PORTLAND

LePage plans to attend MLK event in Waterville

For the second year in a row, Gov. Paul LePage has declined an invitation to attend the annual MLK Holiday Celebration Breakfast, to be held Monday by the NAACP Portland Branch.

LePage has told the group that he plans to attend a Martin Luther King Jr. Day breakfast in Waterville, said Rachel Talbot Ross, president of the Portland branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Maine’s governors traditionally have attended MLK events hosted by the Portland or Bangor branch of the NAACP. LePage also declined multiple invitations from Bangor this year, Ross said.

LePage made national headlines soon after his inauguration last January, when he declined invitations to MLK events hosted by NAACP branches in Portland and Bangor, saying he had prior personal and professional commitments.

When pressed by a reporter, LePage said he wasn’t “going to be held hostage by special interests.” He added, “Tell ’em to kiss my butt” if they wanted to “play the race card.”

He then attended the Waterville breakfast, hosted by the local Rotary Club, which he had attended in the past as mayor of the city.

A member of LePage’s staff said Wednesday that he was unaware of the governor’s schedule on Monday.

The Portland breakfast will begin at 8 a.m. at the Holiday Inn by the Bay. The cost is $25 per person.

Snowboarders, skiers will compete downtown Feb. 3

The Sunday River and Sugarloaf ski resorts will host their annual Downtown Showdown rail jam on Feb. 3 in Portland.

The resorts partner with Portland to bring the mountains of Maine to the city streets in the form of a five-story, snow-covered rail and staircase set up in Monument Square.

The region’s best skiers and snowboarders will be invited by Sunday River and Sugarloaf to compete and showcase their skills.

Last year’s rail jam drew in thousands of spectators, who gathered around the manmade mountain to watch as athletes competed for more than $4,000 in cash and prizes. This year’s prize purse will be valued the same. A list of competitors for this year’s event will be released later this month. The event is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m.

FALMOUTH

Shooting ranges open again with new safety features

The Falmouth Rod and Gun Club has reopened all of its ranges and is introducing its 300 members to updated safety rules and new range configurations, the club’s president said Wednesday.

Police Chief Ed Tolan recently issued permits for the club’s two pistol ranges and one shotgun range, said James Conrad, club president. The club’s trap range got its permit in October.

The club’s outdoor ranges at 293 Gray Road were shut down last spring after the town’s code enforcement officer found that the ranges didn’t meet safety standards to prevent stray bullets.

The 62-year-old club has reinforced protective earthen berms around each range with additional dirt and concrete blocks, increasing the height of target berms to 27 feet, Conrad said. The National Rifle Association recommends a height of 20 feet.

When members renew annual dues this month, the club is requiring them to participate in weekend orientation sessions covering safety rules and range configurations, Conrad said.

PARIS

Daughter pleads guilty after helping with arson

An Oxford County woman has pleaded guilty to helping her mother burn down several buildings in a small western Maine town owned by a man her mom had a falling out with.

Lisa Thurston, 38, of Gilead pleaded guilty to arson Tuesday in Oxford County Superior Court.

The Sun Journal of Lewiston reported that Thurston and her mother, Joann Farris, 64, drove to some land in Albany Township, where Thurston poured kerosene on two log cabins, a maintenance building and two storage buildings and set them on fire while her mother waited in a car.

Farris pleaded no contest to charges last month and was given a three-year suspended sentence and put on probation for four years. She’s been ordered to pay restitution of up to $70,000.

ELLSWORTH

Machias man dies after he’s found lying in an alley

Police say a Machias man died of hypothermia after he was found lying in an alley in downtown Ellsworth.

Police say Ronald LaCasse, 64, was found on the ground between two buildings Wednesday morning by a worker at the Maine Shellfish Co.

Police say it appeared that LaCasse was sleeping or passed out. Police do not know how long he had been there before he was found.

LaCasse was taken to the hospital, where he later died.

The Bangor Daily News reports that the temperature was about 10 degrees when he was found, wearing jeans, sneakers, a T-shirt and a zip-up sweater.

Police say LaCasse had been staying at a shelter, where he was until noon on Tuesday.

BREWER

Chamber joins opposition to closing postal center

Opponents are speaking out against a U.S. Postal Service proposal to close a mail processing center in central Maine and merge it with one 130 miles away.

The Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce said Wednesday that closing the processing center in Hampden and consolidating it with one in Scarborough would slow mail service in the region and result in the loss of nearly 200 postal worker jobs.

The chamber’s board of directors said it recognizes the need for the postal service to restructure, but said closing facilities like the one in Hampden is an inappropriate solution.

The U.S. Postal Service was holding a public hearing on its proposal Wednesday evening in Brewer.

U.S. Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins were planning to attend to voice their opposition.

AUGUSTA

Snowpack around state extremely low for date

Officials say Maine’s snowpack is at one of its lowest levels on record for this time of year.

The results of Maine’s cooperative snow survey found measurable snow at only 14 of 59 locations around the state where snow measurements were taken Jan. 3 and 4.

Maine Geological Survey geologist Robert Johnston said the snowpack’s water content is in the lowest 10 percent on record.

The survey is a collaborative effort that measures snowpack depth, density and water content around the state. The deepest snow, slightly under 12 inches, was found near St. Pamphile in northwestern Aroostook County.

The results were released Wednesday, a day before a snowstorm was expected to bring the winter’s first significant snowfall to Maine.

State puts data on inmates and probationers online

Corrections officials have launched an online database giving the public information about the 9,600 adults who are in prison and on probation in Maine.

The Maine Department of Corrections says the goal is to heighten public awareness about who’s in prison and who’s been released from custody while reducing the workload for department employees who handle information requests.

Prisoner advocates say the database is a scary tool that might hinder probationers from resuming normal lives in their communities.

The Bangor Daily News says about 7,000 of those listed in the database are living in Maine on probation, with the rest in prison.

The searchable database is on the Corrections Department’s website at maine.gov/corrections.

Ex-dental office employee sentenced for embezzling

A former bookkeeper at an Augusta dental practice has been sentenced to six months in jail for embezzling about $120,000 from the business.

Celine Davis was also sentenced Tuesday to three years of probation and ordered to have no contact with anyone who works at Augusta Orthodontics. The 43-year-old Lewiston woman was also ordered to pay another $72,000 in restitution. She previously paid about $47,000 in restitution.

The Kennebec Journal reports that practice owner Darryl Zeleniak told a judge he was more disappointed than angry with Davis. He said she worked at the practice for 16 years and was considered a friend.

Prosecutors say Davis stole the money by accepting cash payments and then deleting or voiding them in the computer system after providing a receipt.

Safety for young drivers stressed after recent deaths

In the wake of a deadly weekend on Maine’s highways for young motorists, Gov. Paul LePage and Secretary of State Charles Summers Jr. are stressing the importance of safety for young drivers. LePage recently proclaimed January as Young Driver Safety Awareness Month.

LePage sent his condolences to the families and friends of the four young people who died in motor vehicle accidents this past weekend in Maine.

Two teenage passengers died when a car driven by an 18-year-old who had been drinking and texting crashed. A 20-year-old died in an accident in Freeman Township, and a 19-year-old passenger died in a crash in Biddeford.

Summers has announced Conversations with the Communities meetings around the state to discuss ways to improve the safety of Maine’s young drivers.

Democratic lawmakers show support for health care act

Democratic legislators are signing onto a “friend of the court” brief to express support for the federal Affordable Care Act as it heads to a showdown in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Gov. Paul LePage and other governors have challenged the constitutionality of the law, which opponents have branded “Obamacare.” Much of the dispute focuses on a mandate that Americans buy health insurance if they can afford it.

The Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments in the case this summer.

While many governors have registered their support for the legal challenge, more than 400 lawmakers from around the country have signed an amicus brief supporting the law’s constitutionality.

HALLOWELL

Father at game accused of stealing school money

Police say a man attending his son’s basketball game at a Maine elementary school went to the cafeteria and stole $40 in student lunch money.

Police say Christopher Cope, 46, of Dresden told them he needed the money to buy kerosene to heat his home.

Authorities say Cope was at the Hall-Dale Elementary School in Hallowell on Jan. 4 for the game when he went to the kitchen area and took the money.

Police told the Kennebec Journal school employees noticed the money was missing on Monday. Cope was identified through video surveillance and charged Tuesday.

He has been summoned to court next month to face theft charges.

It was not clear if he has a lawyer.

WOODLAND

Police offer reward for tips in killing of sawmill owner

State police are hoping a $40,000 reward will bring in tips that lead them to the person who killed a Woodland man nearly four years ago.

The body of Darrel Smith, 56, was found by his wife in February 2008 inside the small sawmill he operated adjacent to his home in northern Maine.

Police say he had been robbed, then shot. Smith’s wallet was taken and a safe was missing from the residence.

Detective Sgt. John Cote told the Bangor Daily News there have been no substantial developments in the past year, but hopes the reward will bring in information.

Cote said police have always believed the killer or killers were familiar with the sawmill, which was a cash-only business and relied on word of mouth for customers.

GARDINER

‘Work at home’ offers bring warning from state officials

Maine officials are warning potential entrepreneurs to be wary of certain business investment schemes, especially “work at home” ventures.

State Securities Administrator Judith Shaw said Tuesday that her agency is available to help aspiring business people make sound decisions about business investment opportunities, especially “work at home” ventures marketed over the Internet, in television infomercials or by telemarketers.

Shaw says her office has seen an increase in complaints from investors who’ve lost money to a variety of fraudulent or aggressively marketed “work at home,” “business coaching” and similar schemes that guarantee a revenue stream or promise access to free grants or business financing.