After complaints from "concerned" community members, Maine School Administrative District 11 opted to allow students to choose any nonfiction book instead of having them pick one from a 33-title list that had been generated for the college-level elective course.

The Local Scoop just opened this year, but they already have made their mark downtown.

The MEMIC Group says it will 'slow things down a little' while it considers a proposal from an individual who wants to move the iconic Old Port building to save it from the wrecking ball.

Robert Rodrigue will be the new principal at Mill Stream Elementary in Norridgewock and Christy Johnson will fill the role at North Elementary and Margaret Chase Smith schools in Skowhegan.

Joe Kings has hosted the gathering at his business, Ultimate Car Care, for 26 years, and Saturday's event has special significance.

Pharmacies are seeing record-high demand for specialized rash sprays while consumers have also reported empty shelves at some local stores.

Matthew Cote, 21, was not required to enter a plea and barely spoke during Friday's court hearing. He's being held in the York County Jail.

Augusta and Waterville area police reports for June 18, 2021.

Deb Haaland touts park improvements and investments on a day she toured Acadia National Park, one of the biggest nature tourism drivers in the state.

Supporters said a strong rebuke of the president was needed because of his recent actions protecting and expanding abortion access, while opponents warned that such action would portray the bishops as a partisan force.

As part of efforts to improve pedestrian safety in the city, orange flags are being made available for city walkers to wave to get motorists to stop for them.

There are growing calls in the U.S. to open the Canada-U.S. border for nonessential travel like tourism, but less than 20% of Canadians are fully vaccinated.

Maine has approved a suite of rule changes designed to make the process of voting in elections go more smoothly.

Here are some of our favorite Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel photos from the past week.

Lawmakers are reviving calls to end a loophole in the Constitution that allowed another form of slavery — forced labor for convicted felons — to thrive.

Stocks were broadly lower Friday after a Federal Reserve official said that the nation’s central bank might need to raise interest rates as early as next year.

Without a settlement agreement, the city’s valuation dispute with BIW would have taken many years to appeal "at significant cost," Bath Assessor Brenda Cummings said.

Ambassadors in the assembly chamber burst into applause as Guterres’ re-election by 'acclamation,' without a vote, was announced.

The measure, which called for consumer purchase of Central Maine Power and Versant Power, cleared the Senate in a preliminary vote but was turned away on final enactment, dimming the bill's chances of passage this session.

Cases remain low, as the state continues to dial back its vaccination campaign with the closure Friday of the Portland Expo and the FEMA mobile clinic.

Israel said it would transfer the doses of soon-to-expire coronavirus vaccines to the Palestinian Authority in exchange for a similar number of doses the Palestinians expect to receive later this year.

The journey is expected to take three months.

It might be a short season at pick-your-own farms, many of which opened this week.

Mark and Patricia McCloskey, who waved guns at protesters who marched past their mansion, also agreed to give up their weapons.

A bill introduced by Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey and Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine would form a commission to investigate.

Voters will be asked to approve using $35,500 from surplus.

Early reports were that the child who died was 4 years old.

Juneteenth, which was recently made a federal and state holiday honoring the end of slavery, will see few official events this year.

The impacts include fish, farms and hydroelectric plants that supply much of the state's energy.

Markets around the world were mixed but mostly calm.

Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas – two months after the Confederacy had surrendered.

An autopsy was conducted on Amanda Brown, 29, who was found dead inside a home Wednesday, but police have not said how she died.

The Pentagon’s top general says he will consider a 'systematic fix' to how the U.S. military keeps track of its firearms.

The Biden administration is embarking on a 2-pronged strategy: reviewing a nearly $1 trillion plan from a group of 21 senators, including 11 Republicans, while pursuing their own priorities in a more substantial package.

The families of the deceased of held a celebration of life Thursday at the Red Barn in Augusta, recalling their memories of Brandon Breton and Joseph Mayo.

Having an extra counselor at the Hall-Dale schools is expected to be beneficial for both teachers and students as district officials prepare for the possibility of the "unknown" in the fall.

Public school officials propose $5,119 decrease to current spending for 2021-22.

City Council approves $6.6 million appropriation to pay costs of city government.

City Council votes 7-0 to spend up to $10,000 to start the program, which will collect food waste weekly from households and leave a clean bucket each week for the waste.

Cynthia Kenyon is accused of kicking, slapping and attempting to bite an officer.

Two Bridges Regional Jail is "strongly encouraging" employees to get vaccinated to keep the jail's COVID-19 case count low.

The author of numerous influential books and magazine stories, the Prague native practiced a kind of post-modern style in which she often called attention to her own role in the narrative.

The town manager said that officials will look into recommendations from an IT support company after a Russian ransomware attack shut down the town's network for about a week.

Augusta- and Waterville-area police reports for June 17, 2021.

Tribal members believe the right to operate a gambling business is a matter of sovereignty. It's unclear whether Gov. Janet Mills will support the measure.

Firefighters found the bodies when they responded to a fire at the home on Hardscrabble Road early Thursday.

Dr. Anthony Fauci announced the investment during a White House briefing as part of a new 'antiviral program for pandemics.'

Pittsfield Town Manager apologized for an incident during last Tuesday's election in which the doors to the town office were temporarily locked.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court denied an appeal from Mark Cardilli Jr. in connection with the 2019 killing.

The Maine House of Representatives approved one bill late Wednesday, and the Senate followed suit Thursday.

The Supreme Court has ruled that the city of Philadelphia violated the Constitution by limiting its relationship with a Catholic foster care agency which refused to certify same-sex couples as foster parents.

Town Treasurer Kerry Casey said the 2021-2022 spending plan increased by approximately $40,000 — or less than 1% — from the current $4.84 million budget.

Maine might become the first state to adopt a program sometimes called ‘extended producer responsibility,’ which has been used in Canada and Europe.

The newspaper has long been one of the most outspoken defenders of Hong Kong's freedoms and vowed to continue reporting.

Opioids are behind about three-fourths of the overdoses, according to Wednesday’s data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The justices left the entire law intact in a ruling handed down Thursday morning.

China is not a participant in the International Space Station, largely as a result of U.S. objections to the Chinese programs secrecy and close military ties.

The speed of the rebound from the recession has caught many businesses off guard and touched off a scramble to hire.

The car took down two Central Maine Power poles on Back Road, authorities said.

As the state launched the COVID-19 vaccination incentive program, it reported 34 new cases and one additional death Thursday.

Nadal is a 20-time Grand Slam champion with a record 13 titles at the French Open.

The state has set up a webpage and post office box so anyone can donate money for Abbott's wall.

The broadly bipartisan vote reflects growing frustration with presidential war powers that have been used well past their original goals.

Wildlife biologists urge anyone who hopes to catch a glimpse of ‘Snowball’ to keep their distance and avoid interfering with it. Says one: ‘If the bird is looking at you, then you're too close.’

Michael Hachey again declared winner — 106-105 — after recount Wednesday night.

It’s the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was created in 1983.

The move could make it easier for them to win their cases for humanitarian protection.

The moratorium was imposed after the president on Jan. 27 signed executive orders to fight climate change.

While some arrests have been made and ransomware infrastructure disabled in recent months, no kingpins have been snared.

Two organizations teamed up to provide the Oxford home.

The move comes on the concluding day of the two-day gathering of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, attended by more than 15,000 voting delegates.

Michael Boland is buying the restaurant from brothers Rick and Ron Savage who made frequent headlines last year for protesting pandemic restrictions.

President Donald Trump's onetime security adviser was accused of disclosing classified information.

Maine State Police are investigating the assault that resulted in the death of Amanda Brown, 29, of Standish.

Augusta and Waterville area police reports for June 16, 2021.

Munich police are investigating after a man injured two people before Germany’s game against France at the European Championship.

The attorney’s fees stem from the successful lawsuit alleging violations of the Endangered Species Act.