Bees in Peru now have the legal right to file lawsuits.It’s all the buzz – insects that can hire lawyers.In the towns of Satipo and Nauta, Peru, voters have approved ordinances recognizing native stingless bees as legal subjects with rights to exist, thrive, and be defended in court.IndianDefenceReview.com says it is the first time any country has granted legal rights to an insect species.The ordinances apply specifically to stingless bees of the Peruvian Amazon and…

Gov. Janet Mills has dropped out of a planned midcoast debate featuring Maine’s Democrat U.S. Senate candidates, organizers said Sunday.Colin Woodard, identifying himself as the moderator, was quoted in a social-media post that Mills has cancelled her scheduled faceoff with Graham Platner.The matchup organized by area Democrat groups has been set for April 11 in Topsham at Orion Performing Arts Center.“Mills just pulled out of the debate,” Woodard announced Sunday. “Scheduling conflict I’m told.”He called…

A New Hampshire man was arrested on Thursday after he allegedly attacked an NH state trooper unprovoked and attempted to steal his firearm after following him to a parking lot. [RELATED: Tour Bus Carrying Massachusetts Children Catches Fire in NH…] At approximately 2:00 p.m., an NH State Trooper was parked in a lot on Dover Point Road in Dover, completing administrative tasks in his cruiser. While the trooper was stopped, another vehicle pulled up next…

Lewiston – Maine. Bobbi Nichols, a survivor of the Lewiston mass shooting who lost her sister, Tricia Asselin, in the attack, has filed a federal lawsuit against the United States alleging the massacre could have been prevented. The suit, filed Monday, April 6, in U.S. District Court in Portland, argues that federal officials failed to act despite repeated warning signs about gunman Robert Card in the months before the Oct. 25, 2023 shootings. Card, an…

WASHINGTON — The Democratic Party’s online fundraising platform, ActBlue, is under fresh scrutiny following allegations of internal legal warnings that it may have misled Congress regarding safeguards against foreign contributions, even as Maine Democrat hopeful Graham Platner relies on the service as a preferred financing mechanism. Graham Platner directs his supporters to donate through his dedicated ActBlue page that also emphasizes rejection of support from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, cementing his firm progressive…

President Donald Trump has been briefed following reports of a downed United States F-15 Strike Eagle fighter jet over southern Iran that unleashed a relentless rescue mission that has so far recovered one crew member as the search continues for a second crew member. The news broke this morning across social media channels as Iranian authorities in the country’s mountainous region claimed responsibility, surging U.S. search and rescue efforts to locate the crew. President Trump…

Maine is among the 23 states suing the Trump Administration over the president’s executive order outlining new federal actions intended to strengthen election integrity, enhance citizenship verification, and establish uniform standards for mail-in and absentee ballots. Led by California and filed in a Massachusetts court, the challenge alleges that the directives represent an unconstitutional attempt to interfere with the states’ administration of elections. According to the lawsuit, neither the Constitution nor any federal law gives…

AUGUSTA – Republican lawmakers are intensifying criticism of Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) following new developments in the case of one-year-old Eleanora McLaughlin, the Milford infant who died of hypothermia late last year. According to information released Tuesday by Senate Republicans, McLaughlin’s siblings are now in DHHS custody following a custodial dispute involving their grandmother, Michele Dupuis. Dupuis has been arrested and charged with criminal restraint after allegedly refusing visitation to the…

Paul Kelley didn’t bring world peace but he turned a TV shopping channel into a multi-billion-dollar entertainment bonanza.Kelley, one of the QVC network’s original program “hosts” 40 years ago, died earlier this week.He worked as an on-air “host” and commentator from 1986 to 1993.Kelley then took on a role as a QVC “ambassador” and “consultant” from 1994 to 2003.The QVC brand has Kelley to thank for turning TV shopping into a virtual corporate gold mine,…

Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey and Gov. Janet Mills (D) celebrated Thursday after a federal appeals court rejected the Trump Administration’s request to allow the federal government to impose new rules for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Continuum of Care program. A coalition of twenty states, including Maine, has argued that these rules would sharply limit how much of the grants can go toward permanent housing and renewals. The complaint also…

The state’s largest newspaper announced it was celebrating “Local News Day” by taking down its paywall.Oops.The paywall remained in place Thursday morning – “Local News Day” – amid the paper’s trying to show what a great job it does.Stefanie Manning, the paper’s CEO, wrote a column Thursday announcing that “today, we’re celebrating something we care deeply about: local news.”To show readers how much she cares about local news, Manning not only screwed up the paywall.She…

The cost of heating fuel in Maine has remained above $5 per gallon, according to the Maine Department of Energy Resources (DOER). Heating oil’s per gallon price tag of $5.37 per gallon represents a 41 percent increase since February. As of March 30, kerosene prices averaged at $6.25 per gallon. Estimations based on a standard 275-gallon oil tank indicates that Mainers are now paying an additional $475 for a fill-up compared to February. Heating fuel…

A widely-followed international foodie website is glowing over a Maine gas station’s high-octane pizza.Good pizza at a gas station?Not only good but great, according to Mashed.com.A radio guy named “Kid” at i95Rocks.com reports that Mashed singled out J Brothers Variety in Cumberland and Arundel as the go-to gas station for pizza.“The website Mashed is the ultimate destination for food lovers,” according to Kid.“When you think of getting pizza from the same place that you get…

House lawmakers have advanced along nearly partisan lines a bill supporting the conversion of vacant school buildings into residential housing. Sponsored by Rep. Traci Gere (D-Kennebunkport), LD 2164 posits allocating $5 million in the 2026-27 fiscal year to the proposed Maine School Conversion Fund, portions of which would be used for a variety of expenses associated with transforming empty school buildings into usable housing. Termed the Vacant School Housing Conversion Program, the proposed initiative would…

Maine dog owners are being urged to take steps to protect their pets from a potentially deadly virus.The Midcoast Animal Emergency Clinic in Warren is seeing a significant increase in canine parvovirus cases throughout the midcoast and Augusta areas, according to WABI-TV.Clinic staff also said they have been told about possible contamination at Quarry Hill Dog Park in Portland. Parvi is one of the most serious viruses that dogs and puppies can get.The virus typically…