Mechanic Falls Fire
(Mechanic Falls) – A massive fire at a former paper mill complex in Mechanic Falls sent a smoke plume so high into the air folks in Portland could see it many miles away. The smoke even showed up on weather radar. Firefighters from numerous communities responded to the scene yesterday afternoon. The former Marcal paper mill now houses a recycling company, several other businesses and apartments. Several vehicles and auto parts were inside the building along with a recycled material warehouse. The fire is expected to smolder for several days. Fire Marshal’s office investigators are trying to find the cause.
Sulllivan Town Clerk
(Sullivan) – There’s a new town clerk in the Sullivan Town Office. The Ellsworth American reports Stacy Tozier accepted the full-time post which replaces two part time positions. Tozier will become the third full time office employee in the Hancock County Community. She’s a former case manager for a social service agency and was one of 18-applicants for the job.
Drug Trafficking Organization
(Bangor) – A New York man faces 20-years to life in prison and a $20-million dollar fine for his part in a drug sales operation in Central Maine. The US Attorney’s office reports that 39-year old Darrell Newton entered a guilty plea to running an operation that dealt crack cocaine and fentanyl. Agents busted the operation in 2017, seizing 280-grams of crack cocaine. The drugs came from New York and dealers would stay in local residents’ homes in exchange for the drugs.
Cocaine Arrest
(So. Portland) Police say they found more than 1 pound of cocaine and 3 stolen guns at a South Portland man’s apartment. 25-year-old Khang Tran was arrested and charged with trafficking cocaine following a traffic stop Wednesday. Police say Tran was a passenger in the car, and had 16 grams of cocaine and more than $3,500 in cash in his possession. Maine drug agents found the rest of the cocaine while searching Trans apartment, and the guns discovered had been reported stolen from Portland and Scarborough.
Suicide – More Details
(Lincoln) Details continue to emerge about the 26-year-old woman from Lee who killed herself last week by walking in front of a tanker truck on I-95 north of Lincoln. NewsCenter reveals at the time of Heidi MacGovern’s death she was pregnant with her third child. MacGovern’s 2-year-old son Enoch was seriously injured in the October 4th incident and he continues recovering at a Bangor hospital. Her 10-month old son was elsewhere at the time.
Apple Orchard Honored
(Levant) An apple orchard in Levant is being nationally recognized – Treworgy Family Orchards has won Best Corn Maze in America from USA Today 10 Best Readers’ Choice Awards. Local experts and editors from USA Today selected the 20 best from more than 500 corn mazes across the country. The Treworgy family has been planning, planting, and cutting their four-acre cornfield into mazes for 17 years. Treworgy’s award-winning corn maze remains open through the first weekend in November.
Celebrity Helps School
(Mars Hill) A school in Aroostook County received some much needed supplies thanks to a Hollywood Celebrity. WABI-TV reports actress Kristen Bell, star of NBC’s The Good Place, posted on her Instagram page that she’d select 10 teachers to feature on her page and ask her 7.8-million followers to purchase items from the schools’ Amazon wish lists. Central Aroostook Junior High School science teacher Whitney Williams was one of those selected. Days later boxes of school supplies showed up at her doorstep sent from around the world. Williams says it’s a “win” for Mars Hill students.
Missing Crash Victim
(Clifton) Maine State Police responded to a crash in which a truck went airborne and rolled over say the driver is nowhere to be found. Troopers tell WABI-TV that the truck flew off Route 9, snapped a utility pole and ended up on its side Thursday night in Clifton. Police did not find the driver at the scene or at home.
Camping Record
(August) The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry’s Bureau of Parks and Lands says a record number of visitors camped in Maine State Parks this year. The agency recorded more than 255-thousand campers through September, breaking a 2016 record by more than 700. The state says attendance has broken records eight times since 2010. Total state park attendance for the year is also 11-percent higher through September than the same period in 2017. The state attributes the uptick in state park use to good weather, beefed up publicity and Maine’s “fee holiday” for residents.
Sports
- Boston Red Sox 7 Houston Astros 5 (ALCS tied 1-1)
- Game 3 of the NLCS is tonight as the Dodgers meet the Brewers. Series tied 1-1
- New England Patriots 43 Kansas City Chiefs 40 (1st loss for Chiefs, Stephen Gostkowski hit a game winning field goal as time expired)
- For a second straight week, the U-Maine football team won on a field goal as time expired, beating Rhode Island 38-36
