BOSTON

Biddeford man charged in drug-related shooting

A Biddeford man was arrested in Boston on Thursday on charges in connection with a drug-related shooting Monday night, police say.

Leroy H. Drane was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service and the Southern Maine Violent Crimes Task Force, which Biddeford police participate in.

Police said Drane shot a 32-year-old man at the man’s home at 124 Alfred St. at 11:30 p.m.

The victim was treated and released from Southern Maine Medical Center for a gunshot wound to the leg, said a release from Biddeford police.

Drane is charged with elevated aggravated assault and possession of a gun by a prohibited person.

SOUTH PORTLAND

Transient charged with theft in alleged Craiglist scam

Police said a woman who was advertising an apartment on Craigslist and then collecting security deposits from prospective tenants didn’t own or manage the property — the South Portland Housing Authority did.

South Portland police received two complaints Wednesday from victims saying they responded to the Craigslist ad for an apartment on Grandview Avenue.

One of the victims arranged to meet the woman, Lisa Hinerman, 26, whom police described as a transient, at a hotel in Portland on Thursday morning. Instead, officers met Hinerman and charged her with two counts of felony theft by deception.

Hinerman has a long criminal history including theft, police said.

Police said the total loss from the alleged scam is $1,800.

ELLSWORTH

Woman gets prison term in spree that led to death

A woman from Down East who pleaded guilty to a crime spree that ended with the shooting death of her boyfriend is going to prison.

A judge on Thursday ordered Ashley Crowley of Beals to serve two years of a seven-and-a-half-year prison sentence.

In December 2010, her boyfriend, Nicholas Richards, 23, of Machias, was shot to death after they tried to rob a man they believed to be a drug dealer. Court documents indicate that Crowley lured the man from his home by claiming she had been in a car crash. After being hit with pepper spray, the man fired a gun, killing Richards.

Beals pleaded guilty to burglary, robbery stealing drugs, theft by unauthorized taking or transfer, criminal trespass, criminal mischief and criminal use of disabling chemicals.

WALDO

Woman arrested for shaving sleeping boyfriend’s head

Police said a Waldo woman has been arrested after shaving her boyfriend’s head while he was sleeping.

Authorities said Mindy Lavoie, 35, kept her promise that if her boyfriend ever came home drunk again, she’d shave his head.

The Waldo County Sheriff’s office said the couple got into a fight after Thomas A. Thomas, 36, woke up. A neighbor called police Monday night to report a domestic fight.

The Bangor Daily News said Lavoie has been charged with domestic violence assault. Thomas has been charged with violating the conditions of release for a prior offense.

AUGUSTA

Coalition collects $1 million in support of gay marriage

The coalition that’s leading a campaign to legalize gay marriage in Maine said it has raised more than $1 million and has had one-on-one discussions about November’s referendum with more than 100,000 residents.

Mainers United for Marriage held a news conference at the State House in Augusta on Thursday to mark the one-year anniversary of when it took out papers to launch its citizen’s initiative to force a statewide vote on whether to allow same-sex marriage.

Campaign officials said they’ve now collected more than $1 million in donations and pledges, with 64 percent of the contributions coming from Mainers.

Campaign manager Matt McTighe said the campaign has had face-to-face or phone conversations with more than 100,000 people in 565 towns and townships.

Finance authority reducing some fees on NextGen plans

The Finance Authority of Maine is cutting some of its fees on its NextGen college savings plans.

The decision will result in a reduction in asset-based fees on both self-directed and adviser-sold plans, and initial sales charges on some asset classes will also be cut. FAME said most of the cuts range from four to 11 basis points, or 0.04 percent to 0.11 percent.

In addition, the account-maintenance fee for self-directed accounts is being eliminated.

FAME had 231,226 NextGen accounts as of March 1 and Bill Norbert, a spokesman for the authority, said almost all of them are in one of the classes of plans where fees are being cut.

The reductions take effect tomorrow, he said.

Extra troopers will be out to crack down on violators

Maine State Police said they’ll be using unmarked cruisers, aircraft and extra troopers to enforce traffic laws for the Fourth of July holiday week.

The extra effort to crack down on aggressive and impaired drivers begins today and continues through next week.

Col. Robert Williams, chief of the state police, has also ordered a summer-long crackdown on motorists who are texting or not using seat belts. Williams said July and August are the busiest — and usually the deadliest — months on Maine roads.

BANGOR

Man sentenced for killing younger brother in dispute

A Dover-Foxcroft man who was charged with killing his younger brother in a dispute over damage caused by an all-terrain vehicle has pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Prosecutors said Steven Mayo, 23, was sentenced Thursday to 18 years in prison with all but nine years suspended in the shooting death of Ryan Mayo, who was 20.

He told police in an affidavit that he shot out the tires of his brother’s all-terrain vehicle after the two had fought following an argument over damage the ATV caused to his driveway. He said he fired at his brother only after he came outside and discharged a shotgun.

The Bangor Daily News reported that Steven Mayo was originally charged with murder and pleaded not guilty in August.

Woman indicted for leaving the scene of fatal accident

A Penobscot County grand jury has indicted a woman in connection with a hit-and-run crash in Bangor that killed a 37-year-old man.

Patricia Giles of Brewer could face up to five years in prison if convicted on charges of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, and falsifying physical evidence.

Police said Giles was driving a car that struck and killed Joshua Constantine as the victim crossed Main Street on June 2.

Prosecutors said Giles did not stop or even apply her brakes after hitting Constantine.

Giles was arrested on June 13.

Deputy District Attorney Michael Roberts told the Bangor Daily News that the grand jury did not indict Giles for manslaughter because there was no proof of criminal negligence.

ASHFORD, Wash.

High winds delay recovery of body of native Mainer

High winds have delayed attempts to recover the body of a park ranger from Maine who fell to his death during a rescue operation high on Washington’s Mount Rainier.

Mount Rainier National Park spokeswoman Nancy Stimson said officials initially thought the clear weather and lower avalanche risk would allow searchers to recover the body of Nick Hall, 33, on Thursday, but the winds prevented any such attempt.

Hall was originally from Patten, Maine. He fell 2,500 feet on June 21 on the Emmons glacier after helping rescue four climbers from Waco, Texas.

Three of those climbers spent a week at Madigan Army Medical Center before being released Thursday. The fourth climber was not injured.