SCARBOROUGH

Council chairwoman faces charge of drunken driving

The chairwoman of the Scarborough Town Council has been charged with operating under the influence.

Scarborough Police Chief Robert Moulton confirmed Monday that Judith L. Roy was stopped by police on Second Avenue on Saturday night.

Moulton said Roy was taken to the police station where she was issued a summons and released.

“I can confirm that (Roy) was charged, but I can’t give you much more than that at this point,” Moulton said. “(She) has been very cooperative.”

Attempts to reach Roy were not immediately successful.

PORTLAND

Undersecretary Concannon to speak on hunger relief

An Obama administration official who formerly headed Maine’s human services department will speak at a conference in Portland on feeding the hungry.

Kevin Concannon, undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, will speak today at the Eastern Regional Conference of Feeding America, which began Monday.

Maine’s Good Shepherd Food Bank is hosting the annual conference, which will focus on the latest advancements in hunger relief.

Sickened boat captain airlifted to Maine Med

The captain of a Portland fishing boat has been hospitalized after being hoisted to safety by a Coast Guard helicopter 90 miles out to sea.

The Coast Guard said it rescued the 48-year-old fisherman at 10:15 a.m. Monday after crew members aboard the 44-foot Rachel T radioed to report he was suffering severe abdominal pain and vomiting. The boat was 90 miles southeast of Cape Elizabeth.

Officials say the captain, whose name was not released, was taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland.

Food drive Friday, Saturday to replenish Wayside supply

Wayside Food Programs will hold a two-day food drive Friday and Saturday to replenish its food pantry shelves.

The drive will be held from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day at Whole Foods Market, 2 Somerset St.

Wayside officials say their inventories are low due to the anemic economy and the usual summer drop-off in donations.

Wayside collects and distributes food to 41 agencies, including soup kitchens, food pantries and social service providers throughout Cumberland County. The agency also offers free community meals at five host sites in Portland and Westbrook, four mobile food pantries, and supplies healthy snacks for kids through a program with Portland Community Policing.

FORT KENT

Grant awarded after ‘rural discrimination’ challenge

The Community Voices Coalition in Fort Kent will receive a $328,000 federal grant to create a pilot program to limit teen access to alcohol, Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe announced Monday.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration initially denied the grant because of the town’s rural location, according to Snowe, a Republican. A government contractor had said the town was too far “off the beaten path” and would be “inconvenient” for an evaluation visit, Snowe said in a news release.

Snowe called for a review of the federal agency’s criteria for awarding competitive grants, citing apparent “rural discrimination.” A review was conducted and the grant was awarded.

SOUTH PORTLAND

Firm fined for improper dangerous-chemical storage

The EPA has fined a company that manufactures and stores hazardous materials in South Portland $151,900 for failing to store dangerous chemicals properly.

The Environmental Protection Agency said in a news release that Monson Companies Inc. of Leominster, Mass., operates a warehouse, distribution, repackaging and custom blending chemical manufacturing facility at 1 Runway Road.

Monson allegedly stored chemicals that alone or in combination can cause explosions, toxic gas plumes or fire, and stored them close enough to other chemicals that a spill or release could lead to a chemical reaction with nearby materials.

The company also failed to identify wastes so they could be safely managed; maintain an emergency plan; and submit an inventory of materials to emergency responders.

Monson has since addressed the hazards, the EPA said.

GREENVILLE

NTSB probing plane crash that killed Bay State man

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash of a small plane that killed a Massachusetts man in Greenville.

Officials said a Cessna 172M piloted by David Finnegan of Woburn, Mass., crashed Saturday morning shortly after taking off from the Greenville Municipal Airport.

An NTSB investigator told the Bangor Daily News that Finnegan was attempting to warm up his engine before an oil change.

Several witnesses saw the plane maneuvering before it went nose-down into the woods. Finnegan was pronounced dead when searchers found the plane.

AUGUSTA

Health officials urge Mainers to vaccinate against flu

Maine health officials say flu vaccines are plentiful and available now.

The director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Sheila Pinette, made the point Monday by publicly getting her shot.

The CDC says influenza is a serious disease that can lead to hospitalization and sometimes even death.

Anyone can get sick from the flu, but certain groups are at greater risk for serious complications from the flu. They include older people; young children; pregnant women; and people with chronic lung disease, diabetes, heart disease, neurologic conditions, and certain other long-term health conditions.

FRENCHVILLE

Limestone man, 69, killed in ATV crash, police say

Authorities say a man was killed in an ATV crash in northern Maine, and it appears speed was a factor.

State police say 69-year-old John Tweed of Limestone lost control of the ATV on Sunday and flipped it over in Frenchville, a town of about 1,200 people near the Canadian border.

Tweed died at the scene. Police said he wasn’t wearing a helmet.

MILTON, N.H.

Assaults of children who rode on porn suspect’s bus probed

New Hampshire law enforcement officials say they are investigating offenses against two children in the care of a school bus driver arrested for possession of child pornography.

Authorities say 45-year-old John Allen Wright of Milton is a fugitive from justice from Maine, where he is wanted on two counts of gross sexual assault on a child.

Police say Wright worked for a company that transports special-needs children to schools and day care centers, and that he transported children in New Hampshire’s Strafford and Rockingham counties and in Kittery, Maine, since 2008.

The Dover, N.H., police say they are investigating whether Wright may have assaulted two local children.

He is being held on $50,000 cash bail.

 

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