BIDDEFORD-SACO

Veteran administrator to oversee school curriculum

The Biddeford School Committee on Tuesday unanimously appointed a veteran administrator as the district’s assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction.

Chris Indorf comes to Biddeford from Thornton Academy in Saco, where he has worked for 15 years, most recently as the associate head of teaching and learning. During the past four years, he helped supervise a teaching staff of 125 and had led projects ranging from curriculum expansion to building renovations.

“I am absolutely thrilled to be joining the leadership team of the Biddeford School Department. The school committee and superintendent have a bold strategic plan for school improvement,” Indorf said in a prepared statement. “Community partnerships, a flexible and progressive curriculum and assessment plan, a renewed sense of dynamism at the Center of Technology, and literacy intervention work at the elementary level are just some of the exciting things that are happening in Biddeford.”

Indorf, who lives in Saco, is a graduate of Marshwood High School in Eliot and the University of Maine in Farmington. He earned a master’s degree in education from the University of New England in 2008 and recently completed a Certificate in Advanced Graduate Studies in educational leadership at the University of Southern Maine.

AUBURN

Man who admits to setting 1,000 fires to serve 17 years

A Livermore Falls man who says he has set about 1,000 fires has been sentenced to 17 years in prison.

Scott Violette was sentenced Tuesday in Androscoggin County Superior Court after pleading guilty to setting fire to a secondhand store near his apartment in February 2011. The blaze caused $100,000 in damage, but no one was hurt.

The 39-year-old Violette was on probation at the time for setting fire to a Norridgewock laundry in 2003.

The Sun Journal reports that a judge ordered him to serve the remaining 12 years of his sentence in the Norridgewock case, and five years for the 2011 fire.

Violette’s lawyer says his client has a “controllable mental health issue” a therapist says is caused in part by severe abuse as a child.

AUGUSTA

Law creates commission for study of ocean acidification

A law passed by the Maine Legislature will establish a commission to study and address the negative effects of ocean acidification on ecosystems and shellfisheries.

Supporters of the law called it the first of its kind on the East Coast.

It took effect Wednesday.

The commission will include fishermen, aquaculturists, scientists and legislators.

State Rep. Mick Devin, a Democrat who sponsored the bill, says the group will look for ways to protect the state’s marine resources and economy.

Supporters of the law say the ocean acidity levels have increased by 30 percent over the past two centuries.

They fear acidification could cause losses to Maine’s shellfish industry if left unchecked.

WASHINGTON

U.S. Senate confirms new federal judge for Maine

The U.S. Senate has confirmed Maine Supreme Judicial Court Justice Jon Levy’s nomination to serve as a federal judge in Maine.

President Obama nominated Levy in September and the Justice Committee gave its approval in January.

On Wednesday, the Senate confirmed his nomination on a 75-20 vote.

Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King praised Levy’s accomplishments and experience, including his years as a judge and advocacy for legal help for Maine’s elderly and low-income people.

As governor, King nominated Levy to the Maine District Court in 1995 and then the Maine Supreme Judicial Court in 2002.

He’ll replace George Singal and join John Woodcock and Nancy Torresen as federal judges in Maine. Singal and D. Brock Hornby will enjoy “senior status.”

BANGOR

Jury selection proceeds in trial of 2 for triple murder

Prosecutors are hopeful a jury will be selected Thursday in the trial of two men accused of killing three Maine residents whose bodies were found in a burning car in Bangor.

The process of selecting a jury for the murder trials of 36-year-old Randall Daluz and 33-year-old Nicholas Sexton began Monday, and prosecutors hope the process will be completed Thursday morning.

Daluze and Sexton are charged with three counts of murder and one count of starting a fire.

The victims are 26-year-old Daniel Thomas Borders of Hermon, 24-year-old Nicolle Ashley Lugdon of Eddington, and 28-year-old and Lucas Alan Tuscano of Bradford.

The car, tagged with Rhode Island license plates, was found ablaze Aug. 13, 2012, in a Bangor parking lot.

Police officer makes lasso, nabs escaped racehorse

A Bangor police officer with a makeshift lasso is credited with nabbing a racehorse that escaped from its stall at the Hollywood Casino Racetrack.

Officer Kris Beck told WMTW-TV that the call about a horse trotting around a city neighbor came in early Wednesday. Officer Jose Vidaurri made a lasso out a piece of rope from his cruiser and placed it around the horse’s neck after officers cornered it in a driveway.

The horse didn’t seem too disturbed by the events that transpired after escaping from its stall at Hollywood Casino Racetrack.

The horse munched grass while waiting for Hollywood Casino racetrack workers to take it back to its stall.