Thursday, July 24, 2008

Staff photo by David Leaming

OUTTA HERE: Arthur Dewey Sr. used a tool to pluck a weathered baseball from some thorny raspberry bushes near the baseball field in Manson Park in Pittsfield on Monday. Dewey collected five good balls and some litter and will return the balls to teams when they play again. "I'm 83 years old," Dewey said. I have to do something."

Federal judge sides with Pittsfield police dept.
A federal judge has adopted a finding of a magistrate judge which says that Pittsfield police did nothing wrong when they arrested a suspected drug dealer three years ago.

Fire chief opts out of stipend
ALBION -- Fire Chief Jerry Keay has opted to forgo his stipend of $1,500 to help ease a funding crunch for the Fire and Rescue Department.

Beverage tax foes far ahead in funding
AUGUSTA -- The proponents of an effort to repeal a new tax on beer, wine and soda grew their cash advantage over an opposing group in June and July as they closed in on meeting a voter signature threshold to land a question on November's ballot.

No yard layoffs forecast
BATH -- News of the U.S. Navy's decision to abandon plans for a fleet of new, larger destroyers quickly spread through the Bath Iron Works shipyard and the surrounding community Wednesday, capping more than a week of rumors and speculation about the future of the work force.

EMBDEN: Thieves take part of dock
EMBDEN -- Organizers of the summer-swim program for children at Embden Pond this week are looking for the vandals who disassembled their dock at Sandy Beach and stole five wooden panels from it.

Network survey seeks ways to improve health
FARMINGTON -- Over the past 16 years, the Franklin Community Health Network has asked the community to tell them how they can make Franklin County a better place to live.

Farmington fetes the strawberry
FARMINGTON -- The Farmington Art in the Park will be a feature attraction of the two-day Strawberry Festival.

Highland Plt. to vote on move toward deorganization
HIGHLAND PLANTATION -- An increase in education costs and taxes has petitioners in Highland Plantation seeking to deorganize, according to assessor Jo Dunphy.

MADISON: Credit union robbed
MADISON -- Armed robbers held up the Franklin Somerset Federal Credit Union on Wednesday, escaping with cash after a near-collision with a pursuing police cruiser.

Navy plans to buy only 2 stealth ships
Navy officials held a series of meetings with Maine's Congressional delegation Wednesday to explain the decision to cut the DDG 1000 next-generation destroyer program -- and to detail how Bath Iron Works would survive the abrupt change in shipbuilding plans.

PALMYRA: Police seek knife-wielding intruder
PALMYRA -- A lone man armed with a knife entered a Lang Hill Road home Tuesday night, threatening the woman living there and demanding money, police say.

Beetles battle invasive loosestrife
Portland's effort to fight the spread of a pretty, but unwanted, purple flower got some fresh reinforcements Wednesday morning when officials released an army of tiny leaf-eating beetles in a few strategic areas in North Deering.

WATERVILLE: Man invades home on Western Avenue
WATERVILLE -- Police were on the hunt Wednesday for a man who invaded a home early Tuesday morning on upper Western Avenue.

WATERVILLE: Official defends Woodlands
WATERVILLE -- Rachel Nelson, whose body was found Tuesday in the Kennebec River, was an 82-year-old who lived independently with little supervision.

POLICE
WATERVILLE -- Two men were arrested Tuesday on drug charges.

Drawdown rate depends on rain
WINSLOW -- The drawdown of the Sebasticook River might take another week, depending on the amount of rainfall for the week, a spokesman for FPL Energy said Wednesday.

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