PORTLAND

Portland Shellfish still awaits judge’s OK on safety decree

A federal judge has still not signed a legal agreement between the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Portland Shellfish Co. concerning food safety violations at the seafood processor’s plants.

The proposed consent decree was filed Jan. 4 in U.S. District Court when the company voluntarily shut down for a few days to accommodate an inspection by federal regulators.

Jeffrey Holden, president and founder of the 35-year-old company, said the company has resumed processing operations.

The court action followed four recalls since 2008 stemming from two episodes of contamination of cooked lobster meat by the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes. The bacteria causes listeriosis, a potentially fatal disease for high-risk groups such as newborns and elderly people.

The court documents charged the company with repeated violations of federal safety laws. Holden said earlier this month that he had made sanitation improvements at the company’s crab processing plant on Dartmouth Street in South Portland and lobster and shrimp plant on Waldron Way in Portland that meet or surpass federal standards.

Freeport man new president of Maine Civil Liberties Union

The Maine Civil Liberties Union has a new president.

John M.R. Paterson of Freeport, a trial attorney at the law firm of Bernstein Shur in Portland, has been elected president of the group. In that role, Paterson will be responsible for overseeing fellow members on the board of directors and ensuring that the MCLU is upholding its mission.

Paterson has been involved with the MCLU as a volunteer lawyer since 2006 and has served on its legal panel. He has litigated many First Amendment cases.

Paterson has also been active in providing high school workshops on the Bill of Rights on behalf of the MCLU. He is a former deputy state attorney general.

Collins plans new bill to allow heavier trucks on interstates

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins says she plans to introduce federal legislation that would allow trucks weighing between 80,000 and 100,000 pounds to travel on federal interstates in Maine and Vermont rather than restricting them to secondary roads. A one-year pilot program allowing the trucks on federal highways expired in December.

Collins, R-Maine, says she and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., will introduce the bill next week.

Under federal law, trucks weighing more than 80,000 pounds are forced off most interstates in Maine and Vermont and onto local and state roads. But Collins says that’s unfair given that there’s a weight exemption for those same trucks on highways in New Hampshire, Massachusetts and New York.

Supporters of the bill say big rigs pose safety risks when passing through cities and small towns, and damage local roads.

But critics say the heavier trucks compromise the safety of other motorists and damage highways and overpasses.

Website honors local actress for her role in horror movie

Maine actress Sue Stevens was honored recently by the horror film website FrightMeter.com as its 2010 best supporting actress.

Stevens was honored for her role in the Maine-made film “The Wrong House.” The film was inspired by a break-in at the home of Stevens and her husband, Shawn French, who wrote and directed the film.

In the film, burglars targeting a home end up being terrorized by the homeowners. The film was also named one of the 10 best horror films of 2010 by the website Fatally-yours.com.

Man charged in bank robbery in police custody at hospital

A 45-year-old man is in police custody at Maine Medical Center in Portland for a medical condition unrelated to his arrest Tuesday on charges of bank robbery, police say.

Portland police arrested Howard Gribbin shortly after he allegedly robbed the Bank of America branch at 446 Forest Ave. at 2:46 p.m. Tuesday. Gribbin reportedly told a teller he had a gun, then left with cash, getting a ride in a waiting taxi.

Police say they spotted him getting out of the cab on Weymouth Street. When they approached, he was uncooperative, at one point putting his hands in his pockets and saying he had a gun and that officers should shoot him, police said.

Officers saw that he did not have a gun in his hand and used a Taser to incapacitate him. The Taser had to be fired twice because the first time it did not work, probably due to Gribbin’s heavy winter coat, police said.

He was not injured in the arrest.

Police also charged Gribbin on two warrants issued on behalf of South Portland police.

Once concerns the robbery of a clerk at the service desk of the Hannaford supermarket on Philbrook Road, near the Maine Mall, at 11 a.m. Tuesday. The man left without getting any cash.

Police said surveillance video indicates that Gribbin was also the man who robbed the Shaw’s supermarket on Waterman Drive at 6 p.m. Monday.

SACO

Police use high-risk search in probe of violent burglary

Saco police say evidence recovered during a high-risk search in Portland on Wednesday should help them solve a burglary and car-jacking that occurred Dec. 30.

Portland’s special reaction team and the regional tactical team from South Portland, Scarborough and Cape Elizabeth assisted Saco police in searching a business, an attached apartment and a separate house Tuesday night.

The tactical teams surrounded the buildings at 1040 Ocean Ave. and had the occupants out and the location secure in about an hour. Nobody was arrested.

Police were cautious because of the nature of the crime they are investigating. On Dec. 30, a resident of Louden Road in Saco discovered two men breaking into his home. The men ran and commandeered a car driven by a South Portland teenager.

When the resident pursued them to the car, one of the burglars fired shots, which passed through the man’s pants but did not injure him, police said. The men were dropped off at another location.
Police used sketch artists to identify suspects, which led to the search warrant.

Saco Deputy Chief Jeffrey Huntress said investigators will meet with prosecutors from the York County District Attorney’s Office to decide how to proceed. Nobody has been charged.

LEWISTON

Dwindling fund jeopardizes lighting of basilica’s spires

The twin spires of the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul could go dark this summer.

Less than $1,000 remains in an 8-year-old fund that is supposed to pay to light the basilica, the second-largest church in New England.

In 2003, donors paid about $25,000 to install the network of lights that illuminate the Gothic cathedral-style church, which was built in 1938, and to pay for electricity. But since then no money has come in.

The lights stay on for several hours each night. The monthly electric bill is about $150.

Parishioner Ed Plourde says the lights are not supposed to be a burden on the church. He told the Sun Journal the illuminated spires have changed the cityscape of Lewiston and Auburn.

HARPSWELL

Board reschedules hearing on closing elementary school

Tuesday’s public hearing on a proposal to close the West Harpswell School was rescheduled to Jan. 25 because of stormy weather.

School Administrative District 75 will meet at 6:30 p.m. at the Harpswell Islands School.

The hearing is an opportunity for voters to comment or ask questions about the Feb. 1 referendum that will ask whether Harpswell residents support authorizing the SAD 75 board to close the West Harpswell School.

Directors want to combine the school with the Harpswell Islands School, a move they believe will save money and benefit all of the town’s elementary students.

For more information about the proposed school closure, go to www.link75.org.

WATERVILLE

Thomas College plans to add dozen buildings on campus

Thomas College is planning an expansion that includes a dozen new buildings on its Waterville campus to accommodate growing enrollments.

The new buildings at the liberal-arts school, which has an enrollment of 700 full-time students, would include five residence halls and a new library, the Morning Sentinel reported.

Designers of the master plan say it is subject to change and could take many years to complete. But the first steps have been taken, such as renovations of the school’s welcome center and classrooms in the main academic building.

Founded in 1894, Thomas College describes itself as a “career-oriented” school that prepares students for jobs in business, technology and education.

AUGUSTA

Heating oil prices in Maine climb 8 cents in past week

Maine energy officials say heating oil prices have risen an average of 8 cents a gallon in the past week.

The Governor’s Office of Energy Independence and Security said Wednesday that the statewide average price is $3.18 per gallon, according to its weekly survey.

Western Maine had the lowest average price, at $3.08 a gallon. Northern Maine as usual had the highest average price, at $3.37 a gallon.

State Energy Director John Kerry says prices are going up with rising global demand. But he says inventories remain high.

 

 

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