Bishop Robert Deeley welcomes pope to U.S.

PORTLAND (AP) — The leader of Maine’s Roman Catholics is joining in welcoming Pope Francis to the U.S.

Bishop Robert Deeley says the interest in the pope’s visit shows that “despite the signs of the secular world turning away from faith, there is a search for meaning in the hearts of all.”

President Barack Obama and his wife and daughters on Tuesday welcomed Francis at Andrews Air Force Base after the pope’s chartered plane touched down from Cuba.

During his six-day, threecity visit to the U.S., the pope will meet with the president, address Congress, speak at the United Nations in New York and take part in a Vatican sponsored conference on the family in Philadelphia.

Sunday River resort tests its snow guns

NEWRY (AP) — Maine has been experiencing a phenomenal stretch of warm, sunny weather but that hasn’t stopped a Maine ski resort from testing its snow guns.

Sunday River completed a full test of its systems at daybreak Tuesday, firing up 40 snow guns as it prepares for the season that typically starts around Halloween.

Resort President and General Manager Dana said the early snowmaking test on the last day of summer is “proof we are ready to get back on the hill.”

The warm weather has delayed the change of leaves on trees but it was cold enough overnight for the resort to test its guns. The resort has not yet set an opening date.

Mainer diagnosed with West Nile

AUGUSTA (AP) — The Maine Center for Disease Control says a Mainer has contracted West Nile virus.

The Maine CDC said Tuesday that the man is believed to have been exposed to the mosquitoborne illness while traveling in several mid-Atlantic states earlier this month. The individual’s identity was not released.

It’s the second confirmed human case in Maine; in 2012 a Cumberland County man was hospitalized.

Dr. Siiri Bennett, Maine’s state epidemiologist, says Mainers should take precautions to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes, which have remained active in the warmer weather. She notes that one mosquito pool in York County has tested positive for Eastern Equine Encephalitis, another mosquito borne virus, on Friday.

Man to admit to supermarket murder

SACO (AP) — The lawyer for a 31-year-old man accused of fatally stabbing a woman in a Maine supermarket says he plans to plead guilty to murder.

Police arrested Connor MacCalister, of Saco, in August and charged him with killing 59-year-old Wendy Boudreau at a Shaw’s supermarket. Court records show a grand jury indicted him on Sept. 10.

MacCalister’s attorney Robert LeBrasseur says the guilty plea is not part of a negotiated deal and that his client is accepting responsibility for his actions. He says MacCalister will plead guilty on Oct. 8.

MacCalister previously pleaded not guilty at a court appearance last month and a judge ordered him to undergo a mental exam.

Records state that Mac- Calister said he was “off my meds” at the time of the stabbing.

Man pleads guilty to producing child porn

BANGOR (AP) — A 27- year-old Maine man faces up to 110 years in prison after admitting in federal court that he produced child pornography.

The Portland Press Herald reports the U.S. Attorney’s office says Timothy Klimas, of Bangor, sexually abused three children between 2012 and 2014. Prosecutors say he used a digital camera and his cellphone to record images of the children and posted them online.

Klimas pleaded guilty Tuesday and is slated to be sentenced following a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office. He also faces a $1 million fine.

Klimas was arrested in August 2014 following an investigation by the FBI and local police departments.

3 Portland parks get bins for used needles

PORTLAND (AP) — Officials in Maine’s largest city hope new trash containers will cut down on the number of used needles found in parks, but the program is getting off to a slow start.

WMTW-TV reports that new boxes for sharp items like needles are attached to Big Belly solar trash cans at Peppermint, Harbor View and Deering Oaks parks.

City workers collect used needles left inside once a week. But WMTW reported Tuesday that only one needle was collected in the first two weeks.

The city, like the rest of Maine, is dealing with an epidemic of heroin use. City officials said more publicity could help increase the use of the boxes.

Man gets probation for theft of VA benefits

BANGOR (AP) — A Wayne man has been sentenced to two years of probation and fined $8,000 after pleading guilty to illegally receiving veterans’ unemployment benefits while he had a job.

Lawrence A. Stewart was sentenced Tuesday for theft of public money. He also was ordered to pay to nearly $54,000 in restitution to the Veterans Administration.

Prosecutors say the 48- year-old Stewart received more than $54,000 in benefits to which he was not entitled between August 2011 and January of this year.

Stewart was earning $6,200 a month through his job at one point while collecting more than $3,300 a month in unemployability benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Prosecutors say Stewart was entitled to receive about $1,800 monthly in disability benefits, but not unemployability benefits.

Stewart pleaded guilty in April