STANDISH

ABC’s ‘20/20’ to broadcast Linda Dolloff case on Friday

The ABC News show “20/20” plans to broadcast the story of Linda Dolloff’s attempted-murder case on Friday night.

Dolloff, 48, a yoga instructor from Standish, was convicted in May of trying to kill her estranged husband, Jeffrey Dolloff, with a baseball bat, then shooting herself to make it look like a home invasion.

Linda Dolloff said she had no animosity toward her husband even though they were getting divorced and he was planning to have another woman stay at their house. Jeffrey Dolloff said he remembers nothing of the attack.
Linda Dolloff is considering whether to appeal the conviction, and has not yet been sentenced.

The hourlong “20/20” program was reported by correspondent Jim Avila, who interviewed both Dolloffs, according to ABC News. The reporter also interviewed Cumberland County District Attorney Stephanie Anderson, Dolloff’s attorney Daniel Lilley, and police investigators.

The program will air locally at 10 p.m. on WMTW, Channel 8.

SOUTH PORTLAND

Portland man charged in robbery of sewing shop

Police have charged a Portland man with armed robbery after he allegedly threatened a sewing shop clerk with a hammer Wednesday.

Stephen Scala, 23, allegedly fled after robbing Kim’s Alterations and was seen by witnesses getting into a nearby car.
He was pulled over and arrested in Cape Elizabeth a short time later.

Police said they found evidence of the robbery in the car. Scala was taken to the Cumberland County Jail.

GORHAM

Police arrest theft suspect, recover items worth $25,000

Police have recovered $25,000 in jewelry and other items stolen from homes in the White Rock area in June and July.

Police on Monday charged Alexander Cody McPhee, 21, of Gambo Road in Gorham with eight counts of burglary, six counts of felony theft, two counts of misdemeanor theft and two counts of criminal mischief.

Police searched McPhee’s house and found the stolen merchandise, said Lt. Christopher Sanborn. Some has been returned but police are still trying to find the owners of other items, he said.

Police identified McPhee as a suspect after a Gorham resident who was aware of the burglaries found him in the common area of a multi-family building and called police. Detective Sears Edwards arrested McPhee on Monday on a charge of possessing stolen property.

PORTLAND

Man pleads guilty to fraudfor falsifying water tests

Authorities say a Cumberland man has pleaded guilty to mail fraud in a scheme that involved falsifying water test results.

Court records say Daryl D. Quinn was a salesman for Yarmouth-based Water Treatment Inc. when the company installed a water purification system at a Naples home in 2008 to remove uranium from the well water.

Court documents say Quinn notified the customer that uranium levels in the water were down to acceptable levels after the system was installed, but they were not.

Quinn, 54, pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud on Tuesday.

AUGUSTA

Insurance chief seekswaiver on spending rule

Maine’s superintendent of insurance is worried that a requirement in the new federal health reform law could cause further problems for Mainers struggling with high-cost individual insurance policies.

Mila Kofman wrote to Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, asking for a waiver from meeting higher medical spending requirements until 2014.

Kofman said the spending requirement may force one of two private insurance companies that sell individual coverage in Maine to get out of that market.

“Loss of one of the two insurers would have a serious destabilizing effect in our individual market,” Kofman wote in the July 1 letter.

The new federal law requires that insurers spend 80 percent of premiums on medical care for their patients. Maine has its own minimum medical spending requirement which “is somewhat but not substantially lower than the federal standard,” Kofman wrote.

GOVERNOR’S RACE

Democratic senator backsindependent for governor

Another Democratic state senator has endorsed an independent candidate for governor. Sen. Elizabeth Schneider, D-Orono, said Wednesday in a statement that she is supporting candidate Eliot Cutler of Cape Elizabeth. Democratic lawmakers Sen. Dennis Damon, D-Trenton, and Leila Percy, D-Phippsburg, had announced their support for Cutler earlier.

Cutler is one of five candidates for governor. Elizabeth Mitchell is the Democratic nominee, Paul LePage is the Republican candidate, and independents Shawn Moody and Kevin Scott are also running.

STATEWIDE

Community colleges reportrise in summer enrollment

Maine’s community colleges are reporting a 16 percent year-over-year jump in summer enrollment.

The Maine Community College System’s seven campuses have 669 more students this summer, with a total of nearly 5,000.

Central Maine Community College in Auburn had a 60 percent enrollment boost, and York County Community College in Wells saw a 44 percent increase, according to the community college system.

In South Portland, Southern Maine Community College grew 13 percent, to nearly 2,200 summer students.

PORTLAND, WESTBROOK

N.Y. developer joins effort to build arena for Pirates

A New York firm that is developing the World Trade Center site has joined a local developer who has proposed building an 8,000-seat arena to house the Pirates in Portland or Westbrook.

David Emil, president of Lower Manhattan Development Corp., has joined Westbrook developer Jason Snyder in developing two properties near the Maine Turnpike. Emil is the son of Arthur Emil, Snyder’s business partner, who died July 6 at age 85.

Snyder proposed building an 8,000-seat entertainment and sports arena to house the Pirates near the turnpike in Portland or Westbrook. The proposal calls for a 150,000-square-foot arena on a 63-acre site in Portland or on a 60-acre site in Westbrook between turnpike exits 46 and 47.

Snyder proposed building the arena in conjunction with his proposed Stroudwater Place, a $300 million retail and commercial center in Westbrook. He also wants to renovate the Cumberland County Civic Center into a dedicated convention center.

BANGOR

Massachusetts bus drivercharged in bank robbery

A Massachusetts bus driver has been charged in a bank robbery in Orono.

Robert Ferguson of Lowell, Mass., was arrested at a Bangor motel Wednesday after police received a tip from a motel employee. Ferguson, 47, was charged in connection with the robbery of a Bangor Savings Bank on Tuesday.
The stolen money was found inside an electrical panel on the Greyhound bus that Ferguson had been driving, The Bangor Daily News said.

On Tuesday, the FBI offered a reward for information that could lead to an arrest in at least 10 bank robberies in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New Hampshire committed by a suspect described as the “burly bandit.” Authorities say it’s unknown if Ferguson is connected to those robberies.