BIDDEFORD

All tenants escape fire at downtown apartment building, seek temporary homes

Several tenants of a downtown apartment building had to find other living arrangements Wednesday night after a fire destroyed a third-floor apartment.

Fire Capt. Normand Melancon said the cause of the fire at 63 Jefferson St. is being investigated by the State Fire Marshal’s Office and the city’s fire investigation unit.

When crews arrived at 8:15 p.m., they encountered heavy smoke and fire coming from a window in the third-floor apartment. There are 14 apartments in the three-story building.

Melancon said everyone got out safely, but tenants were working with the American Red Cross to find temporary housing. Power to the building had to be shut off.

PORTLAND

Man, 22, arrested after burglaries on Woodmont and Beacon streets

Police arrested a 22-year-old man Wednesday in connection with two residential burglaries.

Police say Nicholas Currier broke into a house on Woodmont Street on Monday while the resident was doing an errand. He took a 42-inch flat screen television and leaned it against a neighbor’s house before riding away on his bicycle, police said.

Currier also is charged with breaking into a house on Beacon Street on May 28 while the residents were inside, stealing a purse and a wallet.

Police are still investigating whether any unsolved burglaries can be traced to Currier.

Confrontation between two women leads to investigation by police

Police are investigating a confrontation that occurred Wednesday night between two young women, who could face assault charges.

Lt. Robert Ridge said a 17-year-old girl and a 23-year-old pregnant woman got into an argument over a man outside the Norway Savings Bank branch at 1200 Congress St.

As the pregnant woman sat in the driver’s seat of a car, the teenager opened the driver’s side door and punched the woman in the face.

The pregnant woman backed up, and the car door hit the girl.

The pregnant woman, whose name was unavailable, was taken to Mercy Hospital for observation. The 17-year-old was treated and released from Maine Medical Center.

Ridge said both women are under investigation for possible assault, but had not been charged.

Climate and energy issues will be discussed at Portland Public Library

Maj. Gen. Don Edwards and other military leaders, veterans and local officials will host a town meeting to discuss the connection between climate change and national security and call for comprehensive climate and energy legislation.

The meeting is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Saturday at the Portland Public Library.

Adam Cote of Portland, who ran for Congress in 2008, will also be at the meeting. He served in Bosnia and Iraq in the Army.

State Rep. Alex Cornell du Houx, D-Brunswick, will moderate the forum.

The event, which is free and open to the public, is being coordinated by Operation Free, a coalition of veterans and national security organizations that is working to secure sources of clean energy.

LISBON

Fire damages apartment building, three families escape without injury

Three families escaped uninjured when an early-morning fire swept through part of an apartment building.

Fire Chief Sean Galipeau said firefighters contained the fire to a second-floor apartment, but the rest of the building sustained smoke and water damage.

The fire was reported about 2 a.m. Wednesday.

Lowell Saindon lived in the second-floor apartment with his girlfriend and 2-year-old daughter. He said he had to run through flames to reach the front door.

He told the Sun Journal that he woke up when people outside were throwing things at his window. The cause of the fire was unknown Wednesday.

CASTLE HILL

Two arrested after home invasion, third suspect still sought by police

Two people have been arrested in connection with a home invasion, and a third suspect is being sought.

State police say Dustin Sutton, 22, of Presque Isle and a 16-year-old juvenile were arrested Tuesday on charges stemming from Sunday’s incident, in which an elderly Castle Hill woman confronted three people in her home.

Betty Ellis, 75, told police that one of the suspects shoved her into kitchen cupboards.

State police made the arrests with the assistance of the Presque Isle Police and the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Department.

PITTSTON

Residents near fairgrounds upset by actions of spectators at Mud Fest

Neighbors of the Pittston fairgrounds say they have had enough of 4X4 mud runs.

Neighbors of the fairgrounds had many complaints, including low-flying helicopters buzzing cattle, noise, heavy traffic and people urinating in public.

The Pittston Fair Association’s annual 4X4 Mud Fest was held last weekend.

Iris Erskine said a helicopter hovered over her cows just to see them run.

After Erskine complained, a sheriff’s deputy told the operator to stop.

Fair Association Vice President Peter Weeks told the Kennebec Journal that he thought the weekend went well, except for the wet and cold.