CASCO

Police say woman fired gun at neighbor’s dog, missed

Police charged a Casco woman with reckless conduct with a firearm Monday, saying she fired a .38-caliber revolver at a neighbor’s Labrador retriever, missing the dog but potentially endangering people in nearby homes.

Cumberland County sheriff’s deputies charged Patricia Ann Smith, 47, at her home at 40 Tassel Trail.

Deputies initially responded at 6:41 a.m. to a report of a woman who had shot a black Lab that was chasing her grandson. They found that Smith had fired at the dog after the grandson had boarded the school bus.

Smith had left her house to confront the dog, which was in the public right of way, said Lt. Thomas Williams. Her claim that she had to shoot to defend herself or someone else was not true, he said.

The neighborhood includes several homes that are close together, he said. Smith was charged and taken to the Cumberland County Jail, then released on $560 bail.

Smith had previously complained to police about the dog, saying it bothered her by barking, and has complained about the neighbors who own the dog.

 

Police follow bicycle tracks to car burglary suspect, 16

Bicycle tire tracks led Cumberland County sheriff’s deputies investigating a series of car burglaries to a 16-year-old from Raymond who was visiting Casco.

Deputies traced the tracks to where the boy was staying, and the boy admitted to taking items from about two dozen vehicles, police said. They say they recovered cell phones, compact discs, DVDs, cash, global positioning systems and sunglasses.

They charged the boy with burglary and theft and released him to his parents. Cars were broken into on Libby Road, Luke Road, Thomas Pond Shores Road and Cedar Street.

Deputies returned several of the items, and are asking anyone who had items stolen in the area to report it.

OLD ORCHARD BEACH

Grower of medical marijuana accused of illegal distribution

A New York man who moved to Old Orchard Beach and started growing medical marijuana was charged with illegally distributing marijuana in Maine and New York, police said.

York County sheriff’s deputies and Old Orchard Beach police charged Bryan P. Branciforte, 29, of 2 Mill Brook Drive on Saturday with aggravated cultivating marijuana. He was released from the York County Jail on $5,000 bail.

Investigators say information from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration led to the arrest, which was made as police raided the house early Saturday. They say they found 201 marijuana plants, three pounds of processed marijuana, steroids, $1,000 and a 12-gauge shotgun.

A new release from the sheriff’s office said Branciforte moved to Maine after medical marijuana was legalized and obtained a caregiver’s license, enabling him to grow marijuana for someone who is prescribed it to treat an illness.

But police, who released photographs of an extensive indoor growing operation, say he took advantage of the law.

PHIPPSBURG

Fire that destroyed house started near the wood stove

A home on Parker Head Road was destroyed Monday by a fire that officials say started near the home’s wood stove.

The century-old wood-framed house, which had a metal roof, was engulfed in flames when firefighters from several towns arrived around 10 a.m., said Assistant Fire Chief Arnold Rice.

There was no water source nearby, Rice said, so trucks from Bath, West Bath, Woolwich and Topsham had to shuttle water to the fire scene.

The homeowner, Kenneth A. Hodgkins, was not at home when the fire broke out.

The American Red Cross will help Hodgkins with his clothing and housing needs.

PORTLAND

Man charged in thefts tried to cash checks, police say

Police charged a man with felony theft and forgery Monday, accusing him of stealing a wallet, a purse and blank checks in three separate thefts.

Darius Pelletier, 30, was charged with stealing checks in a burglary in the West End last month. Police say they have surveillance video of Pelletier cashing the stolen checks. He stole or tried to steal about $2,000 from the accounts of the three victims, police said.

Police had been looking for Pelletier to charge him with theft, forgery and misuse of credit information in connection with the theft of a wallet from a locker at Planet Fitness on Dec. 28, and a purse from a health care office on Sewall Street on Dec. 30.

Officers found Pelletier during the weekend on Cumberland Avenue and arrested him those incidents.

 

Two museum staffers win national education awards

Two educators from the Portland Museum of Art have won national awards, the museum announced Monday.

Dana Baldwin, the museum’s director of education, has been named National Museum Educator of the Year by the National Art Education Association. Stacy Rodenberger, school programs coordinator for the museum, was named Eastern Division Outstanding Museum Educator of the Year by the group.

Baldwin and Rodenberger will receive their awards in March at the association’s annual conference in Seattle. Baldwin will deliver a speech at the conference.

Previous winners of Baldwin’s award include the directors of education at the Guggenheim Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Dallas Museum of Art, the San Francisco Fine Arts Museums and the J. Paul Getty Museum.

Rodenberger will receive her award alongside three other regional winners, from the Georgia Museum of Art, the Amon Carter Museum and the Orange County Museum of Art. The association’s eastern region includes museums from Washington, D.C., to Maine.

BIDDEFORD

Police say man hid drugs in telephone book cutout

A 75-year-old Biddeford man was arrested on felony drug charges after cocaine and prescription drugs were found hidden in a secret compartment in his telephone book, police said Monday.

Biddeford police and agents with the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency charged John J. Moschos of 39 Sullivan St. with possession of cocaine, hydrocodone, Vicodin and marijuana.

Moschos is scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 23.

NORTHPORT

School, fire officials honor girl who assisted in rescue

A 10-year-old girl is being recognized for helping to save a toddler and her grandmother from a house fire on Christmas Eve.

Julie Cerone of Northport was honored last week at the Edna Drinkwater School in Northport, and also was given a plaque by the fire department.

Her parents said the fire apparently was started by a candle burning in the grandmother’s bedroom, where a 2-year-old girl was sleeping.

The grandmother grabbed the toddler, brought her to the door and handed her to Julie and her 13-year-old cousin, then went back into the home. The girls sought help from a neighbor, who found the 71-year-old grandmother unconscious and rescued her.

The grandmother is recovering. The house was destroyed.

AUGUSTA

Suspect denies killing man in jealous rage over woman

An Augusta man denied Monday that he killed a man in what police say was a case of jealousy over a woman.

Peter George Bathgate II, 30, pleaded not guilty to a murder charge during his arraignment in Kennebec County Superior Court. He is accused of killing Paul A. Allen, 47, of Augusta on Dec. 3 in Hallowell.

Allen’s body was found along Winthrop Street in Hallowell on Dec. 5. Bathgate was arrested Dec. 7 after a standoff at a vacant apartment in Augusta.

An affidavit filed by state police Detective Adam Kelley alleges Bathgate used a walking cane to stab Allen to death in a fit of jealous rage. Kelley says Allen had made Bathgate angry by flirting with Jessica Jones, 23, of Augusta, who has a 3-year-old daughter with Bathgate.

Justice Robert Murray ordered Bathgate to continue to be held without bail. Murray told Bathgate that a conviction on the charge carries a term of 25 years to life in prison.

 

Group lobbies for policies that support family farms

A nonprofit agriculture group held a rally Monday at the State House, calling on the LePage administration and the Legislature to enact policies that will keep family farms in business.

Bob St. Peter, who heads Food for Maine’s Future and runs the Saving Seeds Farm in Sedgwick, issued an open letter to elected officials that urges an immediate moratorium on farm foreclosures, asks for an inquiry into the effects of corporate consolidation and free trade agreements on small-scale farms, and seeks assurances that small-scale food processors and cooperative food-buying clubs will not be subject to a crackdown by Maine law enforcement.

The letter was signed by more than 150 individuals and farmers.

St. Peter held the event to draw attention to longstanding federal agriculture policies that encourage farms to “get big or get out” and allow the food supply system to be consolidated into the hands of multinational corporations.

Food for Maine’s Future joined with the Brewer-based worker advocacy group Food and Medicine to offer a hotline for farmers who face foreclosure. The toll-free number is (866) 933-9236.

 

Trade show caters to both farmers and non-farmers

More than 5,000 people are expected to attend the 70th annual Agricultural Trades Show in Augusta this week.

The show will be held today through Thursday at the Augusta Civic Center, hosted by the Maine Department of Agriculture.

Organizers say it will have dozens of lectures, demonstrations and meetings, and more than 100 exhibits featuring the newest in agricultural products, equipment and services. Organizers say it offers opportunities for non-farmers to learn about agriculture and how locally grown food is harvested and processed.