DOVER-FOXCROFT

Snowmobiler dies after running into a rope

A snowmobile operator was killed in an accident Tuesday in Dover-Foxcroft, police said. The victim was identified as James Curtis, 48, of Dover-Foxcroft.

Police told WZON-AM that the crash happened at about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Piscataquis Valley Fairgrounds when Curtis hit a rope and was ejected from the snowmobile. The crash is being investigated. It was the fourth snowmobile fatality of the season in Maine.

BATH

Police arrest two men on charges of selling crack

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Drug agents and local police arrested two men Monday on charges of selling crack cocaine.

Agents with the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, Bath police and the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office arrested Dominique Wilson, 26, of Standish and Michael Walters, 36, of Bath on charges of trafficking in cocaine base. They were arrested outside the Maritime Apartments in Bath. Police said Walters was selling crack cocaine from his home at the apartments. During the past month, agents purchased crack cocaine from Walters’ apartment, police said. Police said they seized 16 grams of crack cocaine packaged for sale. The two were taken to Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset, where bail for each was set at $2,500.

AUGUSTA

Lawmakers consider upgrading court records

Maine lawmakers say it’s time to bring the state’s court filing system up to date and approve a bill that would improve efficiency and provide better public access to court documents.

The Legislature’s Judiciary Committee held a public hearing Tuesday on a bill that would authorize funding for an electronic filing system for the state’s courts. A $15 million bond next spring would cover the costs.

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Chief Justice Leigh Saufley urged lawmakers to approve the bill in her State of the Judiciary address last week, saying the state’s courts currently handle files the same way they did 100 years ago.

PORTLAND

Supreme court rejects appeal of harsh sentence

The Maine supreme court has rejected the appeal of a man who’s serving a 40-year sentence for attempting to burn down the home where his ex-girlfriend lived. Andrew Freeman of Paris contended the trial judge erred by allowing prejudicial testimony, that the prosecutor engaged in misconduct and that the sentence was excessive.

The Supreme Judicial Court rejected those arguments on Tuesday. The court said in its unanimous ruling that while the sentence was harsh “it does not shock the conscience.”

Freeman was convicted in 2012 of attempted murder, arson and burglary for breaking into the Norway home where his 17-year-old ex-girlfriend lived with her grandparents and setting two fires in the basement. Nobody was injured.


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