STANDISH

Domestic violence report leads to standoff, arrest

A Buxton man was in custody Monday after an early-morning standoff with Cumberland County sheriff’s deputies.

Police were called to the home at 760 Boundary Road in Standish at 12:20 a.m. Monday for a report of a domestic conflict. The 36-year-old female victim was not seriously injured and got away.

Sheriff Kevin Joyce called in the department’s tactical team at 3 a.m. and members eventually fired tear gas into the home, at 7:20 a.m.

Police arrested Ralph Gaddy Jr., 44, without further incident after he fled the house. He was charged with domestic violence assault, terrorizing and creating a police standoff. He was held in the Cumberland County Jail without bail, pending a court appearance.

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Gaddy did not specifically threaten to shoot anyone but police did find several guns at the house, including some near the bed, Joyce said.

Boundary Road was reopened to traffic at 8 a.m.

YORK

Woman charged with driving drunk in stolen dump truck

Police charged a woman with driving drunk, stealing a dump truck and driving it into a parked vehicle.

Police say that on Sunday night, Kristin Plante, 28, stole the small dump truck belonging to a construction company that was working at a nearby motel.

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She backed into a glass door, shattering it, then drove into a Cape Neddick resident’s vehicle that was parked in the driveway, police said.

Police said Plante was drunk or on drugs, had a suspended license and was wanted by police in Florida. Plante also was charged with assault, after allegedly kicking an officer in the shin.

Police charged Plante with drunken driving, assault, theft, criminal mischief and driving with a suspended license. She is scheduled to appear in York District Court on March 20.

YARMOUTH

Oxycodone stolen from Rite Aid Monday morning

An unarmed man robbed the Rite Aid pharmacy Monday morning, police and a witness said.

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Lum Achu, 27, a pharmacy intern at the store on Route 1, said a man approached her with an open bag and demanded oxycodone. No weapon was shown, Achu said.

“We’re still shaken,” said Achu. “We just did what we were supposed to do, and he walked out.”

Yarmouth police Lt. Dean Perry said the suspect was described as about 5 feet 8 inches to 5 feet 10 inches tall, wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt, sunglasses and gloves. Police believe he fled south on I-295.

The robbery is the second crime against a pharmacy in Yarmouth in two weeks. Someone burglarized the pharmacy at the Hannaford on Route 1 on Dec. 18 or Dec. 19. Police have yet to say what was stolen in that incident.

AUGUSTA

Heating cost calculator can show Mainers where to save

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As winter begins, an interactive, online calculator can help Maine homeowners estimate the cost of keeping warm and see how they can save money.

The calculator is on the website of the Governor’s Energy Office at www.maine.gov/energy.

It enables homeowners to estimate their heating costs based on various types of fuels, their costs and their efficiency in various heating appliances.

For example, heating a well-insulated 1,500-square-foot house based on current fuel prices costs nearly $3,300 a year with No. 2 oil, $2,200 with natural gas and $1,600 with wood or pellets.

Gov. Paul LePage said he hopes the calculator will point to affordable alternatives and empower consumers to make appropriate heating choices.

BARING

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Grandmother killed in head-on car crash

A grandmother died in a two-vehicle crash on Route 1 in the eastern Maine town of Baring, while her 8-year-old grandson suffered minor injuries.

State police say a pickup truck driven by Lynn Roderick, 55, of Princeton was heading north about 2:20 p.m. Sunday when Roderick tried to pass another vehicle and hit a southbound car head-on.

Police told the Bangor Daily News that Roderick was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected.

Her grandson was treated for minor injuries at Calais Regional Hospital and released.

The driver of the other vehicle in the crash, Steven Scott, 47, of Calais, was also treated at the hospital for minor injuries.

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WOODSTOCK

Man seriously injured in rollover accident

Police say a 30-year-old man was flown to a Lewiston hospital with serious injuries that he suffered in a rollover crash in Woodstock.

Deputy Nate Bowie of the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office said Jonathan Timm was driving west on Rumford Avenue off Route 232 about 8 p.m. Sunday when his SUV left the road.

Bowie told the Sun Journal that the vehicle rolled over, causing “serious injuries.” Timm was not ejected.

He was flown to Central Maine Medical Center in Portland.

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Bowie said the accident is still under investigation, but he suspects that alcohol was a factor.

KODIAK, Alaska

Coast Guardsman from Maine missing in Alaska

A Coast Guardsman in Kodiak who went hiking over the weekend is the subject of a search.

Alaska State Troopers say Derek Winn Russell of Hollis Center, Maine, was last seen at 10 a.m. Saturday as he hiked from the Coast Guard base to trails on Mount Barometer.

The Kodiak Daily Mirror reports the Coast Guard and Kodiak Island Search and Rescue are searching for the hiker.

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Russell is assigned to the Coast Guard Cutter Munro.

Foul weather initially kept aircraft grounded but an air search began Monday morning. Searchers say fresh snow obscured footprints in the search area.

BETHEL

Nordic ski areas open for holidays despite weather

Some of western Maine’s Nordic ski areas are open for the holidays despite recent rain and wind that took a toll on trails.

The Rangeley Lakes Trails Center opened its Nordic and snowshoe trails last week, only to have Saturday’s strong winds litter the trails with tree debris.

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But the ski area’s Peter Christensen told the Sun Journal that the trails are open despite that and the rain, which ski purists call “liquid snow.”

Carter’s cross-country ski area in Bethel is open, but the one in Oxford has bare spots.

Maine’s largest alpine ski areas have been open for a while, and the smaller ones are starting to open. Titcomb Mountain in Farmington was supposed to be open by now, but had to push that to Thursday.

DOVER, N.H.

Sentencing of bus driver in child porn case delayed

A former school bus driver in New Hampshire and Maine will wait until early next year to learn how long he will spend in prison for sexually exploiting children on his bus.

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John Allen Wright, who pleaded guilty in September, was scheduled for sentencing last week but Foster’s Daily Democrat reported the hearing has been postponed until February.

Wright, who lived in Milton, was a bus driver for special-needs children. He was arrested in September 2011 and charged with filming child pornography on the bus using cameras hidden in glasses and pens.

Officials have said he faces prison time totaling as much as 160 years.

 


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