BRUNSWICK — A eighth grade student from Washington County returned for a second crack at the Maine State Spelling Bee Saturday and booked a ticket to the 2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee in May. He’s also headed somewhere else special — his school’s spring dance.

“It feels really awesome, especially since I made the biggest bet on winning,” winner Tristan Singh said following the bee. “There’s a spring dance coming up at my school next week, and I said I would only (go) if I won.”

Singh, a student at Rose M. Gaffney Elementary School in Machias, beat out 13 other spellers from all over the state at Bowdoin College and took the final prize with the word “stratosphere.” Each student had won bees at the school and county level to win a spot at the state competition.

The bee, which was presented by the Maine Trust for Local News, went on for 18 rounds. It came down to Singh and the student representing Androscoggin County, Turner Elementary School sixth grader Grace Morris.

Spectators were biting their nails as Morris and Singh went back and forth spelling words for six rounds.

At round 14, Singh misspelled “cognizant,” giving Morris the chance to win. Then, Morris misspelled “millennial” — sending the final two into more rounds until a misspelling of “philosophize” ultimately took Morris out of contention.

The heated competition was all in good fun as spellers high-fived each other on stage and celebrated each others’ wins.

“We ended up chatting a lot, (and) cheering each other on,” said sixth grader Harmony Hoyt, the speller from Aroostook County.

And families in the audience were waiting with congratulatory hugs no matter their students’ place in the standings.

“(We’re) so proud of him. He’s worked really hard; he’s done a lot of hours of studying,” said Elizabeth Singh, Tristan’s mom.

Three members of a spelling bee family and the president of Thomas College made up the judging team for the state bee. For each word, students could ask the judges for its definition, origin, part of speech and to use it in a sentence.

Lily Jordan, of San Francisco, returned to her home state to judge this year’s bee after winning it twice as a middle schooler. Her dad, Glenn Jordan, a retired Press Herald sports writer, and her mom, Nancy Jordan, the lead content developer at National Geographic Learning, were also at the judges’ table. Meanwhile, their dog, Webster — like the dictionary — took a nap under the table.

“It almost feels like being a kid again, and feeling the nervousness of the moment, but it’s a lot of fun,” Lily Jordan said.

Jeannine Uzzi, the president of Thomas College, served as the word pronouncer Saturday, a role she’s been coming back to for more than 15 years.

“It’s a great way to reinforce academics in the state,” Uzzi said.

A bee afficionado, Singh plans on competing in the Maine State Civics Bee at Colby College in June — that is, after he appears at the nation’s largest spelling competition.

Anna Nasset is an international speaker, trainer and author of the memoir “Now I Speak,” specializing in stalking awareness, victim rights and trauma-informed practices. Sheriff Troy Morton serves as the sheriff of Penobscot County, Maine and as the president of the Maine Sheriffs’ Association.

In the quiet moments of a survivor’s life, the most dangerous thing isn’t always a person; it’s the unknown.

For more than a decade, one of us (Anna) has lived with the reality of a serial stalker. After years of torment, this stalker was finally sentenced to 10 years in prison — one of the longest stalking sentences in U.S. history. But for a survivor, a sentence is not the end of the story. The “job” of being a victim never ends. It simply shifts into a state of constant vigilance.

For survivors across the country, safety planning depends on a simple, life-saving tool: VINE (Victim Information and Notification Everyday). This automated platform provides real-time alerts when an offender’s custody status changes. It is the difference between a survivor being able to sleep at night or living in a state of “psychological warfare,” wondering if the person who harmed them has been released, transferred or bailed out.

Currently, Maine is the only state in the nation that does not provide victims with this essential tool. We are the national outlier, and it is a distinction that puts Maine lives at risk.

Protecting victims is a critical responsibility within the criminal justice system. Law enforcement professionals work to provide safety, resources and advocacy for those affected by crime, while also ensuring victims are empowered and kept informed throughout the process.

 Maine’s criminal statutes already require victim notifications for certain crimes, and that process would remain unchanged. However, it can be significantly strengthened through electronic victim notification systems, which allow victims, family members, witnesses and others affected by criminal activity to receive alerts when an individual is released from custody.

 Maine has already taken an important step forward with a pilot program operating in the Aroostook, Penobscot, Somerset and Two Bridges Regional jails. In just these four facilities, more than 8,500 notifications have been issued, and nearly 6,500 individuals have registered to receive alerts. Those users include not only victims of domestic violence, but also witnesses, family members and concerned community members who rely on the system to stay informed.

 Information is power. Yet in Maine, that power remains fragmented. Whether someone receives a critical alert should not depend on which county line a jail sits behind. Expanding electronic victim notification statewide would help ensure consistent, timely information for those who need it most.

Investing in automated victim notification is a no-brainer. This is a critical, common-sense investment that will move our state from last in the nation to a leader in victim services. The VINE system is designed to supplement, not replace, our existing statutory obligations. It offers a confidential layer of protection, available 24/7, without requiring overstretched jail staff to perform extra data entry. VINE simply and effectively connects existing records to the people who need that information most.

Maine prides itself on community and compassion. It is common sense to provide victims with the tools they need to stay safe. It is an essential responsibility of our criminal justice system to ensure that survivors are not the last to know when their offender is back on the street.

Let’s stop asking why Maine is the last in the nation and start showing the rest of the country how we put victims first by funding a statewide automated victim notification system now.

PHILADELPHIA — Ja’Kobi Gillespie hit six 3-pointers and scored 29 points as sixth-seeded Tennessee ended a fabulous season for Miami (Ohio) with a 78-56 win on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Former South Portland High star JP Estrella had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Vols.

The Vols (23-11) shook off a rough end to the season — losing four of six games — and advanced to play third-seeded Virginia on Sunday in the Midwest Region.

Gillespie hit five 3s in the first half to help the Vols push ahead by 20 and squash any chance the 11th-seeded RedHawks (31-2) could carry over the confidence gained from their First Four win and pull off a signature victory.

The Vols did just about everything right and showed again why — no matter the seed — they are a perennial threat to go deep in March. Led by Gillespie, the Vols made 12 of 19 shots to start the game, including long 3s and 20 quick points in the paint.

Just to add one more gut punch to Miami, Ethan Burg hit a 3 at the first-half buzzer for a 51-32 lead.

Gillespie passed up a chance to score 30 points — only two other Vols have ever reached that mark in the NCAA Tournament — when he drove the lane with 1:13 left but skipped the open look and threw a lob to Felix Okpara for the bucket.

Peter Suder was the lone Miami player in double digits with 27 points.

Gillespie is just one of many standouts enjoying the same March success in a new uniform thanks to the transfer portal.

He started 36 games last season and averaged 14.7 points, shooting 40.7% from 3-point range, to help Maryland reach the Sweet 16.

Had Gillespie peeked at the scoreboard, he could have caught a Villanova update. Last season’s Maryland coach, Kevin Willard, has the Wildcats in the tournament.

What has remained a constant in March is Tennessee winning. The Vols have been a top-six seed in all eight of their NCAA Tournament appearances under coach Rick Barnes. They are 8-3 overall in the last three tourneys.

RedHawks had a clunker in the first round but still belonged

Miami had a March highlight when it beat SMU in the First Four, its first NCAA Tournament victory in 27 years.

Miami went 31-0 during a captivating regular season — the only Division I team to go unbeaten in 2025-26 and the eighth in the past 50 years.

The RedHawks lost their MAC Tournament opener and had to wait and see if their dazzling record was enough to get in the field because of a schedule that ranked 339th in overall strength and featured no Quadrant 1 games.

The swim team was down to one swimmer to root on the RedHawks

Liam Quigley was the lone member of the Miami swim team who drove to Philadelphia to watch the game.

The swimmers created some excitement late in the season when they started rooting on the basketball team in nothing but their Speedos, goggles and swim caps. Their popularity exploded when they bum-rushed the stands behind the basket in the First Four and waved their arms to provide a nearly-nude distraction on SMU’s free-throw attempts.

Quigley, in red-and-white overalls, traveled from the First Four site in Dayton, Ohio, and had a seat near a non-swimmer RedHawks fan who painted his face and chest red.