PORTLAND

Former U.S. Sen. Mitchell will speak at USM Thursday

Former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell will speak next Thursday at the University of Southern Maine’s Abromson Center.

Mitchell’s presentation, which will begin at 4 p.m., is part of an eight-week series titled “Politics Then and Now, in Maine and the Nation.”

The series aims to bring the state’s top political minds together to explore how politics have changed and why and what it will take to get the government back on course. Mitchell served in the U.S. Senate from 1980 to 1995 and as Senate majority leader from 1989 to 1995.

After his Senate career, Mitchell served as a special envoy to Northern Ireland and as a peace envoy to the Middle East.

Future series speakers will include U.S. Sen. Angus King, former U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, former U.S. Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts and former Maine Gov. Kenneth Curtis. The series is hosted by the Muskie School of Public Service and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at USM.

SANFORD

Community college to train students for manufacturing

York County Community College is launching a program to train students for careers in manufacturing at local companies such as Pratt & Whitney. The grand opening of the college’s precision machining technology facility in Sanford was Friday.

The community college says it has asked Pratt & Whitney, General Dynamics and the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard what skills they are looking for in workers and incorporated those into the curriculum.
House Speaker Mark Eves of North Berwick, who attended Friday’s event, said in a statement the program shows how investing in higher education can pay off for employers and workers.

There are 34 students enrolled in the program this fall.

PORTSMOUTH, N.H.

Memorial Bridge to close for parts of two nights

The Memorial Bridge connecting New Hampshire and Maine will be closed to all traffic for parts of Tuesday and Wednesday.

The bridge is scheduled to be closed from midnight to 5 a.m. Tuesday and again from midnight to 5 a.m. Wednesday. The bridge center span will be raised during those periods.

During this time, Archer Western Contractors, which built the new bridge connecting Portsmouth and Kittery, will make adjustments to the lift machinery. Once this work is completed, the bridge will remain open to traffic.

In October, an old plaque salvaged from the original Memorial Bridge is scheduled to be mounted on the Portsmouth end of the new bridge.

BREWER

Police arrest two teenagers in home invasion attempt

Police say they’ve arrested two teenagers in connection with an attempted home invasion.

Police said two masked individuals, armed with a knife and an Airsoft gun designed to look real, tried to break into a home Thursday night while the homeowners slept. The two fled before police arrived.

A search for the suspects was conducted by police in Bangor, Holden and Orrington, the Maine State Police and the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office. The two boys, ages 16 and 17, were taken into custody about 11 p.m.

SKOWHEGAN

Two young boys charged with vandalizing business

Police say boys ages 8 and 10 have been charged with vandalizing an auto repair shop and causing an estimated $10,000 in damage to several vehicles.

Police Chief Ted Blais said tires were slashed, paint was scratched, windshields smashed and vehicle bodies dented last weekend.

Blais said the results of the police investigation will be turned over to the juvenile division of the District Attorney’s Office for possible prosecution.

Dominick Rinaldi Jr., co-owner of Rinaldi & Sons Auto Repairs, told the Morning Sentinel that one of the vehicles damaged is a 1961 Chrysler 300G, worth about $100,000. He said he’ll be forced to repair the vehicles, because the insurance deductible is applied to each car individually, not as a group.

STARKS

No word on any charges from dump truck fatality

The police investigation into the death of an 84-year-old Anson man who was struck by a dump truck in Starks on Tuesday continues with no word yet on possible charges.

The dump truck, a 2005 International registered to the town of Starks, was driven by Ronald Giguere, 71, of Solon, a Starks employee.

Giguere is the former Solon road commissioner. He was in office for about 16 years before being defeated in 2012 by Michael Foster.

Dale Lancaster, chief deputy of the Somerset County Sheriff’s Department, said the investigation into the accident is wrapping up and the report will be submitted to the District Attorney’s Office.

He said investigators will confer with assistant district attorneys.

– From staff and news services

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