BANGOR

Transient facing charges after I-95 chase and crash

A 31-year-old transient who is accused of carjacking a van in Bangor and leading police on a high-speed chase faces multiple charges.

Brian Swett was charged with theft, robbery, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, criminal speeding and driving to endanger.

Police said Swett forced a woman out of her van Friday afternoon while she was parked on the side of a street near downtown Bangor.

Officials said a Maine state trooper gave chase on Interstate 95 with Swett driving nearly 100 mph before crashing the vehicle while driving the wrong way on an interstate entrance ramp.

PORTLAND

NOAA’s new regional chief visiting Portland, Ellsworth

The top federal fisheries official in the Northeast is coming to Maine to hear from fishermen and others about issues facing the commercial fishing industry.

John Bullard this month became the NOAA Fisheries Service’s regional administrator for the Northeast region, based in Gloucester, Mass.

Soon after taking the job, he began a series of “listening sessions” to hear about the major issues facing the industry and thoughts on how the industry should be structured.

As part of his tour, Bullard will be in Portland on Tuesday and Ellsworth on Thursday.

He has already held meetings in New Jersey and Massachusetts, and has a meeting scheduled in September in New Hampshire.

FARMINGTON

Sex assault of disabled boy sending woman to prison

A Farmington woman has been sentenced to four years in prison for sexually assaulting a disabled 13-year-old boy.

A Franklin County Superior Court judge sentenced Mandy Thibodeau, 35, last week to 10 years in prison with four to serve and the rest suspended for six years of probation for a pair of assaults on the boy, who was the son of a longtime friend.

Thibodeau pleaded guilty to two counts of gross sexual assault in June. She was arrested in September.

SANFORD

New health center will open in January and create 21 jobs

A community health center that’s expected to open in January will triple the number of people who can be served.

The new York County Community Health Center is expected to serve 6,000 patients a year and create 21 full-time jobs, said York County Community Action Executive Director Barbara Crider.

The center now targets homeless and public housing residents; the new facility will be open to the entire community

U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree worked with local officials to secure a $600,000 grant under the federal health care reform law to help fund the health center.

“Today in Maine there are far too many who don’t have health care coverage. But just because you don’t have health care coverage doesn’t mean you don’t get sick,” said Pingree, who visited the site Monday. “Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, thousands of Sanford area families will have access to health care.”

Pingree is married to S. Donald Sussman, majority share owner of The Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram.

HOULTON

State police sergeant pleads not guilty to charge of DUI

A veteran Maine State Police sergeant who is accused of driving a department cruiser while under the influence of alcohol has pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors said an attorney for Sgt. Julie Bergan entered the plea on her behalf in writing at her arraignment earlier this month.

Authorities said Bergan was issued a summons after she failed field sobriety and blood-alcohol content tests after reporting to work at the Houlton barracks in late June. Her supervisor and others said they saw her behaving in what they believed to be an erratic manner.

Authorities have not made her blood-alcohol content public.

The Bangor Daily News reported that Bergan, 54, is on administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation.