Open House: Nesting instinct

The Weirs of West Bath wanted a home that really fit them — and got one with an open plan, tons of storage, a tree-filled lot and soaring windows that invite the outside in.

An ear-opener: Teaching the blind to navigate streets

Maine at Work: A coach for the visually impaired finds satisfaction in delivering tools that foster independence.

Author Q&A: The man, the myth, the gun lover

Mainer Silvio Calabi explores the life of Ernest Hemingway through the prism of his passion for hunting and firearms.

Screenwriting contest picks winning script

Chris Sorensen wins $500 for his short screenplay “Double or Nothing.”

For youngsters this Christmas,’little things … are big right now’

Santa might not need such a big toy sack this Christmas. It appears the hot holiday toys are shrinking.

The gotta-have toy of Christmas 2000 was the Razor Scooter, a toy big enough to stand on. In 2005, the hot Christmas toy was the Xbox 360, a substantial video game set. In 2006, parents scoured stores for the $40 TMX Elmo doll, in the standard Muppet size.

Last year, the hottest holiday toys by far were Zhu Zhu Pets, small in both stature and price. They were the size of hamsters, and priced under $10.

At South Portland store, reporter wonders if the shoe fits

Marie Forbes sat in a chair and said casually and cheerfully, “I’m looking for a sexy little black shoe with a heel.”

My first inclination was to ask for more information — maybe a sketch of the shoe so I’d have more to go on. I mean, how do you define sexy in shoe terms?

But before I could open my mouth, Paul Adams had me following him into the back room at Selby Shoes, Etc.

Music and Nightlife: Hooked

Phish founder Mike Gordon can’t get enough of … lists. And playing music. And touring — he’s in Portland Friday.

Man in charge of sheet music helps symphony handle ups and downs

Maine at Work: Among his many duties, the PSO’s librarian makes sure the string instrument bows don’t rise and fall willy-nilly.

Music and Nightlife: LIVE! From southern Maine!

If you can’t find a place to see live music in southern Maine, you aren’t looking hard enough.

In the past few months, a half dozen performance spaces opened in southern Maine. They range from Venue Music Bar and Grille in Portland, which opened in June in the old Raoul’s space on Forest Avenue and has shows almost every night, to the brand-new music, film and art space in Biddeford called The Oak + The Ax, which opened in October.

There’s also Bayside Bowl in Portland, a bowling alley on Alder Street that has live music two or three nights a week and can hold up to 300 people. It opened in June.

We’ve been wild about Harry from the start

For Hogwarts newbies or for diehards who need a refresher, here’s a brief summary of the previous six films: “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” (2001): The first in the series was directed by Chris Columbus, famous for family-friendly adventures such as “Home Alone.” The young Harry Potter is rescued from the neglect of his […]