Attempted murder charge dismissed

PARIS — A 48-year-old man indicted last year in a Norway stabbing has had the charges against him dropped.

The state dismissed charges of aggravated attempted murder and elevated aggravated assault against Steven Ray Piirainen of Coldwater Brook Road in Oxford. According to court documents, the District Attorney's Office is declining to proceed because the victim in the case is unavailable.

Hartford board considers moving transfer station

HARTFORD — Selectmen agreed Thursday night to investigate the cost and benefits of moving the town's waste transfer station from Marble Road to the sand and salt shed site on Gurney Hill Road.

Board Chairwoman Lee Holman and Selectman Jack Plumley agreed there were problems with the location and layout of the station. The change would not affect the present curbside pickup of garbage. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection endorses the plan.

Former Bethel chief appointed officer

NORWAY — Selectmen on Thursday night unanimously appointed former Bethel police Chief Alan Carr as a part-time police officer.

Carr, who resigned late last month from the department he has served since 2003, said he was "honored" to work with the Norway Police Department and residents. His new job will be to help fill in gaps in shift coverage.

Police Chief Rob Federico said Carr, who worked for 37 years as a state police trooper, would bring tremendous experience to the position.

Gingerbread House gets major boost

NORWAY — A anonymous donor has given $75,000 toward the effort to save the historic Gingerbread House on Main Street.

"We're surprised and thrilled to receive this confirmation from folks in the area that the reuse of this building will contribute to our sense of place and purpose for generations to come," said Pat Shearman, chairman of the Gingerbread House Task Force.

Two charged in Lovell threatening incident

LOVELL — Two men were charged with making threats Wednesday after police were called to a disturbance on Foxboro Road, Maine State Police said.

Craig Richardson, 41, of Lovell was taken into custody after he barricaded himself in a house at 276 Foxboro Road. Richardson was charged with assault and criminal threatening. Also arrested was 23-year-old Daniel Bokuniewicz of Brownfield on a charge of criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon. Bokuniewicz remained at the Oxford County Jail on Thursday, while Richardson was not listed as an inmate there.

Oxford selectmen support casino proposal

OXFORD — Echoing a decision it made last year, the Board of Selectmen on Thursday unanimously voted to support a proposal that would place a resort casino in the town.

Members of Black Bear Entertainment LLC, which is gathering signatures to put the casino proposal before voters in next year's , November election, made a brief presentation to selectmen.

Peter Martin, spokesman for the group, said it is staying with Oxford for a proposed site because of the need for more jobs in the area.

Mount Abram adds 400 acres of skiing and riding terrain

GREENWOOD — After expanding its skiing and riding terrain by an unprecedented 400 acres this summer and fall, Mount Abram Family Ski Resort is banking on attracting visitors who want to rediscover the mountain.

With plenty of woods-clearing help this fall from New England Telemark Association volunteers, the Greenwood ski hill's usable terrain jumped from 250 acres to 650 acres, Marketing Director Kevin Rosenberg said.

Memorial removal protested

STONEHAM — The family and friends of a man killed in an ATV accident in July are hoping to retain a roadside memorial in the White Mountain National Forest after a ranger said it could not be placed there.

The memorial was in honor of James Mullen, a 51-year-old man who had returned from working in Florida to assist his mother. Al Cummings, a friend of Mullen's, said Mullen was collecting firewood for his mother on July 3 when he lost control of his three-wheel vehicle and crashed over an embankment on Hut Road.

Panels in Harrison School gym repaired

HARRISON — Elementary School students are once again using the gymnasium/lunchroom after a large wall soundproofing panel fell and struck a student last week.

"Inspections have all been done and corrective action is finished," Oxford Hills School District Superintendent Mark Eastman said Wednesday of the work that school officials have done to reinforce the panels and inspect similar panels throughout the district.

Oxford Hills high school scores show progress

OXFORD — Curriculum Director Kathy Elkins reported to the Oxford Hills School District Board of Directors on Monday that the high school was the only secondary school participating in either the Class A western or eastern football conference to make adequate yearly progress in the Student Achievement Tests.

"Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School is the only Class A school to make AYP," said Elkins as board members, school staff and others at the meeting applauded the news.

Hebron Student Council

Submitted photo

Hebron Station School students have elected their new Student Council for 2009-10. From left, front row, are Tyler Punch, Vice President Zane Dustin, Emma Timberlake-Knapp and Sam Bourget; back row, Jacob Caron, Bruce Cobb, adviser Cory Munsey, President Hannah Hartnett, Rachel Brouwer and secretary Kaden Cutler.

Beth's House gets major contribution

NORWAY — A local business has made a significant contribution to the Beth's House Fund.

New Horizon Capital Investments LLC, owned by Harvey and Dawn Solomon, made a $5,000 contribution to help the 24-year-old West Paris woman who suffers from spinal muscular atrophy and wasn't supposed to live past her second birthday.

Pair plead not guilty in Rumford double-homicide case

PARIS — Two young men with charged shooting to death Victor Reed Sheldon and Roger Leroy Day Jr. at their Rumford home pleaded not guilty to murder in Oxford County Superior Court Tuesday.

Richard Moulton, 20, Erik J. Hamel, 19, both of Mexico were charged after Sheldon, 22, and Day, 48, were found shot to death around 10 p.m. on Aug. 3 at the house Day and Sheldon lived in on Pine Street in Rumford.

Both Moulton and Hamel were honor roll students at Mountain Valley High School in Rumford and Hamel graduated in June of 2009.

New gym, theater voted down

BETHEL — A question asking voters to approve construction of a new gymnasium and performance arts center for the Telstar Middle/High School complex was losing in partial results of Tuesday's election.

With all five Regional School Unit 44 towns reporting, the vote was 1,077 yes to 1,707 no. Bethel voted 506-723; Newry, 58-111; Greenwood, 137-224; Andover, 140-290; and Woodstock, 236-359.

Rash of car break-ins has Cumberland sheriff warning Lakes Region residents

Authorities in Cumberland County are warning residents of the Lakes Region to double-check that their cars are locked following a rash of break-ins that have hit the area since late last week.

Buckfield Planning Board members chosen

BUCKFIELD — Selectmen approved Jennifer Therriaut for a three-year seat and Rebecca Perry for a two-year seat on the Planning Board after an open interview.

Selectmen had agreed to interview all committee members more fully and the volunteers had the option to be interviewed openly or in executive session.

Alternate Michelle Casey said she felt uncomfortable in an open interview and opted for a closed session. She was also approved as an alternate.

Lone milkweed

Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

A lone milkweed tosses it's seeds to the wind in a field off the Greenwood Mountain Road in Hebron Tuesday afternoon.

Lots of leaves

Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

Edson Staples rakes rakes leaves in front of his house on Fair Street in Norway Tuesday morning. "She's a beauty of a tree, and I enjoy it all year long except now, you really pay for it with all these leaves you have to rake."

Paris voters approve recall

PARIS — Voters overwhelmingly approved an ordinance Tuesday that sets up a procedure for the removal of elected officials.

The town had to make additional copies of the local ordinance after it ran out of 2,000 printed for the election. A total of 2,135 votes were cast in the referendum, with 1,555 in favor of the measure and 537 against it. Forty-three ballots were blank.

Cell phone 911 callers should use home land-lines instead

PARIS — People are being urged to use their home land-line telephones when calling 911 instead of cell phones, when possible, so dispatchers get the caller's identification and exact location immediately, said James P. Miclon, director of the Oxford County Regional Communications Center.

In a Monday report, he said that more than 50 percent of cell phone 911 calls go to another dispatch center and are then transferred to the Paris dispatching center.

Norway driver unhurt in Oxford crash

OXFORD — A Norway man walked away from a crash Tuesday night that destroyed his father's truck and sheared a utility pole off next to Route 26.

John Grant Jr., 18, of 9 Hemlock Drive, lost control of the 2003 Toyota pickup truck as he drove south near the ServiceMaster business, Oxford police Patrolman Shawn Wood said. The truck struck a telephone pole, shearing it off at the base but not toppling it, he said.

Two plead not guilty to Rumford murders

PARIS — One of two men charged in a double homicide in Rumford in August told police he was paid $2,000 by the other suspect to kill the victims.

According to a police affidavit, Eric Hamel, 19, of Mexico said Richard Moulton, 20, of Rumford offered the money and gave Hamel a pair of latex gloves to use in killing Victor Reed Sheldon, 22, and Roger Leroy Day Jr., 48, on the evening of Aug. 3. The men were shot to death in the living room of Day's home at 244 Pine St.

Historic bridge lit up

A replica of the original bulb has been mounted on the historic quartz bridge on Main Street lighting up the bridge at night for the first time in years.

Oxford County arrest log

PARIS — The following arrests were recorded at the Oxford County Jail:

• Loriann M. Rumley, 46, of Mexico, Oct. 30, charged with domestic criminal threatening, $500 unsecured bail, Oxford County Sheriff's Office.

• David L. Wing, 34, of Dixfield, Oct. 30, charged with aggravated assault, $2,000 bail, Dixfield Police Department.

Albany man pleads to drug trafficking charge

PARIS — A 57-year-old man was sentenced to serve five years in prison after pleading to a drug trafficking charge on Friday.

Sherwood Jordan, of 42 Lovejoy Mountain Road in Albany Township, pleaded guilty in Oxford County Superior Court to aggravated trafficking in marijuana, and admitted to the forfeiture of $2,380 in cash. A charge of unlawful possession of cocaine was dismissed. The trafficking charge was aggravated due to Jordan's prior conviction in 1992 of possession of less than 50 kilograms of marijuana with the intent to distribute.