STEUBEN

One dead, one missing after boat capsizes near Bois Bubert Island

One person is dead and the Coast Guard, Maine Marine Patrol and area fishermen are searching for another who is missing after a boat apparently capsized near Steuben in Washington County.

The search is being conducted near Bois Bubert Island, which is in neighboring Milbridge, where an overturned skiff and debris were discovered this morning at about 11:30 a.m., according to a Coast Guard statement.

Maine Marine Patrol Lt. Alan Talbot said family members told officers that 43-year-old Jack Jellison and his brother, 44-year-old Alton Jellison, of Milbridge, had used the boat Saturday for a trip to a nearby island. Talbot said the brothers are fishermen but were going to the island for fun.

The Marine Patrol recovered one body but a second person was believed to be on the boat before it capsized. The Coast Guard did not release the deceased person’s name.

The Coast Guard sent a Jayhawk helicopter and a 27-foot boat from the Jonesport station to join the search, the agency said.

Water temperature was 41 degrees, winds at 11 miles per hour and swells of about 2 feet.

JEFFERSON

Burned boy, 10, airlifted to Boston after throwing gasoline on fire

A Maine boy who threw gasoline on a campfire in Jefferson is being treated at a Boston burn center.

Fire Chief Walter Morris says the boy was airlifted to Massachusetts General Hospital after suffering first- and second-degree burns on his chest, back, face and hands.

Morris told WCSH-TV that the 10-year-old victim found a can of gasoline and tossed some of it on the campfire while no one was looking. Morris said he does not believe the boy’s lungs were injured in the accident.

BELFAST

Man, 22, pleads guilty to robbery, attempted murder of woman, 72

A Maine man accused of robbing and kidnapping a 72-year-old woman before slashing her throat and leaving her for dead has pleaded guilty to all charges.

Stanley Ward, 22, who appeared in court Tuesday, is due to be sentenced next month for robbery, kidnapping and attempted murder.

Prosecutors say Ward knew the victim, Patricia Moss, because his father used to mow her lawn. He’s accused of binding her hands, forcing her into her car and driving her to a camper where he cut her throat. Moss eventually regained consciousness and crawled to a road for help.

The Bangor Daily News said the victim was in court Tuesday. She said Belfast is a safe place and that she fell victim to “a really bad person.”

AUGUSTA

Worker’s comp board member under scrutiny after assault charge

Gov. John Baldacci has directed his chief legal counsel to look into an assault charge against a member of the Workers’ Compensation Board.

Anthony Monfiletto, 54, of Portland pleaded guilty last week to an incident that happened last fall while he was attending a three-day workers’ compensation conference in Carrabassett Valley. Police say he attacked 43-year-old Scott Spencer at Sugarloaf’s Widowmaker Lounge.

The Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting said it was the second assault charge against Monfiletto while on the board. The first happened in 1998, a year after he was appointed.

Monfiletto, a former Bath Iron Works employee, is now serving his fourth term on the board. The governor has the authority to remove him for “neglect of duty” or “malfeasance.” 

Baldacci approves task force to study purchase of railroad line

Gov. John Baldacci has signed an order creating a task force to help develop a plan for the state’s possible purchase of a railroad line that’s crucial to many Aroostook County industries.

Baldacci’s order was signed Wednesday, two days after the Legislature sent voters a bond package that includes $7 million for purchase and maintenance of about 240 miles of Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway track, which is being abandoned.

The bond legislation also calls for creation of the task force, which will represent state and taxpayers’ interests in the rail acquisition.

Baldacci said the task force will ensure that the abandonment and acquisition process are done openly. 

Order set on how borrowing proposals will appear on ballot

Maine election officials have set the order of four borrowing proposals to appear on the June 8 ballot.

State law already requires that the people’s veto question on whether to repeal Maine’s tax reform law be the top question. Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap held a public drawing Wednesday to set the order of the bond questions.

The first will ask to borrow $26.5 million for an offshore wind energy demonstration site and related manufacturing.

That will be followed by a request for $47.8 million for highways, railroads, ports and harbors. Next will be a $23.7 million bond for historic properties, research and development and redevelopment at the Brunswick Naval Air Station site. The last is a $10.3 million bond for clean water projects.

Fund set up to help woman with deceased husband’s hospital bills

Friends, family and the employer of a Maine woman who was left with $60,000 in unpaid medical bills when her husband died have set up a fund to help her.

The bills mounted for Theresa D’Andrea of Limerick after her husband, Rocky, exceeded the $250,000 lifetime health insurance cap while battling cancer.

President Obama recognized her during his health care rally in Portland two weeks ago.

Bev Baker, D’Andrea’s boss, said D’Andrea lost her husband, savings and retirement fund. Baker said the new fund will help to ensure that she doesn’t lose her home as well.

Insurance caps are being eliminated both under a new state law that the couple lobbied for and under the new federal health care overhaul. 

BIW says workers’ compensation chairman has conflict of interest

Bath Iron Works is asking the Superior Court to appoint a receiver for the state Workers’ Compensation Board, saying it’s failed to adopt a legally required medical fee schedule and that its chairman is in conflict due to his connection to Maine hospitals.

BIW’s complaint says the board failed to comply with state law requiring it to set fees for what third parties must pay for worker injuries. It also says board Chairman Paul Dionne is in conflict because he also serves as chairman of Central Maine Healthcare, the parent company of several Maine hospitals.

Workers’ comp board attorney John Rohde, responding Wednesday to the complaint filed last month, rejected the assertion of a conflict of interest. He also said the board is well on its way to adopting the fees.