Snowmobile Fatal
(Oakland) – A 52-year old Massachusetts man has died after the snowmobile he operated went through thin ice on Messalonskee Lake in Oakland. The Warden Service reports to Star 97.7 Richard Dumont went through the ice Saturday afternoon. Witnesses called 9-1-1,. the fire department used a rescue sled and pulled Dumont from the water, but he was pronounced dead at the hospital. Wardens have warned that the ice is not yet fully safe due to varying temperatures since winter started. It’s the 2nd snowmobiling fatality of the season.
Trenton Roll-over
(Trenton) – One person went to the hospital by Life Flight following a crash near the Trenton Bridge Lobster Pound yesterday. The Mt. Desert Islander reports the crash occurred at about 4-o’clock in the afternoon. State police say the SUV hit a guardrail near the restaurant at the entrance to Mt. Desert Island. Passing motorists stopped and got the victim out of the vehicle. The crash remains under investigation.
Fatal Fire
(China) – Fire has claimed a 65-year old China man. Firefighters found Randall Luck’s body outside the burning home on 3-Mile Pond early yesterday morning. He lived alone in the home. A snow plow driver discovered the fire and called 9-1-1. The fire marshal’s office is looking for the cause.
Knox County Arrests
(Cushing) – Two men face drug charges after Knox County deputies pulled them over in Cushing this weekend. Chief Deputy Tim Carroll reports to Star 97.7 officers responded to a complaint of a man walking around a house carrying an axe and looking in the windows on the Cushing Road. The man got into a vehicle and it took off before officers arrived, but deputies pulled it over and observed 37-year old Richard Butler of Rockland reach down to the floor where a knife was located. Butler is charged with terrorizing and drug possession, the driver, 31-year old Joshua Weaver of Thomaston with drug possession.
Liberty Fire
(Liberty) – Eleven fire departments responded to Route 3 in Liberty last night as a commercial garage went up in flames and a man who had been inside the building suffered injuries. WABI-TV reports the injuries were not believed to be life threatening. The call to the garage came in around 7:30 last night. Firefighters say the bitter cold temperatures froze the water they used on the flames, causing extremely slippery conditions. The fire marshal’s office spent part of the overnight hours looking for the cause.
Callahan Settlement
(Brooksville) – The Environmental Protection Agency has reached a cleanup settlement on the Callahan Mine in the Cape Rosier section of Brooksville that will take a lot of truck traffic off the road. The Ellsworth American reports the deal with EPA and Smith Cove Preservation Trust reached agreement that the cleanup can use gravel and rocks for the mine cleanup. The trust owns the property around the contaminated mine that closed down in 1972 leaving lead, arsenic and PCB contamination. Part of the cleanup is already completed.
Selectman Resigning
(Mt Desert) A selectman in Mount Desert will leave his position at the end of this month because he’s moving out of state. Brian Reilly is taking a job in Texas, and January 31st will be his last day on the Board of Selectmen. The Mt Desert Island reports Reilly ran unopposed for the open seat and was elected to the board in May. Chairman John Macauley tells the newspaper they’re looking to appoint somebody instead of leaving the seat vacant or holding a special election.
Bank Branch Closing
(Bar Harbor) Declining business at the Camden National Bank on Cottage Street has prompted the closing of that branch in Bar Harbor. The Mt Desert Islander reports customers who opened accounts there received letters saying those accounts will be transferred to the bank branch in Town Hill. The closing date is set for March 31st.
Turnpike Fatal
(Wells) A man from Waldoboro died Friday morning when his pickup truck rear ended a plow truck on the Maine Turnpike in Wells. State police say the crash happened in the far left travel lane of the northbound side near mile marker 16. Traffic was reduced to one lane as emergency personnel worked at the crash site. The plow truck driver was unhurt.
Drug Bust
(Bangor) 6-thousand-dollars worth of heroin and crack cocaine are off the streets of Bangor after an apartment raid. Maine DEA Commander Peter Arno tells Star 977 that Bangor Police and drug agents investigated the out of state importation and sale of heroin and crack from a George Street apartment. Last week they searched that apartment and arrested 3 of the 5 people inside. Roosevelt Brown of Connecticut is charged with Aggravated Drug Trafficking because the apartment location is within a thousand feet of Coe Park, a drug free safe zone. Bangor residents 52-year-old Lynn Cook and 53-year-old Thomas Anderson were also arrested for Aggravated Drug Trafficking. The trio was taken to the Penobscot County Jail. Arno says more arrests are possible.
EPD Moves Forward
(Ellsworth) When the Ellsworth City Council meets tonight (1/09) they’ll discuss how to move forward with the police department since the abrupt resignation of Chief Harold “Pete” Bickmore on December 29th. Captain Glenn Moshier is serving as the acting chief until a permanent replacement is named. Moshier was promoted to second-in-command the week before Chief Bickmore quit. The Ellsworth American reports City Manager David Cole says the City Council meeting tonight will begin behind closed-doors as they discuss the personnel matter.
LL Bean Funded Trump
(Augusta) The Federal Election Commission has told L.L. Bean heiress Linda Bean that she made excessive contributions to a political action committee she created to support Republican President-elect Donald Trump. According to a Wednesday letter obtained by The Associated Press, the FEC says Bean’s Making America Great Again LLC wasn’t allowed to collect any contributions over $5,000 – but she gave $60,000.
Oil & Natural Gas Drilling
(WASHINGTON DC) – The Obama administration is denying permits for energy companies to conduct seismic surveys in the Atlantic Ocean to map potential drilling sites for oil and natural gas. The Interior Department said it denied 6 pending applications in part because Obama has blocked Atlantic drilling under a five-year offshore drilling finalized late last year.
Indian Housing Grant
(Houlton) Maine’s U.S. senators say American Indian tribes in Maine will receive more than $800,000 from the federal government to assist with housing. The money is from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Indian Housing Block Grant. The Penobscot Indian Nation is receiving the largest grant at more than $260,000.
Sports
NFL Playoffs: Green Bay Packers 38 NY Giants 13
Pittsburgh Steelers 30 Miami Dolphins 12
(Patriots had a bye, will face Houston on Saturday)
NHL: Carolina Hurricanes 4 Boston Bruins 3
College Basketball: (men) UMBC 75 Maine 64
The College Football championship is tonight as # 1 Alabama takes on #2 Clemson
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