CHINA — Planning Board members are considering softening a requirement under local shoreland septic rules ahead of a June vote on whether to scrap the whole program.

AUGUSTA — A statement by Gov. Paul LePage designed to spur lawmakers to act on the budget had the opposite effect Wednesday when a key Democrat was so angered by the press release that he threatened to walk out of the meeting.

AUGUSTA — Ken Ellis converted the heating in his 23 greenhouses from oil to wood pellets three years ago.

ARLINGTON, Va. — More Bath Iron Works-built destroyers are needed to meet the country’s national security needs, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said Wednesday during a speech to a defense industry trade association.

AUGUSTA — School construction projects in Newport and Sanford make up two-thirds of a list of projects the State Board of Education has committed to fund.

City and town plow crews across central Maine geared up Wednesday for what promised to be the first significant snowfall of 2012.

AUGUSTA — The state may soon get back into the borrowing business to maintain roads, bridges and sewers.