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. […]

NEW YORK (AP) – In the fight of pachyderms vs. people – the pachyderms now have the upper trunk. Three circus elephants scored a decisive victory over three human competitive eaters at a cross-species eating contest Friday, chomping down on 505 hot dog buns in six minutes. The humans forced down only 143 buns in […]

UNIONTOWN, Pa. (AP) – Police are searching for three masked teens who burst into a southwestern Pennsylvania convenience store, but were content to steal only several bags of potato chips and bottles of soda. Uniontown police say the bandits struck about 12:45 a.m. Monday at a Sunoco A Plus store. Police say the thieves dropped […]

SYLVANIA, Ohio (AP) – A vacant house in flames must have looked familiar to northwestern Ohio firefighters. Less than 24 hours earlier, they were at the same house putting out fires for a training exercise. The cause of the fire early Wednesday in the Toledo suburb of Sylvania is under investigation. On Tuesday morning, “controlled […]

KIRKWOOD, N.Y. (AP) – Two Pennsylvania men robbed an upstate New York gas station and might have gotten away if they had remembered to fuel up, police said. Lonnie Meckwood, 29, and Phillip Weeks, 51, were caught after their car ran out of gas about a mile from the station late Monday night, state police […]

Linda Beaulieu of Coldwell Banker Millett Realty in Auburn was named 2009 Realtor of the Year by the Androscoggin Valley Board of Realtors for her outstanding service to the real estate industry and her commitment to the community. Each year, the local Board of Realtors honor one who has shown exemplary service, commitment to education […]