Mario Moretto
Ellsworth Bureau
Ellsworth seeks bids on estimated $4.7 million community center project
ELLSWORTH, Maine — Councilors here on Monday overlooked an estimated $1 million price increase in a project to turn a school into a community center and opted to send the plan out to bid. In June 2012, the price tag for transforming the former Bryant E. Moore School into a ...
Blue Hill raw milk seller ordered to pay $1,000 in fines, court fees
ELLSWORTH, Maine — Blue Hill dairy farmer Dan Brown has been ordered to pay $1,000 in fines and court fees for illegally selling unlabeled, unlicensed raw milk from his roadside farm stand. During the penalty hearing on Friday, Justice Ann Murray denied Brown’s effort to convince her to rescind her ...
Surry man arrested after allegedly filming co-workers in bathroom
ELLSWORTH, Maine — A Surry man was charged Monday with invasion of privacy after allegedly setting up a camera to record his co-workers as they used the bathroom. Keithley Stanley, 42, was issued a summons by Ellsworth police Detective Dotty Small on Monday afternoon. The small camera originally was discovered ...
Pedestrian killed near Marden’s entrance in Calais
CALAIS, Maine — An investigation is ongoing Friday after a pedestrian was struck and killed by a car outside the Marden’s entrance in Calais, a stone’s throw away from the U.S.-Canada border. Sgt. Chris Donahue of the Calais Police Department said Zina Eller, 49, of East Machias died after she ...
Arrest made in Sunday’s robbery of Ellsworth convenience store
ELLSWORTH, Maine — Police here have arrested a local man they say robbed a downtown convenience store on Sunday. After a four-day investigation, Nathaniel Isaacson, 20, of Bayside Road was arrested Thursday afternoon on charges of robbery, theft by unauthorized taking and terrorizing. Isaacson was brought to Hancock County Jail. ...
UMaine’s floating prototype becomes first offshore wind turbine to provide power to US
CASTINE, Maine — “Energize, VolturnUS!!” It may sound like a phrase from “Star Trek,” but with that command, shouted at sea, history was made Thursday in Castine Harbor. For the first time ever in the Americas, an offshore wind turbine provided electricity to the power grid after a University of ...
UMaine powers up ‘VolturnUS,’ delivers first-ever electricity to Americas from offshore wind
History was made Thursday in Castine Harbor when Habib Dagher and the others behind the University of Maine’s offshore wind turbine project powered up VolturnUS, delivering electrons to the Central Maine Power grid — the first time electricity has been produced for U.S. consumption by offshore wind.
Small-scale raw milk deregulation law passes House, Senate
AUGUSTA, Maine — The House of Representatives has given final approval to a bill that would deregulate the production and sale of raw milk and raw milk products, leaving only a routine Senate vote on the bill before it heads to the governor to be signed into law. The Senate ...
Masked man robs downtown Ellsworth store, police still searching for suspect
ELLSWORTH, Maine — Police are searching the downtown Ellsworth area for a suspect after a robbery at Mike’s Country Store. According to police, the robbery took place around 2:25 p.m. By 3 p.m., the convenience store was closed, and Ellsworth officers and Maine State Police troopers were using police dogs ...
Landmark building in downtown Portland ‘buckles,’ prompts closure of major arterial
PORTLAND, Maine — A one-block section of High Street will be closed until further notice after a six-story brick building at the intersection of Congress Street “buckled,” sending bricks and other debris falling onto the sidewalk below. Nicole Clegg, a spokeswoman for the city, said a police officer Sunday morning ...
POLL QUESTION
Will plan to raise taxes on lodging, meals and sales hurt Maine’s tourism industry?
BAR HARBOR, Maine — The most recent $6.3 billion biennial budget proposal would fill at least some of the cuts proposed by Gov. Paul LePage by temporarily increasing sales, lodging and meal taxes. That would create millions of dollars of additional revenue, but what would it mean for tourism in ...
For big brands, coffee market in Maine is ‘a dogfight’
BANGOR, Maine — There’s a war waging over your morning routine. More than 80 percent of Americans drink coffee, and more than half of American adults drink it every day. Most coffee drinkers are particular about how they like their daily pick-me-up, and once they settle into a caffeinated ritual, ...
VIDEO
A look at Donnie Smith, the most polarizing sheriff in Maine
MACHIAS, Maine — Donnie Smith is the most controversial law enforcement figure in Maine. During his seven years as Washington County’s sheriff, Smith has been at the center of public fights with other officials, sent countless angry late-night press releases and threatened or filed numerous lawsuits against other state agencies. ...
Bail set at $10,000 for man charged with stealing $11,000 worth of elvers
ELLSWORTH, Maine — A man who avoided arrest for two weeks after allegedly being caught red-handed while stealing elvers from an Ellsworth business remains in jail pending bail set Friday in Hancock County Superior Court. Alan Perkins, 42, a transient based in Hancock County, allegedly broke into Crowley Seafood on ...
VIDEO
Fire crews called after brush fire gets out of hand in Dedham
DEDHAM, Maine — Firefighters made quick work of an out-of-control brush fire on the Green Lake Road Tuesday afternoon. The fire was reported around 2 p.m., said Dedham Fire Department Lt. Hartley Webb. Fire crews from Dedham, Lucerne and Ellsworth responded to David Hamilton Construction, where a permitted construction debris ...
Fire crews fight brush blaze in Dedham
Crews from Dedham, Lucerne and Ellsworth responded to an out-of-control brush fire on Green Lake Road on Tuesday.
Ellsworth school evacuated after bomb threat; parents allowed to take kids home after confusion
ELLSWORTH, Maine — Students at Ellsworth Elementary-Middle School were evacuated Tuesday morning after a bomb threat was discovered in a boys’ bathroom. The students were brought to Ellsworth High School after the message was discovered, said Ellsworth police dispatcher Patricia Marshall. “There was a written message found in a boy’s ...
Washington County sheriff appeals unemployment benefits awarded to former jail employees
MACHIAS, Maine — Washington County Sheriff Donnie Smith on Friday appealed unemployment benefits awarded to two former jail employees who were subject to an investigation about the misappropriation of jail funds earlier this year. But there are questions about whether Smith, acting on behalf of the county, has standing to ...
Conn. man arrested in Harrington eight months after MDEA heroin sting
HARRINGTON, Maine — A Connecticut man was arrested this week by Maine Drug Enforcement agents and sheriff’s deputies on charges stemming from an alleged heroin sale in 2012. Michael Berrios-Ortiz, 33, of Hartford, Conn., was charged with unlawful trafficking in heroin, a Class B crime. MDEA claims the suspect sold ...
Construction light left on causes fire that gutted Dedham home
DEDHAM, Maine — A Thursday evening fire that gutted a Dedham home was caused by a halogen construction light that had been left on while the home was unattended. Dedham Fire Chief Craig Shane said the light was located in the second-floor bathroom at the Chestnut Road home, which was ...
LePage fails to surprise on Medicaid expansion
We don’t understand female politicians
The cost of requiring more renewable power
Maine Sports Hall of Fame revokes Dana Wilson’s 2012 induction
Retiring Hermon High School athletic administrator Soucy maintains love of sports
Rask gives Bruins 2-1 series lead
Pats’ Hernandez questioned in homicide case
Saying goodbye to our Pakistani daughter