Ranked Choice Voting
(Portland) – A federal judge has ruled that the Republican Party will use ranked choice voting in next month’s primary election. The party filed suit to prevent the complicated ranking system from use during the party primary. Judge John Levy threw out the suit in a 20-page decision released yesterday. Four Republicans seek the GOP gubernatorial nomination. If none of those candidates gets a majority of the votes cast, the complex ranked choice counting system will determine the winner.
Bradley Fire
(Bradley) – No one is hurt, but 8-people living in a sprawling building in Bradley lost everything to fire yesterday. WABI-TV reports the first firefighters arriving on the Pine Street scene saw flames shooting from the roof. Fire officials say a mattress leaning against a kitchen stove ignited, and the flames spread quickly. The building owner did not have insurance. The Red Cross is assisting the displaced residents.
Linn – Votes won’t count
(Ellsworth) – Campaign signs have started appearing around Hancock County declaring that Max Linn is Trump Strong, and implying that Republicans ought to vote for him in next month’s primary for the US Senate. Just one problem – Linn got kicked out of the primary a couple of weeks ago by the State Supreme Court. Secretary of State Matt Dunlap says any votes for Linn will register as blanks in voting machines. Linn’s campaign website urges people to vote for him despite the high court’s ruling.
School Lockdown
(Rockland) – Police put a Rockland man into protective custody yesterday after he claimed that voices told him to shoot up a school. Village Soup-dot Com reports a third person alerted Rockland police to the threat and officers descended on Oceanside High School, South Elementary School, and regional Mid-Coast School of Technology yesterday morning. The Knox County Sheriff’s Office sent back-up as entry to each building was limited during the 40-minute lockout. The suspect was taken to Pen Bay Medical Center for evaluation – that outcome will determine whether police file charges.
Drug House Sentence
(Old Town) An Old Town woman will spend 3-and-a-half-years behind bars for maintaining a drug involved premises. Court records say between 2013 and 2015 Alialin Doughty allowed several people to use her Bangor apartment to package and sell crack, heroin and oxycodone. The 29-year-old pled guilty last October and was sentenced this week.
Traffic Stop-Drugs
(Franklin) Police arrested two men in Franklin after state police allegedly found drugs in their car. A trooper pulled over 45-year-old Joseph Strout of Cherryfield on Sunday. A state police K9 allegedly sniffed out more than 16 grams of crack cocaine and over a gram of heroin. Strout is charged with Unlawful Trafficking and Unlawful Possession of Scheduled Drugs. Troopers also arrested his passenger, 45-year-old Clifford Seavey for unpaid fines.
Emera Theft
(Eastbrook) Another Hancock County resident has been charged for allegedly stealing electricity from Emera Maine. The Sheriff’s Office reports 36-year-old Aaron Merchant of Eastbrook was charged last week with Theft of Services. In April, 61 year old Donald Murphy of Tremont was charged with the same crime.
Mutual Aid Drill
(Bar Harbor) Local agencies and Acadia National Park are hosting a mutual aid drill to cross train staff from different agencies in an effort to improve effectiveness and efficiencies in large-scale events. The drill will feature a fictional house fire at a park employee’s residence after an extended drought. Volunteers and firefighters will practice with wildland fire equipment, department officers and staff will practice structure triage in a wildland fire setting, and fire chiefs will establish unified command in a fast paced expanding crisis. The mutual aid drill is this Saturday morning from 8 ’til Noon at the south end of Echo Lake.
Fatal ATV Crash
(Bingham) A New Hampshire man died in an ATV crash in Bingham. Maine game wardens responded to a trail along the Kennebec River, Sunday evening and found 55-year-old Charles Goodstein dead in the wreckage. The operator of the side-by-side, Blake Barker also of New Hampshire, was found unresponsive and airlifted to EMMC in critical condition. The Maine Warden Service says speed is a factor and they continue to investigate.
Seymour Obit
(Frankfort) – Fort Knox in Prospect has lost its strongest advocate. Leon Seymour served as the executive director of Friends of Fort Knox for years and is credited with establishing the wildly popular Fright at the Fort Event each Halloween. He died early Tuesday after a battle with lung cancer. Today would have been his 65th birthday.
Snack Burglar
(OLD ORCHARD BEACH) Police in Maine say a burglar helped himself to three frozen pizzas and some ice cream at a church before vandalizing the building. The Journal Tribune reports the suspect made their way into the Old Orchard Beach United Methodist Church through a door that was left open. Pastor Michael Gray said in an email the burglar ate food and broke the church’s food pantry along with a vase and some other objects.
Moped Death
(Kennebunk) Police in Maine say 40-year-old man was killed over the weekend when his moped struck a guard rail. Authorities say the crash happened Friday night in Kennebunk. Police say Andrew Giles, of Arundel, was thrown from a moped when the vehicle left the road and struck a guardrail.
CMP Suit
(Portland) Some Central Maine Power customers are organizing a class action lawsuit against the utility concerning high power bills experienced last winter. CMP Ratepayers Unite said in a statement Monday attorneys representing the group had retained a New York-based firm to help prepare the suit. More than 1,000 customers saw high winter power bills during the same period the utility company had billing system problems.
Salmon Deal
(Portland) Two conservation groups say a deal has been struck with commercial fishermen in Greenland and the Faroe Islands to protect thousands of vulnerable Atlantic salmon. The Atlantic Salmon Federation and North Atlantic Salmon Fund they their new deal with Greenland and Faroe Island fishers will allow more of the fish to return to the rivers of North America and Europe.
Sports
- Boston Red Sox 8 Toronto Blue Jays 3 (Sandy Leon, Xander Bogaerts homered, Rick Porcello got the win).
- Eduardo Rodriguez will start against the Jays this afternoon.
High School Baseball
Ellsworth 8 MDI 3
Bangor 10 Hampden 0
Belfast 6 Camden Hills 4
Brewer 7 Nokomis 3
Old Town 4 John Bapst 0
Hermon 9 Foxcroft 7
Softball
Ellsworth 9 MDI 3
Old Town 12 John Bapst 0
Brewer 6 Nokomis 2
Belfast 11 Camden Hills 9
Bangor 5 Hampden 3
