Centralmaine.com

WISCASSET — It’s been 15 years since Maine Yankee produced nuclear power on Bailey Point, but the spent nuclear fuel stored in 64 dry cask storage containers still has the potential to release “19 times more radioactivity than Chernobyl” in the event of a natural or manmade disaster, according a senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Research in Washington, D.C.

WATERVILLE — City councilors on Tuesday debated whether to build a new police station now or start the process and bond for most of it later.

AUGUSTA — State lawmakers must find $120,000 to maintain funding for three scientists who inspect shellfish beds, which are critical to Maine’s $20 million-a-year shellfish industry, Sen. Lois Snowe-Mello, R-Poland, said Tuesday.

AUGUSTA — Parents who question the safety of vaccines are battling with Maine’s medical establishment about two bills that could have the effect of lowering vaccination rates.

WASHINGTON — Quick: What do these things have in common? Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. The Japanese earthquake and tsunami. Wall Street volatility. A cranky, even angry American populace.

High schools in Fairfield, Madison and Newport are now eligible for up to $4 million in federal funding to raise academic achievement after they were named Tuesday to a list of Maine’s persistently low-achieving schools.

FAIRFIELD — A woman and her baby were taken to a Waterville hospital Tuesday after being bitten by a dog at their home on Ricker Street, according to police.