Statehouse News ServiceThe Appropriations Committee spent another marathon budget session Thursday and today trying to determine how much of the state’s revenue woes should be borne by state employees.

Dana Waltz and Rebecca Mountainland are pleased to announce the birth of Ruthann Cathleen Waltz.

The Newcastle Board of Selectmen and the town’s administrator took off their gloves Monday as they responded to a series of public accusations by former board member Art Mayers.

A 19-year-old man has died following a May 14 traffic accident on Lowell Town Road in Wiscasset.

Jesse A. Shaw, who lived on Federal Street in Wiscasset, is identified as the passenger in a 1998 GMC pick up truck operated Dennis J. Jones, 21, Gibbs Rd., that was involved in a single vehicle accident around 1:35 a.m.

Alongside family and friends of David W. Dixon, a multitude of area firefighters gathered Tuesday to grieve the passing of a brother. Dixon, 61, was assistant chief of Coopers Mills Volunteer Fire Dept.

Newcastle Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep on Rt. 1 was notified (today) Thursday morning that their dealership would be included in the new company that is purchasing the primary assets of Chrysler.

Waldoboro murder suspect Earl “Buddy” Bieler, 25, is being held without bail and waived his right to a probable cause hearing during a brief hearing in Lincoln County Superior Court Thursday afternoon.

Bieler is accused of murdering 27-year-old Rachel Grindal and attacking 32-year-old Tracy Neild in an assault on Controversy Lane on April 19.

Statehouse News ServiceAmid the wrangling over the revenue-starved 2010-11 state budget is a relatively minuscule appropriation of $3.5 million for county jails.

Members of the criminal justice and appropriations committees have been scouring budget lines to fund it, despite the fact they have spent weeks voicing the now-familiar refrain that there’s just not enough money this year for everything.

A proposed bill in the Maine Legislature to establish an independent review panel for police-involved fatal shootings was turned down earlier this month, but the police use of deadly force policy has been amended.

As might have been expected, funding for the Wiscasset Public Library and access to a public boat launch dominated conversation during Edgecomb’s annual town meeting Saturday.

The Maine Department of Marine Resources has ordered the closure of the waters from the Maine/New Hampshire border to Pumpkin Cove in Bristol for certain shellfish.

A single story ranch house on Phyllis Lane in South Bristol was saved recently because of quick work by the local fire department.

A Westport Island mother and son plan to ride 180 miles on a tandem bicycle June 19-21 to raise money for a cause they believe in.

Cary Huggins and her husband, Joe, and family have been volunteering for the American Lung Association of Maine for several years, participating in the organization’s “Trek across Maine” in one way or another.

Anybody can grow a 200 pound pumpkin, but the largest ones involve a lot of work.

“It’s more work than some people realize,” said racecar driver turned pumpkin extraordinaire Edwin Pierpont from Jefferson.