AUGUSTA

AG: State troopers justified in separate 2012 shootings

The attorney general has determined that two state troopers who shot men this summer were legally justified in doing so.

Attorney General William Schneider said it was reasonable for Trooper Christopher Hashey to believe that deadly force was necessary to protect himself when he shot an Edinburg man who approached him with a large knife after dialing 911.

Investigators say the incident unfolded Aug. 14 when Warren Dome, 54, dialed 911 saying he wanted to harm himself. Dome, who admitted he’d been drinking, told the dispatcher to “send the militia” and he was “not going to go down easy.” Later, he made more threatening remarks to the dispatcher.

Investigators say Hashey shot Dome twice when Dome refused to drop the knife and advanced toward the trooper as he backed away.

Dome survived the shooting.

Schneider concluded that Trooper Gregory Roy was justified in shooting a man who pointed a gun at him during a standoff that ended with the man fatally shooting himself.

The report released Monday says Roy fired his revolver after Michael McKay, 24, fired two shots from his semi-automatic handgun in the direction of a police tactical team that was outside his home in Hermon on the night of July 1. McKay was hit in a leg.

Seconds later, the report says, he killed himself.

The report says at the time of the shooting, McKay had been drinking and was distraught over his broken marriage.

He had bought a handgun equipped with a laser sight and a box of ammunition earlier that day.

 

New independent contractor definition goes into effect

Maine’s Department of Labor says the state’s new definition of an independent contractor has taken effect.

Officials said the law, which took effect Monday, clarifies the conditions under which a worker should be classified as an employee or as an independent contractor.

It also applies the independent-contractor standard uniformly across unemployment, wage and hour, and worker’s compensation laws.

Labor Commissioner Jeanne Paquette said that under the previous rules, a business could classify a worker as an employee under worker’s compensation rules but an independent contractor for unemployment taxes.

Paquette said the new law establishes penalties to deter businesses from intentionally misclassifying people as independent contractors when in fact they’re employees.

 

Deer harvest tops 21,000; up 11 percent from 2011

Wildlife officials say hunters killed more than 21,000 deer in Maine this fall, representing an 11 percent increase from 2011.

The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife on Monday released its estimate for this year’s deer harvest, with the official tally scheduled to come out in February.

Biologist Lee Kantar said the increase is due in large part to last winter’s mild weather, resulting in a high survival of fawns that produced a bumper yearling crop.

The deer harvest has been low the past five years, with the state issuing fewer hunter permits to allow the population to recover following harsh winters in 2008 and 2009 that thinned the herd.

The harvest in the past five years has ranged from about 18,000 to 21,000 animals.

ARUNDEL

Apparent armed robbery focus of police investigation

Deputies with the York County Sheriff’s Office are investigating a robbery that occurred Sunday night at the Big Apple convenience store on Portland Road.

A man entered the store at 8:30 p.m. and threatened the clerk with what appeared to be a semiautomatic handgun and left with cash. The sheriff’s office would not say how much was stolen.

Nobody was injured, and police were trying Monday to get a picture from the security camera to help identify the suspect, said Maj. William King.