PORTLAND (AP) – Attorney General John Ashcroft will visit Portland on Thursday on the final stop of a three-state swing through New England to meet with local U.S. attorneys and their anti-terrorism task forces, the Justice Department said Tuesday.

Ashcroft will visit New Haven, Conn., and Concord, N.H., on Wednesday.

New Falmouth building dedicated

FALMOUTH (AP) – Maine-based Banknorth Group dedicated a new office building in Falmouth that will bring together 500 workers currently scattered across 17 locations in Portland.

The three-story building’s work force, which spans 140,000 square feet and is the largest office building in Falmouth, will rival the 600 workers employed at Banknorth’s primary operations center in Lewiston.

CEO William J. Ryan and other top executives will stay at the company’s corporate headquarters, where 500 Banknorth employees will continue to reside at two office buildings in downtown Portland.