ALFRED

Amber Alert suspect faces trial on multiple charges

Jury selection began Monday in York County Superior Court for the trial of a man who is accused of raping his ex-girlfriend and then abducting their 2-year-old daughter, triggering Maine’s first “Amber Alert.”

Gary Traynham, 39, is charged with gross sexual assault, aggravated assault, burglary and criminal restraint in the incident in November 2009.

State officials issued the alert after police found Traynham’s ex-girlfriend, Lisa Gould, in her apartment in Sanford, crying, with blood on her face and scrapes and bruises on her neck, chest and arms. Gould told police that Traynham had assaulted her and left, taking their 2-year-old daughter, Hailey, with him.

Gould had been seeking a custody hearing for the girl.

The alert involved television, radio and Internet descriptions of Traynham, Hailey and Traynham’s pickup truck. The information also was posted on message boards on the Maine Turnpike.

Traynham was arrested the next day in Milton, N.H., and Hailey was recovered unhurt.

LISBON

Sabattus man accused in stabbing of his girlfriend

A Sabattus man is being held on $25,000 bail, charged with stabbing his girlfriend and a person who came to her aid.

Leein Hinkley, 30, is charged with attempted murder and aggravated assault, Lisbon Police Chief David T. Brooks said.

Authorities said Hinkley and the woman argued Sunday while driving through Lisbon. Hinkley allegedly stabbed the woman after she pulled into a driveway, then stabbed a homeowner who came to her aid.

Hinkley allegedly drove away with a 13-month-old baby to his parents’ home in Sabattus, where police said he fled into woods with a shotgun.

Brooks said the Maine State Police tactical squad was called, but family members subdued Hinkley. Both stabbing victims were taken to a hospital.

AUGUSTA

Lawmaker’s bill addresses transgender bathroom case

A lawmaker wants the Legislature to step into the debate over the Maine Human Rights Commission’s decision to let a transgender child use the bathroom of her choosing.

Rep. Kenneth Fredette, R-Newport, said his bill would make explicit that “the operator of a restroom or shower facility” makes those decisions.

The commission agreed last year to work with the Department of Education to develop guidelines for accommodating transgender students in bathrooms and locker rooms. A year earlier, it ruled against the Orono school department for denying access to the girls’ bathroom to a male student who identifies as a female.

Fredette told the Bangor Daily News that it’s a “complex issue” and that individual schools should have leeway to deal with it.

WATERVILLE

Fired reporter files lawsuit claiming violation of rights

A newspaper reporter who was fired over an e-mail he sent to an organization that supports gay marriage is suing in federal court.

Larry Grard contends that dismissal was too severe for the e-mail he sent in 2009 from a personal account to the Human Rights Campaign the day after Maine voters repealed a law that would have allowed gay couples to wed. He ended the e-mail with: “Good riddance!”

The group alerted the Morning Sentinel, but didn’t ask for his dismissal.

The Bangor Daily News reported that Grard, in a complaint filed last week, says MaineToday Media, which owns the Sentinel, the Kennebec Journal and The Portland Press Herald, violated his civil rights.

Richard Connor, president and CEO of MaineToday Media, said Monday that he doesn’t comment on personnel matters.

WISCASSET

Voters asked if they want to keep ‘Redskins’ name

Voters are being asked whether they want the high school to keep using “Redskins” for its nickname and mascot.

Today’s nonbinding referendum in Wiscasset is intended to give direction to the school board on how residents feel about the mascot name.

The name has been up for debate since September, when the Maine Indian Tribal State Commission asked the school to stop using the name because it was considered offensive.

The regional school board, which oversees schools in Wiscasset and seven other towns, has the final say on the matter.

BANGOR

Man accused of snubbing cigarette on sister’s face

A 21-year-old man is accused of snubbing out a cigarette on his sister’s face after she got angry with him for taking too much of her loose-leaf tobacco to roll his own.

Bangor police said officers were called to a Union Street address Sunday to respond to a report of a family fight.

A woman there told police that her brother, Anthony Bowie, had punched a lamp and then pressed the cigarette into her face. Police said she had given him permission to have some of her tobacco, but they began arguing after he took more than what she had offered.

Bowie is charged with domestic assault and criminal mischief.

BREWER

Man charged with threat against tow-truck driver

A man is facing charges that he threatened a tow-truck driver who was repossessing his pickup truck.

Police in Brewer said that after a short but intense verbal dispute Friday, Christopher Grindle, 48, told the tow-truck driver that he was going to go inside to get a shotgun.

The Bangor Daily News said the driver called police. When officers arrived, they used a public address system to call Grindle out of the house.

Grindle was arrested without incident. He was charged with terrorizing. He’s due in court April 13 to answer the charges.

PITTSFIELD

Couple and four children left homeless after fire

A couple and their four children were left homeless by a fire that ripped through their home while they were away.

Pittsfield Fire Chief Bernard Williams said the family will stay with a relative.

No one was injured in the fire, which was reported about 2:50 p.m. Sunday.

About 40 firefighters from Pittsfield, Canaan, Hartland, St. Albans, Newport and Detroit helped extinguish the fire.

Williams told the Morning Sentinel that the fire had a good start before crews arrived. He said the house and all of its contents were a total loss.

The cause has not been determined.