PORTLAND

Police bring drug charges against 14 from bus stations

Maine State Police announced the arrest of 14 people on drug charges as part of a crackdown last week on drugs being imported into the state.

The arrests included four people charged with bringing drugs into the state on commercial buses. The four, who police believe were not known to each other, were arrested at the Portland’s Greyhound and Concord Trailways bus stations, state police said in a statement Tuesday.

Police charged:

• Hasan Daily, 21, of Cambridge, Mass., with possession of crack cocaine. Police said Daily also had a loaded .22-caliber handgun.

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• Jermaine Mitchell, 40, of New Haven, Conn., with trafficking in crack cocaine and ecstasy.

• Isaiah Sapp, 28, of Bronx, N.Y., with trafficking in cocaine.

• Cyrus Martin, 43, of Lewiston, with trafficking in suboxone. Police said troopers seized 900 suboxone strips from Martin.

The others arrested were charged with less serious crimes, police said. In all, $32,000 in drugs were seized, they said.

The arrests were made during 48 hours on Wednesday and Thursday.

Michaud names senior staff members for his campaign

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Democratic U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud has announced the senior staff members of his campaign for governor.

Michaud said Tuesday Matt McTighe will serve as campaign manager in Michaud’s campaign against Republican Gov. Paul LePage and independent Eliot Cutler in the 2014 election. McTighe was the campaign manager for the successful 2012 same-sex marriage campaign.

David Farmer, a spokesman for former Gov. John Baldacci and communications director for the same-sex marriage campaign, has been named senior adviser to the campaign.

Maine Democratic Party communications director Lizzie Reinholt is the campaign’s director of communications. The party’s finance director, Rick Redmond, will have the same role for Michaud’s campaign.

Jackie Potter is the community outreach director.

CAPE ELIZABETH

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Boat’s fire related to mechanical problem

The cause of a fire that burned a 39-foot boat Sunday was a mechanical problem related to refueling, authorities said Tuesday.

The fire ignited at 12:40 p.m., destroying the Sea Ray Sundancer powerboat soon after it had been refueled, according to a Coast Guard statement quoting members of the Maine Marine Patrol. The Marine Patrol has closed its investigation. Four people and a dog were on the boat when the fire broke out. Nearby boaters helped them escape. No one was hurt in the incident off Portland Head Light in Cape Elizabeth.

On board were the owner, Daniel Mills of Portland, and his wife, Lauren Mills, and two guests, Steve Hemkens of Arlington, Vt., and Andrew McClelland of Portland.

EASTPORT

Pirate festival ready to make waves this weekend

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The days of yore when pirates were active off the Maine coast will be celebrated when Eastport holds its annual Pirate Festival.

The festival will get under way Friday and continue through Sunday.

Festivities include a pirate ball, a pirate boat parade, pirate music bashes, a pirate bed race and treasure hunts.

There will also be a remembrance ceremony on Sunday to honor the 180-foot HMS Bounty tall ship, which was a main attraction at last year’s festival and sank off North Carolina last October during Hurricane Sandy.

The festival is now in its eighth year and typically draws 10,000 to 12,000 people.

KENTS HILL

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Echo Lake Lodge destroyed during morning blaze

The lodge at Echo Lake Lodge & Cottages was destroyed by fire that started shortly after 10 a.m. Tuesday.

The lodge at Echo Lake camp in Fayette was engulfed in flames upon the arrival of firefighters, according to Readfield Fire Chief Lee Mank.

No one was hurt. Firefighters from several towns responded when a man who was working at a site nearby spotted the fire and called for help. The two-story lodge, built in the 1930s, was destroyed.

The business rents out rooms in the lodge and nine cottages on Echo Lake, according to its website.

SHAPLEIGH

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Teens condition improves after spinout on Route 11

The condition of a teenager who was seriously injured in a one-car crash in Shapleigh on Labor Day has improved dramatically, the York County Sheriff’s office said Tuesday.

The teen, who was not identified, suffered chest and head injuries and was transported from Goodall Hospital in Sanford before being transferred to Maine Medical Center in Portland. He was listed in critical but stable condition Monday.

The one-car crash occurred on Route 11 at about 2 p.m. Monday. The road was wet, and according to witnesses, the vehicle spun out and struck a utility pole. Both occupants had to be extricated from the vehicle.

The driver — also a teenager, and related to the seriously injured passenger — was treated and released.

The crash remains under investigation but no charges are anticipated.

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BANGOR

Man found suffering from stab wound at apartment

Police responded at about 5 p.m. Monday to a Pine Street apartment building where a 32-year-old man was found suffering from a stab wound to the abdomen.

WABI-TV reported that he was taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center. Neither the victim’s name nor his condition was released.

Police did not immediately announce an arrest but said the stabbing was not a random act of violence.

Witnesses said they heard some shouting immediately before the stabbing.

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WATERVILLE

Pan Am Railways ordered to pay $50,000 to worker

The U.S. Department of Labor has ordered Pan Am Railways Inc. to pay $50,000 in compensatory and punitive damages, as well as take corrective action, on behalf of an injured Waterville worker.

According to the Department of Labor, the North Billerica, Mass.-based railroad charged the worker, who was not identified, with lying when he filed a Federal Railroad Safety Act complaint with the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The employee, who works in a rail yard in Waterville, filed the OSHA complaint on Dec. 6, 2011, claiming that the railroad had subjected him to discipline, including a letter of reprimand, for reporting an injury and unsafe working conditions. Shortly after the filing, Pan Am Railways held a second disciplinary hearing on Jan. 4, 2012. It alleged then that the worker made false statements to OSHA and the railroad.

OSHA found that the employee engaged in protected activity when filing the complaint, and the railroad retaliated by charging him with lying and by holding the second disciplinary hearing. Such adverse action can intimidate employees from exercising their Federal Railroad Safety Act rights, even if the charge is later dropped, as it was in this case.

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AUGUSTA

Gas prices bump up 6 cents last week to $3.73 a gallon

Maine residents are paying almost 6 cents per gallon more for a gallon of gas this week.

Price-monitoring website MaineGasPrices.com reported Tuesday that the average retail price of gas in Maine has jumped to $3.73 in the past week, which is 12 cents per gallon higher than the national average.

In-state prices are still almost 16 cents per gallon lower than on the same day a year ago but less than a penny lower than a month ago.

The averages are based on a survey of more than 1,200 Maine gas stations.

 


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