Mentally ill people who pose a risk to society or themselves are legally prohibited from owning guns under federal law, but Maine for years has been unable to add the names of such people to the national background database.

Sen. David Burns, a Washington County Republican and a retired Maine State Police trooper, believes schools are “soft targets” for crazed gunmen because they know none of the teachers are armed.

Gun-control advocates in Maine hope that the public outcry about the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., last month will lead to new state laws that reduce the risk of gun violence.

Richard Blanco will write an original poem to recite at President Obama’s swearing-in ceremony on Jan. 21. His hometown of Bethel is abuzz.

Seven couples take out licenses on Saturday in Brunswick.

Seventy-one years ago today, Japanese fighter planes attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor. The assault claimed the lives of more than 2,500 people, nearly half of whom died on the naval battleship USS Arizona, which exploded and sank after it was hit four times by Japanese bombers. The wreck still lies at the bottom of Pearl Harbor.