PORTLAND

NYC teen waives extradition for murder trial in Maine

The teenager from New York who is charged with murdering a Westbrook woman has waived extradition but is not expected to be transferred from New York to Maine for at least two weeks.

Anthony Pratt of Far Rockaway, N.Y., was arrested Tuesday and charged with murdering Margarita Fisenko Scott, whose body was found on Jan. 17 in her SUV in the Motel 6 parking lot on Riverside Street.

Portland police said Scott, 29, was shot in November. They said Pratt, 19, and Scott were dating and both sometimes stayed at an apartment at 266 West Concord St., where they believe the shooting occurred.

Pratt will appear in Queens County Criminal Court on April 12 to arrange a date for his trip to Maine. He’s not expected to be brought to Maine before April 19, officials said.

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Poll: Mainers support background checks for guns

A new poll shows that Maine residents overwhelmingly support mandatory background checks for gun purchases.

Portland-based Pan Atlantic SMS Group said Tuesday that 90 percent of those surveyed said they support mandatory background checks on all potential gun buyers, with 8 percent opposed.

Fifty-seven percent said they favor a ban on assault-style weapons, with 38 percent opposed. Sixty percent said they support a ban on ammunition clips that hold more than 10 bullets, with 34 percent saying they were opposed.

Pan Atlantic surveyed 403 residents by telephone from March 11 to 16. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

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City voters will vote May 14 on approving school budget

Portland voters will decide May 14 whether to approve the 2013-14 school budget, city officials said Thursday.

School officials are still working on the budget, and the school board will vote on it Tuesday. The City Council is scheduled to vote on the school budget May 6.

School budgets need approval from local voters under the state’s school consolidation law. Voters will be asked on May 14 whether they want to continue that budget validation process for another three years.

More information about the school budget is at www2.portlandschools.org/school-budget.

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Absentee ballots are available on request. They can be returned to the city clerk’s office after the City Council votes on the school budget and before 8 p.m. on May 14.

Polling places will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

SANFORD

Police charge man for February 7-Eleven robbery

Police charged a Lebanon man Thursday with robbing a 7-Eleven store in Springvale in February.

Police say Benjamin Lapanne, 30, was the man behind the distinctive mask who showed a gun and demanded money at 10 p.m. on Feb. 5, fleeing with an undisclosed amount of cash. Police released a security video that showed a masked robber wearing a bright purple sweatshirt.

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Police also released an image of the type of mask the man wore, composed of pieces of fabric stitched together.

Lapanne was held in the York County Jail on $75,000 bail.

BATH

Men charged with using knives to threaten couple

Two Portland men who allegedly threatened a couple in their home in Bath were arrested Wednesday night.

Fadhil Alghazi, 51, and Ali K. Anthony, 41, were arrested after police got a 911 call about 9:06 p.m. Wednesday saying that a couple were being threatened by two men with knives.

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The suspects left the home in a taxi as police arrived. A police officer saw the vehicle downtown and identified the men. The taxi was being driven by Anthony. Police say one of the knives used in the incident was recovered from the taxi.

Alghazi was charged with criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, terrorizing and assault. Bail was set at $25,000 cash. Anthony was charged with criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, terrorizing and indecent conduct. Bail was set at $10,000.

AUGUSTA

Senate kills bill to lower state’s capital gains tax

As expected, the Maine Senate killed a bill Wednesday to exempt 50 percent of capital gains income that’s subject to federal tax from Maine’s income tax.

Senators voted 21-14 to reject the bill, a day after the House voted 91-55 in opposition.

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The Republican-sponsored bill would cost nearly $191 million through 2017, also reducing municipal revenue sharing by nearly $2.5 million over that period.

Rep. Richard Malaby, R-Hancock, the bill’s sponsor, said that merely counted revenue lost, ignoring an increase in capital gains investment that would occur if taxes were lowered.

But Democrats said it’s unlikely that the money lost would come close to equaling the money gained.

HOULTON

Man gets 10 years in prison for trying to hire a killer

A Mars Hill man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for trying to hire someone to kill his ex-wife.

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Mark Stetson was sentenced Wednesday in Aroostook County Superior Court. He had pleaded guilty in January to solicitation of murder, solicitation of robbery and solicitation of kidnapping.

Authorities say Stetson, 43, was already in jail on charges from a dispute with his ex-wife early in 2011 when he offered to pay an inmate to kill his ex-wife and, if necessary, tie up their autistic son. The plan was to make it look like a robbery.

BELFAST

Man pleads guilty for killing Florida firefighter in dispute

A Maine man has pleaded guilty to killing a Florida firefighter and drug dealer in a dispute over money.

Daniel Porter pleaded guilty Wednesday to manslaughter in the death of Jerry Perdomo, 31, of Orange City, Fla. In a plea agreement, prosecutors dropped a murder charge against him.

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WZON-AM said Porter will be sentenced April 22. Prosecutors are recommending that he serve 20 years in prison.

Porter, 25, was arrested in February 2012 at a rented house in Jackson, Maine, where police say he killed Perdomo. Porter told police that he owed Perdomo $3,000, and police said the men had exchanged threats.

RAYMOND

Selectmen urge diligence from officials on oil pipeline

Raymond is the latest town to pass a resolution on the possibility of oil from western Canada passing through a pipeline running from Portland to Montreal.

But unlike other towns’ resolutions in Maine and Vermont that oppose so-called tar sands oil passing through the pipeline, Raymond’s calls on state and federal officials to use the same “due diligence” in addressing the oil as they would for any similar project.

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Selectmen passed the resolution unanimously Tuesday.

Selectman Charles Leavitt said Raymond’s resolution doesn’t contain political rhetoric but acknowledges that Portland Pipe Line has expressed interest in having its pipeline carry the oil.

SCARBOROUGH

Teen tattoo charges could cost man his probation

A Scarborough man charged with giving tattoos to two 14-year-old Westbrook Middle School girls now faces charges he violated his federal probation. Joshua Grant, 35, of Scarborough was issued a summons last week to appear in court on charges of tattooing a minor, tattooing without a license, unlawful sexual contact, endangering the welfare of a child and assault.

Grant, who is on federal probation, was charged Wednesday with violating probation because of the new criminal conduct allegations. He was sentenced in 2009 to 30 months in prison and three years supervised release for a federal charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

A police complaint said Grant corresponded with the two girls online last month and arranged to give them each a tattoo. He picked them up in a tractor trailer truck and drove them to the Scarborough hotel room where he lives.

Police say Grant gave one girl a tattoo on her buttocks and the other a tattoo on her inner thigh.

 


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