Jules Walkup

The Lewiston school budget will increase the tax rate by 3.37 percent, according to city documents. The Portland school budget will increase its portion of the municipal budget by 5.68 percent.

The State Fire Marshal’s Office announced on Sunday that Searsmont Assistant Fire Chief Wayne Woodbury, died due to his injuries. Another firefighter who was severely injured, Jacob Spaulding, was discharged from Maine Med at noon on Monday.

The Payment in Lieu of Taxes program was meant to provide relief to people who pay property taxes in Portland. City documents say if the $4 billion tax-exempt properties in the city were taxable, the city’s property tax rate would be nearly 20 percent lower.

City document refer to the one-mile section of Brighton Avenue between City Hospital Drive and Wayside Road as “high-injury” and “high-risk.” To improve the safety of this intersection, the city council accepted a $2.1 million grant from the Federal Highway Administration.

The trend is likely to continue — the forecast is predicting above average levels of precipitation for the next three to four weeks. In fact, if these rains do continue, Maine could come out of the drought sometime this summer.

Members of Indivisible Maine and supporters of Graham Platner gathered outside Sen. Susan Collins’ office on Wednesday to criticize her comment that she does “not regret” supporting Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination.

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection is warning that ozone levels will be categorized as “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups” along the coast from Kittery to Acadia National Park.

Officials say youth gun violence in Lewiston is a problem. The city council held a meeting on Tuesday to discuss solutions.

A group of more than 20 members of clergy from a variety of religions gathered under the new mural in downtown Lewiston to speak out against what they say are federal efforts to prevent eligible voters from voting.

Half of the award is for Hawkins personally, and the other half will go towards buying instruments for the school district. Hawkins said he plans to talk with the Gorham elementary and middle schools to see what instruments they need to support the growing music program.