MAINE:
LEWISTON FIRES
Man pleads not guilty to 2 Lewiston fires
(Information in the following story is from: Sun-Journal, http://www.sunjournal.com )
AUBURN, Maine (AP) ? A 30-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to two counts of arson in connection with fires that destroyed two vacant apartment buildings in Lewiston.
Brian Morin of Lewiston entered his plea Tuesday in Androscoggin County Superior Court in Auburn.
Morin and 23-year-old Bryan Wood are charged in the May 6 fire, which was the third major fire in Lewiston in less than two weeks that left about 200 people homeless. Two 12-year-old boys are charged with setting the other blazes.
According to an affidavit cited by the Sun Journal, Morin and Wood used lighter fluid to start fires.
Morin's being held on $350,000 bail.
MARIJUANA REFERENDUM
Portland to vote on legalizing pot
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) ? Portland voters will decide in November whether to make recreational marijuana possession legal in the city.
The Portland City Council voted Monday to have residents vote Nov. 5 on a referendum seeking to make it legal for adults 21 and older to possess up to 2 ? ounces of pot. The law would prohibit using marijuana in public.
Referendum supporters turned in more than 2,500 signatures to Portland city officials in May. Rather than simply adopt the ordinance Monday, the City Council voted to send it to voters.
If it passes, the ordinance would conflict with federal law that makes marijuana illegal, as well as state law that allows people to use marijuana, but only for medical purposes.
MISSING BOATER
Warden Service searches for man in Hartland lake
(Information in the following story is from: Morning Sentinel, http://www.onlinesentinel.com/ )
HARTLAND, Maine (AP) ? The Maine Warden Service is continuing its search for a man whose unmanned boat was spotted circling a central Maine lake.
A warden service officer says a boat belonging to 66-year-old William Witt of Harmony was spotted circling Great Moose Lake in Hartland with no one on board at about 7 p.m. Sunday.
Warden service divers and game wardens in boats continued the search Monday and are expected to be back on the lake and the shoreline on Tuesday.
Lt. Kevin Adam tells the Morning Sentinel that Witt was alone in the boat.
Adams says searchers have not found any clothing, equipment or floatation devices to indicate where Witt may have fallen into the lake.
CREDIT CARD FRAUD
NYC man sentenced in Maine for credit card fraud
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) ? A New York City man who was caught with about 160 counterfeit credit cards has been sentenced in Maine to three years in prison.
Thirty-four-year-old Michael Barnes was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court in Portland. Judge George Singal also ordered him to pay $8,687 in restitution.
Barnes pleaded guilty to credit card fraud in April. Prosecutors say he and two other people were stopped in a vehicle in 2011 and found to be in possession of the counterfeit cards, some of which had been used to make purchases at stores in South Portland and Scarborough.
Barnes' sentence will run on top of a seven-year sentence that he's already serving in New York for burglary and weapons possession.
NEW ENGLAND ELECTRICITY-HEAT WAVE
Region's grid operator asks for power conservation
HOLYOKE, Mass. (AP) ? New England's power grid operator is asking customers to conserve electricity during the heat wave.
ISO-New England on Tuesday asked for voluntary conservation. It said power is adequate, but supplies are likely to become tight.
It says conserving electricity is a prudent, precautionary measure to help keep supply and demand in balance. The heat wave is not expected to break until Saturday.
ISO-New England suggests customers reduce electricity, particularly between noon and 8 p.m.
Customers are advised to raise air conditioning thermostats by a few degrees if health permits to a range of between 74 degrees and 78 degrees, turn off unneeded lights and appliances, unnecessary office equipment, shut off air conditioners when leaving home for extended periods of time and put off using washing machines and dryers.
NEW HAMPSHIRE:
DISASTER DECLARATION-NH
NH gov asks Obama to provide aid for flood, rain
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) ? New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan has asked President Barack Obama to issue a major disaster declaration and provide emergency assistance for repairing rain and flood damage to the state that occurred from June 26 to July 3.
Preliminary damage assessment conducted by the state and the Federal Emergency Management Agency has indicated total damage exceeds over $6.2 million. Excessive heavy rain caused flash flooding, washed out roads and evacuated homes throughout the western part of the state and severely impacted many communities in Cheshire, Grafton and Sullivan counties.
U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen sent a letter to Obama in support of Hassan's request Tuesday. She said the assistance needs to get to the affected communities without delay.
SLAIN COLLEGE STUDENT
Woman to enter guilty plea in UNH student case
BRENTWOOD, N.H. (AP) ? A New Hampshire woman charged with lying to investigators about her whereabouts the day a University of New Hampshire student was killed is scheduled to enter a guilty plea and be sentenced next week.
Prosecutors say 19-year-old Kathryn McDonough lied when she told investigators she had no contact with Elizabeth "Lizzi" Marriott on Oct. 9 ? the day they say the UNH student was strangled or suffocated. Prosecutors say McDonough also gave a false alibi for her and the man charged with killing Marriott, Seth Mazzaglia.
Court records say McDonough is scheduled for the plea hearing and sentencing in Rockingham County Superior Court on July 25. She's charged with witness tampering, hindering prosecution and conspiracy to hinder prosecution.
The body of 19-year-old Marriott of Westborough, Mass., has not been found.
GOVERNMENT HIRING-VETERANS
NH gov signs bill to help veteran hiring in govt
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) ? New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan has signed a bill to help with the hiring of veterans for jobs in state government.
The measure, signed Monday, establishes a committee to study developing a policy for veteran preference in government hiring, including those affected by post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.
Hassan said far too many veterans, especially those returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, are having difficulty finding good jobs that can help them support their families.
SUPREME COURT-PUNCHED OFFICER
Supreme Court upholds officer assault conviction
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) ? The New Hampshire Supreme Court, in a sharply divided decision, is upholding the second-degree assault conviction of a boater who punched a conservation officer in the eye when the officer tried to board his boat.
Wayne Dorrance (door-RANTS) is serving a 3-1/2 to 7-year sentence for a June 2010 assault on Fish and Game Department Conservation Officer Christopher McKee when McKee tried to board his boat on Pawtuckaway Lake in Notthingham.
The majority in the 3-2 decision Tuesday ruled the punch to McKee's eye that caused it to be swollen shut for five days constituted a "protracted loss or impairment" rising to the level of serious bodily injury. The minority ruled the injury was not sufficient to justify the felony assault charge.
Dorrance's lawyer said he disagrees with the ruling.
WATER SAFETY-DROWNING
NH officials to alert public about swim safety
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) ? With five drowning deaths in New Hampshire this month alone, officials are urging the public to practice safe swimming habits.
Officials from the state police marine patrol, Fish and Game Department and Concord Fire Department are holding a press conference at the Everett Arena in Concord to alert the public on ways to prevent drowning.
They say high water levels and excessive heat contributed to some of those drownings.
This week alone, a 3-year-old drowned Sunday in Perkins Pond in Sunapee and a 30-year-old man drowned Monday after jumping off a railroad trestle into the Saco River in Conway.
Officials say the "buddy system" of having a companion and not swimming alone applies to adults as well as children.
Meanwhile, temperatures into the 90s are expected throughout the week.
VERMONT:
IRENE FUNDING
Vt. town appeals FEMA rejection of flood wall fix
(Information in the following story is from: Bennington Banner, http://www.benningtonbanner.com )
BENNINGTON, Vt. (AP) ? The Vermont town of Bennington has filed an appeal over the federal government's rejection of reimbursement funds for the town's work on a flood wall after Tropical Storm Irene.
The August 2011 storm caused serious damage to a levee between North Branch and Park Streets that had been built by the Army Corps of Engineers. The Bennington Banner reports (http://bit.ly/10XZR1x) the town, fearing that a failure to act could result in flooding, completed repair work that cost $214,000.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency rejected the town's request for reimbursement on the grounds that the work was the responsibility of the corps. The town said the corps was unable to respond quickly.
RUTLAND FIRE
Fire accidental, likely caused by power strip
(Information in the following story is from: Rutland Herald, http://www.rutlandherald.com/ )
WEST RUTLAND, Vt. (AP) ? Vermont investigators say a fire that destroyed a home in Rutland was most likely caused by an electrical problem, failure with a power strip device.
Police say the fire on Sunday caused extensive damage to the home on Mead Road.
The Rutland Herald reports that the owners were not home at the time. Police say a pet cat died in the fire.
The Vermont Department of Public Safety is reminding people to use electrical devices, including power strips, in compliance with manufacturers' recommendations.
ESCAPED CONVICT CAPTURED
Authorities: Vt. woman who fled work crew nabbed
BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) ? Vermont Corrections Department officials say a woman who walked away from a prison work crew in Charlotte last week has been captured.
The Corrections Department says Mindy Sue Champagne walked away from a supervised work crew on Greenbush Drive at about 10:30 a.m. Friday. It issued a statement Tuesday morning saying she had been picked up Monday evening by police in Burlington.
She was taken back to the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington.
Authorities say Champagne's offenses include unlawful trespass, possession of stolen property, retail theft and credit card fraud.
DOGS RESCUED
Police rescue 6 neglected dogs in St. Albans, Vt.
ST. ALBANS, Vt. (AP) ? Police say they have rescued six neglected and malnourished dogs, including four puppies, from an apartment in St. Albans.
After getting complaints about a barking dog and abandoned animals, police searched the apartment on Saturday and found four puppies and two adult dogs.
Police say all six of the dogs were in poor health and each suffered various degrees of emaciation, ranging from mild to severe.
Authorities say the owner of the apartment was not living there and it appeared that the animals were abandoned.
DEPORTATION FIGHT
Immigrant activist Danilo Lopez gets to stay
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) ? A Vermont group fighting for the rights of immigrant farm workers who are in the country illegally is declaring victory in its most high-profile individual case.
Danilo Lopez ? a Mexican-born farm worker and activist threatened with deportation for nearly two years has been given permission to remain in the United States for at least another year.
Brendan O'Neill of the group Migrant Justice, which has been campaigning to keep Lopez in Vermont, calls the decision by federal immigration authorities a victory.
Lopez was a leader in the successful effort to create a new type of Vermont driver's license that would be available to people in the United States without the legally required documentation.
INMATE THREAT
Inmate accused of threats to Obama, gov, sentenced
(Information in the following story is from: Rutland Herald, http://www.rutlandherald.com/ )
RUTLAND, Vt. (AP) ? A Vermont prison inmate accused of sending threatening letters to President Barack Obama and Gov. Peter Shumlin has been sentenced to over four years in federal prison.
Twenty-two-year-old Dakota Gardner sent the letters last year while incarcerated on a 2009 assault charge at the Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield.
The Rutland Herald reports Gardner apologized in court Monday for sending the letters. A judge last year sealed the records on the basis that the threats described were too gruesome and inflammatory to be made public.
Gardner said when he wrote the letters, he was about to get out of jail, and figured he would be put back in prison if he made the threats. He said he didn't have the control to be out in the community.
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