Franklin Jay: Selectmen, 6:30 p.m., Town Office Livermore Falls: Selectmen, 6:30 p.m., Town Office Oxford Hills Bethel: Conservation Committee, 7 p.m., Town Office Buckfield: Planning Board, 6:30 p.m., Municipal Center Greenwood: Planning Board, 7 p.m., Town Office Hartford: Planning Board, 7 p.m., Town Hall Paris: Recreation Committee, 6:30 p.m., Town Office Rumford Carthage: Selectmen, 6 […]

EAU CLAIRE, Michigan (AP) – A husband and wife are tops at this year’s International Cherry Pit Spitting Championship. Rick “Pellet Gun” Krause, of Tuba City, Arizona spit for the win Saturday at the contest, held in the state of Michigan. In somewhat windy conditions, he shot a pit 48 feet and half an inch […]

KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) – A sea turtle named after President Barack Obama that was rescued just before Inauguration Day has been set free on Independence Day. Obama the loggerhead sea turtle was found ailing off a Key West beach on Jan. 19, the eve of the inauguration. Suffering from an intestinal impaction, the 200-pound […]

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) – A New York man, accused last July of selling fireworks that sparked a fire in Buffalo that damaged four buildings has been arrested again – for illegally selling fireworks from his vehicle. Police say they found six boxes of commercial fireworks in Leon Sapp’s Jeep. Sapp, who’s 50, was arrested Friday […]

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) – The soldier who was photographed fighting the Taliban in his boxer shorts says he’s glad to be back home in Texas after his yearlong deployment to Afghanistan – especially on the Fourth of July. Specialist Zachary Boyd says he initially thought he’d get in trouble after an Associated Press photo […]

BANGOR, Maine (AP) – A new report says Maine is still the fattest state in New England. The nonprofit Trust for America’s Health released its annual “F as in Fat” report this week ranking states in terms of obesity rates. According to the report, about 25 percent of Mainers are clinically obese, up from 24 […]

ELGIN, Ill. (AP) – Police in suburban Chicago say a taxi driver who didn’t have Mace handy when he was attacked by a knife-wielding passenger instead disarmed the man with a can of aerosol deodorant. Elgin Deputy Police Chief Jeff Swoboda says the 51-year-old cabbie picked up the male passenger early Thursday outside a casino. […]

TORONTO (AP) – Japan’s Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko were greeted by Canada’s foreign affairs minister Friday when they arrived in Ottawa for the royal couple’s first-ever visit to Canada together. The royal couple will spend 11 days in Canada to attend various ceremonies and events before traveling to Hawaii. “Both Canada and the state […]

LONDON (AP) – Forget those reports that Swedish supergroup ABBA will be reuniting to cover Michael Jackson’s sold-out concert dates. “No one has even asked us, and if they asked us they would have ‘no’ as an answer, because (Jackson’s concerts were) going to happen in a week,” said Benny Andersson, who co-wrote ABBA hits […]

FREDERICK, Md. (AP) – Ever get that sinking feeling when you realize you’ve lost your cell phone? That’s what happened to Carlos Williams – after he allegedly robbed a bank. Police say Williams left two huge clues at the scene of a bank robbery in Frederick in May – his cell phone and his wallet. […]