WINTER HARBOR (AP) -A young lobsterman is dead following a single-vehicle fire in the town dock parking lot Saturday, hours after he had taken his boat out of the water for the season.

James Arnett, 21, was found in his burning car around 4 a.m. Saturday, said Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Department of Public Safety.

Arnett was days away from the Jan. 1 date when he could boost his 660 lobster trap count by 100 more. After six years as a sternman, this was his first year with his own boat and license.

The family has not yet set a date for a service, said Margaret Faulkingham, Arnett’s maternal grandmother.

“Everybody loved him, the old ladies and the young ladies,” Faulkingham said Sunday. “He was the best boy in town.”

Lawmaker

switches parties

AUGUSTA (AP) – A Republican who unseated a three-term Democratic incumbent in a disputed election in the Maine House last year switched ranks to join his former opponent’s party on Monday.

Rep. Stan Moody formally registered as a Democrat at the Manchester Town Hall, beating a Dec. 31 deadline for changing his party affiliation. His name will appear on the ballot next year as a Democrat.

Moody’s decision does not change the balance of power.

With the switch, Democrats enjoy an 80-66 lead over Republicans in the House. One seat is held by a Green and three by unenrolled members. One seat is vacant following the resignation of Rep. Marie Laverriere-Boucher, D-Biddeford.

Democrats also control the Senate 18-17.

Parasailing

teens injured

BRADENTON BEACH, Fla. (AP) – Two Massachusetts teens parasailing off the coast drifted across the beach into roadway power lines Monday afternoon when the rope attaching them to the boat broke, officials said.

A helicopter transported Natalya Lozko and Stephanie Cote, both 15 and from Chicopee, Mass., to Bayfront Medical Center where they were treated and released, said hospital spokesman Bill Hervey.

Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer Robert Suddarth said the boat operator was Kirk Hanne, who runs boats through two companies, Mid Rivers and the Cortez-based U-Fly Parasailing.

Capt. Ernie Cave, spokesman for the West Manatee Fire and Rescue District, said the girls were in a double harness when the accident occurred at about 2 p.m.

He said there were others in the boat, though no other injuries were reported.

Witnesses told officials Lozko and Cote got tangled in the power lines, then dropped to the ground, said Capt. Mike Turner at the Manatee County Emergency Communications Center.

Suddarth said the Coast Guard and Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission are investigating the incident.

“If it’s determined that there was any negligence on the parasailing company’s side, we may take action – pulling their license or civil penalties,” he said.

He said the parasailing license is no different than the one needed for commercial fishing, and does not require boat inspections.

A call to U-Fly Parasailing was not immediately returned Monday night, and there were no listings for Mid Rivers in telephone directories or on the Internet.

AP-ES-12-29-03 1947EST