Lost at sea 10 years ago today:Tragedy of the Starbound

Pain lingers for the relatives of a Maine man who died with two others when an oil tanker hit their fishing boat.

“When I went to the funeral, nothing was real to me,” said Mark Doughty’s mother, Shirley Doughty Horr. “People kept telling me he was gone,” but it didn’t feel that way.

Legislature to consider redistricting plan Sept. 27

A federal judge has ordered lawmakers to complete work on redrawing the line between Maine’s 1st and 2nd congressional districts by Sept. 30.

Demise of Wiscasset bypassputs a drag on Route 1

WISCASSET — The Maine Department of Transportation’s decision to call off plans for a bypass around Wiscasset has revealed mixed feelings about the project that depend largely on geography.

Many merchants in Wiscasset’s historic village, as well as residents in neighboring Edgecomb, welcomed Monday’s announcement because they have always viewed the bypass as threat – to the environment, their neighborhoods or the viability of the local tourism trade.

But a few miles north or south on Route 1, the attitude is different. The traffic bottleneck in Wiscasset – which occurs every summer weekend and on many other days – is seen as an obstacle to the region’s economic growth, discouraging tourists from venturing to the Boothbay peninsula and making truck deliveries slower and more expensive.

Maine could feel more pain than most states from debt deal

The cuts would hit discretionary budget items such as programs to help low-income people buy home heating oil and food.

U.S. shutdown would reduce cash flow

But it’s hard to predict exactly how Maine would be hurt since this would be a first, one expert says.

Revenues fall short as Maine tries to sell surplus properties

AUGUSTA — For sale: a 183-year-old brick farmhouse in Augusta, once used by the Department of Behavioral and Developmental Services. This fixer-upper is priced to sell at $109,900. The owner is the state of Maine. Prospective buyers will have to wait, though. The state has suspended all real estate sales until it develops policies for […]

State sold barracks site for $376,000 less than assessed value

The state has sold more than one property in Thomaston for a fraction of its assessed value, apparently without any marketing to the public. Two Portland-based developers bought the former state police barracks last year as part of a plan to redevelop the adjacent site of the former Maine State Prison. They paid $104,000 – […]

Negating land deal with prison warden likely to be ‘messy’

‘Unwinding’ the property sale to State Prison Warden Patricia Barnhart could end up in court.

State halts land sales, voids warden deal

Sale rules will be clarified and a probe is still possible after the purchase by the prison chief is ruled illegal.

Investigation sought into state land sale

The public never had a chance to bid on a state-owned parcel in Thomaston that was purchased by a state official at a price below market value.