Edward Tomic is a reporter for The Maine Wire based in Southern Maine. He grew up near Boston, Massachusetts and is a graduate of Boston University. He can be reached at [email protected]
Interview with Jerry Leeman: Today we bring you a story about a handful of fishermen rallying against a billion-dollar green industrial project, shady foreign corporations, and our own federal and state government. All are conspiring to generate a cash cow for...
By Greg Yates The criminal case People v Gosselin took place in a little red house structure known as the “Town of Highland Justice Court” located in Sullivan County, New York. This little red structure is also known as the Barryville Town Hall, where court is...
Rumford Police arrested both a fugitive who had been evading law enforcement for nearly a year and a domestic violence suspect after a standoff in two separate incidents on Wednesday. According to Rumford Police, a plain-clothes detective observed Jesse Robert Farrington, 41, a known fugitive, entering a vehicle on Andover Road in Rumford Center. Police
A report of shots fired in the Town of Paris on Wednesday led to a high-speed police chase involving multiple law enforcement agencies and the arrest of a Massachusetts man, the Maine State Police announced Thursday. Shortly after 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday, the Oxford County Regional Communications Center received a report of several shots fired
Two individuals out on bail were arrested in Rockland on Monday after police found fentanyl in their vehicle during a traffic stop. Rockland Police say that at around 9 p.m. on Monday officers stopped a vehicle for traffic violations while conducting proactive patrols around a suspected drug trafficking location. At that time, police found that
A Dominican illegal alien who was previously deported from the United States has been arrested in Massachusetts and charged with conspiring to distribute tens of thousands of fentanyl pills. Juan Alexis Rodriguez Garcia, 35, who was unlawfully residing in Lawrence, Mass., was arrested Tuesday morning and charged federally with conspiracy to distribute over 400 grams of
A fugitive investigation by the U.S. Marshal’s Service (USMS) on Friday resulted in the arrests of three people in Biddeford on drug and firearm charges in a coordinated effort with local law enforcement. USMS said in a Saturday press release that they received investigative leads from the Biddeford Police Department indicating that 20-year-old Tyler Langille
A Chinese national who in 2023 was arrested for sexual assault at a massage parlor he owned in Ellsworth is now being held in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Booking records at the Cumberland County Jail show that Chunze Xu, 65, was taken into custody by ICE on Saturday, April 12
The Buxton man accused of raping a 15-year-old female student in the unisex bathroom of Bonny Eagle High School in Standish was almost caught with illegal drugs on school property just one day after the alleged sexual assault. But the public school principal instead told Ali K. Al-Shammari, 19, to keep his money safe and
The Portland City Council’s Health and Human Services Committee met on Thursday to discuss various options related to how the city can continue operation of its homeless warming and cooling shelters. Portland partners with private organizations that receive funding from the Maine State Housing Authority (MaineHousing) to operate a cooling shelter in the summer months
The Portland Police Department say they grappling with an “alarming” surge in drug overdoses, reporting very recent eight cases in a less than 24 hour period, two of which were fatal. The department issued a press release Friday afternoon stating they have seen a recent increase in drug overdoses. According to police, the city has
An Ecuadorian national stopped by Brunswick Police in January for driving without a seatbelt has pleaded guilty in federal court to illegally reentering the United States after a prior removal. According to court records, 37-year-old Juan Pablo Clabijo Tacuri was observed operating a vehicle without a seatbelt by Brunswick Police on Jan. 27. The Brunswick
A new Democrat-led bill proposes a study of aligning the state’s procurement processes with the Mills’ administration’s climate action plan, amid recent revelations of systemic oversight failures in the state’s issuance no-bid contracts. LD 1494, or a resolution “Directing the Office of Procurement Services to Study Adapting the Procurement Process to the State Climate Action
The Sanford Police Department is investigating a Wednesday stabbing that left one victim with non-life threatening injuries. On Wednesday, April 9 at about 7:30 a.m., Sanford Police responded to a reported disturbance reported on Bodwell Street. [RELATED: Sanford Police Hunt for Suspect in Dollar Store Stabbing…] Upon arrival at the scene, officers discovered a male
A Massachusetts man was arrested in Auburn this week after being found by police in possession of cocaine, fentanyl, a firearm and over $1,000 in suspected drug proceeds. Auburn Police announced on Wednesday that their Proactive Community Enforcement (PACE) Unit had been investigating suspected drug trafficking activity taking place at 114 Hampshire St. in Auburn.
The ranking Republican lawmakers on the Maine Legislature’s Appropriations Committee have come out against a bill that would increase MaineCare coverage for noncitizens. “We, the ranking Republican members of the Joint Standing Committee onAppropriations and Financial Affairs, write in opposition to LD 782, ‘An Act to AmendMaineCare Financial Eligibility Requirements,’” wrote State Sen. Susan Bernard
The Permanent Commission on the Status of Racial, Indigenous & Tribal Populations (PCRITP), Maine’s taxpayer-funded racial equity board, is getting kicked out of their office space by the building’s new owner. The Permanent Commission was established by the Legislature in 2019 as a result of a bill sponsored by former House Speaker and now State Senator Rachel Talbot
A Sudanese refugee with multiple prior convictions in Maine, including criminal threatening with a firearm, assault, driving while intoxicated and unlawful possession of a controlled substance, as well as a previous charge for his alleged involvement in a 2012 gang rape in Portland, has pleaded guilty to federal drug charges. Francis Wilson Mezan, 34, pleaded
The Department of the Maine Secretary of State, Bureau of Corporations and Commissions will be paying $10,000 in taxpayer funds for a two-day “emotional intelligence” training seminar. The Department last week posted a Notice of Intent to Waive Competitive Bidding (NOI) document revealing that they will enter into a no-bid contract with the Missouri-based Graceland University’s
A Maine man was taken into protective custody by law enforcement after witnesses reported that he had emerged naked from a wooded area in between Bridgton and Sweden while carrying a rifle. On Monday, April 7, the Oxford County Regional Communications Center received a report of a naked male subject who was seen by witnesses
A Waldoboro man out on bail for charges of domestic violence strangulation and gross sexual assault against a child was arrested last week on over a dozen counts related to crimes of sexual violence against a child under 12. Rumford Police say they arrested 32-year-old Dylan J. Willey of Waldoboro on Thursday morning in Lewiston.
After fielding complaints from the community for several months about suspected drug trafficking out of a home in Auburn, police raided the property last week, resulting in the seizure of an estimated $90,000 worth of illegal drugs — including over four pounds of crystal methamphetamine. Auburn Police say that they had been investigating the home