Business and Economy

BUCKSPORT, Maine — A union representing some workers at the soon-to-close Verso Paper mill in Bucksport has filed a federal lawsuit to block the sale of the facility.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, representing 59 employees, is asking the court to block the sale of the mill to a scrap metal company and open the way for a buyer that would keep the mill operating.

PORTLAND, Maine — The Maine Public Utilities Commission is taking up telecommunications regulatory reform and a proposal to penalize a natural gas company for safety violations.

Those matters were on the panel's agenda Tuesday in Augusta.

The nonbinding telecommunications report was requested by lawmakers seeking to lower prices without harming service. As part of that report, the PUC already said FairPoint Communications is not entitled to a $63 million state subsidy for providing telephone service as a "provider of last resort" in remote parts of Maine.

PORTLAND, Maine — The average retail price of gas in Maine fell 8 cents per gallon in the past week to an average of $2.73 per gallon.

Website GasBuddy's survey of 1,228 Maine gas outlets found the state's average dropped a little less than the 8.3-cent decrease in the national average. The average nationwide price is $2.57 per gallon.

BATH, Maine — Bath Iron Works has been awarded a $21 million contract to continue work on a class of U.S. Navy destroyers.

U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree said in a statement Thursday night that it was a modification of a previously awarded contract for construction of DDG 51 destroyers.

Pingree said the shipyard was already the lead designer for the DDG 51s and the additional contract will allow Bath to provide engineering and support for follow-up work on the destroyers at the Ingalls Shipyard in Pascogoula, Mississippi.

PORTLAND, Maine — A scaled back version of a 3.25-acre residential and commercial development in Portland is encountering new resistance from the city's planning board.

PORTLAND, Maine — Maine is among 44 states to announce that satellite radio company Sirius XM Radio Inc. of New York is agreeing to pay $3.8 million and provide restitution to customers.

Maine Attorney General Janet T. Mills says the settlement is to resolve claims that the company engaged in misleading advertising and billing practices. Mills says the company is agreeing to clearly disclose all terms and conditions at the point of sale.

MONTPELIER, Vt. - FairPoint Communications says a problem that occurred during routine maintenance led to a loss of high-speed Internet service for thousands of customers in Vermont and New Hampshire.

Spokesman Jeff Nevins says the hardware problem knocked out service for all of Vermont and part of New Hampshire on Thursday.

With about 1,800 FairPoint workers on strike in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, a management employee was performing the maintenance late Wednesday on equipment that routes Internet traffic. The first outages were reported early Thursday.

PORTLAND, Maine — Summit Natural Gas has agreed to pay a $25,000 fine to resolve safety violations found by the Maine Public Utilities Commission.

The Portland Press-Herald reports that the settlement was part of a consent agreement filed last week. Documents show the company was accused, among other things, of using contractors without proper qualifications to install natural gas pipelines.

The PUC's gas safety manager had recommended a $100,000 fine.

PORTLAND, Maine - A federal regulatory board is discussing parameters for next year's recreational black sea bass fisheries in Maine and New Hampshire.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council is taking up the issue at a meeting in Baltimore on Wednesday. The two states have expressed interest in developing black sea bass fisheries as more of the fish have appeared off their coasts. Scientists say the bass are increasing in northern New England waters because of accelerated water temperature increases over the past 10 years.