CUMBERLAND

Home damaged by fire that started in stove’s chimney

The second floor of a single-family house at 292 Blanchard Road in Cumberland was heavily damaged by a fire early Sunday morning.

Cumberland Fire Chief Daniel Small said the fire started at about 1 a.m. in a metal chimney attached to a wood stove. The occupants and their cat escaped unharmed.

Small said it took 25 firefighters a half-hour to contain the blaze.

One firefighter slipped and fell but was not seriously hurt, Small said.

AUGUSTA

Bill would ban government from buying bottled water

A bill up for legislative review would ban public agencies in Maine from purchasing bottled water.

The proposal, which is scheduled for a public hearing Monday afternoon, would apply to state government or any political subdivision, governmental agency or public benefit corporation of the state.

Bottled water has a number of critics, including environmentalists who say it creates up to 1.5 million tons of plastic waste per year.

The bottled water industry is active in Maine and employs hundreds of people.

JOHNSON MOUNTAIN TOWNSHIP

Freeport snowmobiler remains in critical condition

The victim of a snowmobile crash that occurred Friday in remote northwest Somerset County was listed in critical condition Sunday at a Lewiston hospital, according to the Maine Warden Service.

Robin Lowell, 56, of Freeport suffered rib and arm injuries when the Skidoo snowmobile he was operating on ITS 87 in Johnson Mountain Township went off the trail on a corner and struck multiple trees, a press release issued Saturday by the Warden Service said.

He was driven seven miles by snowmobile rescue sled before being flown by LifeFlight helicopter to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, said Bill Jarvis of the Jackman-Moose River Fire Department.

WATERVILLE

Colby College gets ready to celebrate 200th anniversary

What started out as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution is now about to celebrate its 200th anniversary — as Colby College.

On Wednesday, the Waterville college will mark its bicentennial with special multimedia performances and an address by Colby’s 19th president, William Adams.

On Feb. 27, 1813, before Maine was a state, the Massachusetts Legislature adopted a petition to make what’s now Colby College the 33rd chartered college in the United States.

It is the 12th-oldest independent liberal arts college in the nation.

CAMBRIDGE, N.H.

Woman injured after being ejected from snowmobile

A New Hampshire woman has been critically injured in a snowmobile crash in Cambridge.

The New Hampshire Fish & Game Department says 22-year-old Ashley Devost of Milan was ice fishing with friends when she drove a snowmobile on Lake Umbagog on Saturday night and hit the shoreline. She was ejected from the machine and lay on the ground for over an hour before her friends found her.

Fish and Game Department says she was taken to the hospital in Colebrook and then moved to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center by ambulance due to the severity of her injuries. Devost was listed in critical condition on Sunday.

MONTPELIER, Vt.

Hunters invited to weigh in on deer management plans

The Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife is looking for hunters to help design future deer management plans.

The department is encouraging hunters to apply for one of three regional working groups currently being formed throughout the state.

The working groups are designed to bring together hunters to discuss deer management strategies and regulations as part of the department’s comprehensive deer management review process.

Deer project leader Adam Murkowski says the groups will evaluate public input about deer management and interpret hunter surveys.

Anyone interested in participating in the groups should consult the department’s website, www.vtfish andwildlife.com.

NEW YORK

Shilling’s sock bloodied in World Series sells for $92,613

A bloody sock worn by Curt Schilling while pitching for the Boston Red Sox in Game 2 of the 2004 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals was sold for $92,613 at a live auction on Saturday night at the Fletcher-Sinclair Mansion.

Schilling had loaned his sock to the National Baseball Hall of Fame Museum but when his Rhode Island-based video game company “38 Studios” went bankrupt, he decided to sell the sock that was bloodied as he pitched on an injured ankle.

Bidding began at $25,000 several weeks ago. Texas-based Heritage Auctions anticipated it would get more than $100,000.

An anonymous bidder submitted the winning bid.

Schilling helped end Boston’s 86-year championship drought — the “Curse of the Bambino” — by pitching on an ankle that had been sutured more than once through the postseason. Pitching with a damaged tendon resulted in bleeding through the sock. Still, Schilling allowed only a run in six innings.

CONCORD, N.H.

Lawmakers propose 70 mph speed limit on part of I-93

If some lawmakers have their way, drivers will be able to go 70 miles per hour on a stretch of Interstate 93 north of Concord.

The House votes Wednesday on a bill to raise the limit from 65 mph to 70 mph from Exit 18 to the Vermont border. The current speed limit would remain the same through Franconia Notch.

The Transportation Committee is recommending passing the bill but rejecting bills raising the limit as high as 75 mph on the interstate system.

— From staff and news services