Northeast Carry

Minor injuries result from plane crashing in lake

A man from West Forks suffered minor injuries when a plane he was piloting plunged into the water of Moosehead Lake during a nighttime water landing attempt Saturday, according to police.

The man’s passenger, 24-year-old Ashli Goodenow of Portland, was taken by helicopter to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor with a minor head injury, according to Stephen McCausland, spokesman of the Maine Department of Public Safety. Thomas Coleman, 31, who was piloting the single-engine Cessna, did not require hospitalization.

The Federal Aviation Administration will conduct an investigation into the accident, a routine procedure for airplane crashes, McCausland said.

Coleman told police he was flying the airplane from Jackman and was headed to Northeast Carry, a township on the northeast shore of the lake.

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The plane, a four-seater with pontoons, was found submerged in 20 feet of water by Warden Bob Johanson and state Trooper Matt Grant.

LEEDS

Man dies after car strikes two trees, catches fire

Police are investigating a single-vehicle crash early Sunday that killed a 27-year-old man whose license was under suspension.

The Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Department said it was called to an accident on Route 106 in Leeds shortly after 5:30 a.m. Officials said Charles Damren of Leeds was killed when he was ejected from his car when it went off the road and struck two trees before catching fire. Officials suspect speed and alcohol to be contributing factors to the crash.

Portland

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Missing former city mayor found in Riverside bakery

The search for a Portland man who suffers from dementia and went missing Saturday was called off when he was found Sunday morning in the Riverside area of Portland.

Charles Harlow, 71, a former Democratic state representative, Portland mayor and city councilor, was reported missing by his family at 4:30 p.m. Saturday.

A search involving the Portland police and fire departments and the Maine Warden Service was launched in the Riverside Industrial Park area, said Portland police Lt. Bob Doherty.

He said Harlow was found Sunday at about 6:30 a.m. unharmed inside a bakery in the industrial park.

AUGUSTA

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Women charged after car crashes damage gravestones

Felony charges have been filed against a West Gardiner mother and daughter who allegedly caused $34,000 in damage to gravestones in Monmouth Ridge Cemetery Sept. 28 when they ran their cars into each other.

District Attorney Maeghan Maloney said Friday that both women were issued summonses on the charges and are due to appear in Kennebec County Superior Court Nov. 26.

Melissa K. Grant, 42, and Savannah Lowe, 20, were each charged with aggravated criminal mischief, indicating they “did intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly damage or destroy grave stones and/or lawn, property of Monmouth Cemetery Association.”

Grant also faces misdemeanor charges of operating after suspension and operating beyond license condition or restriction. Attempts to reach both Grant and Lowe by phone Sunday were unsuccessful.

Monmouth Police Chief Kevin Mulherin said at the time that Lowe tried to keep Grant from leaving the cemetery by hitting her mother’s car with her own because Lowe believed Grant was intoxicated, though Mulherin said at the time that police couldn’t prove that and didn’t charge her with it.

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Grant then retaliated by hitting Lowe’s car with her car, Mulherin said.

The damaged gravestones including one of a woman who died in 1843.

LePage plans summits to combat illicit drug use

Gov. Paul LePage is joining law enforcement this week to discuss the scope and impact of illicit drug use and crime throughout the state.

LePage is hosting Drug Awareness Summits on Friday in Westbrook and Auburn. He’ll be joined by Public Safety Commissioner John Morris.

The Republican governor said in a statement that he wants to work with local law enforcement to see what action could be taken at the state level to maintain the state’s safety. 

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Arts commission grants give $100,000 to 19 artists

Nineteen organizations and individual artists in Maine are receiving grants totaling more than $100,000.

The Maine Arts Commission is awarding the grants.

It said that more than $30,000 of the grant awards are going to projects aimed at preserving traditional art forms, like basket making, fiddling, French-Canadian step dancing, shoe making and Somali henna body art.

Five recipients of the 2013 Artists’ Fellowship Awards, the highest award the agency hands out for individual artists, are receiving $13,000 grants.

Awardees include artist Alice Eggert of Portland, whose work focuses on kinetic, electronic and interactive sculpture. She says it will allow her to take on larger-scale projects and buy new tools and equipment.

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STANDISH

Man dies after pickup truck veers off Cape Road

Police are investigating a crash in Standish that killed a 47-year-old North Berwick man.

The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department says Sai Prak lost control of his pickup truck at about 11 p.m. Saturday while driving on Cape Road.

Officials said the vehicle left the road, resulting in his death.

No one else was involved in the accident.

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ELIOT

FBI, state police assist in bank robbery investigation

No arrests have been made yet in connection with a bank robbery that took place Saturday morning at a branch of the Kennebunk Savings Bank in Eliot. Police said two men, one wielding a handgun, entered the Levesque Drive branch around 10:50 a.m. and demanded money.

According to a Sunday night posting on the police department’s Facebook page, the robbers fled in a vehicle. Eliot police say the robbery is being investigated by their own department with assistance from the Maine State Police and the FBI.

AUBURN

Maine Ski Hall of Fame to induct 8 new members

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The Maine Ski Hall of Fame is inducting eight new members for their contributions to skiing in Maine.

The 2013 class includes three U.S. Ski Team members, a high school ski coach, a freestyle skiing pioneer, a leader in Maine’s ski patrol, a founder of the Sugarloaf ski resort and a disabled skier.

This year’s inductees include Bruce Cole, who developed a freestyle skiing program at Pleasant Mountain in the 1970s; Gail Blackburn, the first female alpine skier from Maine to make the U.S. Ski Team; Greg Poirier, a competitive skier who went to the 1980 Olympic trials; and Rand Stowell, who worked side-by-side with King Cummings to negotiate the purchase of Sugarloaf Mountain.

Other inductees are Craig Gay, who represented the U.S. In the Paralympics in Japan in 1980; Howard Paradis, longtime high school cross-country coach; Randy Kerr, a member of the U.S. cross-country ski team; and Will Farnham, who served as a patrol director at two ski areas and organized ski patrols at three others.


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