Bangor Daily News

Grand Jury Indicts 55 in Waldo County

BELFAST - The Waldo County grand jury completed its summer term on Friday and handed up the following indictments: Charles D. Blake Jr., 52, Waldo, burglary, theft by unauthorized taking and criminal mischief.

Bangor Council Sets Methadone Clinic Limits

BANGOR - After several meetings and three more rounds of debate Monday night, city councilors voted 6-2 to place certain limits on methadone clinics. The measure adopted by councilors:

2 Arrested in Similar Belfast Incidents Both Men Reportedly Entered Apartments, Attempted to Sleep with Women

BELFAST - Two men were arrested early Saturday after reportedly entering separate apartments and attempting to sleep with the women living there. Steven Hodgdon, 42, of Troy, a maintenance man at the Ocean's East Apartments off Ryan Road, allegedly used his master key to enter the apartment of a female resident and then climb into her bed. The woman reported the intruder to police at 2:20 a.m. and he was arrested moments later on a charge of aggravated criminal mischief. Hodgdon was intoxicat...

Pine Tree Stops Car From Falling Down Embankment in Prospect

PROSPECT - A pine tree is being credited with preventing a vehicle with two octogenarian Rockland women from careening down an embankment beside the Penobscot Narrows Bridge scenic turnout and possibly claiming their lives. "One pine tree was all that was there to stop them," Waldo County Deputy Sheriff Merl Reed said of the Saturday morning accident on U.S. Route 1.

Land Project Creating Unbroken Green Corridor Wild Areas Will Balance Bangor-Area Development

ORONO - Dave Thompson paused for a moment after slogging through part of an old logging road flooded by a hardworking beaver family and the summer's seemingly nonstop rain. The precipitation had let up a bit again, if only briefly. But it was long enough to hear the birds chirping away in an expansive bog that is practically in the backyards of tens of thousands of Bangor- area residents, yet noticed by very few.

Rights Panel Finds Man Was Racially Harassed

AUGUSTA - The Maine Human Rights Commission found reasonable grounds to believe that unlawful employment discrimination because of race, ancestry and Whistleblower's Act retaliation occurred to Jonathan Perales of Orrington by Movie Gallery of Bucksport. In a 4-0 vote on Aug. 11, the commission determined that unlawful discrimination took place when Movie Gallery failed to correct and prevent racist harassment that Perales, 44, had reported to his employer. The commission also found that Pera...

Liheap Inquiries Flooding Agency Mainers Bracing for High Oil Prices

ELLSWORTH - Anyone calling the Washington Hancock Community Agency recently may well have met with a busy signal. The agency received 1,400 phone calls the first day it began scheduling appointments to apply for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program on Aug. 11. The next day there were more than a thousand calls.

Town Finds Fund Oversight

SANGERVILLE - Residents at the annual town meeting in March voted to use $43,400 in road revenue funds to offset taxes in 2008. But it didn't happen.

Police Car Catches Fire On Way to Accident

A Brewer police officer on his way to an accident Monday afternoon found himself needing assistance when his cruiser caught fire. The officer was driving along Parkway South and was able to pull over to the side of the road. A short circuit somewhere in the car's electrical system is believed to have caused the fire.

Couple Arrested in Armed Robbery

PITTSFIELD - A local pair was arrested Saturday when an afternoon of visiting turned into an armed robbery, according to local police. Robert Burt, 35, and Elizabeth Bernasconi Tansino, 41, remained in jail Monday, held on $20,000 cash bail. They were charged with Class A armed robbery, a crime punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

Red Cross Extends Hero Nomination Deadline

Among the most moving events I have regularly attended is the Pine Tree Chapter of the American Red Cross Real Heroes Breakfast, which this year is Nov. 13, at the Bangor Civic Center. I recently responded to an e-mail from Mickey Sirota of the PTC that being there was a bit of "a tough way to start out the day: Crying! Those stories are always so moving, I never leave without shedding a few tears."

Man Gets Year in Jail for Arson Solicitation

AUGUSTA - A Mattawamkeag man is going to jail for a year for trying to get someone to burn down his three-unit apartment building in Gardiner. David Owen, 73, was sentenced Monday in Kennebec County Superior Court.

State Seeks Federal Aid to Fix Storm Damage

AUGUSTA - Maine Gov. John Baldacci has asked for federal help to repair road damage from heavy rain and storms earlier this month. Baldacci says Androscoggin, Cumberland and York counties had nearly $2.9 million in damage, primarily to roads, during the nasty weather from Aug. 8 to 16. The towns of Freeport and Lebanon had almost $600,000 in damage in a single day.

Maine Among States Filing Suit Against Epa

ALBANY, N.Y. - Twelve states - including Maine - New York City and the District of Columbia are suing the Environmental Protection Agency, claiming the Bush administration has failed to rein in emissions from oil refineries. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said the suit is aimed at forcing the EPA to adopt new regulations to reduce oil industry pollution that contributes to global warming.

Man Struck and Killed On Road in Durham

DURHAM - Deputies are investigating a fatality in Durham where a man was killed after being struck by a motor vehicle while walking along a rural roadway. According to the Androscoggin County Sheriff's Department, 60- year-old Gerald Gores of Durham was struck by a minivan on Route 125 at about 8:40 p.m. Saturday.

Man in Crash Faces Charges After Pursuit

SOUTH PORTLAND - A Scarborough man suffered what are believed to be non-life-threatening injuries and faces multiple charges after apparently crashing a pickup truck into a utility pole after a brief police chase, South Portland police said Saturday. Authorities said information about a suspected drunken driver in the Maine Mall area came in shortly before 2 a.m. Saturday and that officers pursued a speeding vehicle matching the description they had been given.

Coa a Top 5 School in New U.S. News List

BAR HARBOR - The College of the Atlantic has been named among the top five schools in the nation for its small classes and international student body, according to U.S. News and World Report's 2009 edition of "America's Best Colleges." The magazine lists three essential criteria for judging schools, among them "Highest Proportion of Classes Under 20." COA ranked third in the nation for small classes with 97 percent of its classes under 20 students.

Sen. Collins Launches Campaign Bus Tour

BANGOR - Sen. Susan Collins kicked off a statewide bus tour Monday, leaving her Main Street campaign office in the morning to travel north to Houlton. Kevin Kelley, spokesman for Collins' campaign, said that after getting a sendoff from supporters, Collins traveled to Old Town to make stops at two businesses that helped make the bus tour possible. White Sign, owned by Ralph Leonard, painted the graphics on the bus, while Cyr Bus Lines, owned by Joseph Cyr and his family, provided the bus Coll...

30,000 Expected for Blue Hill Fair This Weekend

BLUE HILL - It just wouldn't be Labor Day without the Blue Hill Fair. Organizers are busy putting the final touches on the annual event, which starts Thursday and runs through the holiday weekend.

Anti-Jewish Graffiti Found in Blue Hill

BLUE HILL - Maine State Police are investigating whether graffiti written on a Blue Hill resident's fence was a hate crime or a random act of vandalism. On Saturday Trooper Cliff Peterson responded to a call from a residence whose owner reported a swastika and the words "kill Jews" had been painted on her fence.