PORTLAND

Ex-legislator pleads guilty to misusing federal funds

A former legislator from Standish has pleaded guilty to misusing federal funds and faces as much as five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Adam Mack, 38, pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Portland.

Mack, who was a Republican member of the Maine House of Representatives from 1997 to 2000, was an officer in Portland-based Chartwell Management Co., said a statement from U.S. Attorney for New Hampshire John P. Kacavas.

The company managed several multi-unit residential properties, including the Barron’s Hill apartment complex in Topsham. The property was purchased with mortgage loans subsidized by the Department of Agriculture’s rural development program.

In January 2007, the company used $384,000 that was supposed to be security for the loan to pay unrelated expenses on other properties that Mack and his family had an interest in, the statement said.

Mack is expected to be sentenced within three months. The prosecution stemmed from an investigation by the Office of the Inspector General of the USDA.

Amtrak, Downeaster set new records for ridership

Amtrak and its Downeaster passenger service between Portland and Boston have set new ridership records.

The national high-speed rail operator says its trains carried more than 31 million passengers in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. That was the highest annual ridership total since Amtrak started operating in 1971.

Downeaster ridership rose 4.3 percent, to more than 541,000 passengers. The Downeaster also set a ridership record for the fiscal year that ended June 30.

N.H. fisherman convicted of assault in boarding incident

A New Hampshire fisherman has been convicted of assaulting a Coast Guardsman who had boarded his vessel after he was found operating in a restricted area off Maine’s coast.

Federal prosecutors say Scott Jellison, 53, of Derry, N.H., was convicted by a jury Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Portland.

Authorities say Jellison’s vessel was in an area that was closed to civilians in November 2010 because of a Navy SEALs training exercise.

Coast Guard officers boarded Jellison’s boat. Jellison said his navigation equipment was broken, but the Coast Guard found it worked.

Coast Guard officers concluded that Jellison was intoxicated. Authorities say Jellison assaulted an officer and resisted attempts to subdue him.

Jellison faces as much as a year in prison and a $100,000 fine.

SACO

Voters send school budget as proposed to Nov. 6 ballot

Residents of Regional School Unit 23 voted Wednesday to leave unchanged the $43.2 million budget proposed by the school board.

Voters in Saco, Dayton and Old Orchard Beach will be asked to approve the budget on Nov. 6.

That will be the third school budget vote. In June, voters rejected a $43.6 million budget, then in July said no to a $43.5 million budget.About 140 people attended Wednesday’s meeting at Saco Middle School.

AUBURN

Court rejects ex-teacher’s appeal of felony conviction

A federal appeals court has rejected the appeal of a former Auburn music teacher who was convicted of inappropriately touching a young girl.

James Raymond Jr., 31, was convicted in 2010 of two felony counts of transporting a minor with intent to engage in sexual activity, and was sentenced to 12 years on prison. Authorities say he drove the 11-year-old girl and her 9-year-old sister to an amusement park in New Hampshire in 2007 and touched the older girl for sexual gratification.

The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston rejected his appeal on Wednesday.

RANDOLPH

Suspect stabs police dog, keeps police at bay for hours

Authorities say a man suspected of stealing prescription drugs stabbed a police dog in his attempt to escape, then holed up in a Randolph apartment for several hours.

The Kennebec County Sheriff’s department says a report came in at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday that Dustin Smith, 20, was at the Windsor Heights Apartment Complex after a prescription drug theft in West Gardiner.

Police say Smith also had outstanding warrants and was on probation.

Police with a dog found Smith hiding behind stairs. They say Smith stabbed the dog behind the left ear with a six-inch hunting knife.

Police say Smith then barricaded himself in an apartment with a woman and young child he eventually released. The standoff ended at about 10:40 p.m.

The dog required surgery but is expected to recover.

BANGOR

Council officially supports gay-marriage ballot question

The Bangor City Council is going on record in support of next month’s referendum seeking to legalize same-sex marriage in Maine.

The council unanimously adopted a resolution Wednesday night expressing support for the Nov. 6 ballot question.

Man pleads guilty to having possession of stolen arsenal

A New Sharon man has pleaded guilty to being in possession of an arsenal of 19 guns as well as other items stolen from a Jay home.

Federal prosecutors say Roger Briscoe, 33, waived indictment Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Bangor and pleaded guilty.

Prosecutors say Briscoe broke into the Jay home in January and stole 19 guns, a chain saw, a laptop computer and a container of change. The weapons included six semi-automatic rifles, five semi-automatic pistols and shotguns.

Authorities say Briscoe was identified as a suspect early in the investigation and most of the stolen items were found during a search of his home, hidden in various places.

Briscoe faces as much as 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. His sentencing has not yet been scheduled.

RIPLEY

Warden Service hopes to nab poacher who killed 4 deer

The Maine Warden Service is seeking help solving what they call a serious poaching incident in the town of Ripley.

Authorities say four deer were killed sometime during the night of either Oct. 5 or Oct. 6. Three were left in a field, and wardens found parts of the fourth nearby.

Maine’s Operation Game Thief has authorized a $3,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person or persons responsible for the illegal killing.