LEWISTON – Two local teens were arrested Wednesday in connection with a weekend fire that destroyed an Adams Avenue storage building.

The 15-year-old Lewiston boys were each charged with arson and burglary after detectives questioned the pair Wednesday afternoon.

Although fire investigators believe the blaze was set from the outside of the storage facility, police say the two teens had entered the building before it went up in flames Sunday night.

Police did not disclose motives for the alleged arson. A witness reported seeing at least two young people near the building shortly before it went up in flames.

The two teens arrested Wednesday were taken to Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland.

Fire inspectors were continuing to investigate the cause of the blaze in an attempt to learn exactly how it was set.

Wilton woman charged with OUI

FARMINGTON – A Wilton woman was charged with operating under the influence after her Jeep crossed the center line Sunday night and hurtled head-on into a car traveling in the opposite direction.

Lynne Sue Buchheit, 44, was driving a 1995 Cherokee west on the Wilton Road in front of the J.J. Nissan Bakery outlet store when she crossed into the eastbound lane. She smashed “almost exactly head-on” into a 1998 Honda driven by 24-year-old Sarah Woodcock of Farmington, Lt. Jack Peck of the Farmington Police Department said.

Buchheit’s SUV then rolled onto its roof.

Woodcock and her passenger, Matthew Reynolds, 25, were both wearing seat belts but were taken to the emergency room at Franklin Memorial Hospital with complaints of chest pains and possible broken leg bones, respectively.

Woodcock, the daughter of District 17 Republican state senator and Skowhegan school teacher Chandler Woodcock and Franklin Health Access Project Director Charlie Woodcock, was treated and released that evening, according to Jill Gray of FMH.

Landlords: Fee

for trash unfair

AUBURN – Auburn landlords said they’d rather pay higher property taxes than trash collection fees Wednesday night.

“Spread the wealth. That’s what I say,” said Lewiston resident Marcel Roberts, who owns seven apartment buildings in Auburn. “If you raise property taxes, it’s spread over everybody in town and everybody pays less. This way, it’s discrimination against landlords.”

Roberts was among 40 area landlords who crammed the City Council chambers in the Auburn City Building to complain about the city’s plan to begin charging for trash collections at apartments of four or more units.

City Manager Pat Finnigan said the city hopes to begin charging $1.54 per apartment per week beginning in December – about $80 annually per unit. The new fee should generate $30,000 for the city in the current fiscal year, if approved.

Casino topic of Bates lectures

LEWISTON – Bates College will host two separate, public lectures on the Nov. 4 casino referendum this month.

Speaking against the proposed $650 million casino, which would be owned by the Penobscot Nation and Passamaquoddy Tribe, will be state Rep. Mary Black Andrews, R-York. Her talk, “Casinos: A Windfall or Bust?” will be on Wednesday, Oct. 22.

Speaking for the casino issue will be Penobscot Chief Barry Dana, who will present “The Casino: New Answers to Old Problems” on Oct. 29.

The lectures will allow the speaker to talk for one hour, with one more hour allowed for questions and answers. Both will begin at 7 p.m. in the Keck Classroom (G52) of Pettengill Hall at Bates College. Pettengill Hall is on College Street near Russell Street. Parking is available at the Olin Arts Center on Russell Street, or on College Street.

For more information call 786-6462.

Police investigate various crimes

LIVERMORE FALLS – Police are investigating several instances of criminal mischief, vandalism, burglary and theft around town. At least $500 in damage was done.

Police responded to a report of a vehicle driving through a cornfield Friday night, Livermore Falls Police Chief Ernest Steward Jr. said.

The vehicle did $500 in damage to the field, he said.

In separate incidents, two manhole covers were removed from roads. One cover was found on Richardson Avenue and belonged on the manhole at the corner of Bemis Street. The other cover was found on Gagnon Street and was returned to its place on the same street.

Steward called the mischief dangerous, especially if a child had been out walking or a car had hit the holes.

In another instance, a man house-sitting on Baldwin Street awoke Friday morning to find two males and a female standing in the house, the chief said, and left after taking a phone.

And a Fayette Road resident reported 25 to 30 gallons of fuel had been stolen from a Kenworth tractor-trailer.

Selectmen hear of tax problem

PERU – Selectmen Oct. 13 heard from the town clerk that the town had still received no communication from a delinquent taxpayer, and next week the board is scheduled to sign papers to begin the process of selling a portion of the property to pay the taxes.

The action will be publicized three weeks before actually claiming the property.

Selectman Andy St. Pierre said the man had several years of reminders to make arrangements with the town for payments.

Pulsifer said the board always gives ample notice before action is taken in delinquent tax situations.

Hospital going smoke-free Nov. 20

RUMFORD – Rumford Hospital will join more than 20 other Maine hospitals by becoming smoke-free next month.

The change will take place Nov. 20, the date of the Great American Smokeout.

Deb Gorham, clinical coordinator at the hospital, said the ban on smoking for employees, visitors and patients applies to the parking lots, vehicles and outdoor areas of the hospital, Swift River Healthcare, the Rumford Veterans Clinic, and the Elsemore/Dixfield Clinic. Rumford Community Home, which is also associated with the hospital, will not go smokefree at this time because it serves as home for its residents.

The decision to go smoke-free was made by the hospital’s Wellness Committee, which determined that a smoking prohibition was the No. 1 priority.

Smoking was banned inside the hospital about 15 years ago.

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