LEWISTON

Bates College trustees elect Spencer as new president

Bates College has named a Harvard University official as its new president.

The school’s trustees elected Ava Clayton Spencer as Bates’ eighth president Sunday. Spencer, of Winchester, Mass., begins work on July 1.

Spencer is vice president for policy at Harvard, where she works closely with the president and deans. She previously served as executive dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, and was a lecturer at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education.

Spencer graduated magna cum laude from Williams College, and earned a theology degree from Oxford in 1979. She received a master’s degree in the study of religion from Harvard in 1982.

Spencer will succeed Nancy Cable, Bates’ interim president since July 1. Elaine Hansen stepped down from the position last June.

WINSLOW

Two-car collision sends three women to hospital

Three women were taken to the hospital after two cars collided Sunday morning on China Road. Two of the women had serious injuries, according to police.

Icy road conditions caused a car driven by a 32-year-old Winslow woman to skid across the road into the path of the other car shortly after 6 a.m., police said.

A 68-year-old Waterville woman driving the other car was taken by LifeFlight helicopter to a hospital, police said. Her 48-year-old passenger from Fairfield was taken by ambulance to MaineGeneral Medical Center in Waterville. Both women were wearing their seat belts at the time of the crash, police said.

SCARBOROUGH

Two juveniles suffer injuries from one-vehicle accident

Two juveniles were injured in a one-car accident Sunday morning on Fogg Road at Pleasant Hill Road.

Scarborough police said the crash happened about 7 a.m. The youths were taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland.

Their names and further details were not immediately available.

BANGOR

Author speaks Wednesday as part of free lecture series

The author of the “The Silent Girl” is crediting Husson University students for research they did for the latest Rizzoli and Isles novel.

Dr. Tess Gerritsen will speak at the Bangor campus Wednesday as part of the Dean’s Distinguished Lecture Series. The public event is free.

Gerritsen’s newest book is part of the series featuring homicide detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles. It inspired the TNT television series “Rizzoli & Isles” starring Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander.

Gerritsen acknowledges the Husson University Criminal Justice Club in the back of the book for its help researching several details in the novel. The students researched animal primate hair and samurai swords, both of which played a key role in the plot.

PORTLAND

Lawmaker pushes specialty license plates for bikers

State Rep. Meredith Strang Burgess led the successful push for breast cancer specialty license plates for cars and trucks in Maine. Now she’s hoping to do the same thing for motorcycles.

The proposal for pink ribbon motorcycle license plates calls for proceeds to be split between the Maine Cancer Foundation’s Women’s Cancer Fund, Maine Breast Cancer Coalition’s Support Service Fund, and the Maine Breast and Cervical Health Program’s mammogram fund.

More than $400,000 for breast cancer research and support has been raised through the sale of more than 15,000 specialty plates for cars and trucks since 2008.

Burgess hopes to have the motorcycle plate process completed by next spring, assuming at least 500 riders pay $25 to reserve one of the plates.

— From staff and news services