PORTLAND

N.Y. man faces life sentence for federal drug convictions

A New York man faces the possibility of life in prison for multiple federal drug crimes.

Hasan Worthy, 36, was found guilty of conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 280 grams or more of cocaine base and 500 grams or more of cocaine, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and using a telephone to facilitate drug crimes.

Prosecutors said the evidence at trial indicated that Worthy and other conspirators regularly obtained cocaine from a New York City dealer, used female couriers to carry it to Maine, where it was processed into crack, and sold it from apartments in Portland, Lewiston and Waterville. The crimes occurred from March 2009 to August 2010.

Authorities seized 250 grams of cocaine from five couriers, $11,000 worth of cocaine, $6,000 and five handguns during their investigation.

Worthy also faces a maximum fine of $20 million.

A date for his sentencing has not been set. 

Alves defeats Clark for seat on Casco Bay Lines board

Anthony Alves survived a challenge by Robin Clark for the at-large seat on the Casco Bay Lines Board of Directors.

Alves got 372 votes, while Clark received 333.

William Overlock and Daniel Doane were uncontested in their race to represent Long Island and Peaks Island, respectively. 

Libby will retain his seat on water district board

Incumbent Gary Libby withstood a challenge by Nisha Swinton to keep his seat on the Portland Water District Board of Trustees.

Libby won by a vote of 16,881 to 9,206.

SKOWHEGAN

Missing teen found in car pulled over by police

A 15-year-old Skowhegan girl reported missing nearly two weeks ago has been found.

Samantha Quimby’s mother told the Morning Sentinel that her daughter was found at about 5 p.m. Tuesday inside a vehicle that had been pulled over by police in Norridgewock.

The Somerset County Sheriff’s Department confirmed that they found Samantha but did not immediately provide additional details.

The girl’s mother, Laura Evers, said the Department of Health and Human Services will take custody of her daughter.

Samantha was reported missing Oct. 25 after she ran away from a foster home.

Police said the girl was under a protection from abuse order issued to protect her from a relative.

NORTH YARMOUTH

Voters decide to remain in SAD 51 by wide margin

North Yarmouth voters overwhelmingly decided Tuesday to keep their town in School Administrative District 51. The vote was 2,174 to 274.

The citizen-initiated referendum was among the first of 22 steps laid out by state law that could have led North Yarmouth to break a 46-year bond with neighboring Cumberland.

The vote was held as SAD 51 considered the future of the aging North Yarmouth Memorial School, one of four schools in a highly rated district with declining enrollment.

A panel weighted with North Yarmouth residents had recommended closing the North Yarmouth school. The district’s fourth- and fifth-graders would move to Greely Middle School in Cumberland.

SCARBOROUGH

Town elects three councilors and OKs bond for fire truck

Voters elected Jessica Holbrook and Edward Blaise to serve two three-year terms on the Town Council and Katherine St. Clair to fill a two-year vacancy.

In a four-way race for two council seats, incumbent Holbrook received the most votes, with 5,836, followed by Blaise, with 3,902.

The other candidates were Paul Andriulli, who got 3,599 votes, and Christopher Coon, with 3,385.

St. Clair narrowly defeated William Donovan, 4,676 to 4,602.

Residents also voted 7,050 to 4,196 to approve borrowing $900,000 for a replacement fire truck at Black Point Station.

ORONO

NexxLinx plans to hire 400 to take Sandy victims’ calls

A call center in Orono is looking to hire 400 employees in the next week to take calls from people affected by Superstorm Sandy.

NexxLinx of Maine needs workers to fulfill a contract with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide assistance to people from nine mid-Atlantic and New England states and Washington, D.C., who are registering for federal disaster assistance or seeking relief program referrals.

The jobs will be temporary and could last from a few weeks to several months.

NexxLinx says pay starts at $11.69 an hour plus benefits, with supervisors receiving higher wages.

NexxLinx has its headquarters in Atlanta and operations centers in Maine, New York, North Carolina and Texas.

AUBURN

Prosecutors say defendant beat, then drowned woman

The trial of a Lewiston man charged with killing a neighbor whose body has never been found has started with different versions of what happened.

Buddy Robinson has pleaded not guilty to murder in the killing of Christiana Fesmire, who disappeared in July 2011. They lived in different units of the same building.

Prosecutors said in opening statements Tuesday that the case is an “extremely sad story” laced with three “great modern American obsessions: sex, drugs and murder.”

The Sun Journal reported that prosecutors said Robinson beat and drowned Fesmire, 22, then dumped her body in a wooded area.

But defense attorney Edward Dilworth countered that there’s no direct or physical evidence connecting his client to Fesmire’s death and he points to an alternate suspect — Robinson’s sister.

BAR HARBOR

Cruise ships break record with 108 port calls in 2012

Cruise ship season has ended in Maine, but Bar Harbor officials say next year is already shaping up to be a record-breaker.

Cruise ships made a record 108 port calls to Bar Harbor this year, breaking the previous record of 107 cruise ship visits set in 2010.

Harbor Master Charlie Phippen told the Bangor Daily News the town already has 135 cruise ships visits penciled in for next year.

Portland is expecting 61 cruise ship visits in 2013, up from 58 ships this year.

AUGUSTA

Flags flown at half-staff to honor former governor

Maine and American flags flew at half-staff Wednesday to honor former Gov. John Reed, who died last week.

Gov. Paul LePage directed that flags be lowered from sunrise to sunset on Wednesday.

Reed, who was 91 when he died, was remembered Wednesday at a service in Washington, D.C.

He became governor in 1959 following the sudden death of Gov. Clinton Clauson, and served until 1967, during which time he was instrumental in creating the University of Maine System.

LePage said Reed “served the people of Maine honorably.”