ETNA

Mail truck hits pet goat, woman asks for apology

A Maine woman said all she wants is an apology from the U.S. Postal Service after her mail carrier ran over her son’s pet goat.

Barbara Rice of Etna said the mailman had just delivered a package Wednesday when he backed up his truck and struck the 3-month-old goat, despite being warned by Rice’s 12-year-old son that the family’s three goats were nearby.

The goat suffered a broken hip and was euthanized.

She said the entire family cried.

Rice told the Bangor Daily News she sent an account of the incident along with a copy of the $300 veterinarian bill to postal authorities.

She said the money is irrelevant; she just wants an apology, but she has not heard a word.

A USPS spokeswoman said the incident is under investigation.

NEW GLOUCESTER

SUV driver facing charge in crash that injured biker

A 24-year-old man was hospitalized with a broken femur and a shoulder injury after his motorcycle collided with a sport utility vehicle that police said was making an illegal U-turn on the Maine Turnpike in New Gloucester Friday.

Jeffrey Jones of Limington was riding north on his Harley-Davidson about 7:30 a.m., following a Chevrolet sport utility vehicle driven by Kathryn Libby, 52, of Leeds when the SUV slowed rapidly as it approached a median crossover, said Maine State Police Trooper Fern Cloutier.

Jones swerved to the left of the SUV, which then turned into his path as it moved to enter the crossover, Cloutier said. The motorcycle hit the driver’s-side rear door and Jones was thrown into the crossover.

Jones was not wearing a helmet but appeared to suffer only leg and shoulder injuries. He was taken to Central Maine Medical Center. Libby complained of bruises, Cloutier said.

Libby was issued a summons to appear in court on a charge of illegally entering a highway crossover space.

BRUNSWICK

Police arrest two suspected in string of area burglaries

Sagadahoc County sheriff’s deputies and Brunswick police arrested two men in a motel Friday morning and said they are suspected in a string of burglaries.

Police said they arrested John David Quinn, 36, and Thomas LaRose, 32, both of Woolwich, after raiding the motel room shortly after 10 a.m.

Both men were charged with three counts of burglary.

Quinn was also charged with violating conditions of release, and LaRose was charged with a probation violation

Police said they seized drug paraphernalia and an array of stolen items, including computers, cameras, video game players, jewelry, watches, coins, luggage and chain saws.

They said the value of the items was in excess of $10,000, but a full inventory is still being compiled.

BANGOR

Man sentenced for guns in violation of court order

A Parkman man has been sentenced to more than five years in federal prison for hiding several guns in his home even though he had been ordered to surrender them after his wife obtained a restraining order.

Prosecutors said Michael DeMaria, 44, was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court to five years and three months in prison, plus three years of probation.

DeMaria pleaded guilty in February to possession of firearms in violation of a protection-from-abuse order and being in possession of a firearm while addicted to marijuana.

Prosecutors said DeMaria was prohibited from having guns after his wife obtained the restraining order in December 2010. Authorities said they found several weapons and ammunition hidden in the walls of DeMaria’s home.

DeMaria apologized in court.

AUGUSTA

Attorney general warns of deceptive mailings

Maine Attorney General William Schneider is warning schools, businesses and government agencies about a deceptive mailing.

The mailings, from a California-based company called UST, appear to be bills for $425 for services rendered.

But Schneider said they are a disguised solicitation that may mislead recipients into paying for services that were neither ordered nor received.

Schneider said his office has heard from school and city purchasing agents who received the invoices but had never done business with the company.

Schneider called the solicitation “a ruse” and said organizations should not be fooled into paying for something they never ordered.

PORTLAND

Snowe, Collins pushing for vote on Cape lawyer

Republican Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine are pressing for a floor vote on the nomination of a Maine lawyer to the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals that’s being blocked by GOP leadership.

President Obama’s nomination of William Kayatta Jr. has been held up by a moratorium on confirmation of appellate judges that often happens in presidential election years.

The Senate Judiciary Committee confirmed his nomination in April.

Collins said Kayatta’s nomination is languishing because the Obama administration didn’t move fast enough to prevent the presidential year stalling tactics.

MILLINOCKET

Baxter park rangers rescue two hikers on Katahdin

Baxter State Park officials said two hikers have been rescued in separate incidents within hours on northern Maine’s Mount Katahdin.

Park rangers rescued a 22-year-old hiker from the Hunt Trail on Thursday afternoon after the hiker sustained a leg injury. Rangers helped the hiker get to the trailhead. Twenty minutes after the first rescue, rangers were told a 46-year-old hiker requested assistance on the Abol Slide Trail.  The popular access trail to Baxter Peak is also one of the park’s steepest trails.

The hiker was walked by rangers down the trail and carried more than a mile to Abol Campground.

They arrived at about 1 a.m. Friday and the hiker was taken to a hospital for evaluation.

SOMERVILLE

Driver dies when car hits tree, bursts into flames

One person died in a fiery crash after a vehicle struck a tree and burst into flames just before midnight Thursday on Somerville Road.

Somerville firefighters extinguished the blaze and found the driver dead, according to a press release from the  Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office.

The vehicle and the occupant were taken to the Maine State Police Crime Lab in Augusta for identification.

A message left at the state Medical Examiner’s Office was not immediately returned Friday.
Maine State Police were reconstructing the crash, which occurred as the vehicle was heading north on Somerville Road.

Departments assisting at the scene were Whitefield and Jefferson firefighters and investigators from the state Fire Marshal’s Office.

AUBURN

County settles lawsuit over insurance premiums

A three-year-old lawsuit against Androscoggin County over whether it must pay heath care benefit premiums to the surviving spouses of county workers has been settled before trial.

More than a dozen former county employees, their spouses and active county workers had brought the lawsuit.

County commissioners sent a letter to former county workers in 2009 notifying them that the county would no longer pay lifetime health care insurance premiums to husbands and wives of deceased retirees. Commissioners said that benefit was never intended.

In response, some sued. The Sun Journal reported that in the agreement, the county would continue to pay the premiums of some surviving spouses for a set period of time, and in one case continue paying full benefits.

The settlement does not cover all the plaintiffs.

– From staff and news services

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