Old Town Fatal
(Old Town) – Police in Old Town say a 24-year old man died when a pickup truck struck him on Stillwater Avenue last evening. Deputy police chief Lee Miller reports to Star 97.7 that the pedestrian was crossing Bennoch Road around quarter past five when the truck, which had a snowplow on it, struck him. They’re not releasing names until family members are notified. Officers spent hours on the scene reconstructing the mishap.
Inmate Murder
(Warren) – An inmate serving time at the Maine State Prison now faces a much longer sentence. WABI-TV reports Zachary Titus is charged with killing another inmate last summer. A grand jury in Knox County indicted the 34-year old Titus this week for last summer’s murder of 28-year old Dana Bartlett. Titus started serving a 2-year term for theft last March. Authorities determined Bartlett’s death was a homicide last June. His girlfriend has said Bartlett asked to be moved the day he died because he feared for his life.
DECF May Reopen
(Machiasport) – Newly elected governor Janet Mills says she may reopen the Downeast Correctional Facility in Machiasport. Former governor Paul LePage shut down the minimum security prison abruptly last year, moving in State Police overnight and transporting prisoners to other facilities and locking out employees. Many former employees at the Buck’s Harbor prison have yet to find full time work.
Power Out
(Lamoine) – Thousands of electricity users along coastal Hancock County went without power overnight. Emera Maine reported more than 34-hundred outages early this morning – most of them along the coast from Sullivan to Blue Hill. Linemen will hit the bucket trucks this morning to get everything turned back on. High winds and heavy rains brought down trees and limbs beginning at mid-afternoon Thursday. Fire departments responded to hundreds of calls of trees landing in the roads and bringing down live wires. No injuries are reported. Some roads flooded and the temperature dropped overnight, creating black ice on some roads and in parking areas.
Winter Hike Series
(Blue Hill) Blue Hill Heritage Trust will launch its 4th annual Winter Hike Series to get folks out enjoying the Trust’s various properties. Outreach director Chrissy Allen says the first hike is at Patten’s Stream in Surry. Everyone is welcome at the hike this Monday the 28th from 10 AM ‘til Noon.
Tomcod Return
(Sullivan) The Downeast Salmon Federation is celebrating the return of tomcod to Smelt Brook in Sullivan. The group purchased the property on Flanders Bay a year ago with funds from the Maine Natural Resource Conservation Program, other groups and individual donors. After removing a dam at Smelt Brook last September, tomcod returned just months later. Fisheries biologist Brett Ciccotelli tells Star 97-7 the goal was to convert the brook back to its original glory. Of the groups and individuals who donated their time, classes from Sumner High School came down to survey the pond for brook trout last spring with fly rods and barbless hooks.
Town Manager to Retire
(Rockport) Rockport’s town manager plans to retire when his current 3-year agreement expires in June. The Pen Bay Pilot reports town manager Rick Bates issued a statement Thursday announcing his plan to exit the position which he’s held since 2013. Bates will continue to serve the town in a part-time consulting role to see the library construction through to completion and work on other projects as needed. The Rockport Select Board will appoint a town manager search committee to assist in finding Bates’ replacement.
Rape Extradition
(Hancock Cty) A Hancock County woman will be extradited to Tennessee on a charge of child rape. Investigators say the victim’s mother called the Hancock County Sheriff Office with information on where to find 46-year-old Lana Baxter. Police located her in Orland on Sunday and charged her with being a fugitive from justice. The Bangor Daily News reports Baxter waived extradition in Hancock County Unified Criminal Court on Wednesday and is held without bail here until Tennessee officials come to get her.
Bridge Rollover
(Waterville) A driver escaped serious injury when her car overturned on the Messalonskee Stream Bridge on Interstate-95 in Waterville this morning. Troopers say 49-year-old Melissa Ames of Newport lost control of her car while passing another vehicle in the northbound lane. Her car hit abutments on both sides of the bridge and flipped on to its roof landing in the center of the bridge. Ames suffered minor injuries. Although temperatures were in the low 40’s at the time, police remind motorists that bridge surfaces are the first to freeze and drivers need to adjust their speed when crossing them.
Crash-Horse Dies
(Smyrna) Police say two children suffered injuries and a horse died when a tractor-trailer truck hit their horse-drawn buggy Wednesday afternoon in Smyrna. Police say a 12-year old boy was operating the buggy when it entered the roadway in front of the trailer truck. The truck struck the horse and killed it. The crash sent the buggy to the other side of the roadway, and two of the 7 children riding in it suffered minor injuries.
Seafood Business
(Hancock) A Hancock seafood business’s efforts to reopen are delayed due to the ongoing federal government shutdown. Sullivan Harbor Farm owner Leslie Harlow says the business was within days of getting federal approval to resume selling smoked fish. The Bangor Daily News reports she now cannot get a needed permit from the Food and Drug Administration – which she says is sitting on a desk somewhere waiting to be mailed out. Harlow has been trying to reopen the business ever since it shut down 3 years ago due to food safety violations.
Inmate Charged
(Warren) An inmate at the state prison in Warren is charged with murdering a fellow inmate last year. WABI-TV reports 34-year-old Zachary Titus was indicted Tuesday by a Knox County grand jury for allegedly killing 28-year-old Dana Bartlett at Bolduc Correctional Facility last June. Titus began serving his 2-year prison sentence last March for theft. Bartlett was serving a 16-month sentence for theft and operating after habitual revocation. Bartlett’s fiancée claims on the day Bartlett was killed, he asked to be moved from his cell because he feared for his life.
Sports
- The Celtics and Bruins both have the night off. The Bruins are on the All-Star Break.
High School Basketball
Boys
Jonesport Beals 71 Narraguagus 66
