SCARBOROUGH

Vandals at gun shop cause at least $60,000 in damage

Scarborough police are investigating vandalism at the Maine Police and Fire shop on Route 1, where blue paint was poured over a number of guns and crossbows and slogans were painted on the walls.

The damage, estimated at between $60,000 and $75,000, was discovered at noon Monday. The shop, located at 715

Route 1, had been broken into and the inside doors and walls spray-painted with messages about killing animals, police said.

Ammunition was dumped on the floor, desks were overturned, and a television was smashed, police said. The store will be closed until Tuesday.

PORTLAND

Company to get $750,000 to study underwater turbines

Ocean Renewable Power Co. will receive $750,000 in federal Recovery Act funding, U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, announced Thursday.

According to the Department of Energy, the Portland-based company will use the funds to study the properties of underwater turbines. Those turbines have demonstrated the potential for operating as an effective, environmentally safe ocean energy device. The project will also help identify the best turbine designs and manufacturing processes for commercial scale production.

Small businesses were selected for the DOE awards on the basis of the scientific and technical merits of their proposals.

KITTERY

Repair schedule unchanged after chunk falls from bridge

A breakaway chunk of rusty metal that plunged from the Memorial Bridge into the Piscataqua River between Maine and New Hampshire may have heightened concerns about the bridge, but it won’t change the timetable for action on the 80-year-old span, officials said Thursday.

Bob Hassold, skipper of the Tug Alley Too, said he was leading four passengers on a tugboat cruise when he saw the 4-foot-long chunk plunge into the water just 50 feet ahead of his boat Monday.

“The bridge is falling apart,” said Hassold, whose tug passes under the bridge about 20 times a week.

Maine and New Hampshire transportation officials insisted Thursday that Memorial Bridge is safe, even though New Hampshire officials want to replace it as soon as possible.

No decision will be made until after both states receive a consultant’s report two weeks from now that considers options for Memorial Bridge, which connects Kittery and downtown Portsmouth, and Sarah Mildred Long Bridge, which includes a rail line serving Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.

New Hampshire contends both bridges must be replaced, but Maine hasn’t ruled out an option of building a single bridge to replace the two existing bridges, which are a half-mile apart.

Replacing both bridges would cost $200 million to $300 million, which would be shared by the two states and the federal government.

ROCKLAND

Lobsterman in assault case tells court he’s not guilty

A 42-year-old Maine lobsterman has pleaded not guilty to charges of assaulting two other fishermen in a dispute over lobster traps.

Toby Powell of Friendship is free on bail after appearing Wednesday in Knox County Superior Court in Rockland.

Powell’s lawyer told the Bangor Daily News that an altercation in May between Powell and other fishermen was fueled by allegations that Powell had cut lines to their lobster traps. According to court documents, Powell allegedly attacked one of the men with a drill and the other with a pipe wrench.

The Maine Marine Patrol says it has been investigating a number of trap-cutting reports this season along the Maine coast.

CAPE ELIZABETH

Town to residents: Send us your ideas on saving money

The Municipal Operations Review Committee is seeking input from Cape Elizabeth residents on how to save money on municipal services. The survey is available online through the town’s website, www.capeelizabeth.com. Responses will be accepted until Aug. 16.

The survey is one of the tools the committee is using as it examines residents’ opinions about current services and determines whether changes should be made.