PORTLAND, Maine — City Manager Mark Rees is proposing a $216 million municipal budget for the 2014 fiscal year, an increase of $10 million, or 4.8 percent, from the current year. But the budget doesn’t anticipate what will happen if Portland loses more than $10 million in state funds, as ...

PORTLAND, Maine — The City Council took its first look Monday at a long-awaited audit of the Fire Department, but the 523-page report seemed to raise more questions than provide answers. Public Safety Solutions, a Maryland-based consultant, began reviewing the department’s staffing and operations in early January. The consultant released ...

PORTLAND, Maine — A City Council committee will tackle two issues Wednesday that may mean big changes for the city’s University neighborhood — or as it may someday be known, the Education District. The Transportation, Sustainability and Energy Committee will give feedback on proposed traffic reconfiguration at the congested, six-legged ...

PORTLAND, Maine — A task force of residents, environmental advocates, business leaders and city officials began work Monday on an ordinance that may ultimately ban the use of containers made from polystyrene foam. The Green Packaging Working Group, led by City Councilor Ed Suslovic, includes representatives from Environment Maine, the ...

PORTLAND, Maine — Colucci’s Hilltop Market, a decades-old, family-run fixture at 135 Congress St. on Munjoy Hill, will likely be closed “a couple months” after it was severely damaged by an alleged arson early Saturday, store co-owner Dickie Colucci said Monday afternoon. “There’s smoke damage, there’s water damage. The ceilings ...

PORTLAND, Maine — Two years after the city turned away the USS John F. Kennedy — and more than 20 years after the ship last dropped anchor in Portland Harbor — a small volunteer group believes the decommissioned aircraft carrier can still make its permanent berth in Portland. The group ...

PORTLAND, Maine — Taking the bus along Congress Street could soon be a smoother, more efficient ride, thanks to a new traffic plan approved Monday night by the City Council. The council voted unanimously to approve the recommendations of a long-awaited report on making Congress Street a “bus priority corridor” ...

PORTLAND, Maine — St. Patrick Roman Catholic Church on outer Congress Street is a step closer to being sold to the owner of neighboring Westgate Shopping Center. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland has signed an agreement to sell the church to Charter Realty & Development Corp. for an undisclosed ...

PORTLAND, Maine — Smokers visiting city parks will soon have to light up elsewhere, after the City Council voted unanimously Monday to ban smoking in more than 50 city parks and public grounds. The city code amendment applies to a long list of open spaces, including Baxter Woods, Congress Square, ...

PORTLAND, Maine — A portion of Baxter Boulevard will be closed for up to eight months starting Wednesday, as the Department of Public Services breaks ground on two underground stormwater conduits designed to reduce sewage overflow into Back Cove. The stretch of the boulevard from Vannah Avenue to Bates Street ...

PORTLAND, Maine — Mayor Michael Brennan recited a roster of achievements and challenges Monday night in Portland’s first “state of the city” address. The address is required by the 2010 City Charter amendment that created Brennan’s office; he is the city’s first popularly elected mayor since 1923. “A lot of ...