MONTREAL

Wife of man attacked by polar bear urges patience

The wife of a Turner man who was mauled by a polar bear last week in Canada urged the news media and public to be patient while he recovers and said in a statement issued Sunday night, “Trust me, there will be bear stories.”

Matthew Dyer, who was attacked early Wednesday morning while camping at Torngat Mountains National Park in Labrador, was listed in critical but stable condition Sunday night at Montreal General Hospital.

Cinzia Colella, a hospital spokeswoman, said Dyer was “showing signs of progress.”

Dyer’s wife, Jeanne Wells, said in the statement: “I think we should all wait until Matthew is able to speak about his own firsthand experience, and I am sure he will. … For now I’d like everyone to know that he is in good hands. His injuries are serious, but he’s very stable, he’s very strong and in great health, and I have no doubt that he will make a full recovery. It’s going to take time.”

MOUNT DESERT

Wardens locate missing 81-year-old London woman

A British woman who went missing Saturday on Mount Desert Island was found unharmed Sunday.

Janet Post, 81, of London was located by Maine game wardens at about 10 a.m. Sunday.

She went missing on a walk with two male cousins near their summer home on Saturday evening. Post and her cousins walked the one-third mile foot path from their summer home at 279 Beech Hill Road to the shore of Long Pond.

Post left the pond at 5:45 p.m. to return home, followed by her cousins about five minutes later. When the cousins returned home, Post was not there, officials said.

Post inadvertentlyy got off the foot path. She spent the night in the woods and made her way Sunday morning to the shoreline, where she was spotted by a search aircraft.

She needed no medical attention.

AUGUSTA

Museums plan fundraiser for Newtown project

Six museums in Maine are raising funds for a museum being planned for the Connecticut town where a gunman fatally shot 20 first-graders and six educators at an elementary school.

The Museums are encouraging visitors that day to make donations in support of the Newtown Children’s Museum, and some of the participating museums are additionally donating a portion of their admissions from that day to the EverWonder Children’s Museum. Plans to build the museum predate last December’s massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, but the effort has gained momentum since the shooting.

Participating museums are the Maine State Museum in Augusta, the Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor, Maine Discovery Museum in Bangor, Maine Historical Society in Portland, Maine Maritime Museum in Bath and Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport.

Four communities deemed ‘business friendly’ by state

Four more Maine communities can now say they are “business friendly.”

Maine’s Department of Economic and Community says Belfast, Caribou, Hermon and South Portland have earned the department’s “business-friendly” certification from the state for making it easier for organizations to do business.

The certification is based on things like customer service, business involvement and collaboration and licensing and permitting.

The communities will receive certificates and two Maine Department of Transportation road signs.

ORONO

Registration deadline approaches for bike ride

The registration deadline is approaching for a seven-day, 400-mile bicycle ride organized by Maine’s largest bicycle advocacy group.

The Bicycle Coalition of Maine’s inaugural BikeMaine ride from Sept. 7-14 stops and ends in Orono and includes overnight stays in Dover-Foxcroft, Belfast, Castine, Bar Harbor and Ellsworth.

The ride is limited to 350 riders and costs $875, which includes meals, beverages and snacks along the route, baggage transport, mechanical and medical support, and campsites. The registration deadline is Aug. 1.

PORTLAND

Airports receive federal grants for improvements

Four Maine airports are getting federal grants to improve their facilities.

The Federal Aviation Administration is awarding $2.6 million to the Bangor International Airport and $509,000 to the Princeton Municipal Airport. It was previously reported that $1.4 million is going to the Portland International Jetport to $850,000 to the Knox County Regional Airport in Owls Head.

The Portland jetport will use the grant for two front-end loaders, two snowplows and a snow-sweeping vehicle.

WATERVILLE

Police seek identity of man who robbed Little Caesars

Police have asked the public for help in identifying the man they say robbed a Little Caesars Pizza restaurant on Main Street Sunday afternoon and evaded a police search of the area.

A security camera in the restaurant captured an image of the suspect, who Patrol Sgt. Alden Weigelt of the Waterville Police Department described as about 5 feet 8 inches tall with black, slicked-back hair under a dark bandanna. The picture shows him wearing sunglasses, shorts and a dark T-shirt with a logo.

The man presented a note to a Little Caesars employee demanding cash from the register at about 1 p.m.

The man ran from the store with an undisclosed amount of cash.

– From staff and news services

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CORRECTION: The item about Maine museums was corrected July 30 to say that the museums will encourage visitors to contribute to a planned Newtown, Conn., museum and some museums will donate a portion of their admissions that day toward the museum.