WATERVILLE

Thomaston man arrested after Bangor Savings theft

A 28-year-old Thomaston man was arrested Friday after authorities say he robbed the Bangor Savings Bank branch on Main Street.

Bank employees and customers told police that a man in his 20s walked into the bank, handed a teller a note containing a threat and demanded money. He then fled with an undisclosed amount of cash.

Police broadcast an image of the robber taken from bank surveillance cameras to local police units, who were able to identify him.

Police say they found a large amount of cash on David Alvarez, whom they arrested after he had gotten into a vehicle.

It was not immediately known if Alvarez was being represented by a lawyer.

EMBDEN

Collision that killed young mother under investigation

The cause of a car crash that killed Jennifer Nile in Embden late Thursday afternoon is still under investigation, police said Friday.

Nile, 22, the mother of a young son, Jonathan White, was a passenger in a 2012 Chevy Malibu that crashed into another car head-on on Route 16 at about 4:30 p.m. Thursday, according to Chief Deputy Dale Lancaster of the Somerset County Sheriff’s Department.

The driver of the Chevy, Mark R. Schobel, 24, of North Anson, and Ruth Souweine, a passenger in the other car, driven by Leon Souweine of Bangor, were taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor by LifeFlight helicopter.

No information on their condition was available from the hospital Friday. Leon Souweine was treated and released from Redington-Fairview General Hospital in Skowhegan.

PARIS

Efforts to exclude evidence in manslaughter trial rejected

A judge has denied several motions to exclude evidence from the trial of a woman charged with manslaughter for allegedly causing the death of two friends in a West Paris car crash.

Kristina Lowe has pleaded not guilty to two counts of manslaughter, two counts of aggravated criminal operating under the influence, and leaving the scene of an accident in connection with the January 2012 crash that took the lives of Logan Dam, 19, and Rebecca Mason, 16.

Authorities allege the 20-year-old Lowe was drunk and texting at the time.

A judge on Thursday denied motions to exclude evidence that Lowe was distracted while driving, cellphone records, and a state police accident reconstruction report, the Sun Journal reported.

BATH

N.H. man gets five years for attempting to snatch boy

A New Hampshire man has been sentenced to just over five years in prison for trying to kidnap a 2-year-old boy at a Maine park-and-ride lot.

James Graham, 30, of Newmarket, N.H., was convicted in Superior Court in Bath of attempted kidnapping and assault and sentenced to five years and three months in prison, Foster’s Daily Democrat reported.

He was accused of grabbing the child by the arm and trying to take him away from relatives in Bowdoinham in May. Police at the time said they seized a loaded handgun, knives, parachute cord, cable ties and maps of the White Mountains from Graham’s vehicle.

PORTLAND

Olympic stars to headline civic center show in April

Olympic figure-skating stars Meryl Davis and Charlie White will skate in Portland on April 19. The pair won the United States’ first ice dancing gold medal during the Olympic Games at Sochi, Russia.

Stars on Ice, featuring Davis and White along with their bronze medal-winning teammates, will be at the Cumberland County Civic Center. The performance begins at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are on sale now through the civic center box office and Ticketmaster.

HOLLIS

Fire chiefs lament low numbers of volunteers

Maine fire chiefs who met this week to discuss staffing levels in York County didn’t have to look back far for an example of how a dearth of volunteers is affecting the region.

Hollis Fire Chief Jason Johnson said a home destroyed Wednesday could have been saved if the department had a larger staff, WMTW-TV reported. Johnson was one of three firefighters who responded to the blaze; another was a firefighter who rotates among departments.

The chiefs said recruitment has been a challenge for decades and has gotten harder as both training requirements and the number of calls for help have increased.

Roger Hooper, vice president of the York County Firefighters Association, said it’s time more small towns started paying firefighters.