SORRENTO

Vacationing woman reports abduction, sexual assault

Police have launched a manhunt after a woman vacationing in Maine reported being abducted from a local street and assaulted.

Maine State Police Lt. Christopher Coleman said the woman was walking in the village of Sorrento on Friday when a man armed with a pistol dragged her into a green minivan, where she was sexually assaulted. He said police were combing the roads of Sorrento and surrounding towns searching for the van.

The victim described the man as being about 30 years old, with a stubble beard, short dirty blond hair and blue-green eyes. He was wearing a bright green beanie cap, a peach-colored T-shirt and gray shorts, the Bangor Daily News reported.

TOPSHAM

Proposed bike path designs to be presented Wednesday

Designs for the proposed Topsham Bike Path will be presented between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Wednesday at Topsham Town Hall.

The designs include a path beginning near Town Hall on Main Street and extending to Community Drive parallel to the Coastal Connector and a path that would begin at Village Drive and extend to the Topsham Crossing neighborhood.

The project is funded 80 percent by the Maine Department of Transportation’s Transportation Enhancement Program and 20 percent by private sources.

PORTLAND

WGME-TV, MPBN awarded ‘Station of the Year’ honors

WGME-TV and the Maine Public Broadcasting Network have won “Station of the Year” honors in the 2009 Maine Associated Press Broadcasters Association contest.

WGME-TV took first-place awards for sportscast, sports feature, spots news, feature and medical reporting, while WMTW-TV had first-place finishes for newscast, election coverage and weathercast and WABI-TV took first for public affairs, enterprise and continuous coverage.

In radio, MPBN’s first-place awards included newscast, public affairs, enterprise, feature and writing. WGAN-AM took first for spot news and election coverage. WZON-AM won for sportscast, sports feature and sports play-by-play.

BANGOR

Jury finds against hospital but awards no damages

A jury has found that Eastern Maine Medical Center violated the law when supervisors asked a surgeon to improve her behavior in an employee corrective action plan.

The jury found Thursday that the hospital was wrong to tell Kristine Thayer to modify what it called her “disruptive behavior.” However, it awarded no damages to Thayer. It also did not support her allegation that the hospital retaliated against her for expressing concerns about another surgeon’s care and comments made about her.

Thayer worked as a pediatric surgeon at the hospital from May 2005 until November 2007. She sued in federal court in 2009, the Bangor Daily News reported.

AUGUSTA

Senate committee approves funding for wind turbines

A U.S. Senate committee has approved $10 million in funding for the University of Maine’s development, deployment and testing of offshore wind turbines.

Sen. Susan Collins said the Appropriations Committee approved her request.

The Maine Republican said Thursday that the committee’s action is a significant step toward securing the full $20 million investment for deepwater offshore wind research for fiscal year 2011 sought by the Energy Department. The funding must now be approved by the full Senate. Similar legislation in the House does not include funding for the project.

 

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