PORTLAND

Kittery firm, president admit health care fraud

A Kittery business and its president each pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court to committing health care fraud.

Peter Enzinger and Seacoast Sleep Solutions were accused of a scheme to defraud insurance carriers of about $220,000. They’re accused of billing carriers for products that weren’t delivered, were more expensive than those actually delivered and for equipment patients had returned.

Enzinger faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. The company faces a maximum fine of $500,000. They must pay restitution to the carriers.

The company has also agreed to forfeit $50,000, according to Toby Dilworth, the defendants’ attorney. He said that the company was sold earlier this year.

In July, Enzinger was convicted of making false statements on a Small Business Administration loan application. He is awaiting sentencing on that charge.

SOUTH PORTLAND

Veterans Memorial Bridge will close for five nights

The Maine Department of Transportation is preparing to close a major route between Portland and South Portland.

Jeraldine Herrera, spokeswoman for the department, said travel lanes in both directions on the Veterans Memorial Bridge will be closed for five nights to allow construction crews to install a new underground communication conduit.

That conduit, which runs under the existing bridge, must be encased in concrete and extended to the new Veterans Memorial Bridge, which is under construction next to the old bridge.

The closure will begin Sunday night and last through Oct. 27. The closure will run from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. Detour signs and message boards informing commuters about the situation will be installed.

Drivers leaving Portland and heading for South Portland should use the Fore River Parkway to access Interstate 295. Traffic heading north to Portland from South Portland should use I-295 and use Exit 5 to access the Fore River Parkway.

Construction of the new bridge is on schedule and expected to open to traffic by next summer. The old bridge will be removed in December 2012.

An estimated 22,000 vehicles a day travel over the current Veterans Memorial Bridge, which was built in 1954.

TechMaine group will close, ‘former’ director confirms

TechMaine, a technology industry trade association founded in 1992, has announced it is closing.

A posting on the group’s Facebook page said the board of directors made the decision to shutter the group after “careful consideration of the association’s financial position and sustainability model.”

John Spritz, who was TechMaine’s executive director, confirmed the announcement in a telephone interview, saying that the group is “in the process of shutting down.”

Spritz, who referred to himself as a “former” employee, declined to discuss details and referred questions to TechMaine board president Stephen Hand.

Hand did not immediately return a call for comment.

The Facebook posting said that although Maine’s technology sector continues to prosper, the “value proposition for a member-funded association has not been sustainable.

TechMaine was founded in 1992 as the Maine Software Developers Association. The group had more than 100 members by 1999 and more than 250 by 2003, according to TechMaine’s website.

GORHAM

Route 22 work starts Oct. 26, runs through mid-December

Reconstruction on and around a heavily traveled commuter route will start next week and continue through mid-December.

Alignment, drainage and safety improvements to Route 22, also called County Road, will begin on Oct. 26.

Starting at the intersection of County and Burnham roads, the work will extend east down County Road and west down Burnham Road.

Most of the work will be done during the day and will allow two-way traffic, according to a news release from the Maine Department of Transportation.

In the spring, the roads will be repaved, which will require lane closures and will be done during the night, said MDOT.

Gorham-based Shaw Earthworks was hired to complete the $600,000 project.

AUGUSTA

State workers union wants no subcontracting of work

Maine’s largest state workers’ union is asking Gov. Paul LePage’s administration not to subcontract work normally done by bargaining units.

The Maine State Employees Association’s request Monday came amid negotiations for a new agreement with the union, which represents about 15,000 workers. The current contract ended Sept. 30.

The union said rules bar any subcontracting without negotiations with the union over the impact. It provided no specific cases in which work has been contracted out.

Bureau of Human Resources Director Joyce Oreskovich said there has been no substantial contracting out of work since the contract ended. She said the state was researching what the law says on the matter.