In photos: Monument Square Christmas tree is all aglow

Portland’s Christmas tree arrived Nov. 15 after making the journey over the Veterans Memorial Bridge from its home in South Portland. The city chose the 50-foot blue spruce grown at 35 Lubec St. to stand in Monument Square during the holidays.

Photos by Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer

One of Us: Cooking friends Ethiopian food helps her feel closer to home

Roma Lama, who moved to Maine in 1999, says sharing food with others is a big part of her culture.

In photos: Last dance at Dirigo High

Press Herald photojournalist Brianna Soukup joined prom-goers from Dirigo High School at Black Mountain ski resort in Rumford, the school’s first since the coronavirus upended life in 2020.

What abortion rights mean to me

Six Mainers explain why Roe v. Wade is important to them personally.

In photos: A memorable February

It snowed, and thawed, and sleeted and thawed, and snowed some more. On the 23rd, we claimed spring for a day, breaking records when the temperature soared to the mid-60s. It was a month of bad ice, high energy costs, good skiing and great high school sports. Here are some of the best photos from the month by Press Herald photographers.

In photos: Saturday’s Maine high school basketball tournament games

High school basketball players made the shots and our photographers caught the action. Here are some of our favorite photos from Maine’s high school basketball tournament, February 26, 2022.

Photo Album: Thursday’s Maine high school basketball tournament games

High school basketball players made the shots and our photographers caught the action. Here are some of our favorite photos from Maine’s high school basketball tournament, Feb. 24, 2022.

In photos: Scenes of a frozen Maine

Portraits of winter in Maine by the Press Herald’s photographers

2021 Photos of the Year: Photographers’ Choice

2021 was a roller coaster ride. It started with mobs attacking the Capitol to try to overturn the presidential election and is ending with a new surge of the coronavirus. There was enough bad news – fires, floods, disasters of every natural and manmade kind – to make you want to bury your head under the covers and stay there. But there was also the miracle of vaccines – by the end of June, hardly any vaccinated people were dying of COVID-19. We gained a new appreciation of the simple but deep pleasures of meeting with family and friends, going to a country fair or a high school baseball game, looking for beauty in the flight of an owl or a solar eclipse at dawn. For our 2021 Photos of the Year collection, Portland Press Herald photographers voted on one another’s photos, then selected their own favorites from the top vote-getters. We hope you enjoy looking at them as much as we enjoyed taking them.

In photos: The last races at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway

Drivers and fans packed the stands for Beech Ridge Speedway’s last days of racing. The Scarborough mainstay closed on Sunday after 73 years of racing. Beech Ridge owner Andy Cusack announced during a post-race awards ceremony on Sept. 11 that the track had been sold to a real estate developer. With the closure of Beech Ridge there are now only three auto racing tracks in Maine: Wiscasset Speedway, Oxford Plains Speedway and Speedway 95 in Hermon. “It feels like losing a kid to me,” David Wilds said after his race on Thursday night. Wilds is a driver from Limington who has been coming to Beech Ridge since the 1960s when he was a child. “This is a home to us,” he said. Photos by Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer