Winter Weather
(Undated) – Very little snow is left on the ground in coastal Hancock and Washington Counties this morning. That’ll change in 48-hours as a major winter storm will work its way up the coast and dump up to 16-inches of snow beginning tomorrow afternoon. A Winter Storm warning is posted, the National Weather Service says it starts at 1-o’clock tomorrow afternoon and the snow will rapidly intensify. The heaviest snow fall will likely end by noon time on Wednesday. Transportation in the entire Northeast is likely to be disrupted as blizzard warnings are posted in New York City.
Boy Found
(Stacyville) – Game Wardens found a 9-year old boy safe but cold after he got lost in the woods of Northern Maine after school in Friday. Rowen Ross told wardens he knew he got lost so he stayed put under a tree. About 100-searchers gathered to hunt for Ross Friday, finding him in the bitter cold at quarter to ten at night. A tracking dog and wardens following his footprints in the snow were able to track him down and get him to warmth quickly.
Pittsfield Crash
(Pittsfield) – Two people are hospitalized with life threatening injuries after a crash on Interstate 95 in Pittsfield yesterday. State troopers tell WABI-TV a 70-year old Clinton man was driving his pickup truck the wrong way on the four lane highway when he slammed into a car that a University of Maine student was driving back to campus. The life flight helicopter took both Hugh Brawn of Clinton and 19-year old Tristan Kaldenberg of Massachusetts to Eastern Maine Medical Center. The crash closed the highway for several hours, slowing traffic detoured into other lanes.
Blue Hill School
(Blue Hill) – The kindergarten through 8th grade school in Blue Hill needs a lot of work to meet fire and safety codes. The Ellsworth American reports school officials have identified $1-point-7 million dollars in improvements, including installation of a sprinkler system, parking lot paving, gym bleacher replacement and other projects just to bring the building up to standards. The school is asking the town meeting to approve borrowing for the improvement projects which would most likely start in 2018.
Ticket Appeal Denied
(Augusta) – Maine’s Supreme Court has ruled that a man who admitted to driving without a registration had no right to a jury trial. The high court ruled in the case of Daniel Chase who in 2015 approached a University of Maine police officer and told him that he did not have to register. Chase demanded a jury trial, a court reporter, an interpretation of the rules of court in plain English, and an interpreter who might be an attorney. The high court upheld the ticket and $50-dollar fine and agreed with the lower court that no other interpretation was needed for the court rules.
Body Found
(Arundel) The Maine Warden Service has located the body of a missing woman from Arundel. Public Safety Department spokesman Steve McCausland reports the body of 65-year-old Sue Kim Coito was located in the woods across from her home on Campground Road. More than 25 Wardens and searchers with 14 tracking dogs began searching at 7 Friday morning and Coito’s body was found a little after 8. State police detectives documented the location with measurements and photos while gathering evidence. The body will undergo an autopsy at the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Augusta.
Defrauder Dies
(NE Harbor) A Northeast Harbor man who admitted to defrauding investors out of more than a million dollars died just one week before sentencing. The Bangor Daily News reports 49-year-old Philip Moriarty the Second pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud in 2016. Prosecutors said during his 25-year career in financial services Moriarty deceived investors using false information and giving fake stock purchase agreements. He allegedly used the money for golf and outdoor recreation, credit card payments, and a boarding school in New Hampshire. Moriarty was to be sentenced January 30th but died in Connecticut on January 23rd. His 10-bedroom, 81-hundred square foot home in Northeast Harbor is listed for sale for 5-million-dollars.
Driver Fined
(Passadumkeag) A Passadumkeag man must pay a 36-hundred-dollar fine or do community service because of a fatal crash in 2014. 31-year-old Brad Curtis was accused of crossing the centerline on Route 2 in Winn and causing a head-on collision, but investigators could not charge Curtis with a criminal violation because they could not find any reckless or negligent element to the crash. Curtis was hospitalized. The occupants in the other car, Louis and David Smart of Mattawamkeag, were both injured. Mr. Smart died of his injuries 5 days later and Mrs. Smart underwent 7 surgeries to recover. Curtis pleaded guilty to a single count of motor vehicle violation resulting in death. His license is suspended for a total of 6 years.
Ellsworth Lost
(Ellsworth) Ellsworth is out of the running to be named Strongest Town. Voting closed last week in the online contest that put Ellsworth up against Traverse City Michigan. Traverse City won with 66-percent of the votes. The Strongest Town will be announced at the end of March, winning free publicity and marketing.
Maple Syrup
(Statewide) A lot of folks have pounded small spigots into maple trees to collect sap. Kathy Hopkins with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, says syrup season is off to a good start but there were some hurdles along the way, including February’s heavy snowfall. Hopkins says the latest data collected by New England Ag Statistics shows in 2015 Maine collected 6-hundred-75-thousand gallons of syrup and raked in 15-point-5million dollars.
Fat Bikes –
(Portland) Cyclists used to hang it up in the winter but these days many are outside thanks to trendy “fat bikes.” The wide-tire bikes have come into the mainstream in the past few years, allowing riders to float over snow and bounce over obstacles. Sales have grown eightfold over the past three years.
Workshop
(Ellsworth) Business workshops continue at the Union River Center for Innovation. The next free seminar will be conducted by Ed Bigney, treasurer and volunteer counselor at SCORE’s Downeast Maine. Bigney will teach how to pitch startup ideas in a clear, concise manner to be taken seriously. The workshop is Thursday, March 16th at 5:30pm in the URCI building on Water Street, adjacent to Harbor Park.
Sports
• Boston Celtics 100 Chicago Bulls 80
• Bruins in Vancouver to take on the Canucks tonight
• NCAA Men’s basketball Tourney: Villanova, Kansas, North Carolina and Gonzaga – No. 1 seeds
• Martin Truex Jr. wins the NASCAR race in Las Vegas.
• Spring Training: Philadelphia Phillies 6 Boston Red Sox 5
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