LOS ANGELES (AP) – Families herded into movie theaters for another trek with stranded zoo animals as the animated sequel “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” led the weekend with a $63.5 million debut, according to studio estimates Sunday. The haul for the DreamWorks Animation comedy far surpassed the $47.2 million debut for “Madagascar” over Memorial Day […]

NEW YORK (AP) – Chris Noth’s focus had shifted from career to family when his agent called about a role in the Atlantic Theater Company’s off-Broadway production of a new political drama, “Farragut North.” After wrapping up his last season of “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” as well as the blockbuster “Sex and the City” […]

PORTLAND – As “Raising Readers” comes into its eighth year, with more than 1.7 million hardcover books given to Maine children at their doctor’s offices, the organization will hold the Raising Readers Book Celebration to celebrate the collection of book distributed this year and another year of families reading together throughout the state.Families are welcome […]

LOS ANGELES – In the teeming banquet of humanity, Jada Pinkett Smith is the size of an hors d’oeuvre. Which has not, in defiance of most conventional thinking, made her happy.“I don’t know if it’s a cultural thing,” said the 5-foot-tall actress, “but I’ve always wanted more body. So I got to play a hippo.”Correction: […]

PORTLAND – National Book Award finalist Salvatore Scibona will read from his novel, “The End,” on Monday, Nov. 10, at 7 p.m., at the University of Southern Maine Glickman Library in Portland. This event is part of the USM Reading Series.“The End” details a single day in 1953 as lived by six people at an […]

100 years ago, 1908 The Direct Importing Company, a tea and coffee concern with a chain of 84 stores, opened business in Lewiston on Saturday with a new idea in this line. Its best tea is 24c. and its best coffee is 18c. a pound. They ascribe cheap prices to big buying and low rents, […]

READFIELD – Join the talented drama students of Maranacook Community High School for a night of comedy and fast-paced action with “Dinner and a Show.” The first act is set in a restaurant where speed dating takes on new meaning in “Check Please” by Jonathan Rand.Have you ever wondered what those voices inside your head […]

LEWISTON – Pete Francis is coming to Bates College in Lewiston on Saturday, Nov. 15 at 8 p.m. From the stages of sold out arenas to the most intimate club settings, New York City’s Francis has been delivering his signature sound to the masses for more than a decade.Known for his sincere, pull-no-punches songwriting and […]

South Portland musicians Sean Hasey and Chris Clay, along with New Jersey musician Brent Avato, will perform at She Doesn’t Like Guthries in Lewiston on Saturday, Nov. 8. The show begins at 9 p.m. and there is no cover. For more information, call 376-3344 or visit myspace.com/guthriesplace.

100 years ago, 1908 On Tuesday, the turbine steamship Belfast will be launched at the works of the Bath Iron Works. The Belfast is a sister to the Bangor and it is understood that both boats will run on the Bangor and Boston route in 1909. It is said that the construction of these two […]