GE could move 80 Bangor jobs overseas

BANGOR (AP) — General Electric Co. may move about 500 American jobs — including about 80 in Maine — overseas because Congress did not renew a government program that allows foreign companies to borrow money to buy U.S. products. Authorization for the U.S. Export Import Bank was not approved by Congress, forcing it to stop lending July 1. Foreign companies use the agency to buy expensive U.S. products when bank loans are not possible. The company plans to move the jobs from the facilities in Maine, Texas, New York and South Carolina to France, Hungary and China. The Bangor facility, which employs about 450 people, produces parts for power turbines, and GE says 80 of the jobs could be moved to France.

Police: Saco man died in lawnmower accident

SACO (AP) — Authorities say an elderly Maine man was killed in a lawnmower accident. Police were called to a Saco property around 6 p.m. Monday on reports that a man was found dead beneath a lawn tractor at the base of an embankment. Family members told police that 73-year-old Stephen Rice of Saco started performing lawn maintenance at 3 p.m. on Boom Road. They found him several hours later when he didn’t return. Police say a preliminary investigation shows that his death was accidental. The medical examiner’s office will also review the investigation to determine if further testing is warranted.

Box truck hits, kills North Carolina man

BAR HARBOR (AP) — Police say a North Carolina man is dead after he was hit by a box truck on state Route 3 in Maine. The Portland Press Herald reports police said in a release 79-year-old Roger Beghtol, of Hendersonville, was standing outside his 2010 Buick Lacrosse on a dirt shoulder Tuesday in Bar Harbor when a 2007 Chevrolet truck crossed the centerline and struck the Buick. Beghtol was airlifted to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, where he died. 73-year-old Sally Beghtol and 41-year-old Miguel Garcia, of Bangor, who was driving

the box truck, were taken to Mount Desert Island Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Route 3 was closed for several hours. Police say the cause of the crash is under investigation. No charges have been filed.

Man appeals to state supreme court

AUGUSTA (AP) — A Maine man who was stripped of his right to a lawyer wants to have his conviction tossed. Joshua Nisbet, who’s serving a seven-year sentence for robbery, contends his constitutional rights were violated when a judge stripped him of right to counsel. The state says he forfeited his right to an attorney because he was unable to get along with any of his five court-appointed lawyers. The state supreme court will hear arguments in the case today. Nisbet, who has no legal training, ended up handling his own defense while two standby attorneys assigned by the court assisted him without addressing the jurors. He may be the first criminal defendant in Maine to lose the right to a courtappointed attorney after qualifying for one based on his economic need.

LePage endorses Hire-a-Vet’ program

‘ AUGUSTA (AP) — Gov. Paul LePage and first lady Ann LePage are endorsing the Maine Hire-A-Vet Campaign. The campaign is taking place over 100 days with the goal of committing at least 100 employers to recruit veterans and resulting in at least 100 veterans hired. The campaign kicked off on Labor Day, and LePage is providing an update today. It provides support for employers including a network of state and federal

agencies, resources and nonprofits; education on military language and culture; and assistance with recruiting, hiring, and retention.

Public hearing on sea urchin transplant

AUGUSTA (AP) — Maine fishing regulators are holding a public hearing on a plan to close an area to sea urchin fishing so they can gauge a project that would transplant the creatures. A proposed new regulation would close sea urchin harvesting in the Cat Ledges area off of Southport until

May 1, 2018. The state says the transplant is a means of re-establishing a colony of “commercially viable urchins” in an area that formerly supported a wild harvest. A public hearing on the closure was scheduled for Tuesday in Augusta. The state is also accepting public comment until Sept. 27. State officials say the transplant is planned for this fall and work has begun on the project. Maine urchins are harvested commercially because their roe is used in food.

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