GORHAM

Police investigate accident that killed 18-year-old

Police are investigating to determine what caused the crash that killed an 18-year-old Gorham High School graduate on Dyer Road Friday morning.

Chandler Hamilton, who graduated in June, was killed when the car he was driving crashed into a tree. Police said that section of road is straight and they did not know what caused the car to crash.

The crashed car was discovered at 5:30 a.m. No one saw the accident, so the precise time of the crash wasn’t known, authorities said.

Hamilton, the only person in the car, was pronounced dead at the scene.

AUGUSTA

Sen. Bliss declared winner after recount in District 7

Maine election officials say Sen. Lawrence Bliss, D-South Portland, remained the winner Friday after a recount of votes in his race against Republican Joseph Palmieri, also of South Portland.

The recount determined that 9,172 votes were cast for Bliss, 75 more than the number cast for Palmieri in the District 7 race, said Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap.

The results leave the Republicans with a 20-14 majority in the Senate, with one independent.

Five recounts for House seats and other posts and one statewide ballot question, on casino gambling, remain to be conducted.

Inmate advocates to gatherto mark prisoner’s death

Advocates for Maine prison inmates plan a protest rally to commemorate the death of an inmate.

Officials from the Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition say Victor Valdez, 52, of Portland died under conditions they call disturbing.

Coalition spokeswoman Judy Garvey said the protest Wednesday at the Capitol in Augusta will be a memorial.

Valdez was cremated shortly after his death on Nov. 27, 2009, in the medical unit of the state prison in Warren.

No autopsy was done. State officials say Valdez died of kidney disease.

Garvey told the Bangor Daily News that other inmates have said correctional officers removed Valdez’s dialysis tubes and put him in solitary confinement eight days before his death.

Winslow man pleads guilty to possessing explicit items

A Winslow man who was described in a court affidavit as “one of the highest volume offenders in the state with regard to child pornography” has admitted to possession of sexually explicit material.

Paul D. Doherty, 37, pleaded guilty Wednesday and was sentenced to four years in jail with all but 18 months suspended and two years of probation, a term recommended by the prosecutor and defense attorney.

Doherty also was ordered to register as a 10-year registrant under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.

An affidavit filed in Kennebec County Superior Court by Special Agent Michael McFadden II said Doherty was charged after investigators searched his home computer and found he had viewed “86 unique files” of child pornography more than 680 times.

“There was no evidence he himself did anything improper to a young child,” said District Attorney Evert Fowle after the sentencing.

“He’s part of a market that results in these things being done to young children. That is of grave concern to us,” Fowle said.

CASTINE

State of Maine’s skipper announces his retirement

The skipper of Maine Maritime Academy’s 500-foot training ship State of Maine will retire next year.

Capt. Laurence “Larry” Wade has logged more than 15 training cruises and guided more than 3,000 student mariners around the world since becoming the training ship’s top officer in 1996.

Last summer, the ship logged 11,000 nautical miles and took students to Marseille, France; Kiel, Germany; and Portsmouth, England.

Wade is a 1964 graduate of Maine Maritime Academy who served more than 30 years as a merchant mariner.

PORTLAND

Threats to ecosystems, wildlife to be discussed

Emerging threats to wildlife and ecosystems will be the subject of a free public event at 5 p.m. Tuesday at the University of Southern Maine’s Wischamper Center in Portland.

David Evers, executive director of the BioDiversity Research Institute in Gorham, will give an update on the institute’s new role with the United Nations Environment Program and the impact of toxic sludge on Hungary’s wildlife.

Thomas Kunz, a bat expert, will talk about the threats facing bats.

The event will begin with a one-hour reception.

More information is available by contacting Paige Holmes at 272-9844 or by e-mail at Paige.Holmes@ BRIloon.org.

FRENCHVILLE

Man dies of injuries suffered in ATV crash on Halloween

A 25-year-old man who was injured in an all-terrain vehicle accident in Frenchville on Halloween has died.

A spokesman for Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor said Robert “Bobby” Tardif died Monday.

A sheriff’s department official said Tardif was riding with another person on Oct. 31 when their ATVs rolled over in the road.

The other rider was not seriously hurt.

Police say Tardif suffered head injuries.

BROOKSVILLE

EPA to begin cleanup of contaminated mine

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is getting ready to begin the cleanup of an abandoned mine with a legacy of toxic contamination.

The $3 million in Superfund money will begin a cleanup at the former Callahan Mine site in Brooksville.
During the 1960s and 1970s, Callahan Mining removed an estimated 800,000 tons of rock containing copper, zinc, lead and traces of silver in an open pit mine.

The cleanup plan calls for the removal of toxic PCBs and the lead- and arsenic-contaminated soils.
Contaminated materials will be disposed of in the former mine pit. A cap will then be placed over the tailings.

The Bangor Daily News said work is expected to begin next spring or summer.

JONESPORT

Man missing since Nov. 6 calls family from California

State police say a Jonesport man who was missing for nearly a week has been found – on the other side of the country.

Police say Robert “Rob” Leighton, 26, called from California to tell his family that he was safe.
Family members were worried because Leighton left the home after an argument, and had been drinking. He was last seen Nov. 6, walking on Indian River Road.

Police quoted family members as saying Leighton told them in a collect call that he went to Santa Ana, Calif., on a Greyhound bus.

 

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