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Ninety years ago, Amelia and Mary Pizzo spent their 10th birthday aboard a ship bound for Ellis Island. On Wednesday, the identical twins spent the afternoon with close family members, celebrating their 100th birthday together. They shared pizza and cake, and reminisced over photo albums and obituaries clipped from newspapers through the years. Tho...

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Maine joined a small but growing number of states on Friday that have renamed Columbus Day to honor indigenous people as part of a movement to recognize the dark side of colonialism in the Americas. Several cities and a handful of states have made some move to celebrate Native Americans on the federal holiday dedicated to the 15th century explorer...

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A bill to officially change the name of Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day in Maine received final approval from the Senate on Thursday, paving the way for it to become law. The bill from Rep. Ben Collings, D-Portland, will change the name of the holiday that dates back to the 1930s and falls on the second Monday in October. While Indigenous Pe...

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Comic Chris Distefano has never been to Portland, so his first question about the city was: Does it have a lot of hipsters? Being a lifelong resident of Brooklyn, he has some definite opinions of hipsters. “You see these people trying to decrease their carbon footprint by struggling with a paper straw. Either use a plastic one or just don’t use one...

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Much has been said about the renaissance of Kittery Foreside, spurred especially by a culinary prosperity in Wallingford Square that takes many guises: the billowy lightness of New England’s best cruller at Lil’s Café; the glorious bite from vampire-obliterating teardrop bulbs of roasted garlic in an Abby’s white sauce slice at AJ’s Wood Grill Pizz...

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It was dinnertime on a Friday, and my friend Jennifer and I decided to go out for a spontaneous dinner. But without reservations, we knew finding a table in Portland would be challenging. Drifters Wife had a 45-minute wait just to sit at the bar. At Baharat, a little more off the beaten path, the line of people waiting to be seated reached the door...

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The Maine House of Representatives initially approved a bill on Tuesday that would make the state join several others and a handful of municipalities including Bangor by recognizing the October holiday of Indigenous Peoples' Day instead of Columbus Day. After the 88-51 vote, a measure sponsored by Rep. Ben Collings, D-Portland, looks to be on track...

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For the second time in as many weeks, Maine's firefighting community is saying goodbye to one of their own. It was less than one week ago when firefighters from all over the state came out to the funeral services of Capt. Joel Barnes. It was during those services when Oxford Fire Chief, Gary Sacco, fell ill. The 63-year-old was rushed to a nearby h...

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Piccolo’s executive chef, Damian Sansonetti, is chuckling in the background. Despite his efforts, I can hear him over the speakerphone. I’ve just asked his wife, pastry chef Ilma Lopez, what inspired her to put smoked walnuts on a dark chocolate budino ($12) – an addition that pitch-shifts the tones of the custard-like dessert from bittersweet to t...

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Let’s get some initial questions about Tesoro, the newly revamped Italian eatery on Harlow Street in Bangor that reopened under new ownership this week after three months closed, out of the way first. Yes, it still offers pizza, pasta and carafes of wine. Yes, there’s still classic diner-style seating in the front room. And yes, nearly 25 years aft...

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