HARRINGTON

Company intends to place 220,000 wreaths on graves

A Maine wreath company that for 20 years has arranged for 5,000 to 24,000 wreaths to be laid on graves at Arlington National Cemetery has set its sights this year on placing wreaths on virtually all 220,000 headstones to pay tribute to the nation’s veterans.

“It’s ambitious, but every person buried there is part of our heritage and our history,” said Karen Worcester, executive director of Wreaths Across America, a nonprofit that organizes the ceremony and is soliciting sponsorships and donations to pay for the effort. Worcester is the wife of Morrill Worcester, who as president of Worcester Wreath Co. began shipping wreaths to Arlington in 1992.

Worcester Wreath Co., which is located in Harrington, is donating 25,000 of the wreaths to Arlington National Cemetery this year, with the rest paid for through corporate sponsorships and donations from groups and individuals.

To get the wreaths to Arlington, a convoy of nearly 50 tractor-trailer trucks will depart Maine in early December. The remembrance ceremony at Arlington, when volunteers will place wreaths on veterans’ headstones, is scheduled for Dec. 11.

AUBURN

Missing woman suspected of prostitution, records show

Court records shed some light on the life of an Auburn woman who disappeared in July but provide little information on why she was killed.

Thirty-year-old Buddy Robinson of Lewiston was charged Thursday with murder in the death of 22-year-old Christiana Fesmire, who was last seen in July and whose body has not been found. In a police affidavit, investigators accuse Robinson of drowning Fesmire in the bathtub of her apartment, which was in the same building where Robinson lived, but do not indicate a motive.

The Sun-Journal reported that court documents portray the victim as part of an online prostitution ring led by Robinson’s sister, who told police that her brother confessed to the killing.

Robinson did not enter a plea at his initial court appearance Friday. Bail was denied.

AUGUSTA

Mainer sentenced for theft over business loan scheme

The Maine Attorney General’s Office said a man with Augusta and Boothbay Harbor addresses has been sentenced to 11 months in prison for theft in connection with an advance-fee loan scheme he operated.

Sixty-six-year-old Donald Shields was sentenced in Kennebec County Superior Court to two years in prison, with thirteen months suspended, and one year of probation for a felony theft conviction.

Prosecutors said Shields’ scheme targeted distressed businesses unable to obtain conventional financing.

IRASBURG, Vt.

Game park owner admits covering up moose’s death

The owner of the game park where Pete the Moose lived has taken responsibility for covering up the animal’s death, the state’s fish and wildlife commissioner said Saturday.

Pete died in early September at the Big Rack Ridge in Irasburg while being tranquilized during hoof trimming. But state officials insisted he was alive until Friday, even issuing a photo taken Thursday of a moose it identified as Pete.

The moose in the picture turned out to be a different animal, prompting Pete’s Facebook fans to start accusing the state of a cover-up. But Commissioner Patrick Berry said park owner Doug Nelson has since admitted that he delayed telling state officials about Pete’s death.

– From news service reports

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