Drug Sentence
(Portland) – A 40-year old Connecticut drug dealer who peddled his poisonous wares in Biddeford will spend his next 25-years in federal prison. The US Attorney’s Office reports to Star 97.7 that Erick Adams received his sentence in Portland. Adams pled guilty nearly a year ago. Drug agents say he worked selling crack, cocaine and heroin from homes in Biddeford and kept drugs in a storage unit. When agents raided a hotel room in January 2016, they seized 103 grams of crack, 6-grams of heroin, 33-grams of cocaine and $26-thousand dollars in cash, and seized a lot more drugs the next day from the storage unit.
Lamoine Town Meeting
(Lamoine) – Voters unanimously passed a nearly $3-million dollar school budget in Lamoine last night. The budget is up 8-and-a-half percent and will likely result in a small property tax increase for the Hancock County town. Increased high school tuition costs led to the overall budget increase. Voters also approved an ordinance change that will give the Planning Board the power to revoke permits for gravel pit operators if they fail to restore those pits when they say they will.
County Treasurer
(Ellsworth) – No one has taken out nomination papers to run as Hancock County’s Treasurer in any of the political parties, and that may lead to election of a write-in candidate in November. Many years ago the County Commissioners asked voters to make the elected treasurer’s office an appointed position, but voters rejected the idea. The Ellsworth American reports county commissioners are exploring the idea again.
Belfast Superintendent
(Belfast) – The Regional School unit in the Belfast area has chosen a new superintendent of schools from within. Village Soup dot-com reports current Belfast High School principal Mary Alice McLean will become the superintendent of schools for RSU 71 on July 1st. She replaces Paul Knowles who is resigning from the post. McLean has served as a school administrator for 22-years.
Chamber Awards
(Ellsworth) – Ellsworth’s business community will hand out its annual awards tonight. The Chamber of Commerce has named Star 97.7 co-owner Natalie Knox as the Citizen of the Year, and the Downeast Family YMCA will bring home the top drawer award. The banquet is under a tent set up in the YMCA’s parking lot.
Alewife Counting
(Orland) Thousands of alewives will return to the Narramissic River watershed between now and sometime in July, but just how many? That’s what volunteers hope to find out when they count the fish ascending the Toddy Pond fish ladder at the dam in Orland. Resident Jake Maier is coordinating the volunteer counting effort. Maier says watching the fish return is quite a sight. To learn more about becoming a volunteer counter, look up Forester Jake Maier online for contact information.
Breast Cancer
(Ellsworth) Some of the pink tulips blooming around Ellsworth are more than just eye-pleasing; they’re part of the Pink Tulip Project initiated by local breast cancer survivor Stacey Giancarlo Estes. She established the tulip gardens to raise money and awareness about breast cancer. Giancarlo-Estes tells Star 97-7 planting beautiful flowers is a way for her to give back to the community that stepped up after her diagnosis in 2005. Pink tulip bulbs will be sold during the Pink Tulip Festival and Ellsworth Garden Club’s Plant Sale. The events are combined at Donald Little Park on State Street this Saturday from 9 ’til 2, rain or shine.
Officers Memorial
(Augusta) When a shroud gets pulled from a granite memorial in Augusta today, another name will adorn the monument that pays homage to Maine police officers killed in the line of duty. The observance will honor Fryeburg officer Nathan Desjardins. Desjardins died last year attempting a water rescue in the Saco River. His is the 85th name added to the memorial. Next year they’ll add Eugene Cole’s name. The Somerset County deputy was shot to death last month in Norridgewock.
Great American Read
(Ellsworth) A PBS documentary series airing this fall titled “The Great American Read” will celebrate America’s 100 most beloved books. And the Ellsworth Public Library has been chosen to host programs based around the 8-part-TV series thanks to a grant from the American Library Association and PBS. An exclusive screening of the first episode will show at The Grand Theater this Monday night at 7. This summer and fall, people are invited to vote for their favorite book from the list to determine Ellsworth’s pick for The Great American Read.
Bus Vandalism
(Poland) Officials canceled school yesterday for students in RSU 16 in the Poland/Mechanic Falls area after discovering someone vandalized the entire fleet of buses. Damage totaled more than $12-thousand-dollars. Androscoggin County Chief Deputy William Gagne tells the Sun Journal that police have obtained surveillance video showing two white males concealing their faces while at the RSU 16 administrative office in Poland around 12:30 Wednesday morning. They slashed tires on 22 buses and one pickup truck.
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) – Police in Maine’s largest city say no one will be charged in the stabbing death of a 31-year-old man in the city because the stabbing occurred in self-defense. Anthony Best died as a result of the April 2016 stabbing, which took place during an altercation in a parking lot. Police say a fight ensued in which Best was stabbed several times in the torso, and an investigation reveals that he was the aggressor in the incident.
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) – A civil liberties attorney says Maine is “putting its thumb on the scale of a highly personal decision” by paying for pregnancy care but declining to pay to end pregnancies. The American Civil Liberties Union of Maine contends Maine’s Medicaid program, called MaineCare, is discriminating in care it offers to pregnant women. But a state attorney says the right to an abortion doesn’t carry with it the right to a government-paid abortion.
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) – The Maine attorney general’s office is taking civil action against two white men accused of attacking an African-American man last month. Law enforcement officials say 27-year-old Dusty Leo and 34-year-old Maurice Diggins insulted the victim with a racial epithet before attacking him outside a convenience store in Biddeford. They say the men broke the victim’s jaw and knocked him to the ground, then chased him in a truck.
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) – Maine Republican Rep. Bruce Poliquin is backing President Donald Trump’s plan to cut $15 billion in federal spending on children’s health insurance and other programs, saying the money would be “wasted” otherwise. Close to half of the proposed cuts target the Children’s Health Insurance Program, canceling $5.1 billion in funding that wasn’t used and $1.9 billion in a rainy-day fund. Poliquin tells the Lewiston Sun Journal the cuts won’t affect federal spending or enrollment in the program.
Sports
- Boston Red Sox 6 Oakland A’s 4 (Xander Bogaerts & JD Martinez with home runs).
- David Price gets the start today for the Sox against the Orioles
- Houston Rockets 127 Golden State Warriors 105 (NBA Western Conference final tied 1-1)
High School Baseball
Bucksport 2 Orono 0
Bangor 7 Hampden 0
Washington Academy 3 Calais 2
Searsport 4 Stearns 3
Softball
Bucksport 17 Orono 3
Hampden 5 Bangor 4
Belfast 4 MDI 0
Searsport 6 Stearns 4
