State prison officials have taken disciplinary action against two corrections officers at the Maine State Prison in Warren following the death of an inmate last spring. One guard was fired and his supervisor demoted, actions which came to light because of a freedom of access request filed by a newspaper in Rockland. Meanwhile, an attorney representing the estate of the inmate is seeking damages in excess of one million dollars against the state.

A weekly newspaper serving the Lincoln Lakes region suffered a devastating fire last night. The Lincoln News office and printing presses were destroyed in the blaze, which burned late into the night. But the publisher vows to have next week's edition on the stands.

During this tough time in the economy, we've heard lots of stories about neighbors helping neighbors. It's a phenomenon to which Chuck Collins of the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington D.C. is trying to give more formal structure. Collins, who speaks in Maine tonight in Saco as a guest of the Maine Council Of Churches, is promoting the idea of so-called "common security clubs." He spoke earlier today with MPBN's Jennifer Rooks about how they work, and why they're needed in today's economic climate.

Since parting ways with the J. Geils Band, Peter Wolf has gone on to enjoy a successful solo career, punctuated by the occasional J.Geils Band sell-out reunion gig, like the one at Boston's House of Blues earlier this year. Wolf is in Portland this weekend for a musical venture unlike anything he's done before.

With the H1N1 vaccine slowly trickling into Maine, schools for the first time are holding flu vaccine clinics. Schools say they anticipated participation rates of about 40 percent because some parents were getting their children vaccinated at the doctor's office, or didn't want their children vaccinated at all. But some schools are reporting much higher response rates.

Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe has been at the center of attention in the ongoing debate over health care reform in Washington. But with a vote looming in the House, 2nd District Congressman Michael Michaud finds himself facing increasing pressure from advocates on either side of the issue. Union workers from the mill where Michaud once drove a forklift are urging the Democrat from East Millinocket to support a house bill that includes a so-called public option. But other groups opposed to the plan are telling Michaud that a vote for the measure could cost him his job.

Maine voters may have rejected an effort to repeal the state's school district consolidation law, but that doesn't mean changes won't be made to the existing plan. Billed as a way to save money on administrative costs by cutting the number of school districts from 290 to just 90, the plan still has a long way to go.

A new study finds no evidence that exposure to whale watching boats has any long term negative affects on humpback populations in the Gulf of Maine. Keith Shortall spoke with the lead author of the study, which looked at 30 years of data on 300 female humpbacks, and more than 500 calves.

In the 24 hours after Maine voters rejected same-sex marriage, emotions are still raw for volunteers and organizers of the No On One campaign. They say they remain proud of their message, of the families headed by same-sex couples who shared their stories along the way and of the strong showing at the polls. And they say they are determined to pursue the goal of marriage equality for all Mainers no matter how long it takes.

The morning after voters passed a referendum that creates dispensaries for medical marijuana, dozens of calls started to pour into state offices. Most callers were patients asking where to get the drug. A few were people interested in setting up a dispensary. But officials say it will be at least six months before the state sees its first dispensary.

Turnout in yesterday's election, everyone agreed, would be a key in determining the outcome of the seven questions on the ballot. As it turns out, turnout was close to double the original estimate offered by Maine's secretary of state. But that was just the first violation of conventional wisdom toward this vote. To sort through some of what motivated voters at the polls, Keith Shortall spoke with State House Bureau Chief A. J. Higgins.

It may seem premature to talk about a labor shortage while the state and the nation are still mired in recession. But business leaders and recruitment professionals gathered in southern Maine today to express their concerns about an expected increase in demand for workers once employers start hiring again. And, says one expert, the problem will be particularly acute in Maine.

Same-sex marriage advocates hoping to make history in the battleground of Maine appear to have lost their effort by a small margin. Had they succeeded, Maine would have become the first state to approve same-sex marriage at the ballot box. Five states have granted marriage equality through the courts or their Legislatures, and activists say the loss in Maine is just a temporary setback.

Mainers handed proponents of a Colorado-style tax cap a stunning defeat at the polls on Tuesday. With 87 percent of precincts reporting, the measure was losing 60 to 40 percent. The Taxpayer Bill of Rights would have tied the growth of state, county and local budgets to population growth and the rate of inflation. But opponents argued that the plan was too rigid and would simply put government spending policies on auto-pilot.

Medical marijuana has been legal in Maine for a decade now. But on Election Day, voters overwhelmingly decided that patients should have easier access to the drug. Preliminary poll results showed nearly 60 percent of voters approved a ballot initiative that makes Maine only the fifth state to allow dispensaries.

Maine voters last night elected not to cut the state's auto excise tax. Question 2 on the ballot asked if voters supported cutting the tax on vehicles less than six years old, while exempting hybrid and other highly fuel-efficient vehicles from sales taxes, and from three years of excise taxes. It was defeated decisively with about 74 percent of voters coming out against the measure.

Maine's school consolidation law will stay on the books. With 84 percent of precincts reporting as of midnight Tuesday, Question 3 was losing by a margin of 58 to 42.

State election officials are reporting a steady and sometimes heavier than expected voter turnout today. Secretary of State Matt Dunlap is now revising upward his original projection of 35 percent. It's unclear whether the voters represent a particular constituency, whether they're younger or older or from urban or rural Maine. But there is some thinking that the heavier the turnout, the better for same-sex marriage supporters looking to defeat Question One.

Testing athletes for concussions is increasingly standard in college sports. The practice is much rarer in high school, even though developing brains of teenagers are believed to be more vulnerable to damage. In Maine, a small but growing number of high schools are setting themselves apart nationally. Their athletes take a computerized exam testing memory, and reaction time, and re-take it if they get a concussion.

A new University of New Hampshire study has found that some investigators who work on child pornography cases suffer mental health problems that influence their work and home lives.

If you think back to what you learned at school about the U.S. Civil War era, you probably remember the battles of Gettysburg, and Antietam; or the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed the slaves, or maybe Harriet Beecher Stowe and the Underground Railroad. But when one group of midcoast fifth-graders thinks back in a few years time, their memories will likely have a musical flavor.

Legislative budget writers on the Appropriations Committee learned today that Maine's economy took its sharpest decline in more than 50 years, as employers slashed their work forces to offset the drop in consumer orders. But a University of Southern Maine economist also says the worst of the recession is probably behind us and that employment should rebound by next summer. In the meantime, lawmakers must retool a state budget to prepare for a shortfall that could reach nearly a half-billion dollars over the next 18 months.

We tend to think of farm fields as bucolic, natural landscapes. But farms increasingly rely on plastic to store hay and silage, to build temporary greenhouses and to pot plants. As part of a collaboration with northeast stations, Amy Quinton from New Hampshire Public Radio reports farms and nurseries are using so much plastic -- thousands of pounds a year --that they're having a tough time getting rid of it.

You probably remember the disturbing story reported last week about a 15-year-old high school student in northern California being gang-raped at her homecoming dance. Equally horrific, perhaps, is the fact that as many as two dozen people stood by and did nothing while the girl was assaulted. Why do many people stand by and do nothing when they see a crime being committed? Is it just out of fear that they too might become a victim, or be attacked? Sharyn Potter is a Professor of Sociology at the University of New Hampshire and has done a lot of work on so-called 'bystander phenomena' as it relates to sexual assaults.

Making your own baby food might sound like a daunting task for busy and exhausted parents. But with a little planning and a food grinder, it's a fairly simple process. Enrollment is up at baby food making classes offered through the University of Maine Cooperative Extension. Parents are motivated by health and economic reasons.