SOUTH PORTLAND

Tickets for Clinton speech at SMCC expected to go fast

Former President Bill Clinton will speak at a rally on Sept. 26 in Southern Maine Community College’s gymnasium, the campaign of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Libby Mitchell announced Thursday.

The doors will open at 7:30 p.m. Admission will be free, but space is limited. People can reserve tickets in advance at www.mainedems.org/clinton.

“It is an honor to have President Clinton campaign in Maine. As president, he helped shape an unprecedented period of economic growth that spurred the creation of more than 20 million new jobs,” Mitchell said in a news release. “I look forward to sharing the stage with him as we talk about the importance of this election and how to get Maine’s economy back on track.”

PORTLAND

House candidate breaks ankle, still meets deadline

For political candidates, a campaign misstep can be painful. A Maine House candidate’s misstep led to pain – and a broken ankle.

Cumberland County Sheriff Mark Dion, who is running in House District 113, took a tumble after a door mat slipped out from under him three weeks ago at a supporter’s home.

He said he continued going door to door, collecting signatures and donations to become a clean election candidate, until the pain became too much. That’s when an X-ray revealed that his right ankle had two breaks.

His wife served as pinch-hitter, going door to door while he wore an immobilizer boot. He said she met the deadline for signatures and donations.

School committee selects chief operations officer

The School Committee has appointed F. Mark Terison as the school district’s chief operations officer.

The committee made the appointment Wednesday night, following the recommendation of Superintendent Jim Morse. Terison, an attorney, will oversee employee and labor relations and supervise the district’s food services, transportation, facilities and information technology departments.

He has worked since 2001 as a court-appointed special advocate for children and teenagers in the care of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services and as a surrogate parent for the Department of Education, the release said.

From 1994 to 2008, Terison was assistant U.S. attorney and senior litigation counsel for the U.S. Department of Justice in Portland. He created and implemented a legal ethics program and held the position of public information officer for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Portland.

Terison served on the Falmouth School Board for nine years, from 1973-1976 and from 2004 until June. He chaired the board for two years in the mid-1970s.

School department starts glasses fund for students

The Portland School Department has created a fund to raise money for eyeglasses for students.

The fund was set up after school nurses learned that no optometric practices in Portland provide eyeglasses for children insured by MaineCare. About $2,000 has been pledged to the Glasses for Students fund.

The Maine Department of Human Services is working to solve the lack of eyeglass services for Portland students on MaineCare.

Details about how to donate to the fund will be made available by the school department on Monday.

ROXBURY

Appeal ties up financing of wind power project

Leaders in this western Maine town say a legal appeal has tied up financing for a 22-turbine wind farm.

Selectmen say work was supposed to begin this month on Record Hill Wind’s $120 million project, but construction will have to await the outcome of a legal battle.

Record Hill is a project of Independence Wind, a Brunswick-based company whose principals are Robert Gardiner, former president of Maine Public Broadcasting, and former Gov. Angus King.

Gardiner told the Sun Journal that the wind project opponents’ appeal has tied up financing.

Gardiner said the Maine Supreme Judicial Court will hear arguments this fall. The project was approved by Maine environmental regulators in August 2009.

AUGUSTA

Authorities still don’t know what killed Saco father, son

Authorities still have not determined how a father and son from Saco died at a hunting camp in central Maine last month.

Andrew Giroux, 49, and Dustin Giroux, 25, died on Aug. 1 at their family’s camp in the Piscataquis County town of Sangerville. Results of autopsies by the Medical Examiner’s Office were inconclusive and additional tests were ordered, including blood tests to determine whether alcohol or drugs were a factor.

Some test results have not been received, and the police investigation continues, said Steve McCausland, spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety.

“There was additional work on our part and on the part of the medical examiner,” McCausland said. “We won’t be releasing anything until all the tests come back and we come to some conclusion about how these two men died.”

State’s general fund collections over budget so far this fiscal year

Maine tax officials say revenue came in stronger than expected in August, putting the state’s general fund collections over budget by $22.5 million, 8.2 percent, two months into the fiscal year.

Tax officials told the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee on Thursday that the numbers compare favorably with the same period last year. Maine ended the 2009-10 fiscal year below forecasts.

In August, the second month of 2010-11, sales and use tax receipts were over budget by $4 million, reflecting strong sales during the height of the tourism season in July.

Another important sector, auto sales, was flat compared with a year earlier. The state highway fund also showed strength in August, when motor fuel tax receipts came in over budget by $4.4 million.

Maine Revenue Services reported Thursday that Maine lodging sales rose 13.4 percent in July over July 2009. Restaurant sales for July 2010 were up 5.9 percent over July 2009.

Maine Office of Tourism Director Patricia Eltman said she heard positive reports about tourism from throughout the state all season. She said the numbers released Thursday support the anecdotal information.

Federal money will help foster kids get adopted

Human services officials say children in foster care need more permanent homes, and the federal government is sending money to help make that happen.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded $113,373 to Maine on Wednesday to increase the number of children who get adopted from foster care. Maine and other states receiving awards completed more adoptions in 2009 than in the 2007 baseline year.

David Hansell, the department’s acting assistant secretary for children and families, said the adoption incentive program is helping Maine place more children into homes permanently.

FREEPORT

Two taken to Maine Med after accident on I-295

Two people were taken by ambulance to Maine Medical Center in Portland on Thursday night after an accident in the northbound lanes of Interstate 295.

A Freeport emergency dispatcher said the single-car crash occurred around 8 p.m. near the Freeport Country Club.

The Maine State Police are investigating the accident, but no other details were available late Thursday night.

BANGOR

Husson campus security officer faces drug charges

A campus security officer at Husson University faces drug charges after a Bangor police officer allegedly spotted marijuana in her briefcase.

The Bangor Daily News said Kimberly Bailey, 29, of Bangor was charged with possession of a usable amount of marijuana and the sale or use of drug paraphernalia.

Police say Bangor officer Mike Brennan was visiting the campus security office late Tuesday when he saw an unattended black briefcase. He opened the briefcase to see whose it was and saw the marijuana.

Bailey was charged after Brennan determined the briefcase was hers.