PRESQUE ISLE
Man charged with murder of girlfriend 14 years ago
Prosecutors say interviews with witnesses who were involved in disposing of evidence bolstered their case against a man who’s accused of killing his girlfriend 14 years ago in Presque Isle.
George Jaime Sr., 75, made his initial court appearance Friday in a video linkup from the Aroostook County Jail, where he’s being held without bail.
Jamie, owner of a pawn shop in Presque Isle, was charged Thursday with murder in the death of Starlett “Star” Vining, who was 38 when she was last seen, in 1998.
Deputy Attorney General Bill Stokes said law enforcement has been actively working the case since she was formally reported missing in 2006.
Jaime’s attorney, who asked the judge to seal state police affidavits in the case, didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment.
SCARBOROUGH
California man faces charges after camping in plover area
A California man is facing charges after he was found camping inside a protected area for piping plovers.
Game wardens found 11 people camping and sitting around a fire in the nesting area at Higgins Beach Thursday night.
The campers took off when they saw the wardens. Wardens said two of the campers were tampering with enclosures set up by the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. The wardens said they stopped them and brought them back to the campsite, where they found an open backpack belonging to Mark Brazil, 18, of Studio City, Calif.
Wardens said the pack contained a department camera and a police scanner.
Brazil is charged with receiving stolen property and having an unpermitted fire in a state wildlife management area.
PORTLAND
Woman’s body discovered on parking garage top level
Police are investigating the death of a woman whose body was found Friday morning on the top level of the parking garage at Chestnut and Oxford streets.
Police said there is no indication of a crime but the state medical examiner will do an autopsy.
A worker in the area found the body at 6 a.m. Friday.
WATERVILLE
Father charged after toddler found on city streets again
A father whose 2-year-old son was found wandering city streets alone for the second time this year is facing charges.
Vance Gray, 30, was charged with endangering a child’s welfare. Gray is scheduled to appear in court Sept. 18.
Police said an officer responding to a call of an unattended child late Thursday morning found the toddler at Front and Leighton streets.
The officer recognized the boy from a similar incident in April and remembered where he lived.
Police told the Morning Sentinel the officer knocked on the door, then entered when no one answered. He found a 6-month-old child sleeping on the living room floor and Gray asleep in an upstairs bedroom.
The boy’s mother was not at home.
POLAND
Motorcyclist killed, wife injured in crash with car
Police say a man died while his wife was seriously injured after the motorcycle they were on collided with a car in Poland.
Lt. Glenn Holt of the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Department said Kevin Lemm, 45, of Poland was flown to Central Maine Medical Center after the Thursday night accident where he was pronounced dead. His wife, Elisha Lemm, 47, was listed in critical condition.
Holt told WMTW-TV that the accident occurred after a car driven by a 21-year-old Poland man crossed the center line on Plains Road.
Neither the driver of the car nor his passenger was injured.
The crash remains under investigation.
BANGOR
Woman sentenced for theft of checks and credit cards
A Bangor woman has been sentenced to three and a half years in federal prison for stealing checks and credit cards from other people’s mail boxes and using them to fuel her gambling and drug habits.
Angela Amy Curtis was also sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court to five years of probation and ordered to pay nearly $15,000 in restitution. Curtis, 26, pleaded guilty in March to aggravated identity theft, bank fraud, access device fraud and mail theft.
Prosecutors said between September and November 2010, Curtis stole mail in Glenburn, Hudson, Bucksport, Hermon, Orono, Bangor and Veazie.
She cashed several checks, used a stolen a credit card at several businesses and used other’s people’s Social Security numbers and birth dates to acquire several new credit cards.
Curtis apologized in court.
AUBURN
Police identify pair killed in crash as two local men
Police have identified two people who died in fiery car crash in Auburn this week.
Emergency personnel responded to the crash early Tuesday to find the vehicle fully engulfed in flames in the middle of the street. Police said the vehicle left the road, struck a tree and rolled several times before bursting into flames.
The victims have been identified as Logan Pleau-Frangoulis, 21, and Stephen Pessant, 22. Both were from Auburn.
The crash remains under investigation.
LEWISTON
Veterinarians report uptick in number of parvo cases
Veterinarians in the Lewiston area are concerned about an uptick in a potentially deadly but easily preventable dog virus.
At least 15 dogs have been treated for canine parvo at the Animal Emergency Clinic of Mid-Maine in recent months.
Robert Clark, a member of the Lewiston clinic’s board, said they typically see one case per month. Clark, who runs the Lisbon Road Animal Hospital in Lewiston, said he’s seen more cases there.
Clark told the Sun Journal that a vaccine for the contagious virus is readily available, but suspects many people can’t afford it.
The virus is passed on when a dog has oral contact with feces from an infected dog.
Infected dogs display weakness and poor appetite, which develops into vomiting and diarrhea, and can cause death.
MEXICO
Police arrest three people in heroin-trafficking bust
Police have arrested three people they say were involved in a major heroin trafficking ring in the Rumford-Mexico area.
Authorities also seized 470 bags of heroin with a street value of almost $12,000 and drug paraphernalia.
A six-month investigation culminated this week in the arrest Monday of Daniel Richard, 26, of Rumford.
On Wednesday, police stopped Corey Edingbourgh, 27, and Sarah Bosworth, 29, as they allegedly were on their way to deliver drugs to a customer in Bethel. Police said the couple had their 7-month-old son with them. Their Mexico apartment was raided at the same time and police said drugs were found in the vehicle and the home.
Richard was released on $20,000 bail. The other two suspects remain in jail. Their child is in state custody.
BOZEMAN, Mont.
Man extradited, accused of slashing another’s throat
A man has been extradited from Maine to face Montana charges that he slashed another man’s throat in 2008.
The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported that Kelly Zuhlke was booked into the Gallatin County jail Wednesday and is being held on $100,000 bond.
Zuhlke, 49, was arrested in Lewiston, Maine, in January. Police said he was using his dead brother’s identity.
Zuhlke was charged with assault with a weapon in Gallatin Gatway in 2008 after prosecutors said he slashed another man’s throat outside a transmission shop.
The victim told police that a group of people had been talking and drinking beer when Zuhlke cut his throat with a knife.
The man survived the attack. He and a witness both said they were unsure what precipitated the attack.
AUGUSTA
U.S. DOT giving $500,000 to fix Route 136, Collins says
Sen. Susan Collins of Maine says the U.S. Department of Transportation will provide $500,000 in emergency funding to help repair Route 136 in Durham.
Collins informed Maine Transportation Commissioner David Bernhardt on Friday.
The money will go toward reconstruction of the road, which was damaged by heavy rains last month. All told, the Department of Transportation said damage across the state will top $2 million.
Gov. Paul LePage issued an emergency proclamation on July 2 that identified area that were hardest hit by June’s heavy rains. That action started the process of requesting emergency relief funds.
Parties filling vacancies, hope to contest all seats
Local political party committees across Maine are filling vacancies left by 48 legislative candidate withdrawals in hopes of contesting all of the House and Senate seats this fall.
In Augusta’s District 57, Democrats on Wednesday chose former state Rep. Patsy Crockett as their nominee for the fall election. The former candidate, Rep. Maeghan Maloney, withdrew after the June primary to run for district attorney for Kennebec and Somerset counties.
On Sunday, Democrats from the two counties will choose between Maloney and Acting District Attorney Alan Kelley for their party’s district attorney candidate.
In House District 57, Crockett will face Republican Matthew Pouliot in November. Pouliot was also chosen by local caucus because of the previous candidate’s withdrawal.
Teen placed on probation for fire in school bathroom
A 14-year-old girl who was charged with arson and criminal mischief in connection with a fire in a bathroom at an Augusta middle school has pleaded guilty to the lesser charge and been placed on juvenile probation.
The arson charge was dismissed on Thursday.
The girl’s attorney said she and the prosecutor recently received a photo showing that damage to a toilet seat at Cony Middle School was minimal.
The incident was reported to police on March 26 as a Cony student trying to ignite items placed inside a toilet.
Augusta police said the girl was carrying a lighter when confronted by officers later that day.
Firefighters were not called and no one was hurt.
SANFORD
Skateboarder hit by truck, airlifted to Portland hospital
A boy who was crossing Route 202 on a skateboard Friday afternoon was hit by a commercial truck and seriously injured.
The boy was taken to Goodall Hospital in Sanford and later airlifted by helicopter to Maine Medical Center in Portland.
The accident occurred shortly before 3 p.m. as the boy crossed Lebanon Street near its intersection with Nason Street, according to the Sanford Police Department.
Police did not release the name of the boy.
The accident is under investigation.
— From staff and news services
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