POLAND a ' The Regional School Unit 16 employees' union voted this week to authorize the union board to open the contract and negotiate with the school board and superintendent for up to four furlough days.

LEWISTON a ' The 2009 Great Falls Balloon Festival photo contest winners have been announced.

MECHANIC FALLS a ' Voters Tuesday elected six representatives to a new town charter commission.

MINOT a ' Besides the hunters who bagged deer on opening day of the firearms season for Maine residents Saturday, District Game Warden Rick Stone also had a successful day.

LEWISTON a ' A new state law allows landlords to negotiate with tenants for lower minimal temperatures in exchange for rental rebates, a legal assistance group says.

NORTHPORT a ' The Sun Journal daily and Sunday newspapers were named the best in the state at the Maine Press Association's annual conference Saturday night.

"Do you want to repeal the 2007 law on school district consolidation and restore the laws previously in effect?" Since its passage in 2007, Maine's school consolidation law has been the subject of much debate, from parents at school board meetings to lawmakers in Augusta.

LEWISTON a ' Since its passage in 2007, Maine's school consolidation law has been the subject of much debate, from parents at school board meetings to lawmakers in Augusta.

Willie Richards, a staff naturalist at Ferry Beach Ecology School, makes a point during an ecology lesson on Ferry Beach in Saco.

MINOT a ' A Lewiston man has been charged with impersonating a police officer. Investigators say he followed a woman home in what appeared to be a Maine State Police cruiser.

LEWISTON a ' It's safe to drink the water in Maine schools, a state health official said Friday.

Poland and Saco - On Wednesday, September 30, sixth grade students from Poland, Minot, and Mechanic Falls will leave their classrooms behind to converge on Ferry Beach Ecology School in Saco for a three-day science education adventure.

Unofficial Top Ten by Division - PASS 400 Weekend / Thursday Night Extravaganza - Beech Ridge Motor Speedway - Scarborough ME - 9/10/2009 1) 54 Kyle Hewins Leeds ME 2) Adam Polvinen Oxford ME 3) 86 Jeff Hebert Auburn ME 4) 59 Cory Beaulieu W. Paris ME 5) 521 Scott Farrington Minot ME 6) 32 Natasha Dyer Arrowsic ME 7) 83 Brady Romano Livermore Falls ...

SABATTUS a 'Jim Bennett is the new interim town manager. In a special meeting Friday night, selectmen offered the former Lewiston city administrator the post left empty when Town Manager Gregory Gill resigned this week.

SABATTUS a ' A day after the town manager resigned, selectmen called a special meeting to consider naming former Lewiston City Administrator Jim Bennett to his seat, temporarily.

Kelli O'Connor picks banana peppers at Farmer Whiting's in Auburn on Thursday. Peppers are behind schedule because of all the rain earlier this summer, but the harvest is in good shape compared to tomatoes.

The fiber scene is popular in Maine and includes artists working with fabric, collage, thread, paint or paper.

AUBURN a ' Facing an audience in the bleachers Friday, 20 young dancers stood still.

MINOT a ' Recreation Committee member Candace Gilpatric told selectmen Monday night that her committee needs direction now that its original commission is nearly complete.

The following recipe comes from my culinary colleague Kellie R. Morris, who found it in The New Hood Cook Book: A Modern Cook Book of Practical Recipes from 1939, and dang if this doesn't sound like some tasty vittles for today's table.