Since Jan. 30, adult Maine residents can legally possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana and grow as many as six flowering pot plants.

The U.S. Coast Guard says a launch from the Kodiak Island rocket complex in Alaska will occur as soon as next week.

John Kelly said he believes the current security levels at U.S. shipping ports is adequate, but his agency must continue to research new technology to keep up with changing threats.

Proponents of the road noted that at least 19 people have died as a result of plane crashes or waiting to be medically evacuated. In the past three years, at least 55 people have required medical evacuations, many of which required Coast Guard services, costing taxpayers up to $30,000 per trip.

The Coast Guard Cutter Healy will use a remotely operated vehicle to investigate the wreckage and a Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation will conduct a hearing on the sinking.

A rescue team that included members of the state's whale-entanglement teams, fishermen, academics, marine veterinarians and the U.S. Coast Guard unsnagged a whale, after nearly eight hours of cutting off fishing lines, buoys and anchor lines wrapped around the animal.

The Coast Guard says Mississippi authorities have found the body of a boater whose motorboat grounded without him about 12 miles away.

Gallery

More than a century has passed since the first successful transit of the treacherous, ice-bound Northwest Passage by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen in 1906.

The two men are alive to recount their adventure for a couple of reasons. Both are in the Coast Guard and they had told a roommate and other colleagues the coordinates of their dive and their plan to return by dark.

The number of apprehensions of migrants with criminal records trying to illegally re-enter the U.S. after being deported has increased in the Caribbean, the U.S. Coast Guard said Monday.

The U.S. Coast Guard says it rescued four people from a capsized boat on Lake Michigan during the annual Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac Island, Michigan.

NASA astronauts training for a possible mission to Mars have been practicing water maneuvers in a mock-up Orion space capsule in the Gulf of Mexico.

Crews are searching for survivors of a small plane that crashed along Florida's Atlantic coast.

Cameron Espitia told investigators he had been drinking and "having a bad night" but didn't remember what happened during the ride. Coast Guard authorities confirmed Espitia is a Petty Officer First Class, assigned to Sector Puget Sound for law enforcement.

Lockport-based Bollinger Shipyards delivered the USCGC Oliver Berry, the 24th fast response cutter, to the U.S. Coast Guard.

A family in upstate New York was rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard during a boating trip.

Lifeguards estimate 8,000 to 10,000 people attended the party and hundreds had to be rescued from the water. A 19-year-old woman was in critical condition and 10 people were in serious condition after intoxication-related injuries.

U.S. Coast Guard stations that watch over the Great Lakes say they're seeing a huge jump in fake distress calls.

The U.S. Coast Guard won't be installing lights on the Florida jetty where Miami Marlins star Jose Fernandez crashed his boat, killing himself and two others.

The Coast Guard is searching for two people who went missing after a wave capsized their fishing boat near an Alaska island.

The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended action on a shipping industry request for 10 new anchorage grounds on the Hudson River after reviewing more than 10,000 comments

Q&A

Admiral Paul Zukunft has been the commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard since May 30, 2014. In a recent interview, Zukunft discussed the times that have tested his leadership skills, the lessons he has learned during 40 years of service and his 4:30 a.m. exercise routine.

While his decision may seem curious to some, Andrew Grady said a demotion — and a switch in his branch of service – was the best way to keep his family together.

The Coast Guard announced last month its willingness to negotiate a possible sale of the vacant military housing near Concord Naval Weapons Station to Concord, a city official said.

Clay Williams, director of the Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport, said the pilot called the airport from the air, saying there was smoke coming from the cockpit.

A U.S. Coast Guard rescue swimmer was awarded the distinguished Air Medal Monday for heroic action in the helicopter rescue of a 28-year-old man who had fallen 50 feet while free climbing in Maine last fall.

The U.S. Coast Guard has given the all-clear after investigating a potential threat at the Port of Charleston on Thursday morning.

A hundred years ago in a blinding fog, a U.S. Coast Guard ship was sailing off the coast of Southern California when it smashed into a passenger steamship. The USCGC McCulloch sank within 35 minutes and lingered on the ocean floor undisturbed by people for a century.

A World War II-era tugboat stuck for 19 years in the Intracoastal Waterway near Ormond-by-the-Sea in Florida has been removed, towed to Jacksonville on Wednesday.

The Valiant’s crew seized five drug-laden vessels with almost 5 tons of cocaine during its deployment in the Eastern Pacific Ocean off Central and South America as part of a Joint Interagency Task Force South partnership.

A Virginia Beach man was rescued by the Coast Guard Tuesday morning after his sailboat started sinking in stormy weather off Tangier Island.

A convicted human smuggler from Mexico must serve nearly seven years in a U.S. prison over the 2015 death of an immigrant struck by a Coast Guard boat as she tried to reach Texas.

The U.S. Coast Guard says it rescued two kayakers who were near an island off the coast of southern Alaska and became separated as the weather deteriorated.

Relaunching the now-idle boat would rekindle a connection to the region’s history and inject millions of tourist dollars and hundreds of jobs into states up and down the river, supporters said. There was just one problem: the vote exempted the vessel from a fire safety law despite fresh Coast Guard warnings.

The graduating cadets sat quietly and ramrod straight for most of Wednesday's 136th U.S. Coast Guard Academy's graduation ceremony as crowds cheered, whistled and applauded.

President Donald Trump pledged to build icebreaker ships that the Coast Guard has long sought to navigate polar waterways, but offered no details about how they will be funded or whether his vision differs fundamentally from a plan established during the Obama administration.

The Coast Guard says no Cuban migrants were intercepted at sea trying to reach the U.S. during April, the first time in seven years that has happened.

The commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard issued a stark warning on Wednesday that Russia was leagues ahead of Washington in the Arctic. And while the warming Arctic opens up, the United States could be caught flat-footed while other geopolitical rivals swiftly step in.

Off the coast of a Connecticut seaport, the Coast Guard is developing and testing new technology that could help record and mark the location of oil spills all across the oceans.

The U.S. Coast Guard is expanding its operations along Oregon's northern coast by selecting Astoria as the new home for two fast response cutters.

A U.S. Coast Guard crew based in Astoria returned after a 2.5-month deployment that yielded the seizure of $11 million in cocaine and marijuana, officials said.

ANALYSIS

President Trump’s pledge to build a wall on the Mexican border has complicated a spending bill needed to avoid a government shutdown — and ultimately could shift funding away from one of the Coast Guard’s most strategic stations in the California Bay Area.

Authorities say two crew members are dead after an explosion on a ship in the North Atlantic Ocean.

The crew of the Coast Guard cutter Mohawk returned home to Key West Saturday, following a three-month counter-drug patrol in the Pacific Ocean.

President Donald Trump will deliver the commencement address to graduates of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy next month.

The U.S. Coast Guard is focusing its recruiting efforts on Maui's water polo players, surfers and others who spend much of their time in the water.

The U.S. Coast Guard has received no extra funding to cover the additional costs of protecting President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort during his frequent trips to the Florida estate, the service's top official said Wednesday.

Ray Evans, Douglas Munro’s shipmate, said Munro’s last words were “Did they get off (the beach)?” The official Navy account said that when told the Marines made it, Munro died with a smile on his face.

A 32-year-old man was seen jumping from a cabin balcony off the cruise ship Carnival Liberty early Friday when the vessel was about 10 miles northwest of the Berry Islands, in the Bahamas, officials said.

The Coast Guard's top officer said Monday that his service was "left behind" in an effort by the Trump administration to improve the Armed Forces, and still needs dozens of new ships and thousands more servicemembers.

Coast Guard Airman Gregory Jacquet will be honored in May in Washington as the Coast Guard's active-duty enlisted person of the year. He was chosen from among 32,000 enlisted members.

President Donald Trump's administration proposed to cut the Coast Guard's $9.1 billion budget by 14 percent and use the funds to boost support for immigration enforcement, according to news reports and congressional sources.

Nearly 30 passengers are suing Spirit Cruises LLC after a company ship crashed into a Fells Point pier last August during a midnight party outing. Coast Guard investigators said the captain dozed off before the 119-foot vessel veered off course and splintered a floating pier at Henderson's Wharf Marina.

The senators warned this is not the time to "kick the can down the road" on the Coast Guard's aging fleet. The budget proposal, not yet public, would reportedly also cut the budgets of FEMA, which provides disaster relief, and the TSA by about 11 percent each.

Ingalls Shipbuilding could benefit from the president's push for a 350-ship fleet. Besides Coast Guard cutters, the Gulf Coast shipyard builds guided-missile destroyers, "big-deck" amphibious assault ships and smaller, versatile amphibs that are prized by the Marine Corps.

The Coast Guard will conduct a Marine Board of Investigation — the highest level of agency inquiry — into the Feb. 11 loss of the crab boat Destination and six crew members.

The award recognizes San Diego’s commitment to erecting monuments to the maritime service, organizing civic celebrations and helping to boost the morale, welfare and recreational opportunities for Coast Guard personnel in the region.

On March 29, 2012, the U.S. Coast Guard intercepted a strange-looking vessel off the Honduran Caribbean coast. When the vessel stopped, Coast Guard personnel realized it was a makeshift semi-submersible built to carry at least 3 tons of cocaine.

The final Coast Guard hearing into the El Faro sinking concluded Friday with emotional statements and vows from investigators to find answers to the tragedy that claimed 33 lives and disrupted the maritime industry.

Seaman recruit Aaron Redd collapsed during a fitness assessment at Training Center Cape May, New Jersey on July 1 and died July 7th.

Traverse City visitors will see a surprise when they look to the skies next summer.

Five Coast Guard cutters are charged with marking navigation channels on major rivers from roughly the St. Louis area north to the Twin Cities of Minnesota, and between Omaha, Neb., and near Chicago.

A driver got a close look at high surf in Humboldt Bay but the up-close experience led to a rescue by the U.S. Coast Guard.

It was a what-if scenario of the type that fuels Florida crime potboilers: A fisherman finds a package of drugs valued at a huge street sum, and makes a decision. In one case, he was 50 miles south of Panama City when he found between $500,000 and $650,000 worth of cocaine floating in the gulf.

An intimate crowd of self-avowed “Coasties” shared laughs with the panelists at the “Women in the U.S. Coast Guard” panel discussion held at Mystic Seaport in Connecticut.

Reacting to the increasing acceptance and popularity of body art, the Coast Guard has revised its tattoo policy to make it less restrictive.

The migrants crossed the Florida Straits six months ago and sought refuge on the American Shoal Lighthouse. Later, they drew attention for throwing an SOS off a Coast Guard boat. Those still on base say they feel pressured to return to home.

The captain of the Port Maryland National-Capital Region set ice condition 3 on Monday because weather conditions are favorable for the formation of ice in navigable waters.

A big snowstorm isn’t the only thing bearing down on Virginia's Atlantic coast. About 20 container ships were scheduled to call on the local port this weekend – but some of them apparently are going to have to wait. The Coast Guard said it will close the port, with some restrictions, early Saturday morning, in anticipation of the storm.

Ingalls Shipbuilding has received a $486 million fixed-price incentive contract from the U.S. Coast Guard to build a ninth national security cutter.

The Coast Guard cutter Tamaroa, that helped rescue seven people during “The Perfect Storm,” has still not been cleared by federal environment officials to be sunk off the New Jersey coast.

Master Chief Jonathan Towne is dusting off his bearskin hat for the last time.

The group’s financial crisis has occurred in one of the world’s largest concentrations of military might, with more than $23.3 billion flowing through San Diego County last year for troops, veterans and defense projects.

The captain of the Spirit of Baltimore had worked three days on his own boat and was feeling tired late on the August night when he guided the 119-foot ship on a midnight party cruise through the Inner Harbor, Coast Guard investigators said. At around 2 a.m., with 400 passengers aboard, the captain dozed off.

Cassius Samson, 52, and Rustico Ignacio, 66, both of the Philippines, were sentenced for obstructing a U.S. Coast Guard inspection that took place in July 2015 aboard the cargo ship Ocean Hope at the Port of Wilmington.

A Coast Guard hearing is beginning into the sinking of the fishing vessel Alaska Juris.

The National Transportation Safety Board will release a 400-page transcript of conversations recorded aboard the El Faro before the cargo ship sank in a hurricane last year. The transcript will be made available Dec. 13.

Richard Winsor Ohrn, a former financial adviser who was fined $1 million for the cost of searching for him after he faked his death at sea, will not have to go to prison. He was sentenced Tuesday to a year of probation. But , 46, won’t have to go to prison. He was sentenced Tuesday to a year of probation.

A Coast Guard helicopter made an emergency landing Sunday during a rescue operation for an ailing mariner.

Following the announcement on Friday night of Fidel Castro's death, the Coast Guard is not preparing for a large-scale migration from Cuba. Instead, they're proceeding with business as usual, patrolling the Florida Straits.

Termed a "Fast Response" vessel because of its capability to reach speeds of more than 28 knots and travel 2,950 nautical miles before having to refuel, it will mostly perform search and rescue operations and fisheries law enforcement functions.

As World War II raged in 1942, Gina Becker was trying to find a way to continue her education after graduating from high school in Libby.

American businesses are doing a better job of hiring veterans, yet still struggle understanding them, according to a new report from Hiring our Heroes, a component of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation.

The General Services Administration, which handled the auction for the U.S. Coast Guard, accepted bids for three lighthouses this summer.

With growing interest in Arctic shipping routes and Russian military activity in the region, advocates have warned that the U.S. could find itself without the necessary equipment to aid troubled vessels in Arctic waters.

Altogether, the Coast Guard and its partners seized 416,600 pounds of cocaine between October of 2015 and the end of September 2016.

A search for a missing Chinese sailor, who set out from San Francisco on what he hoped would be a record-breaking solo voyage, was suspended after rescuers boarded his floundering vessel in the Pacific Ocean and found no sign of him, officials said.

The helicopter joined a search already underway by the Coast Guard with an HC-130 Hercules airplane, which had flown over the boat Tuesday. The plane crew saw no sign of Guo Chuan.

Eleven Cuban men reached reached shore on Big Pine Key after leaving Cuba on Thursday. The survivors told officials that “one man was separated from the group after entering the water Saturday.”

The hearing at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces could reach beyond former Petty Officer 2nd Class Omar M. Gomez, now serving an eight-year prison term. The case could speak to the role of roiled emotions as the military combats sexual assault.

Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., has been pushing the U.S. Coast Guard to buy or lease a polar ice-breaking ship owned by one of his top campaign contributors, although the Coast Guard has repeatedly said the vessel doesn’t meet its needs.

Drug cartels are out close to $160 million in cocaine thanks to the work of the men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mohawk in the eastern Pacific Ocean over the past two months.

Richard "Ricky" Davies, 22, died Sunday from injuries he sustained after being struck by a van in Durham, N.H., on Friday.

Traveling to the Pacific Northwest last month, Coast Guard Commandant Paul Zukunft checked out the Bluebell, a 71-year-old Coast Guard tender that continues to service navigation aids along the Willamette, Columbia and Snake rivers.

Two men rescued from a sailboat in the Gulf of Alaska Wednesday may owe their lives to a mariner off Hawaii, who heard an initial distress call when Alaska-based U.S. Coast Guard members couldn't.