Next phase of UMaine’s $45M arena overhaul begins this spring

The next phase of the renovation of the University of Maine’s Alfond Arena will begin this spring. It is part of facilities upgrades at the university that have been funded by a $170 million gift from the Harold Alfond Foundation. The Alfond Arena renovation will cost $45 million, according to UMaine athletic director Jude Killy, and he said university officials are hoping it will be completed by the end of 2025. WBRC Inc. (Bangor) and Crawford Architects (Kansas City, Missouri) will be the architects, PC Construction (Portland) will execute the construction management and Forty Nine Degrees (Coldwater, Ohio) will lead…

House Judiciary sends altered Senate Intelligent Design Bill to full floor

Story by David Beard, The Dominion Post CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Senate’s Intelligent Design bill took another step in its evolution on Tuesday, as the House Judiciary Committee took up and approved the fourth version, and sent it to the House floor. The discussion has also evolved since the origins of SB 280 in the Senate: from teaching ID in the classroom on the Senate side, to Judiciary’s exploration of teachers’ legal protections, diversity of thought and whether or not ID falls within the realm of science. The bill began in the Senate as one sentence: “Teachers in public schools,…