New revenue shortfall hits Maine

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) - Maine state government is facing another revenue shortfall - this one adding up to $200 million.

The Baldacci administration is asking state departments to recommend ways to cut their budgets to account for the lower-than-expected revenues. Finance Commissioner Ryan Low the largest departments will face the deepest cuts.

The $5.8 billion budget passed last spring included numerous program cuts to address falling revenues. It calls for government shutdown days and state worker pay freezes among other saving.

Money a concern in Maine gay marriage fight

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) - The campaign to repeal Maine's gay marriage law says the latest campaign finance reports make one thing clear: It needs to raise money and raise it fast.

Tuesday's reports show that supporters of same-sex marriage have raised $2.7 million, compared to the $1.1 million raised by Stand for Marriage Maine, which wants voters to repeal Maine's gay marriage law on Nov. 3.

Mark Mutty of Stand for Marriage says the campaign is under budget and needs to raise some serious dollars soon.

Earthquake-damaged trail in Acadia reopens

ACADIA NATIONAL PARK, Maine (AP) - Officials at Acadia National Park have reopened a popular hiking trail on Champlain Mountain three years after it was closed when it sustained earthquake damage.

The Orange and Black Path - formerly known as the East Face Trail - was closed after an earthquake rocked Bar Harbor and the nearby park in October 2006.

Acadia's trail crew has completed rehabilitating sections of collapsed staircases and trails that were damaged by rock slides. The rugged cliff-side trail dates back to 1913.

FairPoint announces 45 new hires in Maine

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - FairPoint Communications says it has hired 45 new employees at its customer service center in Portland, Maine.

Executive Vice President Jeff Allen says the workers were hired to support the growth in orders by business and wholesale customers. The employees are undergoing training and will be on the job later this month and early next month.

Heating oil prices up slightly in Maine

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) - Heating oil prices have gone up 3 cents over the past week in Maine.

The state Office of Energy Independence and Security says the price in its weekly survey is $2.38 a gallon. That compares to $2.35 last week. Kerosene prices are up a penny, to $2.77 per gallon.

Prices varied by region.

The lowest actual heating oil price of $2.07 per gallon was in southwestern Maine; the highest price was $2.65 per gallon in eastern Maine.

Funeral for Maine soldier being held in NH

EXETER, N.H. (AP) - A funeral is being held in New Hampshire for a Maine native killed fighting in Afghanistan.

Thirty-year-old Sgt. Joshua Kirk was among eight soldiers killed Oct. 3 in a fierce fire fight in a remote Afghan outpost.

Kirk was born in Maine, but moved to Idaho at a young age. He returned to Maine as a young adult and received his GED from Camden Hills Regional High School. The military listed Kirk's hometown as South Portland.

Man guilty of manslaughter in Maine cold case

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - A 61-year-old New Hampshire man has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the 1986 strangulation death of a woman in Portland, Maine.

Roger Bernier, a disabled veteran from Manchester, entered his plea Tuesday in Cumberland County Superior Court. Bernier told police he doesn't remember killing 33-year-old Mary Kelley, whose body was found in the bathtub of her Congress Street apartment 23 years ago.

Augusta man charged with assault after rampage

CANAAN, Maine (AP) - Maine police say an Augusta man faces multiple charges following a violent, drunken rampage.

Police say 23-year-old Gary Davis has been charged with domestic violence assault, criminal trespass, resisting arrest and others.

Gay marriage campaign spending reports due

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) - Reports showing how much the campaigns for and against repealing Maine's gay marriage law are collecting and spending are due in Augusta.

Tuesday is the last day political action committees can file with state campaign regulators. The campaigns are trying to persuade voters through TV ads and other media in advance of the Nov. 3 people's veto referendum. Maine's gay marriage law was passed by lawmakers and signed by Gov. John Baldacci in May.

As of the last quarterly filing deadline, gay marriage opponents had a funding edge.

Woman shot by fiance in Fla. had Maine connections

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - A woman who was mistakenly shot by her fiance in Florida the day before they were to be married maintained a summer home in Maine, where she grew up and graduated high school.

Police say 62-year-old Nancy Zeegers Dinsmore died Friday after being shot by her live-in fiance in Winter Springs, Fla. John Tabutt told investigators he fired at what he thought was an intruder in a hallway, but it turned out to be Dinsmore.

Police say the shooting appears to be a tragic accident.

3 infants die sleeping with their parents in unrelated incidents

Three infants died last week in unrelated incidents after sleeping with their parents, according to State Police.The infants may have suffocated, though the State Medical Examiner's Office has not yet determined the cause of death. The incidents took place in Madison, Canaan and Windsor.

The first death was reported on Sunday, Oct. 4 in Madison after a two month old girl was found dead in her father's bed.  The baby had been placed there by her mother, according to a press release from the Maine Department of Public Safety.

MIT prof refutes global warming theory at Bates lecture

Amber Waterman/Sun Journal

Massachusetts Institute if Technology Professor Richard S. Lindzen presents a lecture at Bates College on "Deconstructing Global Warming" Monday evening.

Damariscotta Pumpkinfest get wild

Man who served time for murder charged in assault

WATERVILLE (AP) — A 38-year-old Waterville man who spent time in prison for the 1989 murder of his mother has been charged with attempted gross sexual assault.

Waterville police Sgt. Daniel Goss said Scott L. Thompson allegedly entered Maurices women's clothing store at about 8 p.m. Friday and burst into one of the changing rooms.

Goss told the Morning Sentinel that Thompson shoved a woman against the wall, but she resisted and called for help. Thompson fled and was arrested a short distance away.

Foliage reports go high-tech in Maine

Maine farmers to launch own organic milk brand

BAR HARBOR (AP) — A group of organic dairy farmers in Maine has formed its own company with its own brand of milk.

Shoppers soon will be able to buy MOOMilk - short for Maine's Own Organic Milk - at stores in Maine and Massachusetts.

The Bangor Daily News says the dairy farms - from Aroostook, Penobscot, Kennebec and Washington counties - formed a cooperative after not having their contracts renewed with the H.P. Hood milk company.

They then launched their own company, Maine's Own Organic Milk Co.

Professor touts benefits of TABOR in Maine

SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - A University of Colorado economics professor says a Maine referendum that would impose limits on government spending and tax increases would give Maine's economy a boost while reining in government growth.

Speaking at a news conference Monday for the Taxpayer Bill of Rights campaign, Barry Poulson said opponents of Maine's so-called TABOR II referendum have been spreading misinformation about Colorado's version of TABOR, passed in 1992.

Highest risk for H1N1 targeted with vaccine

LEWISTON — Anticipating the arrival of the first doses of injectable H1N1 flu vaccine next week, Maine officials are recommending those most at risk for the illness be targeted first. That group includes health care workers, pregnant women and children. Area clinics say they are preparing to distribute the vaccines.

Though about 15,000 doses of nasal spray H1N1 flu vaccines arrived in Maine this week, they were not recommended for pregnant women.

Catholics give $41,000 to fight gay marriage

LEWISTON — Catholics gave more than $41,000 during a second collection taken in churches to support the campaign seeking to overturn Maine's law allowing same-sex marriage, according to a campaign finance report.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, which registered with the state as a ballot question committee, filed a report Friday outlining fundraising and spending based on its efforts targeted at repealing the law.

Voters to decide on medical marijuana dispensaries

Question 5: "Do you want to change the medical marijuana laws to allow treatment of more medical conditions and to create a regulated system of distribution?"

Westbrook man charged with arson

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - A Westbrook man has been charged with arson for an Aug. 20 fire that destroyed a half-built commercial building in Portland.

The Portland Press Herald is reporting that 25-year-old Philip Caron has been indicted by a grand jury on charges of arson, burglary and violating the conditions of his release from jail.

Caron was released from prison in March 2008 after being convicted in 2005 for a string of arson fires that caused nearly $1.5 million in damages.

Shipyard workers thank Shea-Porter

KITTERY, Maine (AP) - Workers at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard are thanking New Hampshire Rep. Carol Shea-Porter for her efforts to eliminate a controversial pay-for-performance program.

Shea-Porter helped amend the National Defense Authorization Act to eliminate the National Security Personnel System, which was approved for Pentagon employees in 2003. Many federal employees have complained about the program's lack of fairness, credibility, and transparency.

New survey shows rising support for civil unions

NEW YORK (AP) - An increasing majority of Americans favors allowing same-sex couples to obtain most of the same rights as married straight couples, but only 39 percent support legalization of same-sex marriage, according to a poll released Friday.

The Pew Research Center said support for civil unions has risen to 57 percent, up from 54 percent a year ago and 45 percent when the question was first asked by Pew in 2003.

Views on legalizing same-sex marriage remained almost unchanged from last year, with 53 percent opposed and 39 percent in favor, the center said.

Man shot in Canaan

CANAAN, Maine (AP) - State Police say a man was shot Thursday while sitting in his pickup truck in Canaan.

The local man, who police did not identify, was flown to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor and was undergoing surgery.

Police were called around 5:30 p.m. by nearby residents who heard gunshots. The wounded man was found inside his truck, near the Hell's Angels clubhouse. Police believe the shooter fled in a car.

Gay marriage question posed to state Attorney General

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) - Maine's attorney general is being asked to look into what effect the state's gay marriage law would have on the public schools' curriculum.

Education Commissioner Susan Gendron asked for the analysis. Gendron has said the law will have no impact on curriculum decisions. But the campaign supporting repeal of the law in a Nov. 3 referendum says it could lead to gay marriage being taught in schools.