SCARBOROUGH

Voters OK using school aid to offset retirement costs

Residents on Tuesday approved changes to a budget adopted just two months ago, allowing school officials to use increased state aid to offset a shift in teacher retirement costs.

The 999-472 vote approves a budget that will also provide some tax relief.

The town faced $520,283 in teacher retirement costs that had been shifted from the state to the town. But after voters approved the $38.8 million budget in June, the state budget provided $788,038 in additional state aid to Scarborough, allowing it to cover the increased retirement costs.

The remaining $267,755 will be used for tax relief.

AUGUSTA

Solon man killed when van rolls over on I-95 exit ramp

A 65-year-old Solon man was killed Tuesday afternoon when the van he was driving rolled over on Exit 112A of Interstate 95, according to Maine State Police Lt. Aaron Hayden.

William Partridge lost control of his 1977 GMC Vandura van, which was “fully loaded” with personal belongings, at 4:48 p.m. on the right side of the off ramp, authorities said. The van then crossed the exit lane and rolled over on the lane’s left side.

“He was not wearing a seat belt,” Hayden said, and “was tossed around in the vehicle along with his belongings.”

Partridge, who was the sole occupant, was found dead at the scene, Hayden said.

The accident remains under investigation, but there was no reason to suspect the vehicle had been forced off the road or that criminal activity caused the crash, Hayden said.

BOWDOINHAM

Woman injured in rollover of car Aug. 6 dies of injuries

A woman who was seriously injured last week when her car overturned on Interstate 295 southbound in Bowdoinham has died of her injuries, Maine State Police said Tuesday.

Mona Lee Kelley, 56, of Steep Falls was thrown from the car after it overturned several times in the median just after 6 p.m. on Aug. 6.

State police had been looking for the car after several motorists called to report seeing it being driven erratically and striking a guardrail in Gardiner without stopping.

Troopers suspect alcohol was a factor in the crash, according to the state police.

PORTLAND

Two brothers, their father indicted in man’s beating

Two brothers from Brunswick and their father, accused of beating a Portland man with a metal pipe in May, have been indicted by the Cumberland County grand jury.

Justin Haycock, 29, Joshua Haycock, 31, and Walter Haycock, 62, were each arrested in Brunswick on a charge of elevated aggravated assault after the May 5 attack at 98 India St. in Portland.

The victim, a 50-year-old man who was left with serious head and facial injuries, told police that three men he knew came to his apartment, he let them in and they attacked him.

The three members of the Haycock family were each indicted on the original felony charge of elevated aggravated assault, as well as burglary and aggravated criminal trespassing. The father was indicted on an additional felony charge of criminal threatening.

The most serious charge against the men, elevated aggravated assault, is a Class A felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

Appeal date set for man in killing of 2 adults, boy

Maine’s highest court has scheduled an appeal date for a man serving a life sentence for killing two adults and a 10-year-old boy in northern Maine.

Thayne Ormsby’s appeal will be heard by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court on Sept. 9. The 23-year-old Ormsby was given three life sentences in the 2010 stabbing deaths of 55-year-old Jeffrey Ryan, his 10-year-old son and a family friend at Ryan’s home in the Aroostook County town of Amity.

Ormsby’s lawyers are claiming his Miranda rights were violated by police during questioning and that his confession was involuntary. They further claim the judge erred in denying a motion to change the location of the trial.

Ormsby grew up in Ellsworth but was living in the town of Orient at the time of the killings.

PARSONSFIELD

Pair in domestic incident last week held in new case

A couple involved in a domestic violence incident a week ago became violent again Tuesday, leading to the arrest of both, the York County Sheriff’s Office said.

According to deputies, the Sheriff’s Office got a tip about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday that Jeffrey Perry was in contact with his girlfriend, Victoria Valente, in violation of his terms of release.

Perry, 30, of Parsonsfield, was arrested last week and charged with a domestic violence assault on Valente, 21, of Hiram. He was released on $1,000 bail and ordered to not be within 100 feet of Valente.

But after a tip, a deputy spotted Perry driving with Valente in his car in Parsonsfield on Tuesday. The deputy attempted to stop Perry, police said, and Perry tried to flee in his vehicle, but he veered off the road and got stuck in a ditch.

Valente ran from the stuck vehicle and hid while the deputy arrested Perry and placed him in the cruiser.

When the deputy saw Valente emerge from where she was hiding, he motioned for her to come to the cruiser. But as she approached, Perry began to thrash around the cruiser and tried to kick out the cruiser’s windows, police said.

Police said when the deputy attempted to calm Perry, Valente interfered and had to be restrained.

Valente was charged with disorderly conduct and released on her own recognizance with a court date of Oct. 21 in Springvale District Court.

Perry is being held at the York County Jail for felony violation of conditions of release. His initial court appearance will be Wednesday in Alfred Superior Court.

SOUTH PORTLAND

Passed out on sidewalk, woman arrested on warrant

A woman who passed out on a sidewalk was arrested after police found she had an outstanding arrest warrant.

South Portland police said Amy Marmanick, 24, of Augusta, passed out on a Cottage Road sidewalk near the intersection with Broadway around 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Rescue workers found no injuries or reason for her losing consciousness, police said, but a check on her identity turned up the outstanding warrant for failure to appear in court.

Police didn’t immediately know what crime led to the court appearance for which she failed to appear.

After Marmanick regained consciousness and rescue workers cleared her medically, she was arrested and taken to the Cumberland County Jail, police said.

GUILFORD

Dozens involved, one shot in brawl that included dog

Police say one person was shot and three others required hospitalization following a street brawl in the central Maine town of Guilford.

The Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Office said more than a dozen adults and juveniles got into a fight on a downtown street Monday night armed with baseball bats, knives and a dog.

Authorities say one of two men attacked by the dog fired a gun toward the animal, but the bullet instead struck the dog’s owner. The man was hospitalized with injuries that were not life-threatening.

Deputies said they’ve interviewed people involved in the fight, but no charges have been filed. An investigation is ongoing.

CARTHAGE

Teen killed when rope gets entangled in small dirt bike

Game wardens have identified a teenager killed in western Maine after becoming entangled in some rope while riding a small dirt motorcycle.

Wardens said Tuesday that the victim was 15-year-old Tyla J. Thibodeau of Carthage, who was staying with friends at the time of the incident Sunday night.

Wardens said the teen was carrying a coil of rope that became entangled in the rear wheel. He then became entangled in the rope as well, leading to his death.

AUBURN

Lewiston man pleads guilty in pharmacy robbery cases

A Lewiston man has pleaded guilty to a pharmacy robbery in Gray and an attempted robbery in Lewiston.

Ryan White pleaded guilty Monday in Androscoggin County Superior Court to charges connected to the Nov. 4 attempted robbery of a Rite Aid in Lewiston and a robbery the next day of a Rite Aid in Gray.

The Sun Journal reported that sentencing is scheduled for a later date.

Police said the 25-year-old White and another man tried to rob the Lewiston store first. They handed the pharmacist a note demanding prescription painkillers, but fled when the worker picked up the phone.

White was arrested Nov. 20 and has been held in jail for a probation violation since then.

 

Minot man pleads not guilty in 2 fires, high-speed chase

A Minot man has pleaded not guilty to charges he burned down his home, set fire to his estranged wife’s mobile home and tried to run down a sheriff’s deputy.

The Sun Journal reported that 44-year-old Michael Callahan entered his pleas Tuesday in Androscoggin County Superior Court in Auburn.

Callahan has been jailed since May when he was charged with burning down his home in Minot, setting fire to the mobile home in Mechanic Falls and ramming his wife’s vehicle with his car. He allegedly led police on a high-speed chase and at one point tried to run down a deputy.

In a separate incident last December, Callahan was arrested after a six-hour standoff during which he allegedly fired a high-powered rifle and machine gun toward police.

WINDHAM

Smoking blamed in blaze that killed Windham man

The State Fire Marshal’s Office says smoking is to blame for a fire that claimed a man’s life in Windham over the weekend.

Investigators said Tuesday that either a cigar or cigar ashes ignited a futon in the third-floor apartment where 25-year-old Parker Blanchard was found early Sunday. An autopsy determined he died from smoke inhalation.

Blanchard’s fiancee, 25-year-old Annette Kowalik, suffered smoke inhalation but managed to escape.

A passer-by reported the fire at 3:30 a.m. Sunday. The fire was quickly doused, but smoke and water damage made the building unlivable.

CAPE ELIZABETH

Town limits number of artists who can sell work at park

Cape Elizabeth will cap at eight the number of artists allowed to sell their work at Fort Williams Park.

The Town Council on Tuesday authorized new rules pertaining to the sale of art, defined as “expressive matter,” while at the same time banning the sale of items for purely commercial purposes.

The rules address what had been a somewhat controversial practice by one art vendor of setting up in the park. The ordinance sets limits on the number of vendors and creates an official area for vendors to sell their wares.

Vendors do not have to register with the town or pay fees, and must only follow the rules, said Town Manager Michael McGovern.

GARDINER

Police, passer-by rescue local woman from stream

A local woman who jumped into Cobbossee Stream on Monday was rescued by police and a passer-by.

Neither the woman, a 27-year-old from Gardiner, nor her rescuers were injured during the incident.

A caseworker called police around 10:40 a.m., saying the woman was somewhere near the water and intended to jump. The unidentified woman was unable to swim, Police Chief James Toman said.

Police Sgt. Isaiah Peppard found the woman underneath the Bridge Street bridge near Dennis’ Pizza. Peppard, Detective Michael Durham and Toman tried to talk to the woman into retreating from the stream bank while Gardiner firefighters set up with a boat and ropes downstream, which was raging from an abundance of recent rainfall.

“She ended up jumping into the stream,” Toman said.

The woman started floating downstream, toward the Kennebec River. She missed a safety rope Durham tossed to her, Toman said, before grabbing hold of a log on an island about 200 feet away from the bridge.

As she tried to stand up, Peppard and Steve Casey, who owns the nearby Depot Sports Pub on Maine Avenue, ran across the stream to help the woman, Toman said. He said the water was below the men’s waists, but was running swiftly, which made it difficult to keep a footing on the rocky stream bed.

She was taken to MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta for a psychological evaluation.