BANGOR

Jury selection under way in double murder trial

Jury selection has begun in the trial of a Biddeford man who is charged with murdering two brothers on a street outside his home.

Rory Holland, 56, is charged in the shooting deaths of Gage Greene, 19, and Derek Greene, 21, in the early morning of June 30, 2009.

Prosecutors say Holland pulled a handgun from his waistband and gunned down the brothers after Gage Greene pushed him. Holland says he feared for his life and fired in self-defense.

A judge ordered the trial moved to Bangor last month, after defense attorneys said it would be difficult for Holland to get a fair trial in York County. The trial is scheduled to begin Monday.

PORTLAND

Three burglars take cash in predawn diner break-in

Police are investigating a break-in that occurred before dawn Monday at Steve and Renee’s Diner, at 500 Washington Ave.

Three men broke a window to get into the diner at 4:25 a.m. and took a cash register with cash. Police would not say how much money was taken.

A police dog tried to track the burglars but lost the scent a short distance away, police said.

It was the second burglary of the diner this year, but it is believed to be unrelated to the first because a suspect in that case has been arrested, police said.

 

Owner to rebuild after fire razes home for addicted men

The owner of The Atlantic House, a home for men with alcohol and other addictions, said she plans to rebuild from a fire that destroyed the home last week.

Lacey Flanagan of Yarmouth, who established the home at 201 Congress St. several years ago for men recovering from addictions after intensive treatment, said all 17 men who lived at The Atlantic House have found temporary housing through the American Red Cross and several other organizations. She said the cause of the Oct. 10 fire is not known.

Flanagan is trying to establish a replacement home. Donations of any kind to help the displaced residents may be made by contacting her at (781) 854-6688. Money may be donated directly to The Atlantic House fund at TD Bank, Account 2426311657.

 

Feds to aid city police force in dealing with mentally ill

The U.S. Department of Justice has selected the Portland Police Department as one of six national learning sites on police response to mental health situations.

The selection allows the department – which was the first in Maine to implement Crisis Intervention Team training – to act as a consultant and offer technical assistance to departments across the country that want to expand their mental health response capability. The department has trained numerous officers in identifying people in mental health crisis and techniques for de-escalating their behavior.

 

Coast Guard urges boaters to tie up unattended vessels

The Coast Guard is urging boaters in Maine and New Hampshire to make sure their vessels are securely tied up or stored well above the high tide line.

The call came after a weekend in which the Coast Guard responded to 17 reports of unattended vessels off Maine and New Hampshire.

The Coast Guard says it treats every unattended vessel as a possible person in the water until it can be determined there was no one on board. The only way to do that is to find the owner.

So the Coast Guard is also reminding boat owners to attach identifying information to their vessels, even kayaks and canoes.

Chief Petty Officer Jeff Hall said unattended vessels are quite common during bad weather.

 

Summer resident starts fund to aid USM students

A former venture capitalist who is a longtime summer resident of York Beach will help establish a scholarship program at the University of Southern Maine.

The program will provide $3,000 scholarships to transfer students from Maine community colleges and high school students who are entering college.

The Hoff Family Foundation, started by Massachusetts native Charles Hoff, will donate $180,000 in endowment and annual award funds, say university officials.

With matching dollars from USM, the Hoff Scholarship Program will award as many as 44 scholarships over four years, beginning in 2011.

Additional scholarships will be awarded as the endowment grows in value. Each scholarship will be renewable for at least two years, as long as recipients maintain a 3.0 grade average and demonstrate financial need.

Recipients must be Maine residents who plan to enroll or are enrolled in a full-time degree program. Preference will be given to graduates of York High School, Lewiston High School and transfers from York County Community College. Consideration also will be given to immigrants and refugees, students from single-parent homes and students with developmental or other learning disabilities.

BAR HARBOR

College of the Atlantic head announces his retirement

The president of the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor says he will retire at the end of the academic year.

David Hales, 67, who came to the college in 2006, made the announcement Monday.

Under his watch, the College of the Atlantic became the nation’s first “net-zero” campus for carbon emissions. The school, with about 300 students, focuses on the relationship between humans and their environment.

College officials say they expect to have a new president by the beginning of the 2011-12 academic year.

BANGOR

Man ends AT hike, proposes to girlfriend atop Katahdin

Matt Dieschbourg of Chicago left his girlfriend behind when he hiked the 2,175-mile Appalachian Trail. It took him only a few weeks to realize that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

Over the weekend, Dieschbourg, 28, achieved both goals, completing the hike and proposing to his girlfriend atop Mount Katahdin. A Korean film crew that happened to be at the summit on Baxter Peak recorded the event.

Sofie Grzenia said it was a scary hike because it was blowing and snowing on Saturday.

Dieschbourg said he didn’t expect to be surrounded by a film crew and other hikers when he dropped to a knee on the summit and proposed. The small audience cheered when she accepted.

LINCOLN

Company hoping to finish building wind farm by April 1

Maine’s newest wind farm, a 40-turbine project in Lincoln and neighboring towns, is under construction.

The Bangor Daily News said officials with First Wind, which is building the Rollins Mountain wind farm, hope to have it finished by April 1, but the target date is weather-dependent.

The newspaper said about 90 percent of the land needed for the project has been cleared and the foundation for one of the towers has been poured.

The $130 million project is being built on ridgelines in Lincoln, Winn, Burlington and Lee. Altogether, the turbines will produce 60 megawatts of power.

CASTINE

Pioneering tidal energy project to undergo testing

Scientists are ready to begin testing on what is said to be the first full-scale tidal energy project in the country.

Rick Armstrong of the Tidal Energy Demonstration and Evaluation Center at Maine Maritime Academy said all of the building blocks have come together.

In March, the group got permission from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to begin testing as long as no electricity is sent onto the power grid.

The group will test two generators, one in Castine Harbor and the other about three miles up the Bagaduce River, an area known as the Narrows.

Armstrong told the Bangor Daily News that his organization will provide a “proving grounds” for designers and developers of tidal energy devices.

ORONO

Nobel laureate to speak about sustaining resources

Nobel Prize winner Elinor Ostrom will visit the University of Maine this week.

Ostrom, co-recipient of the 2009 Nobel in economic sciences, will speak Thursday on sustaining our natural resources in a rapidly changing world.

Ostrom will speak as part of the university’s annual Sen. George Mitchell Lecture on Sustainability. Mitchell will attend the lecture and offer remarks, if his schedule permits.

Ostrom is a member of the faculty at Indiana and Arizona State universities.