PORTLAND

Scarborough High repeats as academic contest winner

Scarborough High School successfully defended its Maine Academic Decathlon title over the weekend, overpowering teams from 13 other high schools from across the state.

David Heckman, state director of the decathlon competition, said Scarborough’s victory means the school will represent Maine in the national finals of the Academic Decathlon, to be held April 27-30 in Charlotte, N.C.

Heckman said Susan Rundell, a Scarborough High junior, set an individual record for most points scored. Rundell is the first student ever to score more than 8,000 points, a feat that earned her the top medal honor.

Monmouth Academy placed second in the competition, which was held Saturday at Deering High School. Bangor High School finished third.

Monmouth is the only other Maine school besides Scarborough to have won the title since the competition was established 26 years ago.

The Scarborough High team is coached by M. Shane Davis, a foreign language teacher.

Two men injured in attacks with sharp-edged weapons

Police are investigating a pair of unrelated incidents involving sharp-edged weapons that occurred after midnight Saturday.

Two men were injured in the attacks, one reportedly in the Old Port on Wharf Street and the other near Morrill’s Corner on Forest Avenue. Police said the attacks were not connected.

A male in his 20s received wounds “relating to being injured by an edged weapon,” said Lt. Jim Sweatt of the Portland Police Department. “We don’t know whether it was a knife or box cutter or whatever.”

Sweatt said police were notified when the victim sought treatment at a local hospital.

The other victim was a male in his late 30s who was working at a private party.

“I don’t know if (detectives) have a motive for either attack,” Sweatt said.

Both men were treated and released.

GRAY

Heavy rains, melting snow spur flooding predictions

The National Weather Service issued a flood watch Sunday for southern Maine and southern New Hampshire, cautioning residents to be aware of possible flooding because of heavy rains and rapidly melting snow.

Between 1 and 2 inches of rain — and possibly up to 3 inches in some localized areas — were expected Sunday night and this morning, according to the weather service office in Gray. Snow, sleet and freezing rain were predicted for much of the rest of Maine and New Hampshire.

Some streams and rivers could overflow their banks, and some urban street flooding could occur near any backed-up drainage systems, said meteorologist James Brown. The rapid melting also increases the potential for ice jams that could result in river flooding, he said.

The heavy rains and warm temperatures came a couple a few days after the Maine River Flow Advisory Commission warned of elevated flood potential because of the weather conditions.

The commission said snowpack, ice conditions and stream flow are in the normal range for this time of year, but that significant rain and temperatures that reached into the upper 40s and lower 50s Sunday could result in street flooding, river flooding and ice jams.

BANGOR

Teenager could get life in another teen’s killing

A Bangor teenager will be sentenced in April following his murder conviction for fatally shooting another teenager during a street fight between two groups of young men.

Zachary Carr faces 25 years to life in prison after a jury convicted him Friday in the January 2010 death of 19-year-old John “Bobby” Surles, who was unarmed. Carr, 19, began crying when the jury delivered its verdict after four hours of deliberations.

Carr had testified that he brought a handgun to the street fight, and that it accidentally discharged while he was defending himself from Surles.

Prosecutor Andrew Benson said he will probably ask a judge to sentence Carr to 30 to 35 years in prison when he is sentenced April 21.

KENNEBUNKPORT

Squirrel causes blackout at more than 5,000 homes

More than 5,000 homes in southern Maine lost power Sunday morning when a squirrel caused two blown transformers in a Kennebunkport substation.

The accident cut off power in Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Arundel shortly before 8 a.m. Central Maine Power restored service to about 2,000 customers by late morning and the remaining 3,145 before noon.

Service to 681 homes in Leeds also was lost Sunday morning at 10:34 a.m. because of damaged equipment. A CMP official said the power was back by noon.

Value of potato harvest rises 3 percent over 2009

The value of Maine’s potato harvest rose 3 percent last year compared with 2009.

The National Agricultural Statistics Service said preliminary figures showed Maine farmers last year produced nearly 1.6 billion pounds of potatoes with a value of $159.2 million. That’s up from 2009, when the harvest was valued at $154.2 million.

Officials say Maine farmers planted nearly 55,000 acres of spuds last year, with a yield of 29,000 pounds per acre.