Maine to receive $45K in Vonage settlement

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) - Maine's attorney general says the state will be receiving $45,000 as part of a $3 million multistate settlement with Vonage Holdings Corp., an Internet-based telephone company.

Janet Mills said Monday that Maine and 31 other states had reached a settlement that calls for Vonage to make changes in how it markets its service and how it handles consumer cancellation and refund requests.

Abused wife pleads guilty in husband's shooting

ROCKLAND, Maine (AP) - A 31-year-old woman faces no more than a year behind bars after pleading guilty to domestic violence manslaughter for fatally shooting her sleeping husband in their home last December.

Amber Cummings will be sentenced in January after pleading guilty Friday in Knox County Superior Court to shooting 29-year-old James Cummings twice in the head while their 9-year-old daughter was at home. She told police she was abused mentally, physically and sexually by her husband.

UMaine trustees OK plan that will save nearly $43M

AUGUSTA (AP) — Future students in the University of Maine System will have more courses to choose from, a curriculum that relies more heavily on computers and higher tuition costs as a result of a plan to save nearly $43 million that received the trustees' go-ahead Monday.

The board overseeing the seven-campus system unanimously approved a slightly modified plan that was introduced by Chancellor Richard Pattenaude to cut costs, become more efficient and expand opportunities for students.

Drenching rains breaks records in Portland

GRAY, Maine (AP) - A 122-year-old record fell in Portland over the weekend as Maine's largest city received more than 5 inches of rain.

The National Weather Service says 5.03 inches fell on Saturday, shattering the previous record for the date of 1.75 inches set in 1887.

The entire state received weekend rain from the remnants of Tropical Storm Ida, but the weather service says the heaviest amounts fell in southwestern Maine, where 4 to 6 inches were recorded.

Brick thrown through Maine church window

SHAPLEIGH (AP) — Police are investigating weekend vandalism at a church in Shapleigh.

A congregation member at the Shapleigh Freewill Baptist Church, Ed Stubbs, says someone threw a brick at the window of a new door recently installed to the basement Saturday night.

Stubbs told WCSH-TV that the window's safety glass was only partially broken, so there's no rain damage inside the building. Anyone with information about the vandalism is asked to call the York County Sheriff's Department.

Field is crowded field in Maine gov's race

AUGUSTA (AP) — Maine voters will have no shortage of choices as they select a successor to Gov. John Baldacci next year. The crowded mix of candidates includes seasoned State House insiders, business leaders who've been hitting the pavement hard for months, and candidates to match every ideological stripe.

Twenty-one candidates have registered as contestants for the open seat as Democrat Baldacci completes his second, four-year term. The field will grow even larger as more announcements are made in the coming days.

Clammer's body found in Eastern Maine

PERRY (AP) — The body of a clammer has been found following a search of the area where he went clamming in Eastern Maine.

Marine Patrol Specialist Mark Murry said the body of Arthur Calder Jr., who is thought to be around 50, was discovered around 1 p.m. Monday on the shore of East Cove in Perry.

Murry said Calder was last heard from on Tuesday and that relatives called the Marine Patrol late Sunday afternoon after checking on Calder and discovering his clamming equipment was gone from his home.

Maine Turnpike to air ramp closure

PORTLAND (AP) — The Maine Turnpike proposes closing a ramp to speed up reconstruction of the Presumpscot River Bridge.

The turnpike authority has scheduled a public meeting at its Portland headquarters Monday evening to discuss details of its plan.

The turnpike wants to close the Exit 52 on-ramp that carries traffic from the Falmouth Spur to the mainline of the turnpike in the northbound direction for 12 months. The northbound off-ramp and the southbound on-ramp at Exit 52 would remain open.

2 more deaths linked to swine flu in Maine

AUGUSTA (AP) — Two more deaths have been linked to the swine flu in Maine, bringing the total to five deaths since August.

State officials announced the deaths Saturday. One was a Hancock County resident between the ages of 25 and 50. The other was over age 65. Officials said both died last week. Both had the H1NI flu and underlying conditions. Officials said no additional information would be released to protect their privacy.

Baldacci issues statement opposing low-level military training flights

AUGUSTA - Gov. John Baldacci today registered his opposition to a proposal by the Air National Guard to allow low-level training flights over Western Maine, a press release issued from his office Friday stated.

A public hearing on the proposal is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14, in Farmington in the Lincoln Auditorium on the campus of the University of Maine Farmington.

Snowe vows to continue work on health care reform

LEWISTON — U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, said Thursday she will continue to work for health care reform, though she may not vote for the legislation.

"I'm going to continue to make all the improvements that I can, within the capacity of my position, and whether I can support it in the end or not," she said during a meeting with the Sun Journal editorial board.

"There are a number of issues that are still at stake for me on this, beyond the public option, and I am going to continue to work through those issues," she said.

Pilot makes emergency landing at Maine Navy base

BRUNSWICK (AP) — A civilian pilot who brought his stricken aircraft to a safe landing at Brunswick Naval Air Station made some history before the closing of the base.

The emergency landing of a Cessna 172 on Wednesday appears to be the first such landing of a private aircraft in the installation's history, said Lt. Cmdr. Jorge Maderal, a base spokesman. Base officials scoured the logbooks dating to 1962 and could find no references to a similar situation, he said.

Fed court upholds Maine's trapping regulations concerning Canada lynx species

BANGOR — A federal court ruling on Tuesday upheld Maine's trapping regulations by denying a request from two animal welfare organizations for a permanent injunction because they failed to prove Canada lynx as a species is irreparably harmed under the regulations.

The ruling from U.S. District Court Chief Judge John A. Woodcock Jr. came nearly 15 months after the Animal Welfare Institute and the Wildlife Alliance of Maine filed the case against Roland D. Martin, commissioner of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

Nightclub asks court to stop police 'harassment'

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - A bar in Portland's Old Port that has been scrutinized because of fights and disorderly behavior by its patrons is seeking a protection-from-harassment order against the police department.

Thomas Manning, owner of The Cactus Club, says the heavy police presence outside - and occasionally inside - his bar has driven away customers. Lawyer David Turesky says police officers are trying to "harass, torment and ultimately shutter The Cactus Club." A court hearing is scheduled for Monday.

Former official facing manslaughter trial jailed

MEDWAY, Maine (AP) - A former Medway select board member awaiting trial for a fatal truck accident was jailed after witnesses reported he was driving a road grader.

Police say 44-year-old James Lee was charged Friday with violations of conditions of his release.

Millinocket Police Chief Garold "Twig" Cramp says Lee is due in court on Monday.

Hunter shot on first day of Maine duck season

CHEBEAGUE ISLAND(AP) — A hunter has been shot on the first day of Maine's waterfowl hunting season.

The Maine Warden Service said a duck hunter suffered a shotgun wound to the chest Thursday morning on Chebeague Island, near Portland in Casco Bay.

Officials said the hunter, whose name has not been released, was alert while being transported to Maine Medical Center.

The warden service is investigating.

Night flight

Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

Lifeflight of Maine takes off, passing behind the spires of the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul Thursday evening.

Search continues in Maine for missing fishermen

LUBEC, Maine (AP) - The search is continuing for two urchin fishermen who remain missing after their boat went down in Cobscook Bay in eastern Maine near the Canadian border.

The Coast Guard says the 32-foot fishing vessel, Bottom Basher, was reported missing with three fishermen aboard Tuesday night after it failed to return to its home port of Lubec. The body of one of the men was recovered Wednesday.

Headline errors

DOVER-FOXCROFT — A headline on Page A3 of Wednesday's Sun Journal should have reported that a Sebec man pleaded guilty to bilking a blind man out of $11,500.

Milton hunter convinces wanted father to surrender to police

Mike Grant Jr., 38, was running late and headed to his usual hunting spot down a dirt road to an undeveloped parcel where, he said, he wanted to relieve the stress of daily life. He chose that spot by chance, as opposed to others he frequents.

Fort Hood Hero has local ties

LEWISTON — A local woman was happy to report Wednesday that her daughter's husband, who was injured in the Fort Hood shooting last week, is OK. The U.S. Army says he's a hero.

Army Pfc. James Armstrong pulled people out of harm's way, despite having been shot twice, according to a release from the U.S. Army.

Abduction suspect in Maine in child custody fight

SANFORD, Maine (AP) - A 38-year-old Maine man who allegedly abducted his 2-year-old daughter and triggered the state's first Amber Alert had recently broken up with the girl's mother and was facing a custody hearing over their daughter.

Hailey Traynham and her mother were reunited Tuesday night in Sanford after the girl was found safe by a deer hunter who spotted her and her father in a pickup truck on a logging road in Milton, N.H.

Girl reunited with mother after abduction

SANFORD, Maine (AP) - A 2-year-old Maine girl has been reunited with her mother after her father allegedly abducted her, triggering the state's first Amber Alert and a 30-hour manhunt that spanned three states.

Hailey Traynham and her mother were reunited Tuesday night in Sanford after a deer hunter spotted her and her father in a pickup truck on a logging road in New Hampshire.

An Amber Alert was issued Monday after police said 38-year-old Gary Traynham of Kennebunk assaulted the girl's mother - his estranged girlfriend - and fled in a stolen pickup truck.

Maine police search for suspect in Buxton

BUXTON, Maine (AP) - Police in the Buxton area are searching for a suspect who fled three times when officers tried to arrest him on a variety of outstanding warrants.

The Portland Press Herald says David R. Sanborn Jr. has managed to elude arrest despite being barefoot. On Tuesday he was pursued by seven police dogs and a state police airplane.

Buxton Police Chief Michael Grovo says he believes Sanborn had help escaping.

Several days ago police in Biddeford tried to arrest Sanford, but he got away.

Maine man has permit to reopen topless coffee shop

VASSALBORO, Maine (AP) - The Grand View Topless Coffee shop in Vassalboro, Maine, is back in business.

On Tuesday the town planning board gave Donald Crabtree permission to operate the shop out of an office trailer on his Route 3 property.

The coffee shop reopened Wednesday morning. Crabtree says business is slow, but customers are starting to trickle in.

The opening of the Grand View Topless Coffee Shop last February angered many residents in Vassalboro, a small town outside of Augusta.