SOUTH PORTLAND

Coast Guard’s local sector
formally OKs rescue system

Additional Photos

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins gets a look at the Rescue 21 communications system after it was officially accepted by the northern New England sector of the U.S. Coast Guard in a ceremony in South Portland on Wednesday. Operations Specialist Kayla Schotz, foreground, demonstrates the improved capabilities of the system to Collins. Gordon Chibroski/Staff Photographer

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine says a communication system formally accepted by the Coast Guard’s northern New England sector will save lives.

Rescue 21 has been used in more than 1,400 searches and rescue cases since it went into operation in November 2009 at the Coast Guard command center in South Portland, Maine. Collins was on hand Wednesday as South Portland became the 23rd Coast Guard sector to formally accept the system.

Rescue 21, produced by General Dynamics, provides digital communications and direction-finding equipment that improves speed in locating mariners in distress.

There are currently 232 towers in use throughout the national Rescue 21 system, and the system monitors more than 40,600 miles of U.S. coastline.

PORTLAND

Sen. Snowe to address grads
at USM’s commencement

U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, will be the speaker for the University of Southern Maine’s 132nd Commencement, the school announced Wednesday.

The ceremony will take place at 9 a.m. May 12 at the Cumberland County Civic Center, according to a press release from the school.

USM President Selma Botman said the school was “deeply honored” Snowe accepted their invitation.

“Her distinguished record of public service embodies fundamental Maine values that will inspire our graduates and their families: integrity, hard work, and courage in defense of principle,” Botman said in the release.

Snowe, who recently announced she would not seek re-election, is one of only four women ever elected to both houses of Congress.

Magazine ranks Portland 7th in nation’s ‘greenest cities’

Portland is the seventh “greenest city” in the United States, according to the readers of Travel & Leisure magazine.

The magazine cited the city’s farm-to-table restaurants, microbrews and access to the outdoors.

As part of the magazine’s annual America’s Favorite Cities survey, readers ranked 35 metropolitan areas on a variety of travel-friendly qualities and, based upon the results, identified the greenest cities.

Portland earned high marks from both visitors and residents for cleanliness, access to the outdoors and pedestrian friendliness. Portland has more than 900 acres of parks and open spaces and at least 75 miles of trails. A little more than a quarter of this acreage is forested.

The city has supported the local food movement by supporting local farmers’ markets and expanding and encouraging access to community gardening.

Currently, the city has 130 community garden plots at four locations and at all but two of the city’s schools. In consultation with the community, the city is engaged in a public process to identify other potential locations for additional gardens.

STANDISH

Driver of stolen car arrested after hitting historic house

A Portland man was arrested Wednesday night and charged with driving a car that had been stolen in Cape Elizabeth into a historic home in Standish.

Cumberland County sheriff’s Capt. Donald Goulet said a 2003 Subaru Legacy crashed into the side of the Marrett House, which was built in 1789. Abraham Gammon, 39, of Congress Street was driving the car when it hit the house around 6:30 p.m.

Police said the car was eastbound on Ossipee Trail when it left the road, crossed two lanes and hit the Marrett House, at Northeast Road and Ossipee Trail East. Several witnesses identified Gammon as the driver.

The house sustained substantial damage, police say, and the car was destroyed.

Gammon was taken by ambulance to Maine Medical Center in Portland, where he was treated before being taken into custody.

He was charged with aggravated criminal mischief, drunken driving, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and driving after license suspension.

BANGOR

Insanity defense OK’d in case of grandmother set on fire

A Maine woman who doused her 77-year-old grandmother with gasoline and set her afire has been committed to a psychiatric facility in Augusta.

A District Court judge on Friday accepted 27-year-old Emily Cole’s insanity defense, based on reports from a doctor at Riverview Psychiatric Facility.

Cole, who’s from Ellsworth, was originally charged with attempted murder and elevated aggravated assault stemming from the incident last May. The grandmother was attacked outside her Bangor home after reprimanding Cole for using gasoline to set pine needles on fire.

Emily Cole said she was upset about a breakup with a partner. Her grandmother, Ernestine Cole, was critically injured but recovered from her burns.

AUGUSTA

Senate gives initial approval to teacher evaluation bill

A teacher evaluation bill that’s part of Gov. Paul LePage education reform package has won initial Senate approval.

The Senate’s vote came without discussion Wednesday afternoon.

The bill requires school administrators to develop comprehensive performance evaluation and professional growth systems for teachers and principals. Teachers found to be ineffective would be allowed to implement professional improvement plans.

The bill faces further House and Senate votes.

Change in electrician’s helper rule gets preliminary approval

Maine lawmakers have given initial approval to a bill that’s intended to get more students who aspire to be electricians into the field as helpers.

The House on Tuesday gave initial approval to the bill, which changes the state’s electrician licensing laws by changing the number of helper electricians that may be supervised by a journeyman electrician from one to two.

The bill faces further House and Senate votes.

Republican supporters said the bill encourages more students looking for careers in the trades to get into the field.

Democratic opponents warned that less-experienced electricians would be taking jobs from more experienced master electricians. They also said the demand for electricians is estimated to decrease during the next few years.

BATH

Officials probe fire at BIW that damaged storage building

Fire officials are investigating the cause of a fire at Bath Iron Works that damaged a large storage building at the shipyard.

Fire Chief Steve Hinds said portions of the two-story building at the southern end of BIW’s main yard in Bath were heavily involved in flames when firefighters arrived just after 5:15 p.m. Tuesday.

Hinds told the Bangor Daily News that the fire was extinguished in about two hours and caused thousands of dollars in damage. No one was injured.

ORONO

UMaine suspends fraternity for alleged underage drinking

The University of Maine has suspended the Sigma Nu fraternity for five years for underage drinking and other alleged violations.

Vice President for Student Affairs Robert Dana said the most recent violation of the student conduct code occurred on March 18. The school newspaper reported that two females, aged 17 and 18, who were not students at UMaine, were taken by ambulance from the fraternity house to the hospital for treatment of severe intoxication.

Dana told the Bangor Daily News that the chapter lost its school recognition from May 2003 to September 2005 for similar violations.

He says the 16 Sigma Nu members who live in the fraternity house have been offered on-campus housing.

The chapter has a week to appeal the decision.

SKOWHEGAN

Attorney seeks to dismiss statements in beating death

The lawyer for a Maine man accused of beating his father to death has asked a judge to dismiss as evidence statements his client made to police following his arrest.

Angelo Licata’s lawyer said in court Tuesday that statements made to investigators following the July killing of Alfred Licata, 63, in Cambridge should be tossed because police did not read his client a clear Miranda warning and coerced him into signing a waiver of his rights.

The prosecutor countered that some of interviews should be allowed because the Angelo Licata, 35, said he wanted to answer questions and signed the waiver voluntarily.

The Morning Sentinel reported that the judge did not immediately rule. The medical examiner determined that the older man died of head injuries.

CARIBOU

Two sentenced in death of woman from drug overdose

Two people have been sentenced for their roles in the drug overdose death of a Caribou woman.

Prosecutors say Steven Doughty and Ashley Martin provided the prescription drugs that resulted in the February 2009 death of Tena McGraw, 29.

Prosecutors say Doughty, 50, gave a legally prescribed Fentanyl patch to Martin, who then gave it to McGraw. Martin and McGraw consumed the medicine orally and McGraw died.

The state medical examiner ruled that she died of Fentanyl toxicity.

The Bangor Daily News reports that Doughty pleaded guilty to a charge of trafficking in drugs. He was sentenced to five years in prison with all but 18 months suspended.

Martin pleaded guilty to aggravated unlawful furnishing of scheduled drugs and was sentenced to five years in prison.

STOCKTON SPRINGS

Man accused in sex assault of teenage female relative

A Stockton Springs man has been accused of sexually assaulting a teenage female relative.

Police say Colan Ginn, 35, is being held on $25,000 cash bail following his arrest Monday on three counts of gross sexual assault and three counts of unlawful sexual contact.

Authorities say Ginn sexually assaulted the 14-year-old girl several times over the last year.

Chief Deputy Jeff Trafton told the Bangor Daily News that investigators spoke with Ginn after receiving a referral from the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.

The teenager told police the alleged assaults had happened several times over the last year.

HOULTON

Maine-made vodka earns top honors in competition

Twenty 2 Vodka, a premium brand distilled in Houlton, earned top honors at the recent San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

The micro-distilled brand from Maine went up against 1,215 spirits from 60 countries and took home a double gold award. The competition was held March 22 to 25 at the Hotel Nikko in downtown San Francisco.

Created by the husband-and-wife team of Scott Galbiati and Jessica Jewell, the vodka is produced on American-made equipment in 50 gallon batches. The vodka has also snagged trophies in the SIP awards and the MicroLiquor Awards.

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