The baseball bats came alive in Thursday night’s matchup between Hampden Academy and Bangor, culminating in a wild 13-11 come-from-behind victory for the Broncos at Mansfield Stadium. The pivotal action came in the top of the seventh with two outs, when Hampden junior Andrew Cote smacked a 2-2 curveball into right field for a bases clearing triple, turning an 11-10 deficit into a 13-11 lead with one swing of the bat. “Honestly, I was shaking in my boots, I’m not gonna lie,” Cote (2-for-4, one walk, four RBIs) said. “I found a way to put the barrel on the ball, and good things happen when you ..read more

The New England Patriots have selected North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye with the No. 3 pick in Thursday’s NFL draft. Maye becomes the second quarterback taken in the first round by New England since 2021 and will be its latest attempt to find a franchise quarterback following the departure of Tom Brady after the 2019 season. New England traded 2021 first-round pick Mac Jones to Jacksonville earlier this offseason. At 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds, Maye checks many of the boxes the Patriots were looking for, with ideal arm strength and athleticism. He also will be coming into a situation i ..read more

Eighteen chairs, each adorned with a blue heart and a candle, lined the front of the stage Thursday evening as community members marked the six month anniversary of the Lewiston mass shooting. Around 200 people gathered at the Simard-Payne Memorial Park in Lewiston to honor the 18 people killed, 13 injured and countless lives changed on Oct. 25, 2023, from the shootings at Just-in-Time Recreation and Schemengees Bar and Grille. The names of the 18 people fatally shot were read out loud at the start of the ceremony and an American Sign Language interpreter translated all remarks. “We are all g ..read more

BANGOR, Maine — The Hampden Academy softball team’s primary objective this season is to be a good hitting team, according first-year head coach Deb Colpitts. And the Broncos certainly swung the bats well on Thursday, pounding 12 hits in five innings en route to an 18-6 victory over Class A North rival Bangor in the Rams’ home opener. The game was called after the fifth inning due to the 10-run mercy rule. Hampden improved to 3-0 while Bangor fell to 0-3. Sophomore shortstop Cat Facchini and senior right fielder Laurali Parker each had a double and two singles to pace the Broncos. Facchini kno ..read more

Editor’s note: A version of this story was mistakenly published in Thursday’s print edition. Maine State Police spokesperson Shannon Moss confirmed at 7:21 p.m. Thursday that the body found in Caribou was identified as Erik Foote. CARIBOU, Maine — A body found on a bank of the Aroostook River in Caribou on Tuesday has been identified as missing Washburn resident Erik Foote, according to Maine State Police, who said the cause and manner of death are “pending.” Foote, 39, was last seen Jan. 30 near a Presque Isle convenience store. His disappearance and the subsequent search for him have ..read more

WASHINGTON (AP) — Kim Kardashian marshaled her celebrity in one administration to spotlight criminal justice reform — and she’s doing it again in the next. The reality TV star and entrepreneur joined Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday for a roundtable highlighting the administration’s efforts on criminal justice reform and how President Joe Biden has used his clemency powers, particularly on those convicted of non-violent drug offenses who faced significantly longer sentences than they would under current laws. Kardashian was a regular presence at the White House during the Trump admini ..read more

A high school athletic director in Maryland has been accused of using artificial intelligence to impersonate a principal on an audio recording that included racist and antisemitic comments, authorities said Thursday. Authorities said the case appears to be among the first of its kind in the country and called for new laws to guard against the technology. Experts also warned that artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly powerful, while the ability to detect it may lag behind without more resources. Dazhon Darien faked the voice of Pikesville High School’s principal in response to conve ..read more

Letters submitted by BDN readers are verified by BDN Opinion Page staff. Send your letters to letters@bangordailynews.com Donald Trump is on trial right now in New York because he allegedly tried to deceive voters prior to the 2016 election. He allegedly violated campaign finance laws and falsified business records to conceal an illicit affair. I believe Trump meddles in elections in order to seize and hold onto power. His alleged actions in this case were an attempt to keep damaging information from voters, thereby taking away our rights to cast informed votes. Donald Trump apparen ..read more

Letters submitted by BDN readers are verified by BDN Opinion Page staff. Send your letters to letters@bangordailynews.com The Earth is one planet among trillions of other planets in the known universe. The Earth is not significant because it is the largest planet, nor is it the oldest. In fact, scientists and geologists speculate that this planet has undergone five extinction level events in the past billions of years since its formation. What is distinct about our home world is that it took the efforts of the collective comets, meteorites, and stardust to form the Earth over t ..read more

The BDN Editorial Board operates independently from the newsroom, and does not set policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com. Maine state government and the Wabanaki Nations have taken another step forward together, with Gov. Janet Mills signing LD 2007 into law earlier this week. The new law will expand the authority of tribal courts, and allow the Penobscot Nation to regulate drinking water on its tribal lands. The amended version of this legislation, while not the sweeping approach to tribal sovereignty as origina ..read more