GRAY

Condition improves for girl, 15, struck by car in Gray

The condition of a 15-year-old North Yarmouth girl struck by a car Wednesday in Gray has improved, hospital officials said Thursday.

Delilah Talon was in critical condition when she was brought to Maine Medical Center after a car drifted off the road and struck her as she was walking with two friends.

Thursday, she was listed in serious condition, a hospital spokeswoman said.

The driver of the car, Earl Melendy, 83, of Gray, was not injured, nor were the girl’s two companions.

The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the case.

SCARBOROUGH

School budget of $35 million wins narrow approval

Voters in Scarborough narrowly approved a $35 million school budget Tuesday.

The vote was 2,325 to 2,029 to adopt the budget, which will result in the loss of the equivalent of about 28 full-time positions.

On May 11, voters rejected a $34.9 million school budget that would have eliminated more than 31 full-time positions.

Superintendent David Doyle said the budget cuts will result in larger class sizes and scheduling changes.

In a separate vote, 2,049 residents believed the school budget too high, and 1,194 believed it too low.

PORTLAND

Country star Jo Dee Messina to play Civic Center Aug. 20

Country music star Jo Dee Messina has scheduled a concert for Portland’s Cumberland County Civic Center on Aug. 20.
John Michael Montgomery is the co-headliner, while Jack Ingram and Bucky Covington are also on the bill.

Tickets for the 7 p.m. show go on sale at 10 a.m. Monday and range in price from $35 to $55. Tickets are available at the civic center box office, by calling 775-3458 or 800-745-3000, or at www.theciviccenter.com

High court ruling clears way for suit against MERC

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court has cleared the way for a lawsuit against Maine Energy Recovery Co., the waste incinerator in Biddeford.

The state’s highest court ruled Thursday that the York County Superior Court was wrong to dismiss the odor complaint filed by Mark Johnston, a former mayor of Saco, who lives across the river from the plant.

Johnston claims the odor is a private nuisance because he cannot spend time outdoors or even leave windows open in his home. Maine Energy had argued Johnston did not have legal grounds to sue, in part because the state regulates operation of the plant.

SOUTH PORTLAND

Two teens charged after car chase, attempt to flee

Two South Portland 17-year-olds face criminal charges after being pulled over in a car they did not own and then trying to escape.

South Portland police clocked the car going 99 mph on the Veterans Memorial Bridge just after midnight Thursday and tried to pull it over.

The car slowed on Main Street, and the driver jumped out near Haskell Street and fled.

The passenger tried to get out of the car, but it rolled into a utility pole, slamming the door shut and trapping the passenger’s leg between the door and the frame.

Rescue workers extricated the youth and took him to Maine Medical Center with injuries that were not life-threatening. South Portland officers and state troopers caught the driver a short while later.

The car was owned by a Portland resident who had dropped it off for repairs at a South Portland garage.

Both youths were charged with unauthorized use of property and refusing to submit to arrest. The driver also was charged with criminal speed, aggravated assault and leaving the scene of an accident with injuries.

PlumChoice firm to train work-at-home technicians

PlumChoice, an offsite technical services company, is joining with Southern Maine Community College and Maine Quality Centers to train and hire up to 350 Mainers as work-at-home service technicians.

The program is being funded by a $550,000 grant from the Maine Quality Center. That money will allow accepted students to get customer service and Microsoft and Apple systems training at no cost.

Students will receive 72 hours of training at SMCC’s South Portland campus. At the end of training, they will be guaranteed a hiring interview with PlumChoice. Those who are hired and complete at least six months work in good standing will receive a signing bonus.

For more information, contact a local CareerCenter or call 741-5727.

HOUSE DISTRICT 103

Former Chamber executive wins Republican primary

Michael McClellan, former executive director of the Greater Bridgton Chamber of Commerce, won the Republican primary Tuesday in state House District 103.

McClellan won the seat with 344 votes. His opponent, Dana DesJardins, a self-employed electrical contractor, received 184 votes. The district covers Frye Island, Raymond and parts of Poland and Standish.

NAPLES

Drugmaker offers reward of $1,000 in Rite-Aid robbery

The manufacturer of OxyContin is funding a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person who robbed a Rite-Aid pharmacy in Naples on May 10.

The suspect entered the pharmacy at 665 Roosevelt Trail at 5:30 p.m. and handed the teller a note demanding the prescription painkiller.

The suspect is described as 19 to 25 years old and weighing between 125 and 145 pounds.

He was wearing a camouflage military jacket, dark sunglasses, a dark knit stocking cap, light-colored jeans and white sneakers.

Anyone with information about this robbery is asked to call the Crime Stoppers Hotline at 888-4RxTIPS or 888-479-8477.

OWLS HEAD

Escapee from halfway house captured asleep in stolen car 

A federal prisoner who escaped while serving out his sentence at a halfway house in Maine has been captured.

The U.S. Marshal’s Service said 60-year-old Wayne Collamore was arrested Thursday at Owls Head State Park. He was found sleeping behind the wheel of a parked car that had been reported stolen earlier in the day.

Officials say Collamore had been on the lam since walking away from a U.S. Bureau of Prisons halfway house in Portland on May 28.

AUBURN

Dispute stemming from 2006 crash leads to assault, arrest

Police say a Maine man acquitted of causing a passenger’s death during a street race in 2006 was run over at a carnival at Great Falls Plaza in Auburn.

Police say 21-year-old Kyle Karkos of Lewiston was struck Wednesday night by a car operated by William Panzino of Auburn, who has been charged with aggravated assault. Karkos was treated at a hospital; Panzino was jailed pending an arraignment today.
Police say Karkos was involved in a fight with one of Panzino’s friends earlier in the evening.

Karkos’ mother, Kelley Karkos, told the Sun Journal newspaper the altercation began with harassment over the crash that killed Kenny Jellison. Karkos was 17 at the time.

EDDINGTON

Day care provider charged with possession of child porn

Maine State Police arrested a day care provider and charged him with possession of child pornography.

Detective Special Agent Mike McFadden said 39-year-old Walter Ramsdell was arrested Wednesday at the Care-A-Lot Day Care, which is operated out of the family home in Eddington.

The Maine State Police computer crimes unit focused on Ramsdell after a “database hit.”

McFadden told the Bangor Daily News that police found child pornography on Ramsdell’s computer showing children who appeared to be younger than 10 years old. He said there’s no indication that any of the children on the computer were children at the day care center.

ORONO

Offshore wind power draws U.S. official to tour UMaine

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu will tour the University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center at 11:30 a.m. Monday to learn more about the university’s deepwater offshore wind power activities.

Gov. John Bladacci, Sen. Susan Collins and U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud will meet with Chu along with Habib Dagher, center director.

Chu is a Nobel Prize winning physicist who was a professor at the University of California at Berkeley before his appointment to the Obama administration.

WESTBROOK

School superintendent gets award for energy efficiency

Westbrook Superintendent Reza Namin received the Maine Public Utilities Commission/Efficiency Maine’s Hastings Award in a ceremony Thursday at the State House.

Gov. John Baldacci presented the award to Namin. In a statement, Baldacci said the school department has made extraordinary efforts to increase the energy efficiency of its buildings and incorporate the work into the curriculum.

Last year, the school department allocated $600,000 of stimulus funds to improve energy use in its buildings.

The City Council unanimously supported the board’s request.

In the past few years, new school buildings and additions in Westbrook have included upgrades in energy efficiency.

Police ask for public’s help in locating missing man, 24

Westbrook Police are seeking help in locating a missing 24-year-old man.

Nicholas St. Louis was last seen shortly after 2 p.m. on Maple Street in Portland.

Nicholas is a white male, 6 feet tall and weighs 180 pounds. He is described as having short, disheveled brown hair and brown eyes. He is also missing some of his front teeth.

When last seen, St. Louis was wearing a white T-shirt with a “Tap Out” logo, camouflage pants, a black wool hat and black gloves with no fingers. He has tattoos of a tribal design on his right forearm, a skull on his right elbow and his last name in Old English letters across his abdomen.

Police Chief William Baker said St. Louis may be unable to care for himself.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Westbrook Police Department at 854-0644.

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