Nicholas McCrea
Reporter
Nick McCrea covers Orono and Old Town from the Bangor bureau.
FairPoint to cut 90 employees in Maine, NH, Vermont
BANGOR, Maine — FairPoint Communications plans to lay off 90 workers in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont in the next three months, according to a company news release. The cuts come on the heels of the elimination of more than 30 management positions across the company in March, as well ...
2 teens injured in Veazie crash that knocked out power
VEAZIE, Maine — Police believe alcohol and speed were likely factors in a single-vehicle car crash that injured two people and brought down a telephone pole late Tuesday night near the Orono-Veazie town line. Zack Quigley, 19, was driving a Honda Accord on Stillwater Avenue around 11:15 p.m. when the ...
With closure of Biddeford incinerator, what will Maine do with its trash?
AUGUSTA, Maine — The closure of Biddeford’s waste-to-energy incinerator sparked a fresh debate Tuesday on how trash is handled in Maine. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection conducted the first day of a two-day hearing on Casella Waste Systems Inc.’s application to dispose of southern Maine waste at Juniper Ridge ...
Bangor Housing aims to turn former Freese’s store into downtown apartments, commercial space
BANGOR, Maine — Bangor Housing Development Corp. hopes to convert a long-vacant portion of the former Freese’s Department Store into apartments and commercial space. The City Council on Monday night gave city staff the go-ahead to work exclusively with the corporation to negotiate a development deal. Freese’s closed in 1985 ...
Hotelier suggests Bangor keep auditorium instead of demolishing it
BANGOR, Maine — A local hotelier’s out-of-left-field suggestion has raised questions about whether the Bangor Auditorium and Civic Center might survive alongside its replacement. Danny Lafayette, who built a chain of 30 hotels in Maine, New Hampshire and Michigan, argued at the beginning of Monday’s night’s City Council meeting that ...
‘Good Will Hunting,’ ‘Pulp Fiction’ producer to give UMaine commencement address
ORONO, Maine — Lawrence Bender, an activist and producer of six Academy Award-winning films, will deliver the keynote address and receive an honorary degree at commencement exercises May 11 at the University of Maine. Bender’s films, which include “Good Will Hunting,” “Pulp Fiction,” and “Inglorious Basterds,” have received 29 Academy ...
VIDEO
Cross Insurance Center almost ready as workers chip away at to-do list for June ‘soft opening’
BANGOR, Maine — It’s all over but the cleaning. Workers at the Cross Insurance Center are wiping away the dust, washing the floors and countertops, installing the last few carpets and getting the $65 million facility ready for its first “soft opening” event — Bangor High School’s June 9 commencement ...
Baldacci fires back at LePage over hospital debt ad, calls it attempt to distract from unpopular budget
BANGOR, Maine — No one has officially announced plans to run for governor in 2014, but the rhetoric among potential candidates is already becoming heated. Former Maine Democratic Gov. John Baldacci said Friday he was “taken aback” by a new television ad that blames him for putting the state into ...
Bangor Buffalo Wild Wings, Hobby Lobby and other businesses aim for August openings
BANGOR, Maine — Work has begun at the future site of Buffalo Wild Wings, Hobby Lobby and two or three yet-to-be-named businesses along Stillwater Avenue, the site’s developer said Thursday. Buffalo Wild Wings, a sports-themed restaurant franchise with more than 850 locations nationwide, and Hobby Lobby, which runs a chain ...
Bangor law firm becomes fourth founding partner for Cross Insurance Center
BANGOR, Maine — Rudman Winchell, a Bangor law firm founded in 1917, announced Thursday it has signed on to become a founding partner for the Cross Insurance Center, the city ’s new $65-million arena. “We’re very proud to be able to support this new facility and all that it will ...
UMaine’s Paper Days focuses on future of nanofibers, biofuels and industries that will benefit Maine
ORONO, Maine — The most exciting thing about cellulose nanofibers could be that we don’t yet know the most exciting thing about cellulose nanofibers, paper industry experts said Wednesday. University of Maine researchers updated more than 300 forestry and paper industry officials, stakeholders and politicians on what the university’s research ...
Husson University launches push to become tobacco-free by 2014 school year
BANGOR, Maine — Husson University has launched an 18-month campaign to eliminate on-campus tobacco use. “Husson is committed to providing a healthy working and learning environment for the entire campus community,” university President Robert Clark said Monday. “The simple reason we are doing this is to reduce harm from tobacco ...
VIDEO
Unanswered questions fuel heated meeting over east-west highway
BANGOR, Maine — Uncertainty surrounding the route of a proposed 220-mile highway across Maine sparked vehement questioning, opposition and doubt during a Tuesday morning meeting at the historic Penobscot County Courthouse. Cianbro Corp. CEO Peter Vigue, the leading proponent of the east-west highway, spent much of the meeting with Penobscot ...
MAINEiacs plan base entrance security improvements
BANGOR, Maine — As part of an ongoing effort to improve security and screening procedures, the Maine Air National Guard is planning to expand its base entrance, which underwent a major overhaul in 2004. “The project is a continuous one that started over 10 years ago to improve traffic flow ...
Bangor committee backs methadone bill that would ‘decentralize’ treatment, reduce city’s share of patients
BANGOR, Maine — The city’s Government Operations Committee unanimously backed a bill that would allow health care facilities to administer methadone treatments, leading to reduced costs for the state and relieving the city of a portion of its hefty share of methadone patients. The proposal, titled An Act to Reduce ...
Cianbro CEO Peter Vigue, project manager to update Penobscot County commissioners on east-west highway plan
BANGOR, Maine — Penobscot County commissioners will hear the leading proponent’s side of the contentious debate over the proposed 220-mile east-west highway on Tuesday morning. Cianbro Corp. chairman and CEO Peter Vigue and Darryl Brown, manager of the $2.1 billion project, are scheduled to update commissioners around 10 a.m. in ...
Bangor, Portland homeless shelters face growing budgets, demands with stagnant resources
BANGOR, Maine — Rising homeless populations, uncertain budgets and a sharp decrease in community contributions have officials at Maine shelters pondering how to improve the situation and lessen demand for their services. There’s “a big warning bell going off this year,” Dennis Marble, director of the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter, ...
Bangor officials say they are working to prevent welfare fraud
BANGOR, Maine — City officials said Thursday there is no need for a crackdown on people bilking the welfare system because Bangor has been keeping on top of the issue. “We take seriously the abuse of [general assistance],” City Manager Cathy Conlow said. “We see to it that those who ...
Quarrying noise, disruption prompt moratorium call in Bangor
BANGOR, Maine — With the sudden re-emergence of a year-old debate about quarries in Bangor, the city’s Business and Economic Development Committee on Tuesday backed an up to six-month moratorium on future quarry development. The City Council is expected to vote on the moratorium at its next meeting on April ...
Bangor officials hope to pick new police chief from 6 finalists by early May
BANGOR, Maine — A new police chief could be on the job in Bangor sometime in early May, according to city officials. The city has narrowed its crop of potential candidates to six after accepting 38 applications from both in-state and out-of-state, said Assistant City Manager Bob Farrar. The chief ...
Former Bangor YMCA building sold to new dental technology school
University of Maine hockey job has been offered to former assistant Red Gendron
Bangor man charged with murder, escape from psychiatric hospital found not competent to stand trial
Bangor police seeking suspect in assault that left man face-down in road
After 27 years, a father continues to search for his daughter, presumed dead
Why is DHHS always asking for more money?
Maine GOP disappoints on Medicaid
Meet Riley and help her get from cancer to Kilimanjaro