AUGUSTA -- More than two dozen Maine veterans who were wounded during Korean, Vietnam, Afghanistan or Iraq wars have been honored at the Statehouse with special state-issued medals.

Maine Silver Star Honorable Service Medals were presented Thursday by Gov. John Baldacci. The governor and the Maine Bureau of Veterans' Services first presented veterans with Maine Silver medals on Aug. 7, 2006.

Thirteen recipients attended Thursday's ceremony, and 13 weren't able to attend but were honored.

Baldacci says Maine has one of the highest rates of veterans in the nation.

Grant could producehousing for artists

HALLOWELL -- The Kennebec Valley Art Association was awarded a $6,500 grant from the Kay E. Dopp Fund, Harlow Gallery Executive Director Deborah Fahy said in a news release this week.

The grant will be used to pay for an updated strategic plan for the association, starting next year and continuing to 2014; and consultants to help the association build affordable housing for artists above the gallery, Fahy said.

"The KVAA board of directors came up with the organization's first-ever strategic plan in 2004, and as a result we have experienced an exciting period of growth and change," Fahy said. "We need to build the capacity of the KVAA so that the organization is adequate to the challenges that come with growth."

Fahy said she believes the affordable housing "will provide us with a source of income while also serving artists."

Compiled from staff and wire reports