Deliberations in lawsuit targeting activist

PORTLAND (AP) — The lawyer for a Maine activist accused of defaming an orphanage founder in Haiti says jurors would have to discount the testimony of seven sexual abuse accusers to award damages.

But the lawyer for Michael Geilenfeld, founder of St. Joseph’s Home for Boys in Port au Prince, says Paul Kendrick is a cyberbully and vigilante who made reckless accusations that he likened to a “Scud missile” attack.

Geilenfeld contends the accusations caused him to be falsely imprisoned for 237 days and cost a North Carolina-based charity, Hearts with Haiti, more than $2 million in donations.

Kendrick, for his part, stands behind his accusation that Geilenfeld is a serial pedophile.

Jurors in the defamation lawsuit began deliberations Thursday after lawyers finished closing arguments in federal court in Portland, Maine.

MSBE elects new chair, vice chair

AUGUSTA (AP) — The Maine State Board of Education has selected its new leadership.

The state Department of Education said Thursday that Martha Harris, a Winterport resident who has been on the board for nearly five years, has been elected chair. Alan Burton, a Winslow resident who has served on the board for almost one year, has been named vice chair.

Harris has been on the RSU 22 School Board for more than two decades and recently served on the Leadership Study group at the National Association of State Boards of Education. She has practiced law in Bangor since 1977.

Burton is vice president of the Cianbro Companies. He was a driving force behind the founding of the Cianbro Institute, which provides training, education and workforce development programs to employees.

Written arguments due in veto dispute

AUGUSTA (AP) — The deadline is approaching for people to file written arguments as Maine’s highest court prepares to consider whether Gov. Paul LePage inadvertently allowed dozens of bills to become law.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court has asked interested parties to file briefs on whether the case represents a “solemn occasion” that merits its consideration and on the legal arguments by 4 p.m. on Friday.

The Legislature refused to consider 65 vetoes from LePage this month because they say he missed his deadline to act on the bills.

Republican Senate President Michael Thibodeau and Democratic House Speaker Mark Eves have hired an attorney to represent the Legislature in the dispute.

House Republican Leader Ken Fredette, who supports LePage’s position, is using private funds to hire an attorney to represent his caucus.

Grant to help pay for JAX genetic course

BAR HARBOR ( AP) — The National Institute of General Medical Sciences is giving $118,838 to help pay for Jackson Laboratory’s upcoming course on genetics.

The Bar Harbor laboratory is holding the Short Course on Systems Genetics from Sept. 27 to Oct. 3. The course is designed to help scientists from different backgrounds learn more about genetics.

The laboratory says the course will provide an intensive curr1iculum in data analysis methods. Topics covered will include advances in mouse genetics, genetic mapping and computational modeling of complex system.

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences is one of 27 institutes that form the National Institutes of Health.

BIA to undergo $14M renovation

BANGOR (AP) — Bangor International Airport is getting a $14 million renovation of its domestic flights terminal.

WLBZ-TV reports the renovations will upgrade nearly every part of the terminal.

Airport Director Tony Caruso says the project’s primary goal is to make passenger flow throughout the terminal. He says it’s an upgrade the airport has needed for a long time.

The money will come from a federal Homeland Security grant and other sources.

The first phase of renovation is expected to be complete by October 2016.

Troy man charged with choking boy

TROY (AP) — A 22-yearold Troy man is facing an assault charge for allegedly choking a 12-year-old boy.

The Waldo County Sheriff ’s Office said Thursday that Paul Hustus placed the placed the boy in a chokehold for several minutes to the point that he almost blacked out.

Sheriff ’s deputies responded to a Troy home on Wednesday evening after getting called by the alleged victim’s mother.

Witnesses say the boy was in obvious distress and police found marks on his neck and ruptured blood vessels.

Hustus told police he was “just horsing around” and didn’t think he had squeezed the boy that hard.

Hustus is free on $1,500 bail.

Cause sought in death of man in lake

ELLSWORTH (AP) — Police are working to determine what caused the death of a 53-year-old man who was found floating unresponsive in Ellsworth’s Green Lake.

Ellsworth police have said it appears that 53-year-old Richard Garland of Ellsworth drowned on Wednesday. But Chief Chris Coleman tells WNSX-FM that authorities are waiting for test results before they determine what caused the Garland’s death. Coleman says he believes that the Ellsworth man had health problems.

Witnesses say that Garland was swimming at a private beach and dove under water about 15 feet from the shore and didn’t resurface. Officials say that witnesses pulled Garland from the water and called emergency responders, who tried unsuccessfully to revive him.

Man gets 10 years for dinner party shooting

AUGUSTA (AP) — A Maine man will spend 10 years in jail for inadvertently shooting a man in the leg during an evening of dinner and games.

A judge sentenced 32-yearold Paul Nicholas Coyne of Winthrop on Wednesday. He pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and illegal possession of a firearm in June.

The Kennebec Journal reports a sentencing memo by Coyne’s attorney says victim Josh Belyea tried to grab a firearm in Coyne’s hand, which resulted in a struggle. The firearm then discharged and Belyea was shot in the leg. The men had become embroiled in a fight at the end of a night of dinner, drinks and games at a woman’s apartment in Gardiner.

Coyne also admitted violating probation and will receive a 42-month probation revocation.

Contingency funds given to nonprofits

AUGUSTA (AP) — Gov. Paul LePage has given state contingency funds to several nonprofit organizations.

The Republican governor said Thursday he allocated roughly $230,000 in emergency funds left over from the previous fiscal year to 14 nonprofits and community programs.

Among the groups that received the funds is the House in the Woods, an organization located in Lee that offers free outdoor retreat programs to veterans and their families. The group is getting $20,000.

Other groups benefiting from the funds include the My Place Teen Center in Westbrook, the Highlands Senior Center in Dover-Foxcroft and the Challenger Learning Center in Bangor.

The Legislature sets aside a certain amount of funds every fiscal year that the governor is free to hand out at his discretion.

Unity woman gets one year for robbery

AUGUSTA (AP) — A Unity woman has been sentenced to a year in jail for her role in a pharmacy robbery in Manchester.

Brooke Frost, who formerly lived in Manchester, was sentenced Wednesday to serve 12 months behind bars, with 33 months suspended and three years of probation. She has already served eight months awaiting trial.

The 24-year-old Frost pleaded guilty in January to robbery, stealing drugs and unlawful possession of scheduled drugs, for her role in the robbery of a Rite-Aid pharmacy on Sept. 6.

Frost wore a hat and baggy clothing as she handed the pharmacist a note saying, “Give me Percocet I have a gun.” She was given two bottles with oxycodone pills and a tracker bottle.

A man also involved in the robbery has already been sentenced.

Man charged in fatal stabbing to face trial

AUGUSTA (AP) — An Augusta man charged with fatally stabbing his live-in girlfriend is scheduled to go on trial next year.

The Kennebec Journal reports that a judge Wednesday scheduled 40-year-old Justin Pillsbury’s trial for March.

Pillsbury is charged with murder in connection with the death of Jillian Jones at their Augusta apartment in 2013. Authorities say he was angry because she talked to another man on the phone. He pleaded not guilty last year and is being held in jail.

In September 2014, he sought to have statements he made to police kept out of trial, claiming he was too sedated to think straight. That motion was denied by Murphy, who said that Pillsbury had “sufficient control of his faculties.”

Infestation of browntail moths high this year

PORTLAND (AP) — Maine officials are warning residents that this year’s infestation of an invasive caterpillar is high.

The state Agriculture Department says winter web counts for browntail moths were high this year in parts of Cumberland and Sagadahoc counties. There are also pockets of infestations reported in three other counties.

Browntail moth caterpillar hairs can cause a blistery, oozy rash or respiratory distress for people who come into contact with them.

The Portland Press Herald reports web surveys conducted by the Maine Forest Service found the highest counts in Bowdoinham, Bath, Topsham, West Bath, Brunswick, Freeport and Harpswell. The moths’ webs also showed up in places including Cape Elizabeth, Scarborough, Westbrook, Windham, New Gloucester and Yarmouth.

The invasive moth arrived in the country around 1910 on a nursery stock from Europe.