WASHINGTON — Paul Ryan traveled a perilous route to political stardom. While other lawmakers nervously whistled past trillion-dollar deficits, fearing to cut popular programs, he waded in with a machete and a smile.

AUGUSTA — The former director of Rhode Island Historical Society has been named the new director of the Maine State Museum.

AUGUSTA — Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1995, Falmouth resident Kelly Irwin found that marijuana worked better to treat her pain, fatigue and nausea far better than the opiates she was prescribed.

The state senator who led the push for a study of an east-west highway across Maine has asked Gov. Paul LePage to suspend the study until the Legislature can enact protections for property owners.

AUGUSTA — A nonprofit news group that monitors the health care industry has calculated that MaineGeneral Medical Center — along with hundreds of other hospitals across the country, including 10 in Maine — will be fined for readmitting too many Medicare recipients within 30 days of their hospital discharge.

BINGHAM — School Administrative District 13 will start Wednesday, Aug. 29. School hours are: Moscow Elementary, 7:45 a.m.-2:15 p.m.; Quimby Middle School, 7:45 a.m.-2:05 p.m.; Upper Kennebec Valley High School, 7:50 a.m.-2:04 p.m.