Portland

Falmouth teen indicted on four criminal charges

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State Police troopers work the scene of a tractor trailer accident on Tuesday at Mile 111 in the northbound lane of Interstate 95 in Augusta. Traffic was backed up as it narrowed to one lane to go around the scene.

Logan Valle, the teenager from Falmouth who police suspect set fire to his family’s home in November after he was kicked out for erratic behavior, has been indicted by the Cumberland County grand jury on four criminal charges, none of them arson.

According to the county’s indictment list, the 18-year-old Falmouth High School graduate has been indicted on charges of burglary, theft, criminal trespass and criminal mischief.

Valle was arrested on Nov. 15. Police say he broke into two houses in Falmouth while naked. Health care workers said he was suffering from a drug overdose – possibly the synthetic stimulant known as bath salts, according to court documents.

Minutes before Valle was arrested, police were called to 12 Inverness Road in Falmouth for a massive fire at his parents’ home. He has not been charged in connection with that fire or with an attempt to set fire to a Chevrolet Tahoe in which he had been sleeping.

A police affidavit indicates that police have probable cause to believe that Valle set fire to his family’s home, but both fires remain under investigation by the State Fire Marshal’s Office.

Dayton

Two arrested on meth possession charges

Drug agents and Maine State Police troopers arrested two Dayton residents Monday night on charges of possessing methamphetamine.

The Maine Drug Enforcement Agency charged Richard C. Tozier, 56, and Amy Reynolds, 47, with possessing methamphetamine, a felony, and violating conditions of release, a misdemeanor.

Acting on a tip that Tozier was making methamphetamine, agents searched his house and found about 2 grams of the drug. In a shed on the property, they found items used in making meth but there was no current drug-making operation, police said.

Tozier was arrested four years ago in connection with a pharmacy robbery in York County. Reynolds was also arrested Monday on two charges of failing to appear in court.

Agents plan to seek charges against the people who provided pseudoephedrine, the cold medicine which is a necessary ingredient, police said. People are allowed to buy only a limited amount of the medicine, so makers of the drug often enlist the others to buy the material.

Kennebunk

Man charged in trafficking heroin related to overdoses

Kennebunk police and the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency on Tuesday charged a local man with aggravated trafficking in heroin in connection with three non-fatal overdoses.

Christopher Robart, 27, of 41 York St. in Kennebunk, was being held on $25,000 bail at the York County Jail after his arrest Dec. 17 on aggravated trafficking in heroin, the agencies announced in a news release. In the weeks since, the MDEA identified Robart as the source of heroin that resulted in three separate overdoses, two in Kennebunk and one in Lyman, the release said.

In all three cases, rescue workers used Narcan to reverse the effects of the heroin and saved the people’s lives.

Police charged Robart with two more counts of aggravated trafficking in heroin based on the overdose cases and his bail was increased by $50,000.

Augusta

Tractor-trailer accident closes I-95 lane in Augusta

A tractor-trailer accident shut down one northbound lane of Interstate 95 in Augusta on Tuesday and the wreck wasn’t expected to be removed until Wednesday morning. Motorists should continue to expect delays until then, police said.

The accident happened about 12:30 p.m. between exits 109 and 112 in Augusta near Bond Brook Bridge, the site of another tractor-trailer accident last week, according to a news release from Stephen McCausland of the Maine Department of Public Safety.

Although workers hoped to open the lane by Tuesday’s evening commute, McCausland said one lane would remain closed until Wednesday morning.

“It’s got a long way to go,” McCausland said.

The truck that crashed was a Trioiano Waste Services truck, according to McCausland.

Suspected co-conspirator in knifing pleads not guilty

The second of two women charged with attempting to kill a third woman by stabbing her as she sat behind the wheel of a car two months ago pleaded not guilty Tuesday at her arraignment in Kennebec County Superior Court.

Tiffany D. Glidden, 20, of Waterville, was indicted Dec. 17, 2014, on charges of aggravated attempted murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, elevated aggravated assault, aggravated assault and conspiracy to commit elevated aggravated assault. She was represented by attorney Darrick Banda.

A co-defendant, Carissa L. Butkewicz, 23, of Waterville, pleaded not guilty last week to the same charges related to the Nov. 4, 2014, incident just off Neck Road in China.

Police say the two texted Kathryn Hopkins, 24, to meet them there that evening. Hopkins told police that Butkewicz stabbed her in the stomach with a knife. According to an affidavit by Maine State Trooper Elisha Fowlie, Glidden told investigators that she waited behind a tree holding a bat while Butkewicz sat in the car with Hopkins. When Hopkins screamed and Butkewicz jumped from the car, Glidden began to smash the windshield of Hopkins’ car as she tried to leave, then ran to a nearby home to catch a ride back to Waterville.

LEWISTON

Commuters warned of delay from turnpike Exit 80 crash

Drivers who commute in the Lewiston area are being warned that they may encounter traffic delays Wednesday morning because a big-rig crash forced police to shut down the southbound Maine Turnpike exit to the city Tuesday night.

A tractor-trailer slammed into Jersey barriers at Exit 80 of the turnpike around 5 p.m. Tuesday, said Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

McCausland said the rig was demolished and leaking fuel and that southbound traffic near the crash site would remain limited to one lane throughout Tuesday night. He said morning commuter traffic on the southbound side of the turnpike will likely encounter delays.

Oakland

Diocese OKs town’s $150,000 offer for St. Theresa church

Oakland Town Manager Gary Bowman said Tuesday that the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland has accepted the town’s offer to pay $150,000 for the vacant St. Theresa Catholic Church on Church Street.

Bowman said the town is turning the offer over to the its attorney for review before moving forward with the plan to convert the church into a new town hall and community center.

“We’re just trying to make sure we get the best deal for the citizens,” Bowman said.

The Town Council plans to discuss the proposal during its regular public meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday. The proposal would require approval from the voters during Town Meeting on May 5.

Farmington

National journal cites Franklin Cty. health research

People living in a poor community do not necessarily have to have poor health, according to a Franklin County research project on cardiovascular disease that has garnered national attention.

Research published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that cardiovascular health in Franklin County was improved significantly, and mortality rates decreased in connection to a 40-year preventive health effort that an editorial in the journal said has the potential to be a model for other counties in the country.

“Low-income counties may not be doomed to poor health outcomes,” said Dr. Daniel Onion, a MaineGeneral physician and project co-author, at a news conference Tuesday on the study.

Dr. Roderick Prior, one of five co-authors with Franklin Community Health Network, said the health data they collected on the county stands out because it shows the cardiovascular health of Franklin County often on par with more affluent counties despite its lower socioeconomic standing, which traditionally means poorer health.

In a sustained effort defined by volunteer outreach, preventive health care and overlapping intervention efforts, the study showed these efforts were associated with reductions in hospitalization and death rates from 1970 to 2010 compared to the rest of the state.– From staff and news services

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