PORTLAND

Pedestrian struck by car and killed near Westgate plaza

A pedestrian was killed Monday night after being struck by a car on outer Congress Street.
Lt. Scott Pelletier said the pedestrian was hit by a vehicle in front of the Westgate Shopping Center, near the intersection of Congress and Caleb streets.

Pelletier said the pedestrian died in the crash, but he could offer no additional details regarding what took place. The accident was reported around 10:30 p.m.

Pelletier said more information, including the name of the victim, should be available today. 

 

Tickets going on sale Friday for Keillor’s show in Portland

Garrison Keillor will bring the traveling version of his popular radio show “A Prairie Home Companion” to the State Theatre in Portland on Aug. 19.

The concert will consist of duets, hot jazz, Guy’s All-Star Shoe Band and sound effects wizard Fred Newman.

This is not a broadcast show, but will include many favorite elements from “A Prairie Home Companion,” including Guy Noir Private Eye, the Cowboys Dusty and Lefty and all the latest News from Lake Wobegon.

Tickets cost $50 to $85 and will be available at 10 a.m. Friday at the Cumberland County Civic Center, online at statetheatreportland.com or by phone at (800) 745-3000.

 

Judge Hornby will address UMaine law school’s grads

U.S. District Judge D. Brock Hornby will deliver the keynote address at the University of Maine School of Law’s commencement Saturday.

Hornby, district court judge for the District of Maine, joined the court in 1990 following his nomination by President George H.W. Bush. He served as chief judge from 1996 to 2003.

In 2009, Hornby received the Edward J. Devitt Distinguished Service to Justice Award, which honors a federal judge of national stature and exemplary contribution to justice. He assumed senior status on the court in 2010.

A 1969 graduate of Harvard Law School, Hornby became a federal magistrate judge for the District of Maine in 1982 and held the position until his appointment as an associate justice for the Maine Supreme Judicial Court in 1988.

Commencement is scheduled for 10 a.m. at Merrill Auditorium. Ninety students will be awarded degrees.

 

Maine’s Pete Kilpatrick Band wins national music contest

The Maine-based Pete Kilpatrick Band has won the 2011 USAA Garageband Music Competition.

The group was one of more than 500 entries in a contest that received over 3.7 million votes nationwide.

The band will be featured on the cover of USAA Magazine, will receive $4,000 cash, and a professional photo shoot.

For more information, go to www.garagebandplayoff.com.

 

Average gasoline price rises to $3.97 per gallon in Maine

A price-monitoring website says the average retail gasoline price in Maine has risen 0.3 cent per gallon in the past week, but it’s still under $4.

MaineGasPrices.com said Sunday’s average statewide price in Maine was $3.97 per gallon. That’s a bit higher than the national average, which also increased 0.3 cent per gallon in the last week to $3.93 per gallon.

Prices Sunday were $1.07 per gallon higher than they were on the same day a year ago, and 16.3 cents per gallon higher than a month ago.

INTERSTATE 295

Maine DOT warns motorists of projects that affect travel

A paving project on Interstate 295 from Freeport to Brunswick started Sunday.

Crews this week are on the northbound side of the highway, between exits 20 and 28, working on culverts and improving drainage along the shoulders, according to a news release from the Maine Department of Transportation.

Once that work is complete, they’ll make the same improvements on the southbound side. The work schedule is 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily.

After completion of the drainage work, crews will remove the pavement and repave the road. They will also lengthen the on- and off-ramps at exits 22 and 24. The DOT said that ramps will close periodically, but one lane on the southbound on-ramp at Exit 28 in Brunswick will remain open. During the repaving, sections of the road may be grooved.

Also this week, at Exit 17 in Yarmouth, the northbound on-ramp will be closed from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. through Thursday, and the northbound off-ramp will be closed from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. through Wednesday. The DOT advises drivers to use exits 15 and 20 to access Route 1.

In Portland, the southbound on-ramp from Park Avenue will be closed until nearby bridge work is finished. Drivers who use that ramp can continue on Park Avenue and turn left at the next traffic light onto Fore River Parkway to get onto the highway.

The separation of Washington Avenue from I-295 northbound will begin Thursday. Concrete barriers will be placed from the on-ramp, over Tukey’s Bridge to the off-ramp, making it a local through-road from Munjoy Hill to East Deering.

SOUTH PORTLAND

Man arrested in truck theft has 10 license suspensions

A South Portland man was arrested Monday morning after an officer recognized a pickup truck that was reported stolen, police said.

Gregory McLaughlin, 33, was charged with theft by unauthorized use of property, operating under suspension, possession of drug paraphernalia and an outstanding warrant for operating under suspension.

Police said Officer Jake Hall was on patrol on Memory Lane when, around 12:30 a.m., he recognized a gray GMC truck possibly as one that had been reported as stolen. Hall confirmed it was the truck reported stolen in Portland on Sunday.

Hall took McLaughlin into custody as he walked up a driveway to a home.

Police said McLaughlin’s license history shows 20 prior convictions and 10 prior license suspensions.

 

WESTBROOK

Two firms’ workers collect 1.5 tons of food for pantry

Two businesses collected more than 1.5 tons of food for the Westbrook Food Pantry.

Sixty employees from United HealthCare in South Portland and CCB Inc. of Westbrook participated in the food drive, held throughout the month of April. They collected more than 3,500 food items.

The businesses are planning another food drive at the beginning of the summer and hope to get more companies involved.

WASHINGTON

Police release identities of drivers in fatal crash

Police have released the identities of the drivers involved in a fatal head-on crash on Route 17 over the weekend.

Faustina Mitchell, 57, of Waldoboro was pronounced dead at the scene of the Saturday morning crash, Chief Deputy Tim Carroll of the Knox County Sheriff’s Department said in a release.

The second driver, John Fallows, 62, of Hope was taken by ambulance to Penobscot Bay Medical Center where he was treated and released.

The drivers were alone in their vehicles.

The crash occurred around 9 a.m., near Route 206 when Mitchell, driving a 2002 Ford Focus, tried to pass another vehicle while driving east on Route 17. Mitchell pulled into the path of Fallows’ westbound 2010 Toyota Tundra.

MOUNT VERNON

Baby white Bengal tiger has new home at local sanctuary

A baby white Bengal tiger has a new home at an animal sanctuary in Mount Vernon.

The tiger Makeena was donated to the D.E.W. Animal Kingdom and Sanctuary by tiger breeders in the southeastern United States. The cub has been in Mount Vernon for about a week now.

The cub is being fed formula and its handlers said they plan to put her on a meat diet in a few weeks.

Visitors can see Makeena several times a day.

WCSH-TV said officials at the sanctuary hope to get Makeena to breed with another tiger.

FARMINGTON

Franklin County’s sheriff honored for border work

Franklin County Sheriff Dennis Pike has been recognized by the Quebec Provincial Police for his efforts covering the area around the U.S.-Canadian border.

Pike received the honor recently at a ceremony in Montreal.

The Sun Journal of Lewiston said Pike was nominated for the oak leaf bronze medal for his nearly 50 years of service to the community, his work as sheriff of Franklin County and for being an important member of a border police community.

HERMON

Tire company’s owners win award for small businesses

Maine Commercial Tire owners James McCurdy and James Lynch have won the Small Businessperson of the Year award from the Maine district of the U.S. Small Business Administration.

McCurdy and Lynch will attend the SBA’s National Small Business Week conference in Washington, D.C., this week.

The SBA said the Hermon-based company has grown from 18 to 59 employees since it was founded in 1990 and has locations in Augusta, Scarborough and Lewiston.

“It is a particular privilege to present this award to James R. McCurdy and James K. Lynch, who have demonstrated a longstanding and impressive record of achievement as owners of Maine Commercial Tire,” Maurice Dube, SBA district director for Maine, said in a statement.

Maine Commercial Tire sells and retreads tires. The company’s clients are commercial truck operators.

DOVER-FOXCROFT

Hearing delayed for man accused of killing brother

The first court hearing for a Maine man accused of shooting his brother in the head and killing him has been delayed.

Steven Mayo , 21, of Dover-Foxcroft had been scheduled to make his initial appearance Monday in Piscataquis County Superior Court on a murder charge.

WCSH-TV said the hearing was delayed because Mayo did not have an attorney.

The medical examiner’s office said 20-year-old Ryan Mayo died from a single gunshot wound to the head on May 1.

Ryan Mayo lived with his parents; Steven Mayo lived next door.

 

AUGUSTA

Late CEO of Oakhurst Dairy wins annual forestry award

The late CEO of Maine’s largest dairy is the winner of the annual Frank Knight Community Forestry Excellence Award.

Maine Conservation Commissioner Bill Beardsley and state forester Doug Denico were to present the award Monday to family members of the late Stanley Bennett II, chairman and CEO of Oakhurst Dairy who died in February. The presentation was to be made during the state’s Arbor Day Celebration 2011 at the Maine State Museum in Augusta.

The award is named for 102-year-old Frank Knight, a former tree warden in Yarmouth who cared for a giant elm nicknamed “Herbie” that grew to be New England’s largest elm.

The forest service also honored the winners of its annual “Tree City” awards and recognized 22 Maine schools that won tree-planting grants.