PORTLAND

Man undergoes surgery after apparent stabbing

Police were investigating an apparent stabbing Monday on Forest Avenue near Baxter Woods.

Police said a man was dropped off at Brighton FirstCare about 2:15 p.m. with what appeared to be a serious stab wound in the neck. He was undergoing surgery Monday.

Based on a brief description from a witness, police were trying to locate the scene of the attack, using a police dog to search the area.

Police did not identify the man, and said they planned to talk with him today to obtain more details about the stabbing.

SOUTH PORTLAND

Police charge Westbrook man in pharmacy robbery

A Westbrook man was charged with robbery Monday after police said he stole pills from the pharmacy of the Hannaford supermarket on Philbrook Road.

Zachery Wildman, 36, was arrested by members of the Westbrook Police Department and then interviewed by South Portland detectives. Wildman was charged with Class B robbery and taken to the Cumberland County jail, said Sgt. Steve Webster of the South Portland Police Department.

Wildman is scheduled to be arraigned today and his bail was set at $25,000. A Class B crime is punishable by a prison term of up to 10 years, Webster said.

The robbery happened about 9:05 a.m. Monday when a white man approached the store’s pharmacist with a note demanding specific pills. The note did not mention a weapon and no weapon was displayed, according to a police press release. No one was hurt. After the man left the store, witnesses saw him enter a vehicle parked across the street.

Webster said police are investigating a similar pharmacy robbery at a Hannaford store in Portland on Aug. 31, and that Wildman may face more charges.

HARRINGTON

Coast Guard rescues man whose kayak overturned

A 62-year-old man was pulled from the water off Pineo Point on Sunday night after his kayak apparently overturned in the Harrington River, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard issued a news release Monday morning in which it said the incident was reported around 8 p.m. Sunday by a female friend of the kayaker after she had been watching him from shore and lost sight of him. The names of the kayaker and the friend were not included in the news release.

The Coast Guard dispatched a boat from its station in Jonesport and a helicopter from another station in Cape Cod. After looking for about two hours, and with the help of night vision goggles, the boat crew spotted the man wearing a life jacket and clinging to the kayak. He was rescued from the 60-degree water and taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital for evaluation.

“Because he was wearing a life jacket, our crews were able to locate him faster, and it helped him conserve energy so he could stay with his kayak,” Joaquin Layola of the USCG Command Center in Boston said in the written statement. “This case really highlights how wearing a life jacket can save your life.”

DEDHAM

Local boy, 12, hospitalized after being struck by SUV

A local 12-year-old boy has been hospitalized with injuries to his head and other parts of his body after being struck by a sport utility vehicle Sunday afternoon on Upper Dedham Road.

The boy, Nicholas Borodko, ran into the road around 4:30 p.m. in front of a black 2004 Ford Explorer driven by Frederick Smith, 55, of Dedham, Hancock County Sheriff’s Deputy Chris Sargent indicated in a report on the incident.

The boy suffered a large cut to his head and swelling of the brain and lungs, among other injuries, Sargent wrote in the report. Borodko was taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. A hospital spokesman said Monday that the hospital had no information on the boy.

The driver contacted police to report the accident, said Sargent, who does not expect any charges to be filed in the incident.

AUGUSTA

Maine road workers and gear sent to help Vermont

The Maine Department of Transportation is sending workers and equipment to Vermont to help repair roads and bridges damaged by Tropical Storm Irene.

The department is planning to send 149 employees to Vermont today, along with excavators, loaders, graders, dump trucks and other equipment. As of Sunday, Vermont had 18 bridges closed and more than 200 miles of roads damaged or closed.

Vermont requested Maine’s assistance on Friday.

Maine Transportation Commissioner David Bernhardt said storm repairs are continuing in Maine, but they are not as extensive as those in Vermont.

HINCKLEY

Classes start today at Maine Academy of Natural Sciences

The Maine Academy of Natural Sciences becomes the state’s newest high school this week.

After more than two years of uncertainty over the future of its educational programs, Good Will-Hinckley will welcome students to its central Maine campus when it opens the academy. Good Will-Hinckley calls the academy Maine’s newest high school.

Academy teachers will use hands-on, project-based learning techniques to focus on themes of agriculture, forestry and environmental sciences. Its inaugural class will include nine day students and 11 boarding students.

Boarding students arrived Monday and the first day of classes is today.

YORK

Retreating tourists tie up traffic on Maine Turnpike

The Maine Turnpike Authority reported stop-and-go traffic in the southbound lanes as summer tourists left Maine on Monday.

The turnpike reported that at 2:30 p.m., traffic tie-ups were reported as far north as mile marker 26 in Kennebunk. By 4:25 p.m., traffic was still tied up but only as far north as Wells, a turnpike dispatcher said.

Copy the Story Link