GRINDSTONE

Officer fatally shoots man during armed confrontation

A 78-year-old northern Maine man is dead after an East Millinocket police officer shot him during an armed confrontation, authorities said.

Robert Bellfleur of Grindstone was fatally shot Saturday night by Officer Seth Burnes, Tim Feeley of the Maine Attorney General’s Office said.

Feeley said Burnes and a Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office deputy were called to a Frazier Road home by Bellfleur’s neighbors, who reported that he was harassing them. Feeley said Bellfleur was ordered back to his home, but then returned with a shotgun and engaged in an armed confrontation with the officers. That’s when Burnes shot Bellfleur, who died at the scene.

An investigation is under way by the Attorney General’s Office, which is required to investigate all police shootings.

FALMOUTH

Sprinkler system prevents spread of fire in building

Falmouth’s fire chief is crediting a sprinkler system with preventing more extensive fire damage from occurring at a 30,000-square-foot commercial building at 400 Route 1.

Chief Howard Rice Jr. said his department responded around 12:50 p.m. Sunday to a fire alarm in the building.

Rice said a single sprinkler head helped extinguish a fire that appears to have started in a basement hot water heater and burned materials in a storage closet.

It took firefighters about 15 minutes to put the fire out, but Rice said the fire could have caused extensive damage to the building – it is occupied by Anodyne Solutions – if it had not been for the sprinkler system.

Only one person was in the building at the time of the fire and no injuries were reported.

THE FORKS

Injured on rafting trip, woman flown to hospital

A Kingston, N.H., woman was flown to a Bangor hospital with non-life-threatening injuries after a rafting accident Sunday, according to the Maine Warden Service.

Patricia Guevin, 52, was on a commercially operated rafting trip when the incident occurred in the Dead Stream rapids area of the Kennebec River, according to Chad Robertson, a deputy warden.

Guevin suffered head and face injuries, but Robertson said she was doing well. She was conscious and alert when first responders arrived.

Robertson wouldn’t name the rafting company and said he believed she was rafting with friends and family.

The Maine Warden Service received the call at 12:20 p.m., and Guevin was removed on a backboard.

She was taken by LifeFlight of Maine helicopter to Eastern Maine Medical Center. Robertson said she was wearing a helmet and life jacket.

BLUE HILL

Small plane crash-lands in field; nobody is injured

A small plane crashed Sunday morning in Blue Hill, but nobody was injured, according to the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department.

The department said a single-engine plane crash-landed in a field off Falls Bridge Road at about 10:50 a.m.

BELFAST

Community is designated ‘business-friendly’ by state

Belfast is the latest Maine community to be designated as “business-friendly” by the state.

Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner George Gervais will present Belfast with a “certified business-friendly” certificate and road signs on Monday.

Twenty-four Maine towns and cities have earned the “business-friendly” designation since the program was launched last year.

The state said that Belfast has effectively utilized state and federal programs to improve infrastructure that supports a good business climate.

SANFORD

Police offer $500 reward in attempted abduction

Police are offering a $500 reward for information leading to the arrest and indictment of a man accused of trying to abduct a young woman in Sanford.

Police said the 18-year-old woman was walking home on July 26 when she was attacked on Eastern Avenue just before 9 p.m. Authorities said a man grabbed her from behind, dragged her and tried to force her into a red or maroon vehicle. She was able to escape and screamed for help.

Police said a man walking his dog nearby heard her screams and yelled at the suspect, who drove away.

The newspaper Foster’s Daily Democrat reported that the suspect is described as between 5 foot 8 and 5 foot 10 inches tall, with chin-length shaggy brown hair and a beard.