BATH, Maine — General Dynamics Bath Iron Works christened the future USS William Charette (DDG 130) on Saturday, marking another milestone for the Maine shipyard and the U.S. Navy’s next generation of guided missile destroyers.

The ceremony, held in Bath Iron Works’ dry dock, celebrated the ship that will become the yard’s second Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyer and the 43rd destroyer of the class built in Bath. The vessel is named in honor of Master Chief Hospital Corpsman William Charette, a career Navy corpsman who received the Medal of Honor for his extraordinary heroism during the Korean War.

Maine’s default Democrat nominee Troy Jackson is launching his first general-election ad, highlighting his own background as a labor organizer and going after five-term Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

The 30-second spot, narrated by Jackson, is backed by a seven-figure buy slated to begin airing statewide next week, his campaign told NBC News.

Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Troy Jackson sharply criticized U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), President Donald Trump, and U.S. Sen. Susan Collins during a veterans-focused rally in Biddeford on Saturday, accusing the federal agency of operating without sufficient accountability and arguing Collins enabled its expansion by supporting additional funding.

State fire investigators have determined that a Friday morning fire at Chasse Marine Company in Damariscotta was accidental and likely originated from one of two potential ignition sources.

The Damariscotta Fire Department responded at approximately 10:09 a.m. on Friday, July 31, to a reported structure fire at 460 Main Street, home to Chasse Marine Company.

By: Jon Fetherston

What has happened to leadership in Maine?

Somewhere along the way, we stopped expecting our elected officials to solve problems and started rewarding them for producing viral moments. Politics has become performance art. Press conferences, profanity, outrage, and social media videos now dominate the conversation, while many of Maine’s most pressing problems continue to worsen.

Portland police will deploy additional officers throughout the city Monday as part of an enhanced traffic enforcement operation aimed at reducing crashes and improving safety for drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists.

The operation, scheduled for Monday Aug. 3, will focus on neighborhoods and roadways where police have received traffic complaints or identified patterns of crashes and unsafe driving, according to the Portland Police Department.

The organization formerly known as Boy Scouts of America is facing backlash for abolishing gay-friendly activities at its yearly convention.

BSA, recently renamed Scouting America, did away with “gay spaces” at this year’s National Jamboree, being held this week in West Virginia.

The Maine Secretary of State’s Office is declining to determine whether Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Troy Jackson is eligible to appear on November’s ballot under Maine’s so-called “sore loser” law, leaving the increasingly contentious legal dispute to the political parties and potentially the courts.

Nearly three-quarters of Mainers perceive the state as unaffordable, and 30 percent plan to move away at some point in the next five years.

Of that 30 percent, two-thirds cite housing and the cost of living as the driving factor for their decision to leave the state.

Noah Webster Warned Us: Education Without the Bible Is Useless | The Pastor’s Office ft. Steve Robinson

Maine ranks 41st in the nation in education, 43rd in reading — and it’s the least religious state in America. Coincidence? In this episode, Steve Robinson of The Maine Wire joins the Pastor’s Office to connect the dots between a state that pushed God out of the classroom and a school system in freefall.