CASCO

Casco man charged in two drunken-driving deaths

A Casco 20-year-old was arrested Wednesday in connection with the drunken-driving deaths of two of his friends, police said.

Detectives with the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office arrested Nicholas T. Sparrow in Parsonsfield and charged him with manslaughter, aggravated eluding of a police officer and aggravated drunken driving.

Sparrow allegedly was driving his mother’s car with the lights turned off at 1 a.m. Aug. 29 when a sheriff’s deputy tried to pull him over on Poland Spring Road in Casco.

The car sped up, drove off the road and crashed into trees. Thomas St. Saviour, 29, of Hiram, and Michael Daye, 14, of Baldwin were killed.

Police say Sparrow had been celebrating moving into a new home with several friends. Many in the group had been drinking, police said.

Sparrow’s bail is set at $100,000, but because he is also charged with violating probation, he will not be allowed to make bail.

CAPE ELIZABETH

Anonymous bidder raises stakes in lighthouse auction

The bids continued to climb for the Ram Island Ledge Lighthouse Wednesday with anonymous bidder “tugdocto” submitting the high bid of $160,000 at 4:07 p.m.

Local developer Arthur Girard had placed a bid of $150,000 earlier in the afternoon.

“Arthur is interested in maintaining local ownership of the lighthouse,” said Beth Bernard, a spokesman for Girard. The lighthouse is located at the entrance to Portland Harbor.

The auction, hosted by the U.S. General Services Administration, is in a “soft closing,” so every time a bid is made, the deadline is pushed back to 3 p.m. the following day.

To follow the bidding, visit www.auctionrp.com/Property_details.cfm?id=1152

BUXTON

Man with standoff history Tased, arrested, jailed

A Buxton man is back in jail after his second standoff with police.

Cumberland County sheriff’s deputies and Buxton and Gorham officers were called to Long Plains Road in Buxton on Monday night to deal with a man who had threatened suicide.

Daniel Wolfe II, 29, had crashed his car into a ditch and was walking along the road with a knife in one hand and a cell phone in the other, police said. Deputy John Cross drew his gun and ordered Wolfe to drop the knife but he refused and advanced on the officers, police said.

Deputy Anthony Hovey fired his Taser at Wolfe, who fell to the ground but refused to relinquish the knife, police said. Hovey fired the Taser again and officers disarmed Wolfe and took him into custody, police said.

In 2008, Wolfe engaged police in an eight-hour standoff with a high-powered rifle at a home on Quail Ridge Road in Standish before being taken into custody, police said. In that case, deputies arrested him after firing canisters of pepper spray into the house.

AUGUSTA

Expired prescription drugs to be collected Sept. 25

Unwanted and expired drugs will be collected at more than 100 locations in Maine as part of a national effort later this month.

Details of Maine’s drug take-back plans were presented by top law enforcement officials at a news conference in the State House on Wednesday. State Attorney General Janet Mills called the misuse of prescription drugs the No. 1 cause of crime in Maine today.

What’s being called the state’s largest collection of expired prescription drugs will take place on Saturday, Sept. 25. A list of the Maine collection points and details of the program are on the Maine Department of Public Safety’s website, www.maine.gov/dps.

DOVER-FOXCROFT

Wind-farm operator eyeing Bingham-to-Blanchard ridge

A company already operating wind farms in Maine says it’s looking at a new wind-power site in Piscataquis County.

First Wind told the county commissioners Tuesday that it’s considering building 33 to 35 turbines in Kingsbury Plantation and Blanchard Township. First Wind’s Alec Jarvis said the turbines would be built along a ridge from Bingham to Blanchard, according to The Morning Sentinel of Waterville.

Jarvis says the company is in early stages of collecting wind speeds and other weather data, a process that could take a year. That would be followed by state regulatory reviews.

First Wind, based in Massachusetts, operates wind farms in Aroostook and Washington counties.

AUGUSTA

Former DEP chief Littell sworn in as PUC member

David Littell, who’s been the Baldacci administration’s top environmental enforcer for the past five years, has been sworn in as a state Public Utilities commissioner.

Gov. John Baldacci, who nominated Littell for a seat on the three-member board, administered the oath to Littell Wednesday morning. He joins Chairman Jack Cashman and Vendean Vafiades on the PUC, which regulates water, electricity, gas utilities and telecommunications.

The former commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection is to serve on the PUC through March 2015.

LEWISTON

Turner man faces second charge of purse-snatching

A Maine man charged with stealing a purse from a woman using a walker now stands accused of snatching a purse from a woman in a motorized wheelchair.

Lewiston police said Wednesday that they’ve charged 27-year-old Daryl Roberts of Turner in the wheelchair incident. They say Roberts got into a tug-of-war with 57-year-old Helen Scribner as she yelled for help on Aug. 4. He ultimately wrenched the purse away, pulling out Scribner’s thumbnail.

Police say Roberts already had been charged with an incident a day earlier in which he allegedly took a purse from an 80-year-old woman using a walker.

Roberts couldn’t be reached at the Androscoggin County Jail, where he was held Wednesday. There was no paperwork at the jail indicating whether he had an attorney.

 

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