PORTLAND

Gambling 'the hardway'
Embedded in South Portland's seven-nights-a-week bingo hall - BY DEIRDRE FULTON AND NICHOLAS SCHROEDER

Top slices

Standouts in by-the-piece pies
College is all about ordering pizza at all hours, often delivered to dorms or apartments hosting major cram sessions (or, you know, other student-type activities). But what if you're out and about, on the town, and want a slice for lunch?

By: PHOENIX STAFF | January 25, 2012

Time travel in miniature

What the future holds — or was it the past?
Although comprised of only six photographs, "Lori Nix: The City" at the University of Maine Museum of Art is a show not to be missed.

By: BRITTA KONAU | January 25, 2012

Review: China Taste

The family-run place you're hoping for
It's often claimed that there is no good Chinese food in Portland. But when four Maine Chinese buffet restaurants were raided by federal agents for deplorable working conditions, money laundering, and other alleged crimes a few months back, it put things in perspective.

By: BRIAN DUFF | January 25, 2012

Thespian games at the Theater Project

Play acting
Five people lie supine on the floor, feet outward, like a star.

By: MEGAN GRUMBLING | January 25, 2012

10 songs to get you, and the Pats, fired up

Super selections
While most Patriots fans this past weekend watched with glee as Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis was denied a return trip to the Super Bowl, I couldn't help remember the time 11 years ago when I didn't completely detest the guy.

By: SAM PFEIFLE | January 25, 2012

Sign conundrum continues; monuments 'join' movement

Occupy Watch
The mystery of where OccupyMaine's signs went is partially solved: it turns out their removal was witnessed — and by a police officer!

By: JEFF INGLIS | January 25, 2012

Distant planetary sighting

Wax Tablet
The rascally boys of THEODORE TREEHOUSE have been recording an EP follow-up to their lauded 2010 debut, Mercury: Closest to the Sun , this month in New Hampshire's Rocking Horse Studios.

By: PORTLAND PHOENIX MUSIC STAFF | January 25, 2012

Reining in your loans

Use the federal program, no matter how hard your lender tries to sell you something else
Last October, President Obama initiated an improved income-based repayment plan called Pay As You Earn.

By: NICHOLAS SCHROEDER | January 25, 2012

Recipes for college cooks who are more Top Chef than Top Ramen

Dorm gourmet
In some ways, going to college can be like going out on the road with a band.

By: JESSICA BRYCE YOUNG | January 25, 2012

Black Bears at Fenway

Balls, Pucks, and Monster Trucks
I had my doubts about Frozen Fenway, the 16-day-long "ice event" held at the venerable old ballpark, starting on New Year's Day.

By: RICK WORMWOOD | January 25, 2012

Don't let them take control

Maine's counties
There are worse things than Maine's antiquated system of county government.

By: AL DIAMON | January 25, 2012

Local adjunct professors fight for their piece of the pie

Coming to the table
Even as Governor Paul LePage and others tout the importance of the community college system in Maine, the adjunct professors at Southern Maine Community College and the University of Southern Maine are without contracts.

By: DEIRDRE FULTON | January 25, 2012

Gang-buster bill gets dissed

Tattoos As A Criminal Act
A controversial legislative proposal developed by a secretive police group would send an individual to prison for up to 40 years if he or she is convicted of asking someone to join a criminal street gang.

By: LANCE TAPLEY | January 25, 2012

Review: Red Tails

The struggles and triumphs of the Tuskegee Airmen
With a title that refers not to squirrels but to plane markings, Red Tails dramatizes the struggles and triumphs of African-American pioneers, the Tuskegee Airmen.

By: BETSY SHERMAN | January 24, 2012

Review: Haywire

Soderbergh phones it in
Despite some thrilling combat choreography executed with flair by MMA champ Gina Carano, Steven Soderbergh clearly phoned it in here. The barely-there plot involves Mallory (Carano), a double-crossed Black Ops agent who goes rogue in an uninteresting search for revenge.

By: THOMAS PAGE MCBEE | January 24, 2012