Cumberland County, Portland | featured news

Donald Trump called on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to halt Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election, ramping up his attacks on the probe as the president’s former campaign chairman goes on trial for unrelated criminal charges.

The largest grizzly hunt in the Lower 48 in more than 40 years is set to open next month in Wyoming, and more than 7,000 people applied for a chance to kill one of up to 22 bears. Among the tiny number of people who won the draw for permits is a wildlife photographer who has produced some of the most famous images of the area’s grizzlies.
Thomas Mangelsen, who has lived near Grand Teton National Park for four decades, said this week that he will use the permit to shoot bears as he’s always done – with a camera, not a gun.

WASHINGTON — President Trump on Wednesday tried to increase pressure on China to change its trade practices by directing administration officials to consider more than doubling the size of proposed tariffs he has already threatened to slap on $200 billion in imports.
But the administration stopped short of actually making such a move, raising questions about whether it was a negotiating ploy in its widening trade war with China.

KINSHASA, Congo — At least four new cases of the Ebola virus have emerged in Congo’s northeast, just a week after an outbreak in the northwest was declared over, the country’s health ministry said Wednesday.
There was no indication the two outbreaks, separated by more than 1,553 miles, are related, Health Minister Dr. Oly Ilunga Kalenga said in a statement.
“Although we did not expect to face a tenth epidemic so early, the detection of the virus is an indicator of the proper functioning of the surveillance system,” Kalenga said.

It’s nearly apple-picking time in Washington’s Yakima Valley. Cherry season will be around for a few more weeks, and a bounty of other fruits and vegetables are maturing on branches and in fields.
“The orchards are big and beautiful,” said Dan Fazio, executive director of the Washington Farm Labor Association. “The crop looks good.”
Just one problem: A shortage of workers to bring in the harvest.

FREEPORT — Maine Coast Heritage Trust announced a campaign Wednesday to raise $25 million as the final piece of what’s billed as the “largest coastal conservation effort” in state history.

PHOENIX — A worker at a nonprofit organization that houses immigrant children separated from their parents at the border has been booked on suspicion of molesting a 14-year-old girl at its one of its facilities in Phoenix, police said Wednesday.
Southwest Key, which operates the facility, declined to say whether the 14-year-old girl was an immigrant who was separated from her parents at the border.

PYEONGTAEK, South Korea — Decades after the end of the Korean War in 1953, the remains of dozens of presumed U.S. war dead were on their way Wednesday to Hawaii for analysis and identification. The U.S. military believes the bones are those of U.S. servicemen and potentially servicemen from other United Nations member countries who fought alongside the U.S. on behalf of South Korea during the war.

Central Maine Power is making its smart-meter network less vulnerable to power outages, a weak link identified during last October’s wind and rain storm that blacked out a record number of customers.
The company said on Wednesday that key devices in the network are now wired for back-up generators, and that the utilty has increased the number of mobile generators available for use during extended outages. The performance of the smart meters was one of the key factors being scrutinized in investigations into CMP’s response to the storm.

BIDDEFORD — The head beer-maker at Dirigo Brewing Co. is happy with how his newest release turned out, but equally pleased with the cause it will support.
Dirigo recently partnered with the local firefighters union on a new beer, Big Water, a Kolsch style ale, with the understanding that the proceeds of all sales will benefit nearly three dozen people displaced by a fire in April.
“It’s been a great experience for us,” brewer Ray Edgar said. “The union has been fantastic and it feels good to help the community.”