GORHAM

Investigators, prosecutors meet over shooting incident

Gorham police continued to investigate the case of a 14-year-old boy accused of trying to set fire to a deck shortly before he was shot with a shotgun, but they released no new details Tuesday.

Friday night’s incident occurred at 8 Mountview Drive.

Investigators have met with prosecutors from the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office as part of the investigation but nobody has been charged, said Lt. Chris Sanborn.

“It’s an open investigation,” Sanborn said. “I’d like to think within a couple days we’ll hopefully wrap this up.”

Police have not released the name of the boy accused of trying to set the fire at 11:45 p.m. or of the person who shot him. Sanborn said Tuesday morning that the latest information he had indicated the boy remained hospitalized with an injury that was not life-threatening.

PORTLAND

Maine’s high court upholds convictions in kidnapping case

Maine’s highest court has upheld the kidnapping convictions of a self-proclaimed preacher who hid his wife’s children from their biological father.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court on Tuesday rejected Colin Haag’s claim that the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions in 2011.

Haag was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for kidnapping his wife’s two daughters from her previous marriage. His wife, Amanda Hodges, was convicted of criminal restraint by a parent.

Prosecutors said the couple took the two girls, then 6 and 9, from South Carolina shortly after Hodges and her husband separated. They eventually ended up in eastern Maine.

City solicits public’s thoughts about municipal golf course

The city is seeking public input about the operations of the Riverside Municipal Golf Course. The city will hold a public hearing at 6 p.m. July 25 at City Hall.

The hearing coincides with an ongoing evaluation of the management at the course being conducted by the National Golf Foundation, which will present an update on its work.

The city is looking for people who have played golf at the course to share their thoughts about course operations and to offer suggestions for improvement. Non-golfers are also encouraged to attend and offer ideas about potential off-season uses.

The Riverside Golf Course opened in 1932 and was expanded to 18 holes in 1937. In 1961, the city purchased 25 acres adjoining the course for a driving range. The nine-hole South Course, designed by renowned architect Geoffrey Cornish, opened in 1969.

Raising a family? Magazine puts city at No. 3 on ‘best’ list

Parenting Magazine has named Portland the third-best city in the country for raising a family.

The magazine ranked 100 American cities based on quality of education, affordability of homes, crime rates, jobs and parks.

Portland also earned third place in the magazine’s rankings of best cities for education.

Parenting described Portland as a great place for “a laid-back lifestyle that encourages healthy, active family living.” It noted the community’s support of small businesses and local produce, and the city’s relative proximity to Acadia National Park as other assets.

Boston took the top spot as the best city for families, followed by Burlington, Vt. Austin, Texas, and Cheyenne, Wyo., rounded out the top five.

“Portland is earning a well-deserved national reputation as the place in America to live, start a business and raise a family,” Mayor Michael Brennan said in a news release from the city.

Bishop to continue leading diocese despite new job

Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Bishop Richard Malone to be the administrator for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland in addition to his new duties as bishop for the Diocese of Buffalo.

After leading Maine’s Roman Catholics for eight years, Malone was appointed to head the diocese in New York. He will be installed in August.

A statement issued by the Portland diocese says Malone’s appointment to continue overseeing Maine’s Catholics “is a statement of confidence in Bishop Malone’s abilities to lead both dioceses simultaneously until a new Bishop of Portland is in place.”

The decision allows Malone to continue overseeing the church’s role in Maine’s upcoming referendum on same-sex marriage.

Malone accepted the administrator position in part because of “the need to continue the church’s educational leadership as the referendum approaches which attempts to redefine marriage,” according to the statement from the diocese.

AUGUSTA

GOP chooses moderate to run in Senate District 21

With a choice between an establishment candidate and a conservative voice, Maine Republicans in a key Senate district have chosen the more moderate candidate, four-term state Rep. Patrick Flood, over Ryan Wheaton.

Monday’s nomination pushed the party toward its goal of filling its slate of candidates in legislative districts across the state for the fall elections. The parties have until Monday to find replacements for the 48 candidates who dropped out after the June primaries.

Republicans have a 19-15 edge in the Senate and a 77-71 majority in the House. Each chamber also has one independent, and the House has two vacancies.

GOP Sen. Earle McCormick’s decision to withdraw in Senate District 21 set up a nomination contest between Flood, a mainstream Republican whose work on the state budget required negotiations with Democrats, and Wheaton, a West Gardiner resident who had the backing of Ron Paul supporters and the evangelical Christian Civic League of Maine.

Flood beat Wheaton 214-130 in the vote by the district’s town committee members.

Flood will face Democrat David Bustin of Hallowell, a former state representative and state personnel chief, in November.

WATERVILLE

‘Nothing substantial’ found as river searched for toddler

Divers from the Maine State Police and Warden Service completed their latest search in the Kennebec River for signs of missing toddler Ayla Reynolds, but officials said Tuesday that they found “nothing substantial.”

The search, which began Tuesday morning and wound down in midafternoon, took place between two dams crossing the river between Waterville and Winslow in central Maine. Police with nine dogs also searched the banks of the river where the water had been lowered, spokesman Steve McCausland of the state Department of Public Safety said after the search.

McCausland said Tuesday’s activities had been planned for three weeks, and the timing, which marks seven months from the day that Ayla was reported missing, was coincidental. Ayla was 20 months old when she was reported missing by her father, Justin DiPietro of Waterville, who had been caring for her.

BANGOR

Death of man, 65, in square is not considered suspicious

Police say a 65-year-old man has been found dead on a city street.

Officers who responded to reports of a man in the middle of Pickering Square about 1:15 a.m. Tuesday found the man on his back and unconscious.

Bangor Fire Emergency Medical Crews gave the man CPR, but he was pronounced dead. His name was not made public.

Authorities are asking witnesses to come forward, but say the death is not suspicious.

The Bangor Daily News reported that Pickering Square is frequently used by the homeless as a place to sleep and is a gathering place for people with mental health and substance abuse issues.

LEWISTON

Board agrees to sell name of school athletic complex

The Lewiston School Committee has approved a plan to sell the naming rights to the high school’s athletic complex.

The plan that passed 7-1 Monday night is part of a project to raise $3.8 million to build a new complex without any taxpayer money.

The fundraising plan to improve Franklin Pasture at Lewiston High School now goes to the City Council.

The city, not the school department, owns the athletic fields, tennis courts and track that make up Franklin Pasture.

Under the plan, if someone pays $750,000, Franklin Pasture could be renamed. The name of the Don Roux football field is not for sale.

Board member Jim Handy opposed the plan, telling the Sun Journal it “corporatizes and professionalizes high school sports.” He walked out of the meeting.

BUCKSPORT

Police identify crash victim as woman, 47, from Blue Hill

Police have released the name of the woman who died in a car crash in Bucksport over the weekend.

Police say Lynne Blake, 47, of Blue Hill died in the single-vehicle crash about 12:15 p.m. Saturday on Route 15 just south of the intersection with Town Farm Road.

Blake was a passenger in a pickup truck being driven by Steven Blake, 49. He was taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor with injuries that police said were “serious, but not life-threatening.”

The investigation is continuing.
 

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