investment.” No specific entities in which the city is currently invested are named in the resolution. [RELATED: Anti-Israel Protesters Defend Hamas “Resistance” by Blockading Traffic in Maine’s Biggest City…] The resolution comes nearly a year…

Maine’s ongoing effort to resettle non-citizens will get a $5.4 million boost thanks to a Biden-Harris Administration grant that will provide taxpayer dollars to house, feed, and provide other services to migrants recently released from U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) custody. On Wednesday, Aug. 28, DHS, alongside the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced that they had allocated over $380 million in grants nationwide to support the federal Shelter and Services Program (SSP). [RELATED: Mills Admin, Nonprofits, and Big Biz Back New Migrant Resettlement Agency for Maine…] Last week’s slate of SSP grants…

A fugitive wanted in Maine for multiple firearms violations was apprehended by the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) in Auburn on Wednesday, the federal agency announced. The fugitive was identified as 34-year-old Matthew Gallagher of Lewiston, who had warrants out for his arrest in Androscoggin County on charges of theft of a firearm, possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and criminal threatening with a firearm. Gallagher was also wanted by the Maine Department of Corrections for a probation violation, USMS said. An joint investigation into Gallagher’s whereabouts by USMS and the Lewiston and Auburn Police Departments led to the…

The search of a residence in Palmyra by the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday led to the seizure of approximately $100,000 worth of illegal drugs and the arrest of a Massachusetts man on drug trafficking charges. Somerset County Sheriff Dale Lancaster said the residence on Madawaska Road in Palmyra was searched shortly before 9:30 a.m. on Thursday as the culmination of a months-long investigation into fentanyl and cocaine allegedly being sold to people in the area from the home. Five detectives from the Sheriff’s Office Criminal Division, a drug detection K-9 named Kojo, and four patrol deputies were involved…

Planned Parenthood of Northern New England (PPNNE), the largest provider of abortions in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont announced last week that they have adopted a “weapons exclusion” in their investment portfolio to no longer profit from the “devastating loss of life and sexual and gender-based violence happening in Gaza.” The abortion clinic operator’s announcement comes after the organization announced earlier this month that they are projecting $8.6 million budgetary shortfall over the next three years — financial difficulties attributed by PPNNE to increased demand, reduced revenue and “endless political attacks.” [RELATED: New England’s Top Taxpayer-Funded Abortion Clinic Operator Projects…

Lewiston city officials, the chief of police and the Androscoggin County district attorney held a press conference on Thursday alongside local community organizations to announce their plan to prevent and respond to a recent surge of gun violence incidents. Over the past eight months, Lewiston has seen 27 shots fired incidents — three of which were self-inflicted, and two of which involved a victim being shot by someone else. Most recently, gunshots interrupted a refugee organization’s back-to-school event in Lewiston’s McGraw Park last Friday. [RELATED: Shooting Interrupts Refugee Group’s ‘Family Fun Day’ Back-to-School Event in Lewiston…] Earlier last week a juvenile…

Tensions ran high at Portland City Hall on Monday evening as the city’s “justice, diversity, equity and inclusion” (JDEI) office gave its first update to the City Council since being formed last year. The city’s racial equity office has been without a director since May, when Umaru Balde, who joined the JDEI office in April 2023, resigned abruptly with little explanation. Portland’s JDEI office was formed on the recommendation of the city’s Racial Equity Steering Committee, which itself was launched by then-Mayor Kate Snyder in July 2020, amid nationwide unrest in the wake of the death of George Floyd. [RELATED:…

A homeless man who in January was charged with assaulting people with a machete outside a Portland apartment complex was arrested again earlier this week for assault and disorderly conduct. Ahmed Hussein Ismail, 38, who in a February press release Portland Police identified as “unhoused,” was arrested in Portland on Tuesday and charged with assault and disorderly conduct. [RELATED: Machete-Wielding Homeless Man Accused of Assaulting People in Portland…] As of Thursday morning, Ismail is being held at the Cumberland County Jail on $1,500 bail. Tuesday booking photo for Ahmed Hussein Ismail, 38 | Source: Cumberland County Jail According to a…

Firefighters in Lewiston battled a fire that broke out Wednesday afternoon at a College Street home that has been subject to multiple drug raids by police over the last nine months. Lewiston Police issued a statement shortly before 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday announcing that fire crews had responded to 149 College St. to battle the structure fire. The area of 149 College St. was closed to traffic while firefighters worked to extinguish the flames. Neighbors close to the home told WGME that they heard an explosion-like sound at around 3:30 p.m., and saw flames engulfing the home. https://twitter.com/AnnaWGME/status/1828945413984137311 “The fire…

Rockland Police announced on Tuesday that they have arrested a man suspected of burglarizing a museum and stealing tools from a job site earlier this summer. Robert Kyle Grierson, 42, of Rockland, was arrested last Wednesday on multiple counts of felony theft, burglary, and violating conditions of release. Police say the arrest comes as the result of their investigation into two burglaries that occurred on June 30 and July 23, involving the theft of property from the Sail, Power and Steam Museum in Rockland’s south end, and the theft of power tools from a job site in the area of…

In response to a series of shooting incidents in recent weeks, the Lewiston Police Department, alongside city officials and the Androscoggin County district attorney, will be holding a press conference Thursday to announce their plan to increase public safety. The press conference is slated to be held at the Lewiston City Hall Council Chambers at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday. [RELATED: Shooting Interrupts Refugee Group’s ‘Family Fun Day’ Back-to-School Event in Lewiston…] City officials, Lewiston Police Chief David St. Pierre, Androscoggin County District Attorney Neil McLean, and “community partners and stakeholders” will be at the press conference to “discuss the recent…

Following a surge in the amount of money spent under the municipal welfare program known as General Assistance, the Mills Administration is seeking to establish an online database to better manage welfare applicants and recipients. General Assistance is a welfare program through which municipalities provide low-income or indigent individuals and families — regardless of citizenship or immigration status — with vouchers to pay for housing, food, utilities and other basic necessities. While the program is administered by municipalities, the state is required by law to reimburse those municipalities for 70 percent of their General Assistance spending. [RELATED: Portland Spends 50…

On Friday, the Maine Wire reported on a leaked ICE memo that listed hundreds of jails and police agencies around the country that it claimed do not honor ICE detainer requests or offer only limited cooperation in helping ICE apprehend illegal aliens wanted to deportation. Now, two Maine sheriffs whose jails were listed in a leaked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) report as offering “limited cooperation” to the federal immigration agency are pushing back on what they say is an unfair characterization. [RELATED: Two Maine Jails Are Releasing Illegal Aliens Without Notifying ICE, Agency Says…] ICE lodges immigration detainers…

Just a day after Republican candidate for Maine’s 2nd Congressional District Austin Theriault announced that he would be participating in a stock car race to fundraise for the victims and survivors of the Oct. 25 mass shootings in Lewiston, an opportunistic U.S. Rep. Jared Golden pledged to donate $50,000 from his campaign fund to the same cause. On the evening of Oct. 25, 2023, 40-year-old Army Reservist Robert Card opened fire at Just-In-Time Recreation and Schemengees Bar and Grille in Lewiston, killing 18 people and wounding more than a dozen others. Since the mass murder spree roiled Maine, several efforts…

A homeless man is facing robbery and criminal threatening charges after allegedly entering a U.S. Post Office in Portland and demanding money while threatening to shoot the clerk, according to the Portland Police Department. According to police, at about 6:30 p.m. on Monday, a 32-year-old male entered the Post Office on 125 Forest Ave in Portland. After approaching the counter, the male suspect demanded the register be opened and threatened to shoot the clerk, police said. Jacobie Jefferson, 32 | Source: Cumberland County Jail The clerk reportedly refused to open the register and the suspect quickly fled the scene with…

At a “Year of the Gen Z Vote” panel discussion during last week’s Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago, a Democratic candidate for the Maine State House described her previous work experience as a professional dancer and bartender, and stated her ambition to run for U.S. Senate and keep Maine “leading the nation” in abortion and transgender medical treatments. One of two panelists was Ellie Sato, 27, a Democratic candidate running for State Representative in House District 109, covering parts of east and north Gorham. Sato, works a legislative aide at the State House in Augusta, is also the chairperson…

A back-to-school event with over 300 attendees at Lewiston’s McGraw Park on Friday was interrupted by a teen male firing a gun into the air and ground, according to the Lewiston Police Department. [RELATED: 17-year-old Dead at Public Housing Complex in One of Three Weekend Shootings in Lewiston…] Lewiston Police say that they responded to a shots fired incident at McGraw Park shortly before 7 p.m. on Friday. Maine Immigrant and Refugee Services (MEIRS), a Lewiston-based migrant advocacy nonprofit, was holding their third annual “Family Fun Day” back-to-school event in the park at the time. Police said that when they…

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. suspended his campaign Friday and endorsed former President Donald Trump, but he will remain on the ballot in Maine unless he withdraws by 5pm on Tuesday. RFK Jr. announced his decision at an address to the nation in downtown Phoenix, Ariz., a state where Trump is set to hold a rally later in the day alongside an unnamed “special guest.” [RELATED: RFK Jr. Calls His Exclusion from CNN Presidential Debate ‘undemocratic, un-American, and cowardly’…] Kennedy said that he will not be terminating his campaign, but will be removing his name from the ballot…

New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella has filed Civil Rights Act complaint against a man accused of vandalizing a Jewish temple in Portsmouth this April, an act which allegedly involved the smashing of two antique lanterns with a hammer. Kevin O’Leary, 31, of Portsmouth, N.H. | Source: Portsmouth Police Department The Portsmouth Police Department launched an investigation into the vandalism incident on April 9, which resulted in the arrest of 31-year-old Kevin O’Leary of Portsmouth on charges of criminal mischief and hate-motivated criminal mischief. Police said the incident, which occurred on the night of April 8 at Temple Israel in…

The Portland public schools are aiming to ensure that all students have equal outcomes and equal experiences, according to a revealing presentation delivered at a meeting of a Portland Board of Public Education committee on Thursday. Portland’s “Attendance Boundaries Advisory Committee” has begun its work to evaluate and make recommendations for redrawing the school district’s attendance boundaries in order to address “demographic disparities.” The goal of the new equity-based boundaries will be, according to the committee, to eliminate all differences in outcomes and experiences across the student population. In June, the Board voted to adopt a resolution establishing the community…

Maine’s Democratic members of Congress, Jared Golden and Chellie Pingree, supported a $500,000 taxpayer-funded “environmental justice” grant for a left-wing activist group — the same group that’s now offering to pay $21 per hour for left-wing activists to canvass Maine’s Second Congressional District from now until the Nov. 5 elections. On Oct. 25, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a tranche of $3.5 million in grants that were awarded to six projects in Maine geared towards advancing “environmental justice.” The funding for the grants came from President Joe Biden’s 2022 Inflation Reduction Act — which authorized nearly $400…

Two county jails in Maine have been designated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as being in “limited cooperation” with the agency by releasing illegal aliens from custody without providing notification to ICE, according to ICE’s June 2024 Detainer Acceptance Report. ICE works with local law enforcement agencies to lodge immigration detainers against unlawfully present noncitizens that have been arrested on criminal charges and who the agency has probable cause to believe are deportable from the U.S. The detainers are a request from ICE to the law enforcement agencies to hold the illegal aliens in custody and to notify…

A man who led police on multiple chases through the Portland area late last year has pleaded guilty to the illegal possession of a firearm due to multiple prior felony convictions. Mohamud Abdullahi, 31, who entered his guilty plea in U.S. District Court in Portland on Monday, was the subject of two police chases involving the South Portland and Portland Police Departments in November and December of 2023. Mohamud Abdullahi, 31 | Source: Cumberland County Jail On Nov 22., 2023, Abdullahi was suspected of firing several rounds from a firearm in the area of 262 Commercial St. in Portland. According to…

A Brazilian national who entered the U.S. illegally in 2021 has been taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportation officers after he was charged in Massachusetts with attempted murder, stalking and kidnapping. According to ICE, 33-year-old Brazilian national Evandro Ribeiro-Rosa illegally crossed the southern border from Mexico into Arizona in September 2021, at which time he was released from Border Patrol custody with a notice to appear before a Department of Justice immigration judge. On July 16, 2024, Ribeiro-Rosa was arrested in Worcester, Mass., on charges of attempted murder, stalking, intimidation, kidnapping and two counts of vandalizing…

The Independent Commission to Investigate the Facts of the Tragedy in Lewiston on Tuesday released its final report on the Oct. 25, 2023, shootings that claimed 18 lives and injured 13 others. [RELATED: Maine Gov Calls for “Independent” Commission to Review Police, Army Failures and Botched Investigation Around Robert Card’s Lewiston Murder Spree…] The 215-page report is the result of over 16 public hearings, several private meetings and the review of a large quantity of documents and records undertaken by the Independent Commission since it was established by executive order by Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) in November 2023. On…

Starting on Monday, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USICS) began accepting parole applications for an estimated 550,000 noncitizen spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens as part of the Biden administration’s implementation of their “Keeping Families Together” program. The application for the so-called “parole in place” program was unveiled by the Department of Homeland Security in a Federal Register notice published on Monday. Under the program, noncitizen spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens who are currently living in the country without admission or parole, and who have been continuously present in the country since at least June 17, 2014, will be…

A 38-year-old Auburn man who is the subject of a long-term drug trafficking investigation related to the sale of marijuana to juveniles has been arrested for allegedly robbing and assaulting a 15-year-old, according to the Auburn Police Department. Police say that as a result of a long-term investigation into a suspected drug trafficking operation at 93 Fifth St. in Auburn, investigators learned that 38-year-old Ryan Jolicoeur was selling marijuana to a customer base that included local juveniles. 38-year-old Ryan Jolicoeur | Source: Auburn Police Department On Sunday, police received a report from a 15-year-old male who said he was walking…

A juvenile male was injured in a drive-by shooting that occurred early Monday morning near the intersection of Pine and Jefferson Street in Lewiston, according to the Lewiston Police Department. [RELATED: Lewiston Police Investigate Shots Fired Incident at Public Housing Complex Where Teen was Found Dead Last Week…] Monday’s shooting comes just weeks after a 17-year-old male was found dead at the scene of a shooting at a public housing complex of Lewiston — one of a series of shots fired incidents police have responded to in the city this summer. According to Lewiston Police, at about 1 a.m. on…

A man is facing multiple assault charges after being arrested in connection to a baseball attack outside Portland’s Homeless Services Center that left two injured, one with life-threatening injuries. [RELATED: Portland’s Homeless Services Center Reports High Number of “Out-of-State” Intakes…] 44-year-old Ramon Nunez-Rosario | Source: Cumberland County Jail Portland Police announced on Monday that they arrested 44-year-old Ramon Nunez-Rosario in connection to the assault. According to police, shortly after 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, officers were dispatched to the wooded area behind the Homeless Services Center at 654 Riverside Street for a report of a male suspect who was assaulting people.…

At a Sanford City Council meeting last week, during which it was decided that the city’s three polling locations would be reduced to a single location, Mayor Becky Brink told a Christian pastor whose school gym previously served as a voting location that a “conflict of interest” was a cause for concern and a motivation behind the decision to remove the facility as a polling place. Last Tuesday, the Sanford City Council voted 5-2 to consolidate the city’s three voting ward locations to one, making the Sanford High School gym the city’s sole voting site for this November’s election and…

An illegal alien wanted for attempted murder in Brazil was deported last month by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after federal authorities located the fugitive hiding in Massachusetts, according to a Monday press release by ICE. Felipe Augusto De Oliveira, a 23-year-old Brazilian national illegally crossed into the U.S. near Lukeville, Ariz., in March of 2023, ICE said. De Oliveira, who was wanted by Brazilian authorities for the charge of attempted homicide, was apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol officials, but was issued a notice to appear before a Department of Justice immigration judge and released into the U.S. on…

The City of Portland is expected to reopen discussion of implementing a Payment-in-Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) program in order to extract revenue from tax exempt property owners, such as hospitals, universities, nonprofit organizations and churches. [RELATED: Maine City Exploring Universal Basic Income Program, $20/Hour Minimum Wage…] The Portland City Council’s Finance Committee will discuss the development of a PILOT policy at their meeting this Tuesday, though will not take any action on implementing the policy at the meeting. PILOT refers to payments made to governments in the place of property taxes meant to pull revenue from tax exempt organizations. The…

After more than a week of investigating without an arrest, Portland Police announced on Friday that they have arrested a 47-year-old man from Naples in connection to the fatal July 30 shooting near Morrill’s Corner on Forest Avenue. Police say a warrant was issued on Thursday for the arrest of Aaron Karp, 47, of Naples, for the charge of murdering 52-year-old Susan McHugh of Gray. Karp surrendered after learning of the arrest warrant and was taken into custody at the Portland Police Station that evening, police say. He is being held at the Cumberland County Jail with no bail. Aaron…

A registrant in the Maine Sex Offender Registry was arrested on Thursday after a juvenile victim and witnesses came forward with allegations against the sex offender for dozens of sexual assaults against a female minor since the spring of 2023, according to the Rumford Police Department. [RELATED: Nearly Half of Maine Sex Offenders Released Between 2005 and 2019 Offended Again: USM Report…] Rumford Police say they arrested Christopher Lee Sheldon, 39, of Rumford, on two counts of gross sexual assault and one count of failure to comply with registration requirements of the sex offender registry program — both felony-level offenses.…

A man found guilty of committing a stabbing attack in a Westbrook parking lot this January has been received a suspended prison sentence of nine years, the Westbrook Police Department announced on Thursday. On Jan. 30, 2023 police responded to a reported stabbing in a parking lot on Main Street in Westbrook. The victim of the stabbing attack was transported to the hospital and survived, police said. The suspected assailant, 38-year-old Damian Green of Westbrook, was located and arrested the day after the attack by police. Green was charged with aggravated attempted murder, terrorizing, assault on an officer, refusing to…

Just 90 days away from the presidential election this November, the City of Sanford is moving forward with a proposal to reduce the city’s three polling locations to a single location at a high school gym for all future elections. Proponents of the change believe that the consolidation will make it easier and cheaper to staff and provide police presence at the singular polling place. Critics say the move will cause confusion and make it harder to vote in-person on election day. The Sanford City Council held a public hearing and a vote on the proposed consolidation at a meeting…

The University of New England (UNE) announced on Wednesday that it is launching four new online courses this fall for certificate programs related to the cannabis industry. The online certificate programs, a collaboration with California-based education platform Green Flower, cover topics in cannabis healthcare and medicine, agriculture and horticulture, business, product development and design, and compliance and risk management. Each program consists of eight-week online courses and costs $2,950 to enroll. “The cannabis industry is one of the fastest growing market opportunities here in Maine and across the country,” said Beth Taylor-Nolan, Ed.D., dean of UNE Online. “As an institution committed to providing…

A man wanted for a felony domestic violence charge was found on Tuesday by Auburn Police in possession of a handgun and a significant quantity of illegal drugs, the agency announced on Wednesday. Omar M. Omar, 29 | Source: Auburn PD According to Auburn Police, at about 3 p.m. on Tuesday officers responded to 21 Spring St. in Auburn in an attempt to locate 29-year-old Omar M. Omar, who was wanted on an outstanding warrant for felony domestic violence. Police say Omar was located at the address, and a search warrant was drafted and executed for the residence. During the…

Maine’s Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) is looking to spend an estimated $2.7 million in grants on efforts to attract “racial, ethnic, and linguistic minorities” into the state’s workforce, according to a Request for Applications (RFA) document published by the Mills administration last week. [RELATED: Mills Admin, Nonprofits, and Big Biz Back New Migrant Resettlement Agency for Maine…] The Mills administration is seeking applications for up to twelve projects which will “broaden the talent pool of key industries by improving equitable workforce participation of racial, ethnic, and linguistic minorities at Maine employers,” the document states. The funding of these…

While no arrests have yet been made, Portland Police announced on Tuesday that the investigation into last week’s fatal shooting near Morrill’s Corner on Forest Avenue is ongoing. At around 8:45 p.m. on July 30, police responded to the area of 1155 Forest Avenue for reports of a shooting. Four people were hospitalized as a result of the shooting, three males and one female. The woman, 54-year-old Susan McHugh of Gray, died from a gunshot wound. Her death was ruled a homicide by the Office of Chief Medical Examiner. The three male victims were identified by police on Tuesday as a…

A Portland man was struck and killed by a train near Morrill’s Corner on Tuesday evening, according to the Portland Police Department. Police say they responded to the area of Morrill’s Corner for a report of a train striking a pedestrian shortly after 8 p.m. on Tuesday. Brett Staples, 34, of Portland, was identified by police as the pedestrian who was struck by the train. Staples was transported to Maine Medical Center where he later died from his injuries, police said. The Portland Police Department and Amtrak Railroad Police are investigating the accident. Police said on Wednesday that no charges…

Migrants detained in facilities operated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will no longer receive over eight hours of taxpayer-funded cell phone minutes per month, a move the agency says will save over $10 million. ICE, the agency that oversees the nation’s civil immigration detention system, says that they implemented the phone minutes program during the COVID-19 pandemic in order to ensure migrants could contact their families and legal counsel. Typically, ICE takes noncitizen migrants into custody that are considered flight risks, national security threats, pose a substantial risk to public safety, or are subject to mandatory detention and…

Nearly 100 migrants on the terrorist watchlist were released in the United States after illegally crossing the southern border under the Biden-Harris administration, according to a report released Monday by the House Judiciary Committee. [RELATED: Former FBI Officials Warn Congressional Leaders of National Security Threats Posed by Southern Border ‘Invasion’…] According to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) data provided to the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee, between 2021 and 2023, of the more than 250 illegal aliens on the Terrorist Screening Dataset (TSDS) — also known as the “watchlist” — that were encountered by Border Patrol at the southwest border, 99…

An investigation launched early last year into a fraudulent vehicle purchasing scheme that targeted online sellers has concluded with the conviction of a 20-year-old from Portland, the Westbrook Police Department announced Monday. In early 2023, Westbrook Police began investigating a criminal scheme in which a suspect would purchase a vehicle being sold online with a fraudulent check. Westbrook Police detectives initiated an undercover operation in March of last year that culminated in the arrests of an adult and juvenile male. The two suspects attempted to flee the scene but were apprehended following a foot pursuit, police said. Law enforcement seized…

Lewiston City Council President Scott Harriman last week weighed in on a debate surrounding the installing of public toilets in the city with a bizarre admission — that he he has publicly urinated in Lewiston parking garages and alleys “several times.” Harriman made the shocking statement in the comments of a Facebook post by the Lewiston Sun Journal regarding the installation of public bathrooms around the city. Many of the comments on the Facebook post expressed concerns over how the public bathrooms would be cleaned and if they would encourage drug use by the city’s homeless population. “I would hate…

A Sedgwick man is facing up to 60 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to producing and sharing child pornography, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maine announced on Friday. Travis Bessey, 29, pleaded guilty on Friday in U.S. District Court in Bangor to two counts of producing child sexual abuse material. In court records, federal prosecutors alleged that in May 2021, Bessey participated in a chat room on the application Kik dedicated to the sharing of child pornography. A Department of Homeland Security Investigations (DHS-HSI) special agent monitoring the Kik chat room observed a user, who…

After reports of a biological man using the women’s locker room at a Missouri Life Time Fitness, the state’s Attorney General Andrew Bailey (R) announced on Friday that he will be investigating the commercial gym chain for “putting Missouri’s women and girls in harm’s way.” According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the controversy stems from a 52-year-old biological man named Eris Montano who on Monday was confronted by a female gym-goer at an Ellisville, Mo. Life Time Fitness for using the women’s locker room. [RELATED: Maine AG Aaron Frey Backs Taxpayer Funded Castrations for West Virginians…] In a Facebook post…

A man’s attempt to hide illegal drugs from law enforcement by flushing them down the toilet of a Waterville residence was thwarted after the baggies of crack cocaine and fentanyl clogged the toilet, leading to the man’s arrest, the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency (MDEA) announced Thursday. Omar Sims Marquez, 21, who the MDEA says recently moved to Waterville from Connecticut, was arrested on Thursday on charges of unlawful aggravated trafficking in schedule drugs (fentanyl), unlawful trafficking in schedule drugs (cocaine base) and falsifying physical evidence. According to MDEA, the arrest comes after a three-month investigation into illegal drug trafficking occurring…

An anonymous local hero was able to get a Portland city employee a parking ticket after reminding the city’s parking control officer that Maine is, in fact, “not a communist state.” On Thursday, a disgruntled Portland resident posted to the city’s 311 SeeClickFix portal, an online tool for residents to report quality of life issues, such as discarded hypodermic needles, trash, homeless camps and parking violations. The anonymous user shared a picture of a Nissan Rogue — that they claimed belongs to a Portland city employee — parked illegally in a “no parking any time” zone on Oak Street. “I…

Over three months since an illegal alien caused a car crash on I-95 in Wells that left a Maine woman dead and her husband in critical condition, authorities remain silent on the investigation and on whether the migrant will ever be charged with a crime. [RELATED: Man Involved in Four-Car Crash That Left Maine Woman Dead Entered U.S. Illegally in January: Oguzhan Cildir…] On the morning of Friday, April 26, police and emergency vehicles responded to a four-car pileup near Exit 20 on I-95 in Wells. According to a Maine Department of Public Safety (DPS) statement at the time, an…

Last month border agents in Arizona intercepted a shipment of approximately four million fentanyl pills in the largest seizure of the narcotic in the history of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the agency announced on Thursday. According to CBP, on July 1, officers at the Lukeville, Ariz., port of entry stopped a pickup truck hauling an SUV on a utility trailer driven by a 20-year-old U.S. citizen for an inspection. With assistance from a CBP canine team, officers discovered “anomalies” in the frame of the trailer and found 234 packages of drugs concealed within the frame of the trailer,…

One of the four victims that was hospitalized after a Tuesday evening shooting on Forest Avenue in Portland has died from a gunshot wound, and her death was ruled a homicide by the Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME), Portland Police announced Wednesday. Susan McHugh, 54, of Gray, was identified by police as one of the four people that were injured in the shooting that occurred at about 8:45 p.m. on Tuesday near Morrill’s Corner. [RELATED: Four Hospitalized After Shooting in Portland…] According to Portland Police, McHugh was transported from the scene to Maine Medical Center following the shooting, where she…

A Kentucky woman who founded a charitable nonprofit organization meant to host Ukrainian orphans in the U.S. was sentenced on Wednesday in a Maine federal court for visa fraud and spending over $120,000 of donations on personal expenses, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maine. Colleen Holt-Thompson, 58, founder of the Kentucky-based nonprofit “Host Ukraine,” was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Portland to three years of probation and ordered to pay $172,158 in restitution. Holt-Thompson pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit visa fraud and tax evasion in January. According to court records, Holt-Thompson founded Host…

The man accused of stealing a 54-year-old Maryland woman’s car in broad daylight over the weekend in Virginia on Sunday, and then running her over and killing her, is a Salvadoran national who is living the U.S. illegally as a “gotaway,” according to local and federal law enforcement. The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office released the identity of the suspected carjacker, 21-year-old Jose Aguilar-Martinez, on Tuesday. The Sheriff’s Office stated that Aguilar-Martinez had no fixed address but had been most recently residing in Sterling, Va. Loudoun Sherriff’s deputies responded to the fatal carjacking at about 11:40 a.m. on Sunday in Sterling.…

In a Tuesday hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), U.S. Senator from Maine Angus King (I) invoked 13th century Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan to push for increased Defense Department spending on new weapons technology. [RELATED: Angus King Wants American Military Using “Off the Shelf” Gear While Biden Admin Sends Ukraine Billions…] Chair of the National Defense Commission Jane Harman appeared before the Senate Committee on Wednesday to discuss a report published by the Commission on the United States’ defense strategy, weapon procurement, nuclear deterrence and other threats to national security. In an exchange with Harman, Sen. King questioned…

The Portland Police Department is investigating an apparent shooting that occurred near Morrill’s Corner Tuesday evening that resulted in four people being hospitalized. Police and emergency vehicles responded to the scene of a reported shots fired at about 8:45 p.m. on Tuesday at Morrill’s Corner. Portland Police issued a traffic alert on X at 9:20 p.m. closing traffic from Bell Street to Morrill’s Corner, and urging the public to avoid the area “for a major incident.” At around 11 p.m., Portland Police stated that they were on the scene of the 1100 block of Forest Avenue, from where four victims…

A former basketball coach at a Massachusetts high school is facing federal charges for allegedly transporting a former student across state lines to engage in unlawful sexual conduct, U.S. Attorney for the District of New Hampshire Jane Young announced on Monday. Jesus Moore, 35, the former men’s basketball coach at Lawrence High School, is charged with one count of transportation to engage in unlawful sexual conduct. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Moore surrendered to authorities and appeared in federal court on Monday. He was released on conditions. Federal prosecutors allege that on or about March 7, 2022, Moore transported…

On Monday, South Portland Police released the identities of one of the two male teens who escaped from South Portland’s Long Creek Youth Development Center on Friday and allegedly fled in a stolen car. [RELATED: Law Enforcement Still Searching for Unidentified Youths who Escaped Long Creek, Fled in Stolen Car…] Davyn Flynn, 18, of Portland, was the older of the two youths who are accused of escaping from the juvenile detention center and then stealing a car from a nearby parking lot before fleeing. Police released a photo of Flynn from a recent booking at Cumberland County Jail. Davyn Flynn, 18,…

A Westbrook man pleaded guilty in federal court in Portland on Monday to robbing a bank in South Portland in January, during which he allegedly threatened a teller with setting off a bomb, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maine. Jason Arsenault, 41, who police described at the time as a “transient male,” was arrested in February on robbery, theft and terrorizing charges in connection to the robbery of Key Bank in South Portland on Jan. 26. After his arrest, Arsenault confessed and led investigators to the location of nearly all of the $30,000 that was…