SOUTH PORTLAND

Snowstorm creates problems in fighting garage fire

Wednesday’s snowstorm slowed the response to a garage fire that destroyed the building and a brand new car inside it.

Firefighters got a call at noon about a fire in a garage at 26 Elderberry Drive. The residents, members of the Reali family, which owns Amato’s, were having lunch when they heard a crackling noise coming from the garage, said South Portland Fire Chief Ken Guimond.

Heavy snow and driving wind forced the firefighters to drive slowly — 30 to 35 mph — Guimond said. Because of that, a Scarborough crew — which was already on its truck when the call came in — was the first to arrive at the house, in the outer Highland Avenue area. The snow also made it hard for firefighters to find the nearest hydrant.

Firefighters had to make their way around the house through deep snow drifts. They prevented the fire from destroying the attached house, but the garage collapsed and a Chevrolet Equinox sport utility vehicle was destroyed.

The fire started in the area of an electric stove in the garage, where one of the residents had tossed a cardboard box shortly before the fire started, Guimond said. Investigators suspect that the box may have turned on the stove.

SCARBOROUGH

Wentworth school panel to report on work next week

The Wentworth Intermediate School Building Committee will update the Town Council and Board of Education on its work during a workshop next week.

The session will begin at 6 p.m. Wednesday. It is expected to include a discussion of community space at the school, said School Board Chairman Christopher Brownsey.

The building committee is pursuing new construction rather than renovation of Wentworth. The Board of Education approved the recommendation last week. The six members present supported the recommendation.

The Town Council will ultimately decide on the sum for a borrowing proposal expected on the November ballot. The project is expected to rely entirely on local funding.

AUGUSTA

LePage transition team posts donor list online

The transition team for Gov. Paul LePage has posted a list of donors online.

Donations from individuals and businesses were solicited to help pay for the new Republican governor’s transition costs and for the inaugural festivities held last week.

LePage officials had said donations were subject to a self-imposed cap of $9,500. According to Brent Littlefield, a top political adviser to LePage, the list was posted at www.lepagetransition.com.

The list does not include donation amounts, but Littlefield said no one gave more than the maximum and many gave less. The estimated cost of the inauguration and reception events is slightly more than $100,000, according to Littlefield.

Special election slated to fill post after lawmaker’s death

Secretary of State Charles Summers has called a special election to fill a vacancy created by the death of state Rep. Everett McLeod Sr.

Summers said the election is scheduled for March 1 in House District 11, which encompasses more than a dozen communities in Penobscot and Washington counties.

Democratic, Green Independent and Republican committees have until Jan. 27 to file certificates of nomination with election officials. That’s also the deadline for independent candidates.

McLeod, a Republican from Lee, died last month after being sworn in for his fourth term at home because he was too ill to travel to Augusta.

PORTLAND

Convicted killer seeking order for new DNA tests

A man serving two life sentences for killing his former girlfriend and a toddler she was baby-sitting in the town of Dexter is asking the Maine Supreme Judicial Court to order DNA tests that could lead to a new trial.

The attorney for Jeffrey Cookson is expected to ask for DNA tests on clothes and a wig worn by a man who claimed to have killed Mindy Gould, 20, and 21-month-old Treven Cunningham, but later recanted.

Oral arguments in the case were set for Thursday.

In 2009, a Superior Court judge refused a request for DNA tests.

Cookson was convicted in 2001 of shooting Gould and Cunningham execution-style on Dec. 3, 1999. He has always maintained his innocence.

EPA’s decision on biomass lauded by Maine delegation

The Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to ease up on regulating global warming pollution from biomass energy plants is winning praise from members of Maine’s congressional delegation.

Sen. Olympia Snowe said the EPA’s decision on Wednesday was “welcome news to Maine’s economy.” She said biomass “provides Americans with clean and renewable energy.”

The EPA said it would issue a new rule July 1 to exclude biomass from regulations requiring large polluters to reduce their heat-trapping pollution for three years.

Rep. Mike Michaud said the regulations as initially proposed “would have had a chilling effect on the expansion of this renewable source of energy.”

Sen. Susan Collins said the EPA’s old rules could have resulted in the loss of jobs, “leading to mill and plant closings and discouraging employers from investing in mills.”

BRENTWOOD, N.H.

Sanford man gets 11 years for burglary, other charges

A Maine man has been sentenced to more than 11 years in prison after pleading guilty in New Hampshire to charges stemming from the burglary of the home of a North Hampton police office and other crimes.

Adam Pento, 32, of Sanford, Maine, pleaded guilty Thursday to kidnapping, burglary, attempted theft, falsifying physical evidence and receiving stolen property.

Police say Pento and his girlfriend, Rebecca Paulhus, 37, of Kennebunk, broke into the police officer’s house on Feb. 5 and stole items including two handguns.