GORHAM

Early morning fire destroys snowmobile club building

A two-story building at the corner of Mighty Street and Fort Hill Road was destroyed by a fire early Saturday.

The fire broke out shortly before 1:30 a.m. More than 40 firefighters responded to the scene, said Gorham Fire Chief Robert Lefevre.

He said the wooden building, which is owned by a Gorham snowmobile club, was unoccupied.

Firefighters were at the scene until 4 a.m., Lefevre said. There were no injuries.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

SACO

Two-story apartment building slightly damaged by fire

A two-story apartment building at 166 Beach St. was slightly damaged by a fire that broke out shortly after 2 a.m. Saturday.

No one was injured in the fire, which started in an interior stairwell, said Saco Fire Department Capt. Luke Godbout.

He said the damage was estimated at about $3,500. Firefighters quickly extinguished the fire and left the scene around 3:30 a.m., he said.

The cause of the blaze is under investigation.

AUGUSTA

Pedestrian injured when SUV crashes off parked car

An Augusta woman was seriously injured Friday when she was hit by a sport utility vehicle while walking on a sidewalk on North Belfast Avenue.

Ruth Epperson, 81, was taken by a LifeFlight helicopter to Maine Medical Center in Portland with life-threatening injuries, said Augusta Police Sgt. Christopher Shaw.

The driver of the car that hit Epperson, Joshua Erskine, 24, of Windsor, was not injured.

The crash happened about 3:30 p.m. as Erskine was driving a 1999 Jeep Cherokee east on North Belfast Avenue. Erskine lost control of his vehicle roughly half a mile east of the Bangor Street intersection.

The Jeep swerved across the westbound lane and hit a parked car belonging to Kathleen Greene, 59. The car was parked in the driveway to Greene’s home, Shaw said.

Erskine’s Jeep bounced off Greene’s car and struck Epperson, who was walking on the sidewalk.

Erskine had not been charged as of Friday evening, Shaw said.

SULLIVAN

Police investigating two-car crash that killed couple

State police are investigating a Saturday morning crash that killed a husband and wife in eastern Maine.

Police said Cynthia Johnson, 59, was driving and her 58-year-old husband, Gary Johnson, was in the passenger seat when their car veered into the opposite lane on Route 1 in Sullivan around 8:30 a.m. Their vehicle collided with a car driven by Melissa Dominy, 44, of Bar Harbor.

Officials said the Johnsons were killed instantly. Dominy was flown to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor with multiple injuries.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

FARMINGTON

Eighth-grader wins geography bee second straight year

An eighth-grade student from York has won the National Geographic Bee for Maine for the second straight year.

Fourteen-year-old Benjamin Maclean topped 100 students from around the state during Friday’s competition at the University of Maine at Farmington. Archer Thomas, a seventh-grader from Buxton, came in second place.

The Sun Journal reported that Maclean will represent Maine at the National Geographic Bee held in May at the National Geographic Society’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.

MACHIAS

Volunteer firefighter gets 18 months in wildfire arson

A 37-year-old volunteer firefighter from eastern Maine is going to jail for 18 months in connection with a string of wildfires last summer.

The Maine Forest Service said Timothy Tiess of Pleasant Point was sentenced last week in Washington County Superior Court in Machias.

Tiess was originally charged with five counts of arson and one count of aggravated criminal mischief for starting fires across eastern Maine last July.

In a plea agreement, he pleaded guilty to one count of arson and aggravated criminal mischief. He was sentenced to nine months on those charges and another nine months for probation revocation for a previous charge.

BANGOR

Second Canadian man guilty in telephone scam

A second Canadian man has pleaded guilty to federal charges in connection with an international telephone scam.

Michael Angelo Giuffrida, 22, pleaded guilty Friday in U.S. District Court in Bangor to transportation of stolen property and possession of stolen property in interstate commerce. His co-defendant, 21-year-old Nour-El-Dean Mouneimneh, pleaded guilty to the same charges March 1.

The Bangor Daily News reported that by pleading guilty, the men admitted to being part of a scheme that tricked people in Maine and other states into wiring money to different locations in the United States.

According to court documents, the men picked up money orders in Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio, but denied making the phone calls soliciting money.

Sentencing dates have not been scheduled.

CASCO

Windham man wraps up a month of running for charity

Blaine Moore wrapped up a month of running – more 500 miles total – with 31 miles on the last day of March to complete a fundraising effort for Camp Sunshine.

Moore began March with a mile on the first day, then tacked on another mile each day. That meant 496 miles total for the month, although he added on some extra fractions the last week to bring the total over 500 miles.

Today’s marathon-plus took Moore about 5 hours, 15 minutes to complete. He figures that he spent more than 75 hours running in March, or more than 10 percent of the total time in the month.

Moore, 32, lives in Windham. The final day of running was spent in and around Camp Sunshine, which is a retreat for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families.

Moore hoped to raise $6,000 through donor pledges for his running. That would be enough to send three families to the camp.