PORTLAND

Resident could face charges for firing three shots at man

Police said they know who fired three shots in a Capisic Street neighborhood Tuesday and will consult with the district attorney about whether any criminal charges are warranted.

Police were called to 4 Meadowbrook Lane at 6:30 p.m. for a report of shots being fired. A 20-year-old man who lived there said his car had been smashed with a tire iron by a 20-year-old man with whom he had had a previous dispute, police said. Police would not describe the earlier dispute.

The resident responded by firing three shots from a handgun, chasing the other man away, police said. Police would not say whether the shots were fired at the visitor or as warning shots.

Police have identified the man accused of provoking the confrontation. Information about the case has been presented to the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office to determine whether either man should face charges, police said.

LIHEAP will send Maine $23 million more for oil

More money is coming to Maine and New Hampshire to help low-income residents pay for heating oil.

Sen. Olympia Snowe said the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has agreed to send Maine an additional $23 million in funding from the federal government’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen says New Hampshire will get $13 million more.

Snowe said Maine is now expected to receive $51.7 million in LIHEAP funds this winter, down less than $1 million from last year.

Officials last fall were projecting that LIHEAP funding could face a 40 percent cut.

Snowe said it’s important to keep LIHEAP funds flowing at a time when heating oil prices are rising and the unemployment rate remains high.

BERWICK

Vacant trailer burns, forcing evacuation of apartments

An apartment building was evacuated Wednesday night after a vacant mobile home next to it caught fire, threatening to ignite a set of tanks containing propane gas.

The fire at 17 Rochester St. in Berwick broke out around 6:40 p.m. When firefighters arrived, the trailer was engulfed in flames.

No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire remains remain under investigation.

BANGOR

Ex-bank employee pleads guilty to stealing $750,000

A former employee at a bank in Waldoboro has pleaded guilty in federal court to stealing about $750,000.

Christina Torres-York of Warren pleaded guilty Tuesday to embezzlement and another charge.

Authorities said she made unauthorized withdrawals from customers’ lines of credit over a two-year period ending in October 2009. At the time, she was working as a loan officer at the Camden National Bank branch in Waldoboro.

WABI-TV reported that Torres-York faces up to 30 years in prison, but under an agreement with federal prosecutors can appeal her sentence if it’s longer than 33 months. She is scheduled to be sentenced in April.

AUGUSTA

Secretary of State’s Office finds rules that can be nixed

Maine’s secretary of state said his office has flagged numerous rules and regulations that can be eliminated or repealed.

Secretary Charles Summers Jr. said some of the rules remain even though they’ve long since been repealed in statute. Others are simply duplicate requirements.

Summers has also ordered an immediate moratorium on rule-making within the bureaus overseen by his office. Each bureau must do an exhaustive review of existing and pending rules to prevent unneeded rule-making and burdens on business.

The Secretary of State’s Office is in charge of motor vehicle registration and licensing, corporate registration, elections and the state archive.

Gov. Paul LePage has ordered state agencies and departments to stop issuing new rules unless they’ve been cleared by his office.

Lawmakers touring places of economic interest by bus

Undaunted by the snowstorm, Maine legislators embarked on a three-day bus tour Wednesday to learn more about what makes the state’s economy tick.

The tour was to take participating lawmakers to Thomaston, Bucksport and Ellsworth; then to Bar Harbor and other Downeast points today; and back to the University of Maine and Waterville on Friday before returning to the State House.

Maine Maritime Academy, Jackson Laboratory and an Eastport tidal power facility are among the destinations on the tour.

Organic farming study finds annual sales of $36 million

An organic farming association has released a study showing Maine’s organic farmers generate more than $36 million in annual sales and support 1,600 jobs.

The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association released its study, “Maine’s Organic Farms: An Impact Report,” at the state’s annual farm show in Augusta on Tuesday.

Executive Director Russell Libby said the study found that nearly 600 farms were selling organic products in 2007, up from just 41 in 1988.

Libby said organic farms account for about 7 percent of the state’s overall farming acreage, assets and gross revenue.

Three school districts sharing $200,000 in foundation grants

Three school districts will benefit from $200,000 grants from the Nellie Mae Education Foundation to develop programs that better prepare students for life after high school.

The recipients are the Sanford School Department, School Administrative District 60 in North Berwick and Jobs for Maine’s Graduates, which will develop the programs in Portland high schools with help from LearningWorks.

LEWISTON

School board member: Say ‘after-school’ not ‘college’

A Lewiston school committee member said she wants city educators to stop using the word college when they are talking about the futures of students. 

Ronella Paradis said there is too much emphasis being placed on students going to college after high school.

At a school board meeting Monday, Paradis said she wants to see “after-school” language used to include those who want to become electricians, plumbers or policemen.

Lewiston educators said they have no plan to back away from using the word college.

After the meeting, Paradis told the Sun Journal newspaper that when she hears the word “college,” she thinks of a four-year college. She said schools need to get students “ready for the real world.”

NEW BEDFORD, Mass.

Frank says fishing rules hurt his relationship with Obama

Leading congressional Democrat Barney Frank said the Obama administration’s recent decisions on the fishing industry are threatening his working relationship with the president.

Last week, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke angered Frank by refusing a request by Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick to raise catch limits for Northeast fishermen. Locke said there was no new science to support it.

In an editorial published online Wednesday in The Standard-Times of New Bedford, Frank called the decision an “assault” on the industry and blasted the administration’s “wholly negative tone.”

He said if it persists, “it will make it difficult” to keep cooperating with Obama.

In a story accompanying the editorial, the 30-year Congressman said it was “time for some counter-intimidation.”