The Wells Police Department became the first local Maine law enforcement agency to join a partnership program with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Wednesday, empowering the department to work as immigration enforcers. [RELATED: NH State Police Join List of Law Enforcement Partnering with ICE While Maine Agencies Remain Off the List…] Wells Police Chief Jo-Ann Putnam confirmed to the Maine Morning Star that Wells applied to participate in ICE’s 287(g) program two weeks ago,…

Jacky Watt – UNSPLASH

A state senator apparently forgot to stop, look and listen before trying to name a Maine railroad crossing for a Florida tourist with no local ties. Locals in the picturesque coastal village of Wiscasset can’t figure out what Rachel Talbot Ross, D-Portland, was thinking. Or, more to the point, why she sprung it on them with no warning. At a recent hearing they questioned why Ross would name a crossing for someone from Florida with…

A federal appeals court has reinstated a lawsuit brought by a Maine substance abuse counselor who alleges a state judge used his authority to sexually harass her, ruling that the judge is not shielded by qualified immunity. In a decision issued Thursday, the First Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that Samantha Pike, who worked with the Penobscot County Adult Treatment and Recovery Court (TRC), had plausibly alleged that Judge Charles F. Budd Jr. created a…

The question now isn’t whether President Trump will ever invite the country’s top judge to his Mar-A-Lago hideout for a round of golf. Now it’s whether the chief U.S. Supreme Court justice will ever invite the president to his Maine vacation home for a round of lobster. Make that homes – plural. The Chief Justice, John Roberts, who owns not one but two summer vacation homes in St. George, Maine, lectured Trump on Tuesday after…

GOP lawmakers are looking to reinstate the property tax stabilization program for Maine’s older homeowners that previously had been repealed after just one year. Referred to the Taxation Committee Tuesday, LD 1144 was sponsored by Sen. Jim Libby (R-Cumberland) and cosponsored by Sen. Bruce Bickford (R-Androscoggin) and Sen. Trey Stewart (R-Aroostook). Originally introduced in 2022, this program allows eligible seniors to stop their property tax bills from increasing year over year, locking in the cost…

The Lewiston Police Department on Tuesday issued an update on their investigation into a shooting that occurred outside of a mosque Friday evening, stating that both the victim who suffered a gunshot wound and the members of the mosque have been uncooperative with police. Police responded to Masjidu Salaam Mosque at 243 Bartlett St. in Lewiston at about 9:45 p.m. on Friday to numerous reports of gunfire heard in the area. Upon arrival at the…

The New Hampshire State Police arrested a Somersworth, NH, man, Shawn P. Weiner Sr., 35, on Sunday after receiving numerous reports that a completely nude man was running down the travel lanes of a highway. [RELATED: NH State Police Join List of Law Enforcement Partnering with ICE While Maine Agencies Remain Off the List…] State and local police responded to Route 16 in Dover, NH, and quickly located the nude Weiner. A preliminary investigation revealed…

An illegal alien who was arrested late last year and found to be a member of the Venezuelan transnational criminal street gang Tren de Aragua has been deported to Ecuador, U.S. Border Patrol Houlton Sector announced Sunday. According to Border Patrol, a resident agent assigned to Maine’s Calais Station arrested the foreign national near Old Orchard Beach in December 2024 for illegal reentry after deportation. Source: USBP Houlton Sector / Facebook A subsequent investigation into…

A Windham man with a suspended driver’s license was arrested last week for operating under the influence (OUI) and multiple other charges after he allegedly sped past Westbrook High School at over 65 miles per hour, police say. The speed limit in school zones is 15 miles per hour when school is in session, as defined by Maine state law. According to Westbrook Police, officers received a report of a dangerous driver on Stroudwater Street…

Brunswick Police on Thursday announced the arrest of three individuals accused of operating an organized retail theft scheme targeting stores and companies across Maine and in other states. Police say they were notified on Wednesday by a member of Hannaford’s loss prevention team of three individuals stealing a large amount of over the counter medications and beauty products at the Elm Street Hannaford location in Brunswick. Shortly after arriving at the scene, officers were able…

Maine House Republican Leader Rep. Billy-Bob Faulkingham (R-Winter Harbor) is championing a bill to require the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to provide estimates on the actual environmental benefits and economic costs of emissions standards. [RELATED: Mills Administration Hires California-Based Nonprofit to Guide Public Schools Toward Zero Carbon Goals…] Rep. Mike Soboleski (R-Phillips) presented the bill on behalf of the sponsors, who could not attend the Monday public hearing in the Environment and Natural Resources…

If you thought it couldn’t get any more insane at the Portland Press Herald, consider this: the publisher canceled the e-editions due to an impending snowstorm. Quick question – since when did snowy roads prevent the internet from being in business? Quick answer – they didn’t. But that didn’t stop the publisher from putting out this message over the weekend to however few subscribers are still left: “Hello reader, Due to the expected winter storm…

The Maine Drug Enforcement Agency (MDEA) executed a high-risk search warrant at a Portland apartment building on Tuesday and arrested seven suspects allegedly running a drug enterprise from the building. [RELATED: Portland Police Investigating Deaths of Two Homeless Men Found in Woods Behind Riverton Hannaford…] The MDEA, working alongside the Portland Police Special Reaction Team, executed the warrant for apartment 402 at 658 Congress Street at approximately 1:30 PM and safely secured the unit without…

If you think it’s hard running Maine’s biggest embattled newspaper chain, try doing it while you’re also flipping two eggs over easy with an order of toast. That’s the plight of Stefanie Manning, who took over just weeks ago as the top manager of the Portland Press Herald in the wake of the resignation of the paper’s CEO, and who also has a side hustle owning a breakfast diner Manning takes the reins even as…