The Chili’s restaurant chain is making sure it doesn’t get confused with a competitor requiring “business casual.”Ruth’s Chris, a steak house mostly in the southern and western U.S., got some serious ribbing from the Chili’s suits over its new dress code.Ruthie went viral on X after a user posted about its dress code prohibiting sportswear and baseball hats, Dallas Morning News reports. The upscale restaurant’s website says “business casual – proper attire” is required and…

SANFORD, Maine — A Sanford man accused of running a fraudulent commercial driver’s license school in York County was allegedly training students for years before state investigators brought charges, according to a competing truck driving school owner who says he warned the DMV as far back as 2023. Paul Rumery of Sanford is now facing eight charges after authorities accused him of operating an unlicensed CDL training operation that investigators say took thousands of dollars…

NEW HAMPSHIRE — A resident and real estate developer from Bow, New Hampshire has been indicted on federal bank fraud charges after he secured a $3.8 million dollar loan through a scheme targeting a prominent commercial building in Manchester. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Hampshire announced Thursday that Charles Sargent, 37, faces one count of bank fraud in connection with alleged efforts to finance an acquisition of the Chase Block Building…

The Maine State Housing Authority announced Thursday that the Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) will continue accepting applications through May 29, 2026. This federally funded program is designed to help eligible low- and moderate-income households pay a portion of their home heating costs. MaineHousing officials have explained that funding is still currently available for the program but warned that demand may increase as winter continues amidst rising prices. “MaineHousing and our community action agency partners…

The Cumberland Sheriff’s Department arrested a Massachusetts man wanted for homicide in Baldwin on Saturday after they encountered him by chance during a wellness check. [RELATED: Fugitive On the Run Since 2023 Arrested with Help from K9 Unit…] At approximately 10:45 p.m., Cumberland deputies responded to a Bridgeton Road address after callers requested a wellness check for a male in a vehicle. When deputies arrived, they initially believed the man in the vehicle was unconscious.…

The Maine Drug Enforcement Agency (MDEA) arrested a Vassalboro man on Wednesday and seized 2,000 grams of cocaine following an eight-month investigation into drug trafficking operations. [RELATED: MDEA Arrests Three in New Gloucester Morning Raid…] For the past eight months, the MDEA has been investigating alleged drug trafficking operations out of the Weber Pond Road residence of Edwin Lawrance, 24, of Vassalboro. On Wednesday, agents learned that Lawrence was allegedly on his way back to…

LEWISTON, Maine — The Lewiston City Council voted 5–2 Tuesday night to approve an “emergency” ordinance restricting city employees, including the Lewiston Police Department, from assisting federal immigration enforcement, after a tense council debate and more than an hour of packed public comment that exposed a city sharply divided over ICE’s recent presence in Maine. Supporters framed the measure as a temporary “bridge” until a similar state law takes effect this summer. Opponents blasted it…

AUGUSTA, Maine – The Maine Senate on Tuesday formally recognized Steve Robinson, editor in chief of The Maine Wire, honoring him for receiving a national journalism award for investigative reporting. Robinson was recognized on the Senate floor after receiving the 2025 Dao Prize for Best Multimedia Reporting, presented by the National Journalism Center. The prize was awarded for Robinson’s investigative series examining the role of Chinese criminal organizations in rural America, work that lawmakers said…

YORK COUNTY, Maine – Republican gubernatorial candidate Ben Midgley won a straw poll held at the York County Republican official caucus last Saturday, his campaign said, describing the result as the first test of support in the party’s primary contest. The campaign said Midgley “won big,” defeating the next closest candidate by double digits. “My common-sense conservative message is resonating,” said Ben Midgley. “Maine Republicans know my background of going from food stamps to building…

As 2025 winds down, one-word towers above the rest in American public life: fraud. Not inflation. Not immigration. Not even war.Fraud. From city halls to state agencies to the halls of Congress, revelations of waste, abuse, deception, and outright criminality have dominated headlines in 2025. What once might have been dismissed as isolated incidents has hardened into a pattern, one too consistent, too widespread, and too bipartisan to ignore. We are not learning about a…

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

A Democrat U.S. Senate contender from Maine is suddenly showing off a new suit, while taking a dig at a big name politician who rarely wears one and whose former staff he now employs. In a Facebook post Thursday night, Graham Platner went after fellow Democrat John Fetterman of Pennsylvania. “I want to be clear,” Platner posted. “If I’m in the Senate, I would proudly wear a suit and show respect for the history of…

A citizen’s initiative aimed at ending the sale and production of recreational cannabis in Maine can now begin collecting signatures to put the question on the 2026 ballot after Secretary of State Shenna Bellows approved the initiative’s application on Monday. [RELATED: Mysterious Marijuana-Linked Vomiting Disorder Gets Official WHO Code as Emergency Room Cases Surge…] The initiative aims to place a referendum question before voters next November that would significantly amend the “Act to Amend the…

A tip about a suspicious vehicle led Old Orchard Beach police to a significant drug bust Saturday afternoon. Police officers responded to a local business just after 1 p.m. for a report of a suspicious vehicle, according to a press release from the Old Orchard Beach Police Department. Inside, they identified two women, Heidi Aldrich and Denise Cassette. A search uncovered 33.3 grams of cocaine, 9.2 grams of cocaine base, and a significant amount of…

As Lewiston plunges deeper into the scandal surrounding councilor-elect Iman Osman, attorney and Democratic legislative hopeful Kiernan Majerus-Collins is once again emerging as one of the most pugnacious figures in the city, reviving a long trail of controversies from his years in local politics, school governance, and statewide activism. Majerus-Collins had already thrust himself into Osman’s defense just before the councilor-elect faced felony gun charges during the residency investigation stemming from his claim of living…