MACHIAS (AP) – The last of three 19-year-olds who thought they hit the jackpot when they stole two briefcases containing $40,000 in cash has been sentenced to jail and ordered to make restitution.

William D. Torrey of Milbridge was given the same sentence on Monday in Washington County Superior Court that the other two received in February: 60 days in jail, restitution and four years of probation.

Torrey, along with Andrew C. Smith of Steuben and Robert Graham of Milbridge, were accused of taking the briefcases from a vehicle in Milbridge belonging to a migrant worker last May. A juvenile also was charged in the incident.

X-rated stores

to be regulated

AUGUSTA (AP) – Gov. John Baldacci has signed into law a bill that will allow towns and cities to enact ordinances that regulate the operation of sexually oriented businesses, such as adult video, novelty and book stores.

The law will permit municipalities to pass adult entertainment ordinances without forcing them to adopt comprehensive plans. In its original form, the bill sought to ban X-rated businesses near churches, schools, parks and residential zones.

House, Senate OK nicotine water ban

AUGUSTA (AP) – The House and Senate gave their final approval Wednesday to a bill to outlaw the sale of nicotine-laced water and sent it to Gov. John Baldacci.

Supporters of the bill say nicotine should not be put in a product available to children and other unsuspecting consumers.

The bill surfaced in the Legislature after a major drug store chain pulled bottles of nicotine water from the shelves of its stores in Maine.

En route to the Senate after winning final House approval Wednesday was a bill to clamp down on the sale of products containing toxic flame retardants.

The bill seeks to ban two of the most dangerous kinds of brominated flame retardants, known as Pents and Octa, by Jan. 1, 2006, and phase out the use of a third material, Deca, by 2008 if safer alternatives can be found.

European nations have banned all three chemicals, and the manufacturer of Penta and Octa plans to halt production by January 2005, according to supporters of the bill.

Bromides are a suspected cause of learning disabilities and behavioral problems.