Bucksport Standoff
(Bucksport) – A 57-year old Bucksport man is charged with reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon after a nearly 7-hour standoff this week. William Benjamin allegedly fired a shot inside his home and threatened to detonate a hand grenade when police came calling. Officers shut down Route 1 in Bucksport Wednesday afternoon and they were able to get a woman who was inside the house to safety before negotiating with Benjamin who eventually surrendered.
Election Prep
(Bar Harbor) – A lot of Maine voters have submitted their ballots already, and some towns will spend the weekend opening absentee envelopes and putting the ballots through tabulating machines. Bar Harbor was approaching 2-thousand absentee ballots issued by yesterday’s cut-off date to request a ballot. That adds to the work that town clerk Sharon Linscott had to do, including hiring ballot clerks for Tuesday’s election. Clerks across Maine report heavy absentee participation and expect Election Day to be very busy as voters tackle a combination of ranked choice voting for federal office and a long, complex referendum ballot.
Tenders Ban
(Tremont) – Fewer than a dozen voters in Tremont approved a measure this week to ban cruise ship tenders from off loading passengers in town. The Mt. Desert Islander reports the special town meeting that drew very few people approved an amendment to prohibit tenders from allowing passengers to embark or disembark. The ordinance is similar to a measure approved in Southwest Harbor. Of the four towns on Mt. Desert Island, only Bar Harbor has rules to allow cruise ships to utilize port facilities.
Gunshot Hoax
(Washington Cty) Maine state police are still trying to validate whether gunshots reportedly heard in Washington County on Wednesday actually happened. Commanding officer Rod Charette says a caller from Bangor told police he’d been on the phone with a friend in Addison who allegedly heard shots on the Indian River Road. Erring on the side of caution the Jonesport Elementary School briefly went into lockdown that afternoon. Charette says the public did not seem to be in any danger and the call may have been a hoax.
Poinsettia Ball
(Ellsworth) The 27th annual Poinsettia Ball in Ellsworth is just a month away. The fundraiser is put on each year by Northern Light Maine Coast Hospital. Maternity area director Emily Tolman says they hope to raise $60-thousand-dollars which will pay for new equipment in the maternity ward. The Poinsettia Ball is December 1st at the Ellsworth Ramada. Tickets are sold out but you can get on the wait-list by contacting JoAnn Brown at Maine Coast.
Body ID’d
(Richmond) The identity of a man’s body found in the Kennebec River last Friday has been released. The Department of Marine resources reports the marine patrol dive team and state police recovered the body of 64-year-old Mark Johnston of Richmond around 3 o’clock Friday afternoon. Johnston was reported missing the night before when he failed to return home after moving his recreational boat from a mooring in Richmond to the Town Dock.
Bathroom Violator Update
(Bangor) The Hampden man accused of placing video cameras in 3 staff bathrooms at the Bangor hospital where he worked can now return to the facility but only as a patient. 58-year-old David Waltz was arrested last week after a camera was discovered last month. WABI-TV reports Waltz is charged with 15 counts of violation of privacy involving 12 victims at Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center. A judge is also allowing Waltz to have a cell phone but it’s subject to random searches.
No Shave November
(Ellsworth) Police officers in Ellsworth will get hairier has the month goes on. For the second year in a row the Ellsworth PD is taking part in No Shave November, a fundraiser for the Beth Wright Cancer Resource Center. This month only the police officers will refrain from shaving as a way to bring awareness to the cause. Each officer is asked to donate $5 per week while the public is encouraged to donate as well. Once the program is over the policy is Ellsworth officers must be clean shaven. Female employees are also taking part.
Bad Candy
(Auburn/Newport) Parents are reminded to inspect their children’s Halloween candy after 2 reported instances in Maine. NewsCenter reports a father in Auburn contacted police when a bag of what’s believed to be marijuana was found in a child’s trick-or-treat bag. And police in Newport say a parent who reached in a candy bag was stabbed by a needle stuck in a Reese’s peanut butter cup.
Planned Outage
(Bar Harbor) It’ll be a dark morning for some folks waking up in Bar Harbor next Wednesday. Emera Maine reports crews are scheduled to work on the electrical system beginning at 6 that morning. It’ll take about 2 hours to complete. Customers that will be affected include sections of Rodick Street, Main Street, Kennebec Street and Kennebec Place, Cottage Street, Everard Court, Access Alley and Firefly Lane. Customers may experience service interruptions during that time. The rain date is next Thursday the 8th.
Sports
- Boston Celtics 117 Milwaukee Bucks 113 (1st loss for Bucks, Celtics hit a record 24-three pointers)
- Thursday Night Football: San Francisco 49ers 34 Oakland Raiders 3
- High School Football regional semi-finals are tonight. Locally Bucksport will play Mattanawcook.
- The U-Maine Football team is at Towson State tomorrow.
- U-Maine hockey is home tonight and Saturday against U-Mass Lowell
