This May, the Portland Police Department will offer its Rape Aggression Defense (R.A.D.) Training class.  R.A.D. provides women with the tools they need to both avoid dangerous situations and escape them.  The course is specifically designed to help women survive situations in which their lives are in jeopardy.

This class is open to all women, ages 13 and older, in the Greater Portland area who would like to develop real life defensive tools and tactics. The Basic Self-Defense Course consists of a series of four classes and one scenario day. The class is scheduled for May 21, 23, 28, and 30, from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM and June 1 from 8:00 AM to noon.  All classes must be attended to complete the course.  The classes will be held at the Portland Police Department, 109 Middle Street, Portland, Maine.

Lauren Paradise, a student at Lyman Moore Middle School in Portland, has received the first place award in the state level of the 2013 Letters About Literature contest. Lauren will receive $100 and represent Maine in the national competition.

Isabel Hungerford, also a Moore student, was a semi-finalist.

The state contest, organized by the Maine Humanities Council, received more than 1,000 submissions from students in grades four through 12. Students reflected on how they responded to a book or other writing and how it shaped their world view.