BREWER, Maine — Robert Thompson started using opiates illegally when he was a teenager, he said. When he hit 30 and was in the middle of losing everything — his children, his job, his apartment — all doors seemed closed to him.

BREWER, Maine — The Village Centre apartments are being built to such strict standards of energy efficiency that the builders expect some tenants will not have to turn on their heat next winter.

BREWER, Maine — The city is preparing for phase two of its waterfront trail system, which will extend the 1,900-foot path from its current ending at the Chamberlain Bridge upriver to the Penobscot Bridge, and will add two new, stone chess tables to get things started.

BREWER, Maine — A new brewery-restaurant is under construction at the site where the old Public Works garage on Hardy Street once stood, and it is scheduled to open at the end of April, a city official said Wednesday.

BREWER, Maine — City leaders took a leap of faith Tuesday night when they unanimously approved signing a 15-year contract to send waste to the Municipal Review Committee’s planned trash-to-energy facility in Hampden starting in 2018.

The odd Jan. 6 Bangor Daily News OpEd about trash disposal completely mischaracterizes pay-as-you-throw programs, which are a fair and equitable way to increase recycling and reduce waste. Brewer recently marked the five-year anniversary of its pay-as-you-throw program, which, since its inception in 2011, has resulted in a 370 percent increase in residential recycling and a more than 50 percent decrease in trash the city sends to Penobscot Energy Recovery Co.

BREWER, Maine — Marie Allen likely never planned to become an anti-drug crusader, but she felt compelled to do so after losing her daughter, Erin, to a heroin overdose.

At Harvest Moon Deli, greats including B.B. King, Ella Fitzgerald and Jerry Garcia live on as names of paninis.

Come Friday, Oct. 23, they’re tentatively expected to be sold at the newest Harvest Moon location at the Twin City Plaza in Brewer, if all goes according to schedule.

During the 2015 Brewer Days, Holly Lundquist was named Citizen of the Year and Twin City Tire was named the Business of the Year.

Brewer Police spearhead ongoing training for police and community

Incidents of violence seem to be increasing daily. Even in the relatively safe borders of Maine there is disturbing news of assaults and murders of innocent civilians. The Brewer Police Department has been proactively working with local and state agencies to become better prepared to deal with such threats, and also helping to prepare members of their community and other local agencies.