Maine’s hottest bachelor fails to make the top spot

NEW YORK – Ryan “Mickey” McLean of Ohio was selected Tuesday night in New York City as Cosmopolitan magazine’s Bachelor of the Year. He beat the hottest bachelors from the 49 other states and the District of Columbia, including Maine’s hottest bachelor, Derek Lovely of Portland.

Lovely manages a Port Resources group home for developmentally disabled adults. He grew up in Oxford and graduated from Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School and the University of Southern Maine.

Each year Cosmopolitan devotes an issue to the hottest bachelors from each state. The magazine currently on newsstands features profiles of each bachelor.

LIMINGTON

Warden Service to probe featured wolf sanctuary

The Maine Warden Service will investigate within a week an unlicensed wolf sanctuary that has operated in Limington for 22 years, Capt. Dan Smith said Wednesday.

The service learned that Brenda Foster lacked necessary permits to keep wolves after The Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram visited her sanctuary on Tuesday to do a feature story.

Wolves are protected as an endangered species in nearly every state in the continental United States, except Minnesota.

Smith said wardens will first determine whether Foster’s five animals are pure-blooded wolves or wolf hybrids. If any of the animals are true wolves, the service will work with Foster to bring her sanctuary into compliance with wildlife regulations, he said.

Foster said they are true wolves that were found living in captivity and had been neglected or abused.

In Maine, anyone who keeps a pure-blooded wolf must have a state permit and must have educational or rehabilitative purposes for keeping the animal, said Christine Fraser, animal welfare veterinarian for the Maine Department of Agriculture.

Mainers may keep wolf hybrids as pets without permits, Fraser said.

SCARBOROUGH

Girl’s trip to study at Bolshoi Academy delayed

Arianna Lawson, who was invited to study at the prestigious Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow, will have to wait a little bit longer before she heads overseas.

“She was supposed to leave October 15, but we pushed it back to November 1,” said her mother, Michelle Lawson.

The delay in Arianna’s departure is due in part to a lack of funds and the family struggling to iron out all the details, such as her medical insurance, visa and other things she needs while studying abroad.

The offer to study at the academy came after the 16-year-old from Scarborough danced for more than a month at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy Summer Intensive Program in New York City.

Tuition at the school is $18,000 annually. Since a story ran in The Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram Aug. 25, the family has raised nearly $10,000 through donations and fundraisers such as a golf tournament.

If the family can get Arianna to Moscow, she will stay at the academy as long as they can afford to keep her there.

Since the offer, Arianna has continued dancing at the Portland School of Ballet.

The family has set up a scholarship fund, and donations can be made to Arianna’s Ballet Fund at any TD Bank location or by mail at 10 Berry Road, Scarborough 04074.

PORTLAND

Man held in morning knifepoint robbery

A city man was being held Wednesday on charges that he robbed another man at knifepoint early Monday morning.

Police were called to 704 Congress St. where a man reported being robbed as he left a convenience store just before 1 a.m. The victim told police a man put a knife to his throat and stole the small amount of cash he had with him and his cell phone.

Police spotted Modou Fall, 47, who has an extensive criminal record and matched the description given by the victim, on Grant Street and found the cell phone in his possession, police said. Officers arrested Fall, charging him with robbery and criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon.

 

Engineers get time and temperature lit up again

The time and temperature are once again flashing from the top of 477 Congress St.

The engineers who came to the Time and Temperature Building Wednesday morning reprogrammed a replacement circuit board for the sign, said Michelle Peacock, marketing specialist with CBRE/The Boulos Co. The 14-story building is managed by CBRE/Boulos Property Management.

The landmark sign went dark Friday afternoon after a circuit board failed.

 

Firefighters going pink for cancer coalition

Portland firefighters will wear pink for the rest of this week as part of a cancer-research fundraiser. Their trucks will be adorned with pink ribbons.

Portland firefighters are selling “Real Firefighters Wear Pink” T-shirts to raise money for the Maine Breast Cancer Coalition and Maine Cancer Foundation. Firefighters in Lincoln, Bar Harbor, Gardiner and South Portland are also outfitting their members in pink in support of the national campaign.

Over the past month, members of Portland’s Local 740 of the International Association of Fire Fighters have sold 1,500 T-shirts.

People interested in purchasing the “Real Firefighters Wear Pink” T-shirts for $10, can order a shirt via e-mail or by calling 756-8376.

CAPE ELIZABETH

Interim superintendent formerly served Yarmouth

Ken Murphy, a former superintendent of Yarmouth schools, will be the town’s interim superintendent.

Murphy’s nomination was approved by the School Board on Tuesday. Murphy will serve from Jan. 1 through the end of the school year. Murphy will replace Alan Hawkins, who announced his retirement this fall.

Murphy retired as Yarmouth’s superintendent last year after 18 years. His support of a new curriculum design and assessment system, the advancement of a new teacher evaluation process and work toward expanding the school day and year were among the accomplishments the School Board cited.

WESTBROOK

Judge to decide consent order for Pike Industries

A judge will decide in the coming weeks whether to accept a proposed consent order to allow Pike Industries to mine its quarry in the Five Star Industrial Park.

Superior Court Justice Thomas Humphrey denied a request for an evidentiary hearing to Artel Inc., an intervener in a lawsuit between Pike and the city of Westbrook.

Humphrey’s ruling, dated Sept. 30, said the court’s role in reviewing the consent order is limited and Artel’s objections to it are well documented.

Artel, a biopharmaceutical company that makes precision measuring instruments, filed a motion in Cumberland County Superior Court last month asking a judge to reject the consent agreement approved by the City Council on Sept. 8.

Lawyers for Artel say the company was excluded from negotiations and that blasting by Pike disrupts their precision weighing devices.

YORK

Two suffer broken bones as bike, motorcyle collide

Two people were hurt when a motorcycle collided with a bicycle Wednesday on Route 1, near York’s Wild Kingdom, police said.

Andrew Kilpatrick, 16, was crossing Route 1 on a bicycle when he was hit by a motorcycle ridden by William D. Gargan, 70, of Madison, N.H. Both were taken to York Hospital, where they were treated for broken bones.

The accident occurred around 4 p.m. No charges have been filed.

KITTERY

Another turnpike firewood exchange set this week

A second out-of-state firewood exchange is scheduled for this week to spread awareness about invasive insects that could threaten the state’s forests.

Maine Forest Service rangers and entomologists will set up an educational kiosk and exchange station at the Maine Turnpike northbound Kittery rest station. The exchange station will run from today through Saturday.

Travelers will receive Maine firewood in return for their out-of-state firewood, which is banned in Maine. The Maine Forest Service is particularly concerned about the Asian longhorned beetle and emerald ash borer, which have caused problems in nearby states but have not been seen in Maine.

A similar exchange last month resulted in the exchange of more than 2,000 pieces of firewood. No invasive exotic pests were found in the seized wood.

AUGUSTA

Executive order to promote school vaccination clinics

An executive order by Gov. John Baldacci is promoting school-based vaccination clinics.

The order Baldacci signed Tuesday protects school districts and other vaccination clinic participants from liability. During the H1N1 emergency last year, many school districts said concerns over potential liability put at risk their ability to provide vaccination clinics.