AUGUSTA

Mills, out as attorney general, to join Preti Flaherty law firm

Former Maine Attorney General Janet Mills has joined the staff of law firm Preti Flaherty, and will be working in the firm’s Augusta litigation group, according to a press release.

Mills, who has practiced law in Maine for about 35 years, became attorney general in January 2009 and lost the position in December when the new Republican majority chose William Schneider for the post.

Earlier, she was state representative for the towns of Farmington and Industry, and worked for 15 years as district attorney for Androscoggin, Oxford and Franklin counties. She also worked as a lawyer at a law firm in Skowhegan.

Mills has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts/Boston and a degree from the University of Maine School of Law.

In January, she was elected vice chair of the Maine Democratic Party.

Former fire captain pleads not guilty to molestation

A former fire captain has pleaded not guilty of molesting a teenage girl.

Robert G. MacMaster, 39, charged with sexually abusing the girl over a four-year period ending last April, entered his plea Wednesday at his arraignment in Kennebec County Superior Court. He’s charged with four counts of sexual abuse of a minor and one count of gross sexual assault.

He is free on $2,000 bail pending an April 5 court hearing.

MacMaster resigned in 2009 after being put on administrative leave amid allegations he stole $3,565 from the Augusta Uniformed Firefighters Association. He later pleaded guilty in that case.

STATEWIDE

Project will boost Internet, computer literacy at libraries

Internet access will be improved at 107 Maine public libraries, and rural populations will get training in computer literacy to help them find jobs and get access to legal information and forms as part of the Maine Public Library Information Commons Project.

The project will also establish 11 video conferencing regional hubs that will be used to train librarians and patrons.

Tilson Government Services LLC is working with the Maine State Library to implement the program. The expanded service is seen as critical in rural areas to connect them to the outside world. Sixty percent of Maine’s population lives in rural areas.

Federal stimulus funds, state funds and grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and others are paying for the expansion.

Events will help residents meet farmers, fishermen

Find out where your food comes from at Meet Your Farmers and Fishermen events taking place around the state this Sunday. Participants will be able to connect with local food producers and learn how to buy shares in a local farm or fishing business.

Community supported agriculture and community supported fisheries sell shares in advance of their harvests. The arrangements provide food producers with cash at the start of the season and provide shareholders with regular food distributions over a specified time period.

Community supported agriculture began as a way to buy vegetables in the summer. The concept has broadened to include eggs, dairy products and meat or fish, and some producers offer food year round.

In Portland, the Meet Your Farmers and Fishermen event takes place from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Woodfords Church at 202 Woodford St.

In Brunswick, the event takes place from 1 to 3 p.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church at 27 Pleasant St. Additional events take place today in Auburn, and Sunday in Bangor, Belfast, Canaan, Damariscotta, Farmington, Hallowell, Norway, Rockland, Springvale and Waterville.

For more information, visit www.mofga.org.

GORHAM

Death of woman, 68, was apparent suicide, police say

Police say they are investigating an apparent suicide Thursday morning in a parking lot on Main Street.

Officers responded to a call at 593 Main St. at 6 a.m. and found a 68-year-old woman lying in the parking lot. Officers initiated CPR but the woman was pronounced dead at the scene.

While police are continuing to investigate, they said in a news release that evidence suggests the woman died from a single self-inflicted gunshot wound. Police did not disclose her identity.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Gorham Police Detective Lawrence Maxfield-Fearon at 839-5046.

ELIOT

Six injured, none seriously, in three-vehicle accident

Six people were taken to hospitals Thursday after an accident involving a Jeep Cherokee, a minivan and a sport utility vehicle.

None of the injuries was serious, but six ambulances were dispatched to the crash site in Eliot.

Police Lt. Robert Brown said the accident occurred around 12:30 p.m. at the intersection of Route 236 and Ambush Rock Road.

Brown said the minivan struck the Cherokee as it was making a turn. The third vehicle rear-ended the Cherokee.

Traffic was disrupted for about 45 minutes.

RUMFORD

Five arrested, ran a cocaine distribution ring, police say

Five people in western Maine have been charged with drug trafficking for allegedly running a cocaine distribution ring that sold up to $250,000 worth of the drug in the past year.

The Maine Drug Enforcement Agency and Rumford police arrested four men and a woman today at their homes in Rumford, Mexico, Roxbury and Jay.

MDEA Agent Tony Milligan said the alleged ringleader, Timothy Clark, 40, of Mexico, was making several trips a week to Massachusetts to pick up quarter-pound quantities of cocaine and then distributing it to local drug dealers.

Milligan said the investigation began in January 2010.

KNOX

Police: Man says he pulled trigger on shotgun as a joke

A police affidavit says a 19-year-old Maine man thought his 12-gauge shotgun was empty when he pulled the trigger as a joke, killing a friend.

Luke Bryant was charged Wednesday with manslaughter in the death of 19-year-old Tyler Seaney, of Brewer. Bryant is charged with shooting Seaney in the neck Saturday night in Bryant’s apartment in the town of Knox.

According to the Bangor Daily News, Bryant told police he was trying scare Seaney by pulling the trigger on an unloaded gun.

Bryant is being held on $250,000 bail.

PORTLAND

Drug-ring overseer from Guatemala gets 20 years

A Guatemalan man has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for overseeing a drug distribution ring in Maine.

U.S. Attorney Thomas Delahanty II said Evert Diaz was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Portland. Diaz pleaded guilty last August to conspiracy to distribute heroin and cocaine.

According to court records, Diaz and Santo Bienvenido-Marcano, of the Dominican Republic, were charged following a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration investigation targeting a Lawrence, Mass., drug-trafficking organization. Officials said the organization sold about 650 grams of heroin and 700 grams of cocaine to Maine buyers over an eight-week period.

Bienvenido-Marcano had been sentenced earlier this month to five years in prison. Prosecutors said Diaz received the longer sentence because he had four prior felony drug trafficking convictions.

YORK

Chamber president to take job with Sen. Collins’ office

The president of the Greater York Region Chamber of Commerce is leaving her post to take a job with U.S. Sen. Susan Collins.

Cathy Goodwin, who has led the chamber for 15 years, has accepted a position in Biddeford as Collins’ state office representative for York County, according to Jeff Pelkey, board chairman of the chamber.

Holly Roberts, the chamber’s business manager, will serve as interim president until a replacement can be hired, Pelkey said.

“Cathy has grown our chamber into becoming a strong advocate and voice for business in southern Maine,” Pelkey said in a statement. “We believe her new job with the Senator will only expand and strengthen the linkage between local businesses and our federal government.”