SKOWHEGAN — One person was taken to a local hospital Sunday afternoon and several others were examined at the scene after a giant cloud of fire-suppression powder was released without warning at the Irving Circle K station on Madison Avenue, which is also U.S. Route 201.

Gov. Paul LePage’s proposal to eliminate all state funding for the Maine Public Broadcasting Network has network officials scrambling to convince state legislators the money is crucial to the public broadcaster’s mission, and has longtime MPBN listeners and viewers angry and ready to take action.

AUGUSTA — Demand for a virtual charter school emerged as a major theme at a public input session with the State Charter School Commission last week.

Gov. Paul LePage’s proposal to change the way General Assistance money is distributed in Maine would shift costs to property taxpayers and increase homelessness, say officials in Portland and other cities.

PORTLAND — A group of Democratic lawmakers is arguing to Maine’s highest court that state Treasurer Bruce Poliquin’s private business activities violate the Maine Constitution, but the attorney general and a conservative group contend that the matter doesn’t warrant the justices’ involvement.