ROCKWOOD

Unidentified man dies in snowmobile accident

A snowmobiler died Saturday afternoon in a crash on the east side of Mount Kineo on Moosehead Lake.

Rockwood Fire & Rescue in Somerset County responded to the accident, which is being investigated by the Maine Warden Service. The name of the victim and details of the accident were unavailable Sunday.

Betty Reckards, an EMT with Rockwood Fire & Rescue, said Sunday that she and two others from her department traveled Saturday about four miles by snowmobile with a rescue sled to the accident site on Trail 66.

They traveled in frigid weather about a mile across Moosehead Lake from Rockwood and another three or so miles up the trail to where the accident occurred, Reckards said.

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She said the victim, a man, was snowmobiling with a group of friends. She didn’t release other details, referring questions to the Maine Warden Service.

The Somerset County communications log listed the crash as reported at 2:20 p.m. Saturday.

Reckards said she and others were called to respond at that time and did not return until about 7 p.m.

AUGUSTA

Belfast man faces multiple charges after accident

A Belfast man was arrested on several charges Saturday night after he allegedly careened through a parking lot, a red light and a stop sign before crashing into a minivan, all in front of two police officers who watched from their cruisers.

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Alan F. Green, 44, was charged with operating under the influence, operating after a habitual offender revocation, driving to endanger, failing to stop for a police officer, violating conditions of release and theft by unauthorized use of property.

Sgt. Eric Lloyd and Officer Scott Taylor were parked in their cruisers in the front parking lot of Augusta City Center on Cony Street just before 9 p.m. when they heard – but couldn’t see because of snowbanks – a vehicle enter the parking lot at what sounded like a high rate of speed.

Lloyd said the car, a Toyota Scion, came drifting sideways around the curve of the parking lot closest to the entrance to the City Center building, missing Taylor’s cruiser by only a few feet as it slid past.

Both officers activated the lights on their cruisers to try to stop the car in the parking lot, Lloyd said. Instead of stopping, the car left the lot, Lloyd said, driving through a red light at the intersection of Cony and Willow streets and through the intersection onto Willow Street.

Lloyd said the car eventually struck a minivan that was traveling south on Bangor Street, and the collision disabled both vehicles.

Double stabbing probed; so far no charges filed

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Police are investigating an apparent double stabbing early Sunday in which two men suffered wounds that were not life-threatening.

Police said the men, whose names haven’t been made public, aren’t fully cooperating in describing how they were wounded.

One was taken to MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta while the other refused treatment against medical advice at the scene.

The stabbings appear “to be a mutual assault” between the two men, according to Sgt. Eric Lloyd.

Police were called to 4 Stewart Lane by a neighbor at 2:30 a.m. Sunday, who reported a man had been stabbed.

Police found one man with a stab wound to his right triceps and the other with a wound to his chest.

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The investigation remains open and no charges have been filed.

Fatal highway accidents near-historic low in 2014

State police say 2014 remains the safest year on Maine highways since World War II despite finalized data that show a slightly higher total of highway fatalities than initially believed.

State police spokesman Steve McCausland said 131 people died in highway crashes last year. State police said in late December they believed the number was 128, but have since revised it. State fatal crash data for the year are not finalized and made official until late January.

McCausland said 131 is the lowest number of highway crash deaths since 1944. He said the two safest prior years were 2011 and 1959. Both of those years had 136 highway crash deaths.

Senators announce funds for training new farmers

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U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King say a Maine-based organization is getting $750,000 to train new groups of farmers.

The senators say the grant – awarded to the Portland-based group Cultivating Community by the U.S. Department of Agriculture – will fund a project designed to help immigrants who are socially disadvantaged or have limited resources.

More than $18 million in grants was handed out nationally through the program, which seeks to support new generations of farmers.

– From staff and news services


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