ORONO

Maine’s top chess player wins third championship

Matthew Fishbein of Cape Elizabeth, Maine’s top-rated chess player and recently recognized national master, won his third state individual high school open championship Saturday at the University of Maine.

Fishbein, 16, won all four games he played, beating his Cape Elizabeth High School teammate Wesley Parker in the final match, said Dan DeLuca, vice president of the Maine Chess Association. Parker took second place in the championship.

Fishbein, a sophomore, won the 2013 state individual high school open championship as a freshman, just a few years after winning it for the first time when he was in sixth grade, which made him the youngest champion ever in that category.

On March 8, Fishbein helped his high school team win its third state championship, also at UMaine.

Fishbein started playing when he was 4 and began competing when he was 7. He won the overall state championship, including adults, in 2012 and 2013. For the first, he was in eighth grade and only 14, the youngest Mainer ever to win that competition.

Fishbein received the official title of national master in February.

BRUNSWICK

Winslow Homer’s camera donated to Bowdoin College

A camera that once belonged to artist Winslow Homer has been donated to Bowdoin College’s museum.

The camera was made by Mawson & Swan Co. around 1880 and purchased by Homer in 1882 when he lived in northern England.

The camera was donated by Scarborough resident Neal Paulsen. Paulsen got it from his grandfather, an electrician who was given the camera in exchange for electrical work performed for Homer’s nephew. Homer’s initials are carved on the camera.

Museum co-director Frank Goodyear told The Times Record that the camera shows “a lesser known side of one of America’s greatest painters.”

The museum has about 100 photographs in its Homer collection.

Homer produced some of his best-known works while living in a studio in Scarborough from 1883 until his death in 1910.

LePage seeks federal review of Amtrak Downeaster site

Gov. Paul LePage wants the federal government to review the process for choosing the location of a proposed layover and maintenance facility for the Amtrak Downeaster in Brunswick.

In a letter to the Federal Railroad Administration, LePage said citizens have raised concerns including potential environmental impacts. He says others question the potential economic benefits of the proposed site.

LePage said he’s committed to supporting projects like the redevelopment of the former Brunswick Naval Air Station “that will stimulate economic growth.” Advocates of putting the facility at the former Navy base say there would be no negative impact on residential neighborhoods there.

The Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority’s proposed facility would provide overnight storage for passenger trains and rail passenger equipment.

BRISTOL

Police say man was injured by shotgun, not explosion

Injuries to a man in Bristol, initially attributed to an explosion, were actually caused by an accidental discharge of a shotgun, authorities said.

Firefighters responded to Carl Bailey Road on Thursday night for a report of an explosion. James Fitzpatrick, 63, was taken to Miles Memorial Hospital in Damariscotta with injuries to his left leg and hand.

That night, Maine State Police responded with the bomb squad to make sure the building was safe so investigators could get inside. Police said they have determined that Fitzpatrick had a shotgun next to his chair and it accidentally fired, injuring him.

The injuries were consistent with an explosion because wood from the chair was damaged in the blast and contributed to the injuries, police said.

Fitzpatrick is in stable condition, a hospital spokesman said.

DANFORTH

Further tests to determine what caused infant’s death

The state medical examiner plans to do further tests before determining what killed an infant last week. The baby was brought to the hospital by his parents, who were later charged with manufacturing methamphetamines.

An autopsy conducted Saturday will be followed with further tests to determine how the baby died, which could take several weeks, said a spokesman for the state medical examiner. He said it is common for the state to be extremely thorough when analyzing the death of a infant.

Allen Richardson, 39, and Tabitha Osnoe, 30, brought the baby to a medical facility in Danforth on Friday. While they were there, the mobile home where they lived caught fire, police said.

The state fire marshal was called in to investigate and found evidence of a small methamphetamine manufacturing operation, police said. The chemicals used in the process are dangerous and prone to explosion and are typically removed by a specialized team in protective suits.

The Maine Drug Enforcement Agency was called in to remove the equipment and charged the parents, who were taken to Washington County Jail.

Police would not say whether they believe the methamphetamine lab was connected to the child’s death or the fire.

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