MACHIAS

Down East berry growers worried about Asian fruit fly

A tiny, spotted-wing Asian fruit fly has made its way from the West Coast to the blueberry barrens and cranberry bogs of Down East Maine, where growers fear it could target their crops in the upcoming 2012 growing season.

The Japanese pest lays its eggs in soft berries and destroys the fruit. There are pesticides that are effective, but spraying is both costly and time-consuming, said David Yarborough, the University of Maine Cooperative Extension’s blueberry expert.

“It can be quite devastating,” said Yarborough. “In 2010, we found it in one trap we set. Last year we found it everywhere we looked. It has the potential of being a major pest, as it is very prolific and lays thousands of eggs in soft fruit, including blueberries and cranberries.”

He said the pest destroyed the raspberry crop in Connecticut last year.

The Extension Service will step up its monitoring program to track the spread of the fruit fly, Yarborough said.

Following an average harvest in 2011, growers don’t need any new threats to this year’s crop.

Last year’s harvest is estimated at 80 million to 85 million pounds, which is about average, Yarborough said. Growers received higher prices — about 80 cents a pound — than they did in 2010, benefiting from a poor harvest in Quebec.

YORK

Authorities issue warrant for suspect in bank robbery

Police in York have issued an arrest warrant for a New Hampshire man in connection with a bank robbery.

Detective Sgt. Thomas Cyan told the Portsmouth Herald that a warrant has been issued for 43-year-old Bernard Subocz of Manchester in the Nov. 23 robbery of the Savings Bank of Maine on Route 1. Subocz is in custody in Manchester on an unrelated charge.

Cyan said police have their sights on another suspect as well.

AUGUSTA

Governor opposes mandate on new renewable energy

Gov. Paul LePage is urging residents not to sign a referendum petition aimed at requiring at least 20 percent of Maine’s electricity come from new renewable energy sources by 2020.

In his weekly radio address Saturday, LePage said that the Maine Citizens for Clean Energy Coalition is collecting signatures for a November ballot initiative that would increase energy costs while “padding the pockets” of special interests.

The question asks voters if they want to require that at least 20 percent of Maine’s electricity come from new renewable energy sources by 2020. LePage said Mainers should have choices but shouldn’t be forced to buy certain types of alternative energy, especially if it’s more expensive.

Mainers currently pay 42 percent above the national average for electricity, the governor said.

LEWISTON

Police say teenager assaulted officer, faces multiple charges

A Lewiston teenager is facing charges after allegedly punching a police officer in the face at a high school basketball game.

Officials said the 17-year-old boy is charged with punching Lewiston police Lt. Adam Higgins at Lewiston High School on Friday night.

Police told WMTW-TV that the teenager assaulted Higgins after objecting to Higgins’ searching the bag of another teenager who was entering the school gym to attend a basketball game.

The boy, whose name is not being released, was charged with assaulting a police officer, refusing to submit to arrest, criminal threatening and disorderly conduct.

Higgins received minor injuries but did not require treatment. The boy was taken to the Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland.

EDDINGTON

Police: Homeowner shoots burglary suspect in the foot

Police say a man has been hospitalized after being shot in the foot by a homeowner who caught him breaking into his house.

Penobscot County Deputy Sheriff Troy Morton said family members returned to their home in Eddington on Saturday afternoon and discovered somebody inside the house.

Morton told the Bangor Daily News that the homeowner confronted the masked intruder and shot him in the foot as he fled. The suspect, who was not identified, was later located in a house across the street.

Morton said the case is under investigation and that the suspect is known to local deputies.

HAYNESVILLE

Driver, 72, dies after vehicle careens, hits parked truck

Police say a Haynesville man has died after his vehicle skidded off the road and struck a parked pickup truck in a driveway.

Police said attempts were made to resuscitate 72-year-old Roy Aldrich who died at the scene on Friday.

Authorities said Aldrich may have had a medical condition that caused him to veer off the road.

His sport utility vehicle then hit the unoccupied truck, pushing it into a house and garage.

The two vehicles are considered total losses.

Police estimate the damage to the house in the thousands of dollars.

HARTFORD, Vt.

Three found dead in apparent murder-suicide, police say

Police say three people are dead in an apparent murder-suicide in Vermont.

Hartford Deputy Chief Leonard Roberts said in a news release that a family friend contacted police at 9:45 p.m. Friday, asking them to check on residents who hadn’t been heard from in several days, whose phone wasn’t being answered and who weren’t responding to knocks on the door.

When police arrived, they found one body in the garage and two others inside the house.

The victims have been identified as 80-year-old Robert McCoy, 71-year-old Keumyie McCoy and 50-year-old Barry Facto. All three lived in the home.

The bodies were taken to the Vermont medical examiner’s officer for autopsies.

Investigators said they believe the three were killed in a murder-suicide, but released no additional details.

CONCORD, N.H.

Rescue workers honor boy, 6, who kept cool in a crisis

New Hampshire emergency communications workers are honoring a level-headed 6-year-old who called for help after his mother suffered a seizure.

James Barker’s mother, Julie D’Onofrio, collapsed in November while making breakfast for him and his 1-year-old brother, Cody, at their home in Washington.

Dispatcher Al Davis asked James a series of questions and kept the boy on the phone while police were dispatched. James monitored his mother’s breathing and told Davis each time she took a breath.

CLINTON, Mass.

Church in Worcester Diocese scheduled to be torn down

A century-old former Roman Catholic church in Clinton is scheduled to be torn down.

The former Our Lady of Jasna Gora Church was closed more than two years ago as part of the Worcester Diocese’s parish reconfiguration. The building has been cleared for demolition and is likely to come down within days.

The original church building was constructed in 1913 and was more recently used as the parish hall. The main church building was constructed in the 1960s.

A spokesman for the diocese told the Telegram & Gazette of Worcester that once the building has been torn down, the land will be placed on the market.

Our Lady of Jasna Gora was closed in 2010 when Clinton’s three Catholic parishes were merged into one.

EVERETT, Mass.

Authorities make arrest in fatal stabbing of woman

A Chelsea man is facing first-degree murder charges after allegedly stabbing a 20-year-old Everett woman to death near her apartment.

The Middlesex District Attorney’s Office said 59-year-old Clarence Earl Berry was arrested Friday after police searched his house while investigating Jessica Cormier’s murder and allegedly found human blood on some items.

Authorities said that Berry and Cormier knew each other, but they didn’t say specifically how.

A relative found Cormier screaming in the foyer of her apartment building Tuesday evening after having been stabbed in the heart and chest. Cormier was later pronounced dead at a Boston hospital.

Authorities did not release additional details. Berry is scheduled to be arraigned Monday.

BOSTON

EPA reports less pollution from Massachusetts facilities

A new report from federal environmental officials shows Massachusetts has reduced the amount of pollutants it releases into the environment.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s 2010 Toxic Release Inventory shows that at 441 Massachusetts facilities, the overall release of pollutants was 4.3 million pounds, a decrease of 1.12 million pounds from 2009.

The inventory includes toxic chemical disposals and releases into the air, land and water.

Curt Spalding, regional administrator for EPA’s New England office, said the inventory is an important tool for citizens and communities to find out what chemicals may be released locally.

— From staff and news services