NORTHFIELD, New Hampshire (Reuters) – When Joshua Fontanez began training as a cadet at Norwich University in 2008, he kept silent about his sexuality for fear of being expelled from the military school’s Reserve Officer Training Corps.

Now after the repeal of the U.S. military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, a gay pride group he helped found is staging a “Queer Prom” and a “Condom Olympics” as part of the first gay pride week at any of the nation’s public and private military academies. Events kicked off on Monday.

By Jason McLure

(Reuters) – A confidential memo saying the best way to fight same-sex marriage is to drive “a wedge between gays and blacks” and manipulate Latinos drew criticism on Wednesday in the weeks ahead of a vote to ban gay marriage in North Carolina.

The memo written by the National Organization for Marriage was made public late Monday as part of a lawsuit in Maine, where voters will consider a November referendum to legalize gay marriage.

By Jason McLure

(Reuters) – Murray Lender, who made a traditionally Jewish food a staple of American cuisine and built a frozen bagel empire, died on Wednesday in Miami Beach, Florida, after a 10-week illness. He was 81.

He became the face of Lender’s Bagels in the 1970s and 1980s when he appeared on television advertisements encouraging people unfamiliar with bagels to try them.

LITTLETON, New Hampshire (Reuters) – Growing even faster than the daisies and daffodils Kimberly Bois planted outside her condo unit in memory of her mother are the fines imposed by her condominium association, which is suing to force her to rip the flowers out.

The first day of spring on Tuesday was marked by another $50 daily fine imposed on Bois by the management at Atlantic Pointe condominiums in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for allegedly violating a policy aimed at maintaining the homes’ uniform look.

By Jason McLure

(Reuters) – Former Maine Governor Angus King has announced he’ll run as an independent for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by retiring Republican Olympia Snowe, complicating Senate Democrats’ efforts to defend their majority in November.

A poll released on Tuesday by the Democratic aligned Public Policy Polling showed King, who announced his bid late Monday, with a favorability rating of 62 percent, the highest of any of the potential candidates who have started gathering signatures to get on the ballot.

By Jason McLure

(Reuters) – Senator Olympia Snowe’s decision to not seek re-election in November has roiled politics in Maine with both of the state’s U.S. House members and at least two former governors considering runs for her seat.

Snowe, a popular pro-choice Republican in her 18th year in the Senate after 16 years in the House, was expected to easily win another term but stunned politicians and the public alike with a Tuesday announcement she would bow out, citing an “atmosphere of polarization” in Congress.

By Jason McLure

(Reuters) – Senator Olympia Snowe’s decision against seeking re-election in November has roiled politics in Maine with both of the state’s U.S. House members and at least two former governors considering runs for her seat.

Snowe, a popular pro-choice Republican in her 18th year in the Senate after 16 years in the House, was expected to easily win another term but stunned politicians and the public alike with a Tuesday announcement she would bow out, citing an “atmosphere of polarization” in Congress.

Feb 24 (Reuters) – Proponents of same-sex marriage in
Maine have gathered more than enough signatures to ask voters in
a November referendum to approve gay marriages just three years
after they banned them.

As the tide of acceptance swells nationwide, gay marriage
advocates in Maine gathered more than 85,000 signatures, far
more than the requisite 57,277 signatures, Secretary of State
Charles Summers said on Thursday.

By Jason McLure

(Reuters) – Proponents of same-sex marriage in Maine have gathered more than enough signatures to ask voters in a November referendum to approve gay nuptials just three years after they banned them.

As the tide of acceptance swells nationwide, gay marriage advocates in gathered more than 85,000 signatures, far more than the requisite 57,277 signatures, Secretary of State Charles Summers said on Thursday.

Feb 23 (Reuters) – The biggest lobster ever caught in
Maine, a 27-pounder (12.25 kg) nicknamed “Rocky” with
claws tough enough to snap a man’s arm, was released back into
the ocean on Thursday after being trapped in a shrimp net last
week, marine officials said.

The 40-inch (one-meter) male crustacean, about
the size of a 3-year-old child, was freed in the waters of the
Atlantic Ocean, said Elaine Jones, education director for the
state’s Department of Marine Resources.