News in Portland

Superintendent's Notebook: Portland High School students make a difference

Ten students from Portland High School’s Key Club spent a recent afternoon at the Good Shepherd Food Bank. They filled boxes with granola, soup, soy milk and other items to stock the high school’s new food pantry. The first of its kind in Maine, the pantry serves students who o...

Emmanuel Caulk • Opinion •

Monday, December 17, 2012 at 10:00 am

Speakers at Portland vigil call for gun control

About 100 people gathered at Monument Square in Portland on Sunday eventing for a candlelight vigil in memory of the victims of the Newtown, Conn., school shooting, and to call for tighter gun-control laws.

Seth Koenig, Bangor Daily News • News •

Monday, December 17, 2012 at 8:30 am

White House cancels Obama visit to Portland

PORTLAND — Just hours after announcing Friday that President Obama would visit Portland this week, White House officials called off those plans in the wake of the shootings in Newtown, Conn. Obama was to speak at the University of Southern Maine on Wednesday about the so-called "fisc...

• News •

Friday, December 14, 2012 at 1:50 pm

Portland honoree has dedicated life to helping the homeless

PORTLAND — To a young Josh O’Brien, they were “uncles and aunts.” To many others who passed by them on the street, they were drunks and vagrants. O’Brien, now 41 and the director of the Oxford Street Shelter, first experienced shelter life as a young boy taggi...

Seth Koenig, Bangor Daily News • News •

Friday, December 14, 2012 at 11:20 am

Topsham elementary school nominated for national award

TOPSHAM — Williams-Cone Elementary School is one of three Maine schools nominated as a 2013 National Blue Ribbon School. The Maine Department of Education announced the nominees – which also include Longfellow Elementary School in Portland and Yarmouth Elementary School &n...

Alex Lear • News •

Wednesday, December 12, 2012 at 12:30 pm

3 arrested in Portland car break-ins

PORTLAND — After arresting three people Sunday in connection with a string of motor vehicle burglaries near Deering High School, police are looking for the owners of items that were recovered. Joshua Walker, 37, was arrested at about 7:20 a.m. after p...

News •

Tuesday, December 11, 2012 at 2:50 pm

Bach to health: Orchestra to provide musical therapy at Portland hospital

PORTLAND — Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast, the saying goes. And perhaps sore backs and carpal tunnel syndrome, too. Patients and employees at New England Rehabilitation Hospital of Portland may soon find out, thanks to a $15,000 grant awarded to the Portland Symphony O...

William Hall • News •

Tuesday, December 11, 2012 at 1:10 pm

Retiring exec: Despite changes, Portland chamber will remain relevant

PORTLAND — When Godfrey Wood steps down from the leadership of the Portland Regional Chamber at the end of the month, he'll leave behind a group – and a business community – that are very different than when he started 15 years ago. Wood, 71, announced his decision to ret...

William Hall • News •

Tuesday, December 11, 2012 at 12:10 pm

Legislator, ACLU: Maine's medical marijuana law falls short

FALMOUTH — Maine's medical marijuana law does not cover individuals who hope to use the drug for mental health or psychological disorders, but a bill to be introduced in the state Legislature by Rep. Mark Dion could change that. In a press conference Monday, Dion, a Portland Democrat...

Amber Cronin • News •

Tuesday, December 11, 2012 at 11:10 am

Tweaks fail to appease critics of Munjoy Hill theater proposal in Portland

PORTLAND — Nearly 100 people jammed a public meeting at East End Community School Monday to discuss plans for a 400-seat theater that would adjoin the St. Lawrence Arts Center on Munjoy Hill.

William Hall • News •

Tuesday, December 11, 2012 at 11:00 am