PORTLAND

Massachusetts company to dredge Portland Harbor

A Massachusetts company has been awarded a $9.2 million contract for dredging in Portland Harbor.

U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree announced Friday that the contract was awarded by the Army Corps of Engineers.

The dredging, expected to be completed by March, will be done by Cashman Dredging and Marine Contracting Co. of Quincy, Mass., which is expected to remove about 700,000 cubic yards of material from the harbor channel, which is supposed to be 35 feet deep.

The channel was last dredged in 1999.

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Pingree is married to S. Donald Sussman, majority share owner of the Portland Press Herald.

STANDISH

Steep Falls woman sustains serious injuries in crash

A Steep Falls woman was at Maine Medical Center in Portland with serious injuries after a crash on Route 25 in Standish on Friday morning. The crash occurred near the Gorham town line at 6:13 a.m.

A Nissan Rogue was going west when it crossed the center line and hit an eastbound Ford Ranger, the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office said.

The Nissan then collided head-on with a Cherovlet Cobalt driven by Jennifer Cote. Cote was taken to Maine Medical Center with serious injuries.

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The driver of the Nissan, Allison O’Donnell of Beverly, Mass., was taken to Maine Med with non-life- threatening injuries.

The crash remains under investigation. No charges have been filed. Route 25 was closed for several hours.

MONTREAL

Polar bear attack survivor released from intensive care

The legal aid lawyer who was attacked by a polar bear in Canada last week has been released from the intensive care unit of a Montreal hospital.

Matthew Dyer was released from intensive care Friday morning, though he still faces a long recuperation, said his wife, Jeanne Wells.

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“He’s improving rapidly now, though comfortable talking is still a ways off,” Wells said in an email.

Dyer, a staff attorney for Pine Tree Legal Assistance in Lewiston, is recuperating at Montreal General Hospital from the attack during an excursion in Torngat Mountains National Park. A polar apparently broke through an electrified fence and bit Dyer, who was sleeping in a tent, park officials have said.

Dyer had a temporary breathing tube to make sure the swelling in his neck did not obstruct his breathing, Wells said earlier this week.

Wells said doctors have equipped Dyer with a valve that allows him to speak in spite of the temporary tracheotomy, which will remain until after his broken jaw is repaired.

GOULDSBORO

No crime suspected in death of Jones Pond swimmer

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Game wardens are investigating the death of a man in Gouldsboro, but say no crime is suspected.

Wardens say Jon Webber, 82, went for a swim Thursday in Jones Pond, near his home, and was found dead by his wife about 20 feet from shore.

His body was taken to the state Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy. The incident remains under investigation.

FRANKLIN COUNTY

Five vehicles damaged or destroyed in moose collisions

Five cars were heavily damaged or destroyed in collisions with moose this week in northern Franklin County, but only one person was reported injured, said police.

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One moose ran off and the other four were killed in the accidents, according to the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department’s weekly report.

About 500 moose-automobile crashes are reported annually in Maine; two people were killed in collisions with moose last year. 

On Tuesday, a car hit a moose on Route 27 in Wyman Township. The car was destroyed and the moose ran into the woods.

On Wednesday, a car hit a moose on Route 4 in Sandy River Plantation. The moose was killed and the pickup truck was destroyed.

Later that day, a car hit a moose in Chain of Ponds Township on Route 27. The driver was injured, but refused treatment.

On Thursday, a car hit a moose on Route 16 in Coplin Plantation. The car was heavily damaged and the moose died.

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On Friday, a car hit a moose on Route 4 in Rangeley Plantation. The car was heavily damaged and the moose died.

BANGOR

Twice-deported Honduran man sentenced to prison

A Honduran man who was found in the United States last summer after having been deported at least twice was sentenced Friday in federal court to four years and nine months in prison.

Mauro Edulio Jimenez-Banegas, 47, was arrested on July 30, 2012, after a warden with the Maine Warden Service found him and another man in Stratton in a parked vehicle with no license plate, according to court records.

Jimenez-Banegas told a U.S. Border Patrol agent that he was a citizen of Honduras and had no immigration papers indicating he was in this country legally, court records state. He pleaded guilty on Nov. 20.

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Jimenez-Banegas was convicted of a sex offense in Washington, D.C., in 2004, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

BAR HARBOR

More Acadia National Park trails open as fledglings fly

More hiking trails at Acadia National Park are open, after being closed for months because of nesting peregrine falcons.

Park officials said the Precipice Trail, the Precipice Cliff area, and the Orange and Black Path on Champlain Mountain would open Friday after being closed in April to support recovery efforts for the falcons, which are listed as endangered under the Maine Endangered Species Act.

Acadia was selected in the 1980s to be one of the sites for a peregrine falcon recovery program.

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In the past 20 years, more than 110 chicks have fledged on Mount Desert Island.

PORTSMOUTH, N.H.

Bridge inspection, opening to proceed as planned

New Hampshire transportation officials are about to start their final inspection of the new Memorial Bridge connecting the state with Maine.

A gate on the Kittery, Maine, side of the bridge malfunctioned last week, raising concerns about whether a ribbon-cutting ceremony set for Aug. 8 would proceed as planned.

The Portsmouth Herald reported that transportation officials decided Thursday to go ahead with the ceremony, which will highlight the historical link between Portsmouth and Kittery.

Transportation spokesman Bill Boynton said the final inspection process, beginning Friday, will take about three days.

While the ceremony will mark the official reopening of the bridge, it will be opened before that without fanfare to prevent a rush of traffic.


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