2 remain hospitalized after boats collide

OTISFIELD (AP) — Maine wardens say two children remain hospitalized following a collision between two boats on Thompson Lake that sent eight people to the hospital.

Wardens say Kenneth Bartow of Biddeford and two children were ejected from his boat, which then ran aground on Thursday. They say the other boat was operated by Matthew Nolan of Potomac, Maryland.

Wardens said eight of the 10 people were hurt, and that five of the injured were children, including a 9-year-old who was airlifted to a hospital.

Wardens said Friday that the two children who remain hospitalized appear to be stable. Sgt. Kris Barboza said the cause of the accident remains under investigation.

Transient fires pellet gun in Portland

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Police say a transient is in custody after firing several shots from a high-powered pellet gun at a security guard outside a downtown building in Maine’s largest city.

The unarmed security guard, Mike Conicelli, said he got into an altercation with the man Friday morning outside One City Center after he asked the man to move along.

He said the man pulled a gun, but he thought it was a fake. He said it wasn’t until later when he saw that the glass doors had been shattered that he realized the gun was real. Conicelli wasn’t hit.

Portland Police say 36-year-old Ajay Narayanan was charged with criminal mischief, criminal threatening and reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon. He was being held at the Cumberland County Jail.

Landlord pleads not guilty to fire charges

PORTLAND (AP) — The owner of a Portland apartment house where six tenants died in a Nov. 1 fire has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter.

Six manslaughter charges were brought against Gregory Nisbet after plea negotiations broke down following the fire that was deadliest in Maine in 40 years. He entered his pleas Friday in Superior Court in Portland.

Investigators said improperly disposed smoking materials on the porch started the fire and that the house didn’t have functioning smoke detectors. A civil lawsuit alleges that an exit was blocked.

Nisbet’s lawyer, Matt Nichols, said previously that Nisbet installed smoke detectors but tenants disabled them.

He said it may have been a code violation but didn’t rise to the level of gross negligence.

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