Police log

Charges

 

Lewiston

 

• Carl Andrew Morin, 45, of 65 Howe St., warrant charging failure to appear in court on a charge of execution of sentence, 6:25 p.m. Tuesday at that address.

• Rodney Dale Jarvis, 42, of 98 Pierce St., violating condition of release, 7:47 p.m. Tuesday at 42 Walnut St.

• John Libby, 22, of 105 Summer St., disorderly conduct, 8:55 p.m. Tuesday at 57 College St.

Auburn teachers hold candle light vigil over no contract

Daryn Slover/Sun Journal
Rob Walker, left, and Chris Galgay, both of the Maine Education Association, join Auburn teachers during a solidarity vigil outside Auburn City Hall on Wednesday evening. About 125 people gathered to show their support for a new contract prior to the start of the Auburn School Committee meeting. Auburn teachers have been working without a contract since Aug. 2008, said union president Timothy Wegmann, a special education teacher at Park Avenue Elementary School. Teachers gathered "to let the school committee know we stand together," said Wegmann.

Jail officer fired for pranks

AUBURN — An Androscoggin County Jail supervisor was fired Wednesday for his involvement in on-the-job pranks that included duct-taping a worker to a chair and putting another worker in a choke hold.

Sheriff Guy Desjardins said Cpl. Patrick Gorham's so-called horseplay put at risk the security of workers and inmates and could have put the county in jeopardy had an emergency arisen at the time.

Commissioners mulled the sheriff's recommendation behind closed doors for about 45 minutes Wednesday night before voting 2-1 in favor of the firing.

Scouts protest proposed sale of Camp Gustin

LEWISTON — In hard economic times, there are circumstances for which even a Boy Scout cannot be prepared.

More than four dozen Scouts, former Scouts and Scout leaders gathered Wednesday night to discuss what has become a matter of great emotion — the potential sale of Camp Gustin, which has been the property of the Boy Scouts of America since 1933.

Bunny abandonment under investigation

LISBON — She's gotten bags of food and hay. Calls offering assistance. And more adoption requests than she ever would have guessed, some from families as far away as New Hampshire. 

But Tammy Ray, who saved 10 baby bunnies after finding them abandoned in her boyfriend's Lisbon field, has also gotten the unexpected word that, for now, she can't let the rabbits go.

Turns out, her baby bunnies are evidence. 

Members elected to Mechanic Falls town charter commission

MECHANIC FALLS — Voters on Tuesday elected six representatives to a new town charter commission.

Only four residents placed their names on the ballot for the nine-member commission: Oliver Emery, Micheal Needham, Randall Plummer Gary Purington. All four were voted in Tuesday.

In addition, two write-in candidates — Peter Ford and Lawrence Newth — were also elected.

Sabattus voters elect selectmen, trustees

SABATTUS — Ronda Fournier and Michelle Ames were elected to three-year terms on the Board of Selectmen on Tuesday.

Fournier received 1,156 votes; Ames, 947. Andre Marquis received 878 votes.

In the race for two Sanitary/Water District trustee seats, Judy Cyr was elected with 961 votes and Connie Castonguay with 845. The terms are three years. Richard Lacombe received 449 votes and Roland St. Amand received 686 votes.

Government at a glance

Government at a Glance

Board: Minot Selectmen

Met: Monday night

TV cable contract

Issue: The town's cable television franchise agreement with Time Warner Cable expires in December.

Water department agrees to extend service to Poland

MECHANIC FALLS — Town councilors, acting in their capacity as Water Department trustees, have agreed to a plan to extend water service from Poland Regional High School down Route 26 to Aggregate Road, near the Regional School Unit 16 central office.

Poland Town Manager Dana Lee and John Cleveland, consultant for Poland's community and Economic Development Committee, say the estimated $800,000 project would be done at "no cost and no risk" to Mechanic Falls water utility customers or taxpayers.

Police call

AUBURN — Police were called to 302 Turner St. shortly after 1 p.m. Monday by a neighbor. The information was incorrectly provided to the Sun Journal for a story that ran on page B1 in Tuesday's City edition.

Fire traced to heat lamp

LEWISTON — A fire in a Pine Street apartment Tuesday morning left a couple, their children and four snakes homeless for a few days.

The blaze was traced to a heat lamp used to keep a caged python warm in a bedroom closet, Fire Investigator Paul Ouellette said.

The heat-lamp burned a hole through the floor of the closet into the basement and caused the inside of the adjacent wall to ignite, he said. Smoke could be seen coming out of the building's eaves.

Auburn School Committee winners

AUBURN — In Auburn's only contested School Committee election, Constance J. Mercier beat Lawrence Pelletier by an unofficial count of 903-580 votes. She will represent New Auburn, or Ward 5, on the committee.

"I'm very excited and hope to do a good job," Mercier said Tuesday night. "I have a lot to learn, and I'm going to try and get a lot of information from everybody and learn as much as I can. My heart is with it, and I'm going to give it 150 percent."

Lewiston School Committee winners

LEWISTON — In unofficial election results Tuesday night, Eugene Dumont was elected as a write-in candidate to represent Ward 3 on the Lewiston School Committee.

Dumont won with 16 votes — nine votes more than his closest competitor, Nina Emmi. In total, the names of more than 40 potential candidates were thrown into the political ring.

Voters speak out on issues

Voted no on Question 1 (Same-sex marriage )

" I think it should be anybody's right. Anybody should be able to marry anybody."
— Peter Kelley, 70 Baird Ave., Lewiston 

"I think it's none of your damn business what someone wants to do with an individual."
— Dr. Carlton Ring, 85, 864 Center St.

Makas not supporting $200k fund for dispatch, yet

AUBURN — A $9.9 million budget proposal sent to the Androscoggin County Budget Committee may have reached too far.

A plan to target $200,000 of unappropriated surplus money for the creation of a new dispatch center — included in the inch-thick document — has yet to be voted on by all three of the commission's members.

"I think it was a misstatement," Commissioner Elaine Makas said Tuesday. "I have never voted on it."

Let freedom ring

His release date had finally come around and my friend was getting sprung from the joint.

The can, the pen, the clink.

I was there to pick him up when he walked through the bland steel door and into sunlight. He stood in front of that door a moment blinking at the wide world around him, a man whose earlier existence consisted of cinder block and bars. To me, he looked like a canary who has flown from its cage and now sits on a window sill, barely believing the expanse of things outside.

Cop log

Charges

Lewiston

• Keaton Gagnon, 21, of 186 Ash St., unspecified warrant, 12:30 a.m. Sunday at 386 Lisbon St.

• John Maurno, 47, of 98 Pine St., unspecified warrant, 4:45 a.m. Sunday at that address.

• Daryl Gormley, 43, of 10 Laurel Ave., Auburn, unspecified warrant, 2:58 p.m. Monday on Canal Street.

• Jason Paul Parent, 27, of 529 Main Ave., Farmingdale, unlawful possession of scheduled drug, possession of marijuana and violating condition of release, 7:30 p.m. Monday at 70 St. Croix St.

Lisbon voters elect officials, decide bond issues

LISBON — Voters in Tuesday's election filled 11 seats on various municipal boards and weighed in on two bond issues.

The first bond issue, authorizing the Town Council to issue up to $320,000 in a 10-year bond in order to receive up to $1.2 million in matching funds from the Maine Department of Transportation, was approved by voters. The money will be used to construct the final phase of the Lisbon Trail System, previously approved by the council.

Gilbert beats Paradis to return as Lewiston Mayor

LEWISTON — Voters re-elected Mayor Larry Gilbert for another two years Tuesday, giving him an 845-vote edge against challenger Mark Paradis.

Gilbert claimed 6,218 votes to Paradis' 5,373. Gilbert had 53.6 percent of the vote to Paradis' 46.4 percent.

Paradis said he was saddened by the results.

"To be honest, if we did something wrong in this campaign, I don't know what it was," he said. "We tried to cover all the bases, but we just didn't."

Gleason 'runs scared' to win Auburn mayor

AUBURN — Richard Gleason handily defeated Ron Potvin, 5,411 to 2,423, to claim the mayor's chair for the next two years.

"The difference, I think, as that I campaigned and he didn't," Gleason said Tuesday night. "I ran scared. I've always been told in businesses you need to run like you're scared, and I did."

Gleason claimed 69 percent of the vote to Potvin's 31 percent.

Lewiston voters reject same-sex marriage

LEWISTON — By about a 2,000-vote margin, voters rejected the state law allowing same-sex marriage, based on unofficial results from the city clerk's office.

According to the tally, 7,300 Lewiston residents voted yes on Question 1 and 5,121 voted no.

Turnout for the vote was high for an off-year election, with 54 percent of registered voters casting ballots.

On other referenda, Lewiston voters turned down proposals to cut municipal excise taxes, repeal the 2007 school consolidation law, and enact state and local government spending caps, known as TABOR.

Voter turnout steady, heavy Tuesday

Voters came in droves to Twin Cities polling places, driven largely by controversial ballot questions.

Election officials in both cities said voting was steady all day Tuesday,  but there were no lines, as there were at last year's presidential election.

"It's been just like this, all day long," said Virginia Adams, a polling officer for Ward 4 in Auburn. "There are always people registering at the table, or voting or dropping off their ballot. I don't think I turned around once this morning to see one of those stations empty."

Poland voters make charter changes

POLAND — Voters on Tuesday approved all seven amendments proposed to the town charter.

According to town officials, the amendments were primarily minor revisions that sought to correct problems, such as incorrectly numbered sections and paragraphs, or to clarify a few interpretation issues.

Police end Auburn standoff peacefully

AUBURN — A standoff on Turner Street ended peacefully Monday when police arrested a man who had barricaded himself in his house.

Police were called to 302 Turner St. shortly after 1 p.m. by a neighbor.

When police arrived, Philip Blais, 29, ran from the driveway back into the house, saying he was going to get a gun.

Police tried to talk to Blais, but he refused and gestured at police through a window, according to police radio communications. Calls to his cell phone went to voice-mail, according to radio traffic.

School union considers four shutdown days

POLAND — As part of a $302,000 budget reduction plan, Regional School Unit 16 personnel are looking at a proposal that calls for four shutdown days.

Superintendent  Dennis Duquette met with staff from all the schools Monday afternoon to explain the proposal, which he estimates will save approximately $175,000.

"If we don't take a proactive stance now we will be in worse trouble," he said.