WARREN

Pneumonia cited as cause of death for inmate, 29

State prison officials have disclosed the cause of death of an inmate who was found dead in his cell at a minimum-security prison.

Associate Corrections Commissioner Denise Lord told the Bangor Daily News on Wednesday that autopsy results show Ryan Allan Calor, 29, of Northfield died of pneumonia at the Bolduc Correctional Facility in Warren.

Calor was found dead during a count of prisoners Tuesday morning. He was serving a three-year sentence for burglary and was scheduled to be released in February 2014.

BANGOR

Lawyer convicted for child porn awaits sentence today

A federal prosecutor says Maine’s former top drug prosecutor should spend at least 21 years in prison for his conviction on child pornography charges.

But the attorney for James Cameron, 48, of Hallowell says Cameron should spend no more than five years in prison.

Cameron is due to be sentenced today in federal court in Bangor.

Last summer, U.S. District Court Judge John Woodcock found Cameron guilty of 13 counts of sending and receiving child pornography in 2006 and 2007. Cameron has been in custody since his conviction.

Under federal law, Cameron faces a minimum of five years in prison. The Bangor Daily News said federal sentencing guidelines recommend a sentence of almost 22 years to just over 27 years.

PORTLAND

Old Port Playhouse closes; company seeks new venue

The Old Port Playhouse, which began hosting productions in October of 2009, has closed.

The closure was announced on the venue’s website Wednesday, in a message from its co-founders and artistic directors, Michael J. Tobin and Jeffrey Caron.

Their announcement cited competition against other entertainment for audiences. It also mentioned difficulty in marketing the theater on Temple Street.

“The press/marketing demands is a 24/7 job and a very expensive one,” the message read. “Expecting our patrons to support us every week, every month is asking too much.”

The message said the Old Port Playhouse’s production company will continue, but did not say where future productions will be staged.

 

Coast Guard office to get handmade model of cutter

The Coast Guard office in Portland will add a model to its artifact collection thanks to a Gray resident who is donating a ship model that was built by his grandfather.

A wooden model of the Coast Guard Cutter Barataria will be donated by Bill Mancini, a former Coast Guard radioman and a grandson of the model-maker, the late Coast Guard Master Chief William Mitchell.

The Barataria was a 311-foot seaplane tender, commissioned by the Navy during World War II and transferred to the Coast Guard in 1949.

The cutter was based in Portland from 1949 to 1968. It was used for law enforcement and search-and-rescue in the North Atlantic.

After it left Maine, the Barataria was sent to Vietnam. It was decommissioned in 1969.

 

Portland High principal will succeed retiring PATHS head

 

Portland High School Principal Mike Johnson will replace Dana Allen after he retires in June from his position as director of Portland Arts and Technology High School, Superintendent Jim Morse said Wednesday evening.

Johnson will be full-time director of PATHS, a vocational program that serves students from 16 area high schools. Allen is half-time director of PATHS; Morse said the student services coordinator at PATHS will become a half-time position to fund an increase in the director’s hours and salary.

“PATHS needs a full-time director,” Morse said. “Mike has had a good run at Portland High for 10 years. He will bring new insight to our effort to increase student participation at PATHS. He’ll also bring the student advocacy he’s known for at Portland High.”

Johnson couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday evening.

FALMOUTH

Finding cause of farmhouse fire might not be possible

The cause of a fire that destroyed a 200-year-old farmhouse on Gray Road on Tuesday night may never be known because there was such extensive damage to the building, Fire Chief Howard Rice said Wednesday.

Rice said the fire apparently started in an area near the home’s wood stove and chimney, but “we may never know how it started.”

William Davis owns the farmhouse at 481 Gray Road. He was not at home when the fire broke out at 6:52 p.m.

Rice said that Davis is living with relatives.

UNDERHILL, Vt.

Injured skier rescued after hitting tree at Mt. Mansfield

A backcountry skier who suffered a head injury has been rescued from Mt. Mansfield.

Twenty-eight-year-old Maia Pinsky, a University of Vermont medical student from Maine, crashed into a tree Wednesday morning. She was not wearing a helmet.

Rescuers traveled two miles through deep snow to rescue her from the Teardrop trail after a call came in around 11:20 a.m.

Pinsky was transported to Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington Thursday afternoon. Her condition was unknown. Her skiing companion, 25-year-old Peter Cooch, told the Burlington Free Press that she was talking and conscious when rescuers arrived.

SACO

General Dynamics awarded $7.8 million gun contract

General Dynamics has been awarded a $7.8 million contract to produce Gatling gun systems for the Navy.

U.S. Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine said the 22 lightweight Gatling gun systems, used on fighter jets, will be produced at General Dynamics’ plant in Saco.

Officials say the contract management and final testing will be handled by General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products in Burlington, Vt.

The Navy says work will be completed by April 2013 on the weapon systems, which will be mounted on F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets.

 

Pickup crashes into house; police searching for driver

Saco police are trying to locate the driver who crashed a pickup truck into a home at 2 Maple St. early Wednesday morning.

The crash, which was reported at 1:01 a.m., damaged two parked vehicles, destroyed the home’s sunroom and caused an estimated $75,000 damage to the house.

Deputy Police Chief Jeffrey Holland said the driver of the 2001 Toyota Tacoma pickup fled the scene.

A state police canine tracked but was unable to locate the driver. Holland said police know who owns the truck, but have been unable to contact him.

“It sounded like a freight train. The entire house shook,” said Don Henson, who lives in the three-bedroom house with his wife, Kimberly. “There is no other way to describe it. Thank God, no one got hurt.”

BRISTOL

House destroyed by fire, two occupants are injured

Fire destroyed a home at 16 Oceanside Lane early Wednesday morning, and two occupants were taken to Miles Memorial Hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.

Neighbors called the fire department at 3 a.m. when they heard what sounded like an explosion, said Fire Chief Paul Leeman. The fire apparently started in the two-story garage and spread to the attached house. The residents were outside when firefighters arrived, he said. No firefighters were injured.

The structure ultimately collapsed into the cellar hole, Leeman said. Firefighters brought the fire under control in about an hour.

The state Fire Marshal’s Office is working to determine the cause, of the fire, Leeman said. He said he could not provide details about the home’s occupants or their condition. The house was owned by John and Lynn Ring.

WHITNEYVILLE

Wreath firm to help effort on unauthorized employment

A wreath manufacturing company in eastern Maine is the first business in the state to sign an agreement with the federal government aimed at preventing unlawful employment of illegal immigrants.

Whitney Wreath President David Whitney and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Bruce Foucart signed the agreement at the company’s headquarters in Whitneyville.

Under the agreement, companies work with the federal agency to reduce unauthorized employment and the use of fraudulent identity documents. The company agrees to assess its hiring practices to uncover weaknesses that could be exploited by illegal immigrants, and train its staff to use new screening tools.

Whitney Wreath, one of the largest producers of fresh holiday wreaths, provides holiday balsam products for L.L. Bean.

BAR HARBOR

Researchers: Technique may help in blocking glaucoma

Researchers at the Jackson Laboratory say they have designed a technique that detects early stages of glaucoma in mice, enabling them to block the disease.

The research team analyzed genomic data from mice that typically develop glaucoma. Using the data, they identified many changes that occur before detectable damage from glaucoma occurs.

Jackson Laboratory professor Simon W.M. John led the research, which was reported in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Glaucoma, a leading cause of blindness, affects more than 4 million Americans. The best-known symptom of glaucoma is elevated pressure inside the eye. But blinding damage to retinal ganglion cells and the optic nerve can occur in patients with normal eye pressure.

Earlier detection and treatment could have a powerful impact on preventing blindness due to glaucoma, researchers say.