PORTLAND

Neighborhood warned of return of high-risk offender

Police are warning residents of a Brighton Avenue neighborhood about the return of a man with a history of indecent conduct and assaultive behavior.

Steven Ricci, 47, was released from the Cumberland County Jail Wednesday morning.

Police consider Ricci a high risk for re-offending. Ricci is not required to register as a sex offender, but police said his history warrants notification of the community.

Officers distributed more than 100 fliers in the area, including to Hall Elementary School and Breakwater School, near Ricci’s home at 915 Brighton Ave.

The flier notes that Ricci has been diagnosed with mental illness and that his criminal history includes convictions for indecent conduct, violating conditions of release and engaging a prostitute. One of the incidents stemmed from him attempting to lure a teenage girl into his vehicle to have sex, according to the flier.

In Ricci’s most recent court case, he was convicted of indecent conduct for masturbating in front of a woman on a Fore River Sanctuary Trail last summer. He was sentenced to seven months in jail but was released early because of good behavior.

BATH

Navy awards $663 million destroyer contract to BIW

Bath Iron Works has been awarded a nearly $663 million contract from the U.S. Navy to build the next generation of the DDG-51 destroyer.

Maine Sen. Susan Collins announced that she has been informed by the Navy that the General Dynamics-owned shipyard will build the ship, known as the DDG-116.

Collins says the decision good for the work force and the entire state of Maine.

YORK

Scarborough man convicted in American Legion theft

A jury has convicted a Scarborough man of stealing $50,000 from an American Legion post in York.

The Attorney General’s Office says Ryan Byther, 36, of Scarborough was found guilty on Wednesday of theft by deception after a two-day trial.

Prosecutors say Byther was a general contractor working for the American Legion on a new building project when he told Legion officials that he was an experienced professional fundraiser who could manage their $2 million fundraising campaign.

The American Legion gave him a $50,000 retainer in March, 2008.

The attorney general says he had no fundraising experience and instead spent the money on his own business ventures, including Prost Tap House and Club Onyx, a bar and nightclub he opened in Portland that failed several months later.

ALFRED

Sanford man arrested in burglary of gas station

A Sanford man faces a burglary charge in connection with a break-in at a gas station.

Nicholas Mercier, 23, was arrested Wednesday after admitting to breaking into Alfred Gas, according to the York County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies went to the gas station at the intersection of routes 202, 4 and 111 around 1:25 a.m. because of a burglar alarm. Deputy Darren Cyr found Mercier walking on Sanford Road about a half-mile away. Mercier had $125.90 on him and admitted getting the cash from the gas station, according to the sheriff’s office.

Winterville man sentenced in postal misappropriation

A Winterville man has been sentenced to 45 days in prison for misappropriating postal funds.

Prosecutors say Robert Parent, 25, also was ordered on Tuesday to pay more than $18,000 in restitution and to serve one year of supervised release.

Court records say Parent’s duties while employed at the Mechanic Falls post office were to sell Postal Service money orders to customers.

The office of the U.S. attorney for Maine says an investigation by the U.S. Postal Service determined that Parent embezzled or attempted to embezzle more than $35,000 from the Postal Service by negotiating money orders for larger amounts than he reported selling them for.

He pleaded guilty in November.

AUGUSTA

Mother held in attempt to help her son flee police

A Mount Vernon woman is in trouble after allegedly plotting to help her son escape from police.

The Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office says Ernest Gagnon, 29, was arrested Tuesday on a motor vehicle theft charge. Gagnon asked to speak to his mother, Brenda Choate, 46.

Police told the Bangor Daily News that during the conversation Gagnon told his mother he was going to attempt an escape. She allegedly agreed to distract deputies as he fled through a window.

Little did they know that their conversation in the sheriff’s department interview room was monitored.

BANGOR

Man pleads guilty for not surrendering all his guns

A man who refused to surrender all of his guns as required by law after his wife obtained a restraining order against him, and instead hid them on his own and a neighbor’s property, has pleaded guilty to federal gun charges.

The Bangor Daily News reports that Michael DeMaria of Parkman pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges of possession of firearms in violation of a protection from abuse order and being in possession of a firearm while addicted to marijuana.

Prosecutors say DeMaria, 44, was prohibited from having guns after his wife obtained a protection from abuse order in December 2010.

Park Service has no plans to study national park proposal

A top federal official says the National Park Service has no plans in the coming year to study conservationist Roxanne Quimby’s proposal for a national park in the North Woods of Maine.

Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine there is no effort under way for a park study. The Bangor Daily News reported that Salazar’s comments came Wednesday during an Appropriations Subcommittee hearing in Washington.

Quimby has offered to donate 70,000 acres of her land next to Baxter State Park to the National Park Service. Quimby and her supporters have pushed for a feasibility study for a national park.

SURRY

Deer Isle teen killed when dirt bike collides with car

State police say a Deer Isle teenager has died in a dirt bike accident.

Authorities say Derrick Robbins, 19, was riding the dirt bike without lights about 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday when he swerved and collided with a car in Surry.

Troopers say Robbins was killed instantly.

The driver of the car, identified by police as Mark Clapp, 26, of Surry sustained minor injuries.

BAR HARBOR

Acadia Park visitors spent nearly $200 million in 2010

A new study from the National Park Service shows visitors to eastern Maine’s Acadia National Park spent nearly $200 million in the park and surrounding towns in 2010.

The new report examined the economic benefits that the nation’s 395 national parks brought to their communities during the year.

For Acadia National Park, the 2.5 million visitors in 2010 spent more than $186 million in the park and surrounding communities on Mount Desert Island.

Of that total, more than $183 million came from people who did not live locally, resulting in nearly 3,150 local jobs.

— From staff and news services