Cumberland County | featured news

After a dramatic swing last year, Maine’s economy started 2018 on a sluggish note, posting one of the slowest state growth rates in the country.
The federal Bureau of Economic Analysis reported this week that the state’s economy grew at an annual rate of just 0.6 percent in the first three months of this year, 46th in the nation.

Since my birth 64 years ago today at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, just 3 miles from Fenway Park, I was destined to be a Red Sox fan.
It’s in my genes by way of a grandfather named Michael J. O’Brien who raised his family first on Mission Hill and later on Jamaica Plain’s Arborway – all the while serving proudly as a detective with the Boston Police Department.

A company that manufactures components for a variety of industries has relocated from New Hampshire to Maine, a decision helped in part by the state’s incentive programs.
Paradise Machine Co. LLC said it recently moved from North Conway, New Hampshire, to Fryeburg after 18 years of operation. Paradise is a precision manufacturing company with 10 full-time employees that has clients in the aerospace, medical and commercial products industries.

None of Maine’s four candidates for governor was surprised by the state’s slow economic growth in the first three months of the year – the state ranked 46th in GDP for the quarter.
“We’ve been underperforming for a long time,” said Alan Caron, an independent.

OAKLAND — The 8-year-old boy who was found dead at a home on Church Street Tuesday died of a gunshot wound to the head after his father’s loaded 12-gauge shotgun went off as the boy was handling it, state officials said Wednesday.

Portland will now pay $250 to tipsters who help convict people responsible for graffiti.
The city established the reward fund in partnership with Portland Downtown as part of a push to prevent graffiti. People who see vandalism in progress are encouraged to call 911 or 874-8575.
“Do not approach a graffiti vandal,” a city news release states. “Applicants for a reward must disclose their name and be willing to testify as a witness. Donations to the reward fund are gladly accepted to ensure the longevity of the program.”

WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Wednesday rejected President Trump’s latest effort to stop a lawsuit that alleges Trump is violating the Constitution by continuing to do business with foreign governments.
The ruling, from U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte in Greenbelt, Maryland, will allow the plaintiffs – the attorneys general of Maryland and the District of Columbia – to proceed with their case, which says Trump has violated little-used anti-corruption clauses in the Constitution known as the emoluments clauses.

Maine Medical Center and Tufts University are renewing a 10-year medical education partnership for another decade, the hospital and university announced on Wednesday.
The new agreement – financial details of which were undisclosed – will take the partnership to 2029 and allow for the program to expand.
Currently, students in the program spend the first two years at Tufts School of Medicine in Boston before coming to Maine for the final two years. Starting in 2019, students will come to Maine Med to learn in their second year.

SOUTH PORTLAND — The City Council Tuesday discussed the prospect of allowing so-called “tiny homes,” which may include code adaptations for a trial run.
Councilor Eben Rose introduced the topic at the July 24 workshop, and said tiny-home living is characterized as a movement. He said he wants the city to be informed about these increasingly popular and non-traditional single-family home styles.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s gift of a soccer ball to President Trump last week set off a chorus of warnings – some of them only half in jest – that the World Cup souvenir could be bugged. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina even tweeted, “I’d check the soccer ball for listening devices and never allow it in the White House.”
It turns out they weren’t entirely wrong. Markings on the ball indicate that it contained a chip with a tiny antenna that transmits to nearby phones.