GORHAM
Teenager, 16, charged with drug trafficking after raid
A 16-year-old Gorham boy was charged with drug trafficking Wednesday after a raid by local police and federal drug agents.
The teenager was arrested and charged with three counts of aggravating trafficking in scheduled drugs and carrying a concealed weapon after the raid at 834 Gray Road at 3:45 p.m., police said.
Gorham and Windham police searched the home with assistance from federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents. The boy had a “small amount” of marijuana and several marijuana plants, said Detective Sgt. Dana Thompson of the Gorham Police Department.
He “tossed” a knife when he saw police — although not necessarily at officers — and had a collapsible nightstick, Thompson said.
He also was charged with aggravated assault stemming from an incident last month in Windham. He was taken to the Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland.
Cynthia Kinzer, 36, who lives at the house, was charged with cultivating marijuana and was released. A 14-year-old boy, also of Gorham, was charged with possession of marijuana and released to his mother.
Police would not disclose the relationship between the teenagers and Kinzer or say if the boys live at the home.
Thompson said the raid followed a brief investigation. Police had received complaints from neighbors about activity at the house, he said.
LYMAN
Waterboro man, 38, still in hospital after crash
A Waterboro man remains hospitalized after a crash Monday in Lyman.
Thomas Haig, 38, was taken to Southern Maine Medical Center, then transferred to Maine Medical Center, according to the York County Sheriff’s Office. A hospital spokesman could provide no information on his condition.
Haig’s daughters, 10 and 12, also were taken to Southern Maine Medical Center but did not appear to be as seriously injured.
The Chevrolet Trailblazer driven by Haig apparently crossed the center line on Hill Road at noon and collided with a Chevrolet Suburban towing an 18-foot boat, the sheriff’s office said. The Suburban was driven by Taylor Solari, 18 of Kennebunkport.
Haig and Solari had to be extricated from the wreckage of the vehicles. Solari and his two passengers were taken to the hospital.
The sheriff’s office continues to investigate the crash
PORTLAND
PTO to discuss crowding at Ocean Avenue School
The Parent Teacher Association of the Ocean Avenue School will hold a meeting tonight to discuss overcrowding issues. School officials have proposed converting two art classes into classrooms to accommodate more students, but many parents are opposed to the idea. School district staff and some members of the Portland Board of Public Education will attend the meeting, which will begin at 6:30 p.m. and take place at the school.
Grants worth $750,000 to help homeless veterans
Portland and surrounding communities will receive grants totaling nearly $750,000 to help homeless veterans and their families.
The grants from the Department of Veterans Affairs will serve about 337 homeless and at-risk veteran families in the Portland area.
The department says the award will serve veterans’ families associated with Preble Street, a community agency that provides services to families living in, or transitioning to, permanent housing.
Woman faces sentencing in military benefits case
A Topsham woman who is accused of misusing tens of thousands of dollars in veterans benefits is due to be sentenced in federal court today.
Marsha Jacobs faces a maximum prison term of five years for misappropriation of fiduciaries.
Jacobs was appointed as her brother-in-law’s fiduciary and received approximately $242,000 in benefits intended for him over a period of about three and a half years, according to a court document. She estimated that she used $80,000 for other purposes, including for an addition to her house, according to the document.
SKOWHEGAN
Man, 84, is found near woods, taken to hospital
An 84-year-old Skowhegan man who was reported missing from his home earlier this week has been found.
Police say Charles Carney was reported missing Monday morning from the home where he is cared for by non-relatives.
He was found face down by Maine Game Wardens in the dirt in a small patch of woods near his home at about 4:45 p.m. Tuesday.
He was alive and transported to Readington Fairview Hospital.
Carney’s caretakers say he takes a walk using a cane around his home every day.
AUGUSTA
State’s Film Office has new director to promote Maine
Maine has a new director of the state Film Office, which markets the state for all forms of production, from feature films to catalog shoots.
The Department of Economic and Community Development says Karen Carberry Warhola will assist with projects as the liaison between communities, other state departments and production companies in her new job.
Carberry Warhola has more than 20 years of hands-on production experience in the film and television industry. She started her television career as a camera operator at MPBN-TV and later worked for Buena Vista, a division of The Walt Disney Company. She later returned to the studio lot and managed Touchstone Television’s Prime Time Awards and their Emmy Awards campaign.
Carberry Warhola graduated from the University of Maine and lives in Bangor.
BANGOR
Developer: Retail project will create hundreds of jobs
Officials say a proposed $4.5 million retail development in Bangor is expected to create as many as 100 construction jobs and up to 200 part- and full-time jobs when it opens.
Pending approval from the Bangor Planning Board and Bangor City Council, a South Portland developer could break ground on Stillwater Crossing, a 65,500-square-foot retail plaza as early as September.
Vincent Maietta, Stillwater Crossing’s principal owner and developer, tells the Bangor Daily News he expects 18 to 24 businesses, including retail and medical offices.
The first confirmed tenant is national restaurant chain Buffalo Wild Wings.
The development will occupy the space that was the Queen City Trailer Park from 1965 to 2000.
LITTLETON
Maine man, 21, captured in Kansas on drug charge
A northern Maine man has been captured in Kansas seven months after he allegedly went on the run following a raid on a suspected methamphetamine laboratory.
The Maine Drug Enforcement Agency says Ronald Lewis, 22, of Littleton, was arrested Monday night in Topeka.
DEA division commander Darrell Crandall told the Bangor Daily News that Lewis was wanted on a methamphetamine trafficking charge after drug agents searched a Presque Isle residence in December.
At the time, police arrested two other northern Maine men and charged them with trafficking methamphetamine.
CONCORD, N.H.
Kittery man, 21, charged in ‘sextortion’ of woman
A Maine man is facing charges of trying to extort a New Hampshire woman into providing him with sexually explicit photos and videos.
The complaint accuses John Bryan Villegas, 21, of Kittery of sending email threats to publish on the Internet and distribute to the victim’s neighbors, work and acquaintances other sexually explicit photos of the victim that he obtained from a computer without authorization.
Authorities described the alleged behavior as a type of cyber extortion known as “sextortion.”
Villegas made his initial court appearance in New Hampshire on Wednesday on charges of engaging in computer intrusion involving extortion and making interstate threats.
It’s unclear if Villegas is being represented by an attorney. He could not be reached for comment.
If convicted, Villegas faces a maximum sentence of two years in prison on the interstate threats charge and five years in prison on the computer intrusion charge, according to The Portsmouth Herald.
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