Pyle Obit
(Mt. Desert) – The long-time library director in Northeast Harbor has died. Robert Pyle retired a little over 7-years ago after nearly 40-years at the library. Pyle was also an officer with the Mt. Desert Police Department, and once arrested a man in the library who had attempted to steal rare books. Pyle died on Christmas Day at the age of 73.
Counterfeit
(Union) – A 55-year old West Gardiner man is accused of passing a counterfeit bill at a Knox County convenience store. Village Soup dot-com reports deputies issued a summons to Scott Darville on theft charges after he allegedly tried to use a fake $100-dollar bill at the Four Corners Variety in Union a week ago. He’s also a suspect in a similar theft at a small store in Washington. When the owner at the Union store attempted confront Darville, he allegedly set fire to the fake hundred. The Knox County Sheriff’s Department says it has left a message for the Secret Service.
Downeast Innovation Grant
(Bucksport) An organization in Bucksport has received a grant that will help them purchase new equipment and software, and allows them to hire a consultant to create a strategic plan to better promote downtown Bucksport. Main Street Bucksport announced this week they received a Downeast Innovation Grant worth $97-hundred-dollars from the Maine Community Foundation. In 2018 more than 6,300-people attended Main Street Bucksport’s events.
National Park Maintenance
(Ellsworth) At year’s end, the “Restore Our Parks Act” ended up being sidelined in Congress, one of many priorities that stalled in the government-shutdown debate. The delay affects Maine’s four national parks and monuments, which need at least 61-million dollars worth of repairs. But the bill’s backers plan to reintroduce it in 2019. Republican state senator Brian Langley, whose term just ended, supports the bill saying it’s the kind of federal legislation that should get bipartisan backing. The bill would provide up to 6-and-a-half billion-dollars over a 5-year period to help with the national parks’ maintenance backlog across the country.
Another Drug Arrest
(Ellsworth) A Sullivan woman spent Christmas in jail after state troopers allegedly found drugs in her car. Maine state police report that on Sunday morning troopers pulled over 50-year-old Melissa Morse on the Bangor Road in Ellsworth. The officers noticed indications of criminal activity in the car and a search turned up heroin, meth, Ecstasy, Suboxone, Ritalin and other pills. Morse is held at the Hancock County Jail on $10-thousand-dollars bail and more charges are pending.
Fatal Crash – Waldo Cty
(Waldo) The Waldo County Sheriff’s Department says black ice may be responsible for a crash that killed a Brooks woman on Christmas Eve. Deputies responded to the Waldo Station Road in Waldo after midnight on Monday. 27-year-old Sarah Leclerc had strayed off the road and hit a tree. She died shortly after an ambulance carried her to the hospital. Police say Leclerc was not wearing a seatbelt.
Crime Spree
(Waterboro) A Standish man was jailed for an alleged string of crimes committed in York County. WABI-TV reports 35-year-old Derek Tarbox is accused of stealing a car, running it out of gas and stealing a second car, crashing that car, breaking into a home, eating their food, taking a shower, then dressing in the homeowner’s clothes and was found watching TV in their house. The Waterboro homeowner told police that Tarbox said he though the home belonged to a friend. Tarbox convinced the man to drive him to Hollis, but upon returning home the victim discovered the back door had been forced open, food was missing and the house had been ransacked. Tarbox faces many charges and was due in court yesterday.
Bank Robbery
(Bangor) – A 2nd bank robbery in less than a week has Bangor police detectives comparing notes to see if the two are related. Yesterday’s holdup at a Key Bank branch on Bangor Mall Boulevard remains under investigation. A man described in his 20s or 30s demanded money but did not show a weapon. Police, as is usually the case, did not say how much money the robber took yesterday morning. They’re also not saying whether the robbery is related to a hold up last Friday at the nearby TD Bank branch on Stillwater Avenue.
Sports
- The Celtics face the Rockets in Houston tonight
- The Bruins host the New Jersey Devils at the TD Garden tonight
- The inaugural Hall of Fame high school basketball tournament gets under way today and continues tomorrow at the Cross Center in Bangor
- Minnesota won its football bowl game last night. Former U-Maine coach Joe Harasymiak who left a few days ago to take the defensive coordinator job at Minnesota was on hand for the Golden Gophers 34-to-10 win over Georgia Tech.
