SACO

Fatal pedestrian accident still being investigated

Police are investigating an accident in which a pedestrian suffered fatal injuries when he was hit by a car as he left a restaurant.

Michael White, 65, of Old Orchard Beach was hit Nov. 21 near the corner of Main and Water streets by a car driven by Cynthia Cyr, 29, of Biddeford, according to police.

White had just left Traditions Restaurant and was walking to his car on Main Street when he was hit by Cyr’s 1999 Chevrolet Prism as she turned left onto Water Street, said Deputy Police Chief Jeffrey Holland.

White was taken to Southern Maine Medical Center in Biddeford, then to Maine Medical Center in Portland. Saco police were notified the next day by the Medical Examiner’s Office that White had died from his injuries, Holland said.

Anyone with information about the accident is asked to contact Holland at 282-8216 or jholland@sacomaine.org.

ORONO

Service and vigil to be held for three plane crash victims

A memorial service for the three young men killed in a plane crash earlier this month will be held Tuesday night on the Orono campus of the University of Maine.

Margaret Nagle, a spokeswoman for the University of Maine, said the 6 p.m. service was organized by the university’s Maine Interfraternity and Panhellenic councils.

The service, which will be held in Hauck Auditorium, will be followed by a candlelight vigil on the university mall.

Members of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity will eulogize the two University of Maine students killed in the crash — David Cheney, 22, of Beverly, Mass., and Marcelo Rugini, 24, a foreign exchange student from Brazil — as well as 2011 alumnus William “B.J.” Hannigan, 24, of Portland, who piloted the plane.

Cheney, Rugini and Hannigan were all members of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity.

The students’ single-engine plane crashed and burned on takeoff from the Knox County Regional Airport on the night of Nov. 16. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

PERU

Girl, mom and grandmother bag a deer on the same day

A girl and two women representing three generations of the same family bagged all deer while hunting on the same day.

Twelve-year-old Katelyn Carlow of Peru shot her first deer on Friday, a 125-pound doe.

Her mother, Julie Carlow, shot a 130-pound doe at a different time on the same day.

Katelyn’s grandmother and Carlow’s mother, Brenda Gammon, got a six-point buck weighing about 150 pounds.

Gammon, director of the Region 9 School of Applied Technology, told the Sun Journal it was a “freaky day.”

Gannon’s husband, David, bagged an eight-point buck earlier in the season.

PORTLAND

Lobster experts on hand to discuss industry issues

After a summer with a potentially record-breaking lobster haul in Maine and Canada and a crash in wholesale prices, top lobster scientists are meeting in Maine to look at fundamental changes that have affected lobsters in recent years.

The Maine Sea Grant program is hosting a conference in Portland focusing on things such as warming ocean temperatures, the changing food web and seafood economics. About 135 people have registered, including scientists from the U.S., Canada and Europe.

Conference co-Chairman Rick Wahle, a University of Maine research professor, said the lobster industry is at a critical juncture, with the Maine harvest going gangbusters as the fishery has virtually collapsed in southern New England.

The symposium begins Tuesday evening and wraps up Friday.

HALLOWELL

PUC, CMP await public on plan for cutting trees

The Maine Public Utilities Commission and Central Maine Power Co. have agreed in principle to a deal that would bar the utility from cutting trees outside the company’s rights of way along power lines without landowners’ agreement.

The definitions were refined during a meeting on Nov. 13 between CMP, Maine’s largest power transmission company, and the regulatory agency, which oversees public utilities.

The public can comment on the new definitions until Nov. 30.

After that, likely in December or January, the PUC will vote to determine whether CMP has satisfied the commission with its new definitions.

A CMP spokesman told the Sun Journal the company is still wary that it could be held liable for outages caused by downed trees outside CMP’s jurisdiction.

AUGUSTA

Election recounts conclude with no change in results

State election officials have completed their recounts from the Nov. 6 election.

The Secretary of State’s Office held a recount Monday in the Piscataquis County commissioner’s race between Democrat Donald Crossman and Republican Frederick Trask. Trask gained one vote during the recount, making him the victor by 11 votes.

A recount was scheduled in the House District 51 race between Democrat Michael Devin and Republican Alan Pinkham, but Pinkham withdrew his request for a recount, leaving Devin the winner.

All told, the Secretary of State’s Office held recounts in 12 legislative races and in the commissioner’s race. None of them changed the Election Day results.

 

More AAA branches added as places to renew licenses

The Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles is expanding the number of communities where motorists can renew driver’s licenses at their local AAA branch.

Following a successful pilot program in Waterville, the program is being expanded Wednesday to include AAA branches in Portland, Bangor and Augusta.

Secretary of State Charlie Summers, who oversees the bureau, says the public-private partnership is providing more locations and flexible hours without any additional cost. AAA branch office business hours are Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The program will eventually include AAA’s remaining five offices.

WALES

Chest wound killed hunter who was shot on Nov. 20

The medical examiner says a 49-year-old Maine man who was killed in a hunting-related shooting died from a gunshot wound to the chest.

The Maine Medical Examiner’s Office issued its conclusion following an autopsy on the body of Gerard Parent, who was killed Nov. 20.

The Maine Warden Service says Parent was shot by Christopher Austin of Wales as they were hunting separately for the same deer. Austin fired two shots, while Parent fired one.

Cpl. John MacDonald of the Maine Warden Service would not say Monday whether charges will be filed.