FALMOUTH

Former BIW president Goodrich dies at age 99

A former president of Bath Iron Works and under secretary of the Navy under President Reagan has died. James Franklin Goodrich was 99.

His wife, Helen Goodrich, said he died Monday at their condominium in Falmouth, 30 miles southwest of the shipyard in Bath.

Goodrich was president and CEO of Bath Iron Works from 1965 to 1975 before serving as chairman until his retirement in 1978.

Three years later, Reagan chose him as under secretary to rebuild a 600-ship Navy.

Before joining Bath Iron Works, Goodrich worked for Todd-Pacific Shipyards in Tacoma, Wash. He also was a co-founder of a commercial fishing company involved in the Alaska king crab industry after World War II.

Goodrich is survived by his wife of 72 years and three children.

TURNER

Woman, 58, dies of injuries from lawn mower accident

A woman has died in a lawn mower accident in Turner.

Police say Nancy Steele, 58, was found pinned underneath the lawn tractor on Thursday morning.

Steele, the owner of the gift shop Ivy Cottage, was mowing a steep hill behind the business when she was last seen around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The Wheel Horse lawn tractor rolled over near the top of the hill. Police said they believe the accident happened Wednesday night.

EUSTIS

Body of man, 81, recovered from Flagstaff Lake in Eustis

Officials say an 81-year-old man has drowned in Flagstaff Lake in western Maine.

Maine Warden Service Cpl. John MacDonald said Leo Pepin of Eustis was training his dogs on the lake shore around 3 p.m. Wednesday when he entered the water to retrieve a piece of dog training equipment.

MacDonald said Pepin went under the water and failed to surface.

His body was recovered in 10 to 15 feet of water by Eustis firefighters and a game warden.

BATH

Fox that attacked local man tested positive for rabies

A fox that attacked a 67-year-old Bath man earlier this week has tested positive for rabies.

The fox was killed after Monday’s attack and taken to be tested by state officials. The state confirmed Wednesday that the fox had rabies.

Police Chief Mike Field told The Times Record that the man, who was bitten several times on the hand while working in his barn, is receiving medical treatment.

Field cautioned residents to call police if they see wild animals behaving unusually.

Dr. Sheila Pinette, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said a mild winter is likely contributing to a spike in confirmed cases of rabies in Maine this year.

METINIC ISLAND

Entire tern population abandons Metinic Island

The entire tern population on Maine’s Metinic Island has abandoned the small island.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says an estimated 1,400 terns left the island during a storm in June after gulls infiltrated the island’s small beach where the terns nest.

The island is located about seven miles east of Port Clyde and is one of the few places where terns nest in Maine.

Brian Benedict, deputy refuge manager for the Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge, told the Bangor Daily News the refuge has never lost an entire bird population from a refuge island before.

He said it’s likely the birds will nest on nearby islands, but it’s unclear if they’ll return to Metinic next year.

PORTLAND

Topsham woman sentenced for embezzling vets benefits

A Topsham woman accused of embezzling her brother-in-law’s veterans benefits was sentenced in federal court Thursday to six months in prison.

Marsha A. Jacobs, 64, was also sentenced to six months of home confinement and three years of supervised release. District Judge Nancy Torresen also ordered Jacobs to pay $92,817 in restitution.

Jacobs was appointed the fiduciary for her disabled brother-in-law and received about $242,000 in benefits intended for him between October 2003 and April 2010, according to court documents. Jacobs used some of that money for unauthorized purposes, including building an addition to a house.

In April 2010, Jacobs confessed to improperly using a substantial portion of the money.

BIDDEFORD

Biddeford and Saco Water acquired by Connecticut company

Biddeford and Saco Water Co. said it will be acquired by Connecticut Water Services Inc., giving the Maine water services company greater access to funds to improve its infrastructure.

The deal with Connecticut Water Services, based in Clinton, Conn., is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2012. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Biddeford and Saco Water customers should not be disrupted by the deal, the company said. As a result of the proposed transaction, the rate increase application for Biddeford and Saco Water that was originally planned for 2012 will be delayed until at least 2013, the company said.

When the transaction is complete, Biddeford and Saco Water will service more than 30,000 customers in 21 communities in Maine.

“As part of CTWS, our customers will continue to be served by the same Biddeford and Saco employees and our office and existing facilities will be retained,” said Jerry Mansfield, president of Biddeford and Saco Water.

Over time, the companies said there will be opportunities to share staff, systems and services between the two Maine firms.

AUBURN

Auburn gets new fire chief coming from Dallas suburb

Auburn has reached all the way to Texas for a new fire chief.

A member of the search committee announced Wednesday that Frank Roma, who spent 21 years as an assistant chief in the Dallas suburb of McKinney, will start in Maine in September.

Roma retired from his position in McKinney eight months ago and since has been interim fire chief in nearby Anna, Texas.

Roma, 55, told the Sun Journal that despite spending the past two decades in Texas, he’s a Northeasterner at heart. He grew up in the Philadelphia area and used to spend summers in Maine as a boy.

The position has been empty since Wayne Werts retired in March 2010.

BANGOR

Death of Bangor man, 65, not considered suspicious

Police say the death of a Bangor man who was found on his back in the middle of a Bangor street this week is not considered suspicious.

The medical examiner determined that Amos Dupray, 65, died of a medical issue.

Dupray was found unconscious about 1:15 a.m. Tuesday in the middle of Pickering Square.

Emergency crews unsuccessfully tried to revive him and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Mark Belserene of the medical examiner’s office told the Bangor Daily News that Dupray had an extensive medical history.

Police did not say why Dupray was downtown.

Ex-college basketball star indicted for child porn

A former college basketball star accused of having child pornography on his computer has been released on $1,000 bail and ordered to have no unsupervised contact with anyone under 16.

A judge Wednesday continued the case of Dana Wilson, 61, of Brewer because the prosecuting attorney was unavailable.

Wilson was indicted by a Penobscot County grand jury last month for possessing sexually explicit images of underage girls.

Authorities said there is no evidence that local children were involved.

Wilson’s attorney said his client is “firm in his conviction that he … did not play a role in this.”

Wilson, who averaged an NCAA Division III leading 35 points per game during his senior season at Husson College in 1973-74, was inducted into the Maine Sports Hall of Fame this year.

CALAIS

Search for college president ends without any nominee

The search for a new president of Washington County Community College in eastern Maine has concluded without finding a nominee.

The Maine Community College System’s trustees plan to reopen the search next January.

In the meantime, the interim president of the college, William Cassidy, will remain in that position through the coming academic year.

Maine Community College System President John Fitzsimmons said Cassidy will stay on through next June. Cassidy served as president of the Calais college from 2003 to 2009 and returned to the college on an interim basis this July 1, when President Joyce Hedlund retired.

Cassidy’s career in education has spanned three decades at both the secondary and post-secondary levels.

CARIBOU

Murder suspect bail hearing put off to unspecified date

A bail hearing for a 75-year-old Presque Isle man who is accused of killing a woman who has been missing for nearly 13 years has been postponed.

The hearing for George Jaime Sr. originally scheduled for Wednesday was continued to an unspecified date.

Deputy Attorney General Bill Stokes told the Bangor Daily News the hearing was postponed because of scheduling conflicts.

Jaime remains held without bail at the Aroostook County Jail in Houlton.

Jaime, the owner of a pawn shop in Presque Isle, was charged July 12 with murder in the death of Starlett “Star” Vining, who was 38 when she was last seen in 1998.

Vining’s body has not been found.

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