The American restaurant chain serving Mexican fast food closed its Augusta location after employees were the first in the country to file for union representation.
Maine Maple Sunday Weekend is an annual event, with sugarhouses across the state opening their doors for visitors to see the maple syrup-making process and taste the final products.
For Absolem Cider Co., Run Amok Mead and Sidereal Farm Brewing, digging in and growing their craft beverage businesses is as important as the drinks they are making.
Plans to help Augusta residents recover from substance use disorder include a proposal to offer people revived from an overdose by rescue workers immediate, on-scene treatment with Suboxone and help accessing longer-term treatment.
Chanda Lilly pleaded guilty to a charge of robbery in Bath Superior Court on Tuesday in connection with the 2019 murder of Andrew Sherman in his Richmond home and has agreed to testify against Tyon Shuron, who has been charged with murder.
Before Amanda Olson became executive director of the organization, it had no housing. It now has 76 units of rental housing in Augusta and more than 100 proposed.
The Gardiner City Council is seeking letters of interest from anyone interested in filling vacancies after District 4 City Councilor Marc Rines and Gardiner-area school board member Matthew Marshall resigned before the end of their terms.
Kim and Chris Brawn, with help from their son Carter, have been running Pease Hill Farm, a cut flower farm located in Monmouth, for three years and this is the first year they've tried growing tulips indoors. Last fall they bought and planted 15,000 tulip bulbs. They planted 5,000 in the ground outside and 10,000 were planted, 66 to a plastic crate, in potting soil to be forced to bloom over the winter.
While West Gardiner residents have historically favored little regulation, more than 200 residents turned out to a public hearing Thursday to support a ban on commercial solar and self-storage facilities rather than regulation.
Even though the budget numbers are expected to change over the coming months, RSU 2 school officials are seeing the impact of federal COVID-19 funds ending and Richmond’s recent withdrawal from the regional school district.
The annual Town Meeting is Saturday at Pittston Randolph Consolidated School and will be followed by a municipal election Monday at the Pittston Town Office.
Derik Broox Wight allegedly held a knife near the throat of a federal officer before he was shot by another officer at the Edmund S. Muskie Federal Building in Augusta last year.
City Manager Gary Lamb said the land cost $275,000 altogether, but because the city's borrowing limit is $250,000, it had to pay $25,000 down and then take out a loan.
The school committee voted unanimously Friday night to hire Bob Webster as the Richmond School Department's start-up administrator and interim superintendent.
A late winter nor'easter is expected to blow through the state Tuesday and Wednesday, bringing strong winds and up to a foot of heavy snow across the region, the same day that brought snow to the region in 2017 and 2018.
A rental inspection ordinance proposed by city staff to address safety concerns in rental housing in the city would charge landlords a $100 fee, require inspections and has drawn strong opposition.
The 132nd annual edition of the Chizzle Wizzle musical variety show “Now in Season” will run from Tuesday, March 14, to Friday, March 17, at 7 p.m. in the Viles Auditorium at Cony Middle/High School in Augusta. All photos are by Kennebec Journal photographer Joe Phelan.
While a plan has emerged to handle 911 calls across northern and western Kennebec County by splitting the duties between Waterville and Androscoggin County, the county's Emergency Management Agency director is working to identify whether a different long-term solution is possible.
The funds would pay for a superintendent, business manager and other directors to begin before the first budget year takes effect and smooth the transition during the town's separation from Regional School Unit 2.
Preston Garrett Caron, 19, allegedly pulled out and opened a pocket knife at Walmart and was charged by police with robbery, criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon and theft.
At its Town Meeting, residents unanimously approved setting up guidelines and oversight of the town-owned high-speed broadband network that could deliver reliable internet service to every home in Vienna.
Maine Superior Court Justice Thomas McKeon ordered the demolition Wednesday of 235 Water St. after Gardiner city officials evacuated the adjacent building in February after fears of its catastrophic failure.
The town will pay about $220,000 over five years to bring the Winthrop Grade School parking lot into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The budget reflects nearly an 11% increase in county spending, in part to pay for unfunded state requirement to provide medication-assisted treatment at the county jail.
Robert Santerre has paid $5,000 as part of his sentence for committing a motor vehicle violation resulting in death. That money has been turned over to the city of Augusta to create a memorial to the crash victims.
Due to Maddie Weymouth's efforts, some 50 people contributed about $800 to buy items expected to bring joy to foster children awaiting placement at a new home.
Defend Our Health officials say Casella, which contracts with 30 wastewater treatment plants for sludge removal, says company data shows the situation for Casella is not as dire as portrayed, but Casella characterizes the allegation as insulting and dishonest.
Superintendent Jim Hodgkin will ask the town to designate the funds for a mandatory paving project at the Winthrop Grade School. The cost increased from a year ago when the initial estimate was made.
Stephen B. Richardson III pleaded guilty Friday to aggravated assault in connection with a crash on Oct. 31, 2021, that killed Julie Clark, 19, of Troy.
As the cost of hauling sludge from wastewater treatment plants spikes after two state laws have limited how it can be handled, city leaders are weighing how to pay for the additional unanticipated costs of shipping it to Canada.
Construction on the bridge to replace the Rines Hill Bridge on Water Street, between the Augusta Fire Department headquarters and downtown, is expected to start this month and take about a year.
Wastewater treatment plant operators across Maine face paying higher fees to truck sludge to New Brunswick after two state laws curtailed how biosolid disposal is handled.
Maine Forest Service entomologist Colleen Teerling gave a presentation Saturday to a small crowd at Gardiner Public Library on how to use a pole pruner and saw to cut browntail moth nests out of trees.
The Central Maine Commerce Center changed hands earlier this month for $18.5 million, the largest commercial real estate transaction in the Augusta area since 2019.
Kennebec County officials are now considering what steps they can take to fill the gap in emergency communications after Somerset County commissioners voted to not renew contracts with 16 communities across northern and western Kennebec County.
The National Weather Service says snow will begin falling late Wednesday night, bringing 6-8 inches of snow to the Augusta and Waterville area by Thursday, while a second snowstorm is expected to bring an estimated 2-4 inches of snow on Friday.
Officials are looking to put away funds to help pay for the potential vertical expansion of the landfill, which could cost about $20 million and extend the landfill's lifetime by 12 to 15 years.
Superintendent Jim Anastasio said the board will have to figure out how to close the multimillion-dollar shortfall that's caused by necessary expenses, such as an increase in natural gas, electricity, transportation and tuition for special education.
The move to match the $130-a-day rate substitute teachers are paid makes Winthrop Public Schools among the highest-paying district in the Augusta area for substitute education technicians.
The news could be a boon to central Maine districts that were facing thousands of dollars of unbudgeted expenses or ending the school year in late June.
The appointment of Sgt. Christopher Giles as interim police chief comes as former Chief Scott MacMaster is leaving the top job to become a patrol officer for the Gardiner Police Department.
Evidence of the highly pathogenic avian influenza in Kennebec County means more vigilance on the part of those raising domestic poultry and relying on measures already in place.
Districts, including those based in Augusta, Gardiner and Winthrop, are no longer reimbursed for providing students meals on remote learning days, complicating efforts to reschedule missed hours of instruction.
With the landfill projected to be full in about four years, officials say they need to put money away to help offset the future cost of expanding the landfill.
Richmond's bicentennial year celebration began with a weekend of fire and ice, with fireworks Friday marking the 200th anniversary of the town's incorporation, and ice carving, ice history and ice skating scheduled for Saturday.
"The Art of Assemblage: Myth, Mystery and Spirituality" includes the work of four contemporary Maine artists who have recontextualized found objects into spiritual-themed pieces.
The money from the Assistance to Firefighters Grant is planned for improved extrication equipment and tools to outfit a Gardiner Fire Department engine and its three ambulances.
“The financial consequences of not being ready are far more serious than the fact you might be short," consultant Jack Turcott told the committee overseeing the town's transition out of Regional School Unit 2.
The Maine Connectivity Authority is expected to decide later this month whether to give final approval to an application from Matrix Design Group to build a state-of-the-art fiber network in Fayette.
The Maine Deadly Force Review Panel, created the same year as the Augusta incident, recommends officers identify themselves as police officers loudly when knocking at someone's door.
Prompted by parent concerns, the Regional School Unit 2 board of directors unanimously approved the move at a recent meeting. The students had been temporarily placed in Hall-Dale Middle School.
Officials hope the initiative, a collaboration between the Maine Veterans' Home and Augusta Adult and Community Education, will help address the state's shortage of health care workers.
Amanda and Tom Roddy bought their redemption center on Route 3 nearly five years ago and they're hoping that this year, lawmakers will be able to make changes to the state's bottle redemption program.
Abby Leger of Cony Middle School and Abhinav Reddy of St. Michael School will compete in the statewide tournament for a chance to make it to the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
The order to evacuate 247 Water St. came after an engineering review commissioned by Gardiner city officials found the fire-damaged building at 235 Water St. to be at risk of catastrophic failure, which the mayor says is the result of "stubborn inaction" by the owner.
Derek Wilhelmsen, found not criminally responsible for the 2002 shooting death of Portland cab driver Nunzi Mancini, will now be allowed overnight visits with girlfriend after a judge gave approval Friday.
Life-threatening cold temperatures expected Friday and Saturday will put unhoused people at risk. Members of the South Parish Congregational Church are scrambling to ensure an overflow space is available for the overnight warming center if needed.
Augusta and Hallowell may exceed their budgets for salt, but elsewhere in central Maine, municipalities say they are on-track for spending on salt and sand at this point in the season.
Kyle Joseph King, of Augusta, has been indicted on two charges. The officer whose cruiser was stolen, with an AR-15 inside, was suspended for one day without pay.
Connor Perkins, a Winthrop firefighter, and his brother Cody Perkins, a Winthrop police officer, rescued three ducks trapped against a grate in the mill stream that flows under Main Street, and they also found several dead ducks.
Dylan Ketcham, 23, was found guilty Friday of three crimes tied to a January 2020 incident in Gardiner. He faces a sentence of between 25 years to life in prison.
The jury recessed Thursday before reaching a verdict about Dylan Ketcham, who is accused of killing Jordan Johnson and attempting to murder Caleb Trudeau in Gardiner in 2020.
Voting will take place at the Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce's annual formal banquet, the Kenney Awards, which returns to the Augusta Civic Center for the first time since 2020.
This is not the first time the Augusta courthouse has experienced the major technical failure, which prevented proceedings from being electronically recorded and blocked lawyers' ability to show evidence on monitors, says Superior Court Justice Michaela Murphy, who is calling for the system to be replaced.
Caleb Trudeau testified Tuesday that Dylan Ketcham, who is on trial for murder and attempted murder, shot their friend Jordan Johnson then attacked him with machete in January of 2020.
The Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce's Kenney Awards returns to a live, formal event at the Augusta Civic Center on Friday, where members will honor award winners for their accomplishments.