LISBON

Blaze kills man in home with no working detector

Authorities say a man died in a mobile home fire in Lisbon.

The state Fire Marshal’s Office said Richard Davis, 41, was found in the home’s bedroom early Monday. He was the only occupant of the home.

Authorities say Davis called 911 from his home in a mobile home park on Larry Drive about midnight, but was unable to escape before being overcome by smoke.

Lisbon Fire Chief Sean Galipeau said there were no working smoke detectors in the home. He told the Sun Journal that fire department officials had gone through the neighborhood previously to check for smoke detectors, but Davis wasn’t home and didn’t call a number left for him.

It was the state’s first fatal fire of the year.

PORTLAND

Credit union embezzler gets 33-month sentence

A Maine credit union employee who pleaded guilty to embezzling more than a half million dollars is going to federal prison.

U.S. Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II said Marsha Richard, 42, of Topsham was sentenced Monday to 33 months in prison for theft by a credit union employee.

Prosecutors say Richard stole the money from Atlantic Regional Federal Credit Union in Brunswick by manipulating accounting entries for checks that credit union members had deposited but that had been returned for insufficient funds. She pleaded guilty in September.

The credit union, not the individual members, suffered the loss from Richard’s theft. Brunswick police and the FBI led the investigation.

Bishop criticizes Obama on birth-control mandate

The leader of Maine’s Roman Catholics is adding his voice to a chorus of condemnation by religious leaders of President Obama’s decision to require church-affiliated institutions to cover free birth control for employees.

Bishop Richard Malone said Monday that churches and parishes would be exempt, but other institutions such as Catholic Charities, Catholic hospitals and schools would be required to meet the mandate.

Malone saikd the church opposes contraception and “particularly the morning-after pill,” which, it says, induces abortion.

He said the mandate would require Catholic institutions to make an “impossible” choice of either violating their moral code or denying health care coverage.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said nonprofit institutions such as church-affiliated hospitals will have one additional year to comply.

USM nursing school given a bequest of $320,000

The University of Southern Maine School of Nursing has received $320,000 from the estate of a retired professor.

The bequest from the estate of Professor Emerita Martha Skoner will be used for scholarships and to support nursing school operations.

Skoner taught at USM from 1987 to 1999. She earned her degrees from the University of Pittsburgh in her home state of Pennsylvania. She held academic positions there, at the University of Missouri and, finally, at USM.

With 545 students, the USM School of Nursing is the largest in the state. It educates 42 percent of Maine RNs with four-year degrees.

Public invited to discuss needs of Capisic Pond Park

Portland officials will hold a public meeting Feb. 1 to discuss future management needs for Capisic Pond Park.

The meeting will be hosted by the Department of Public Services and City Councilor Ed Suslovic, who represents District 3.

City staff and consultants will share the results of a sediment analysis conducted last fall and will present some management options.

The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. in the Deering High School cafeteria.

AUGUSTA

Ban sought on corporations contributing to campaigns

Rep. Jon Hinck, D-Portland, has submitted a legislative proposal to ban corporate contributions to candidates for state office in Maine.

The bill is being presented two years after the U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling in Citizens United v. the Federal Election Commission, which gave corporations the right to spend unlimited money on political advertising. The court said corporations have the same First Amendment rights to free speech as people.

Hinck’s bill, titled “An Act to Limit to Natural Persons the Right to Contribute to Political Campaigns,” is based on a law passed in Montana. Hinck, who is running for the U.S. Senate, said in a written statement he wants to “prevent the corrupting influences of special interest corporations on our elections.”

The bill was submitted after the legislative deadline so is not likely to be taken up by the Legislature in this session.

House Speaker Robert Nutting said Hinck will be allowed to present the bill to Legislative leaders this week and ask that they waive the deadline.

Last week, the Portland City Council took a similar stand against the Supreme Court ruling.

The council voted 6-2 Wednesday in support of a nonbinding resolution calling on Maine’s congressional delegation to support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution abolishing “corporate personhood.”

Gasoline prices increase, but heating oil holds steady

The average price Mainers are paying for gasoline has risen 2.5 cents in the past week, to $3.51, according to price-monitoring website MaineGasPrices.com.

The average price for heating oil was unchanged Monday.

The gasoline price in Maine is 17 cents above the national average of $3.34 per gallon.

Prices are 32 cents higher than on the same day one year ago and more than 19 cents higher than a month ago.

A weekly survey showed an average price of $3.70 per gallon for heating oil.

Ken Fletcher, director of the Governor’s Office of Energy Independence and Security, said it appears that foreign demand for diesel fuel may be keeping prices higher than they would be otherwise, even as people look to natural gas or firewood to lower their energy costs.

Around the state, oil prices ranged from a low of $3.47 in western Maine to a high of $4.01 in the central part of the state.

ALFRED

York County shows off new use for its old jail

The former York County jail, which had been vacant for seven years, is being used again, but for a much different purpose.

The York County Government Building in Alfred held an open house Sunday.

The renovated building includes the emergency operations center for the York County Emergency Management Agency.

Even though the building has brand new efficiency lighting and heating, signs of what the building used to be are still visible, including heavyweight doors that open to offices that were once cells.

Project manager Robert Brown told WCSH-TV it’s unusual for old jails to be converted to a different use.

The project was funded by $650,000 in federal grants and $300,000 from the county.

BANGOR

UMaine trustees put freeze on in-state tuition and fees

University of Maine System Trustees have voted to freeze in-state tuition at current levels for the next academic year, the first time that has happened in a quarter century.

Trustees voted Monday to accept a motion by trustee Karl Turner to keep in-state tuition and fees the same as last year for the first time since 1987.

Last year’s budget included an average tuition increase of 4.3 percent.

Turner said freezing tuition and fees for in-state students “is a big step forward in the right direction.”

Tuition for out-of-state residents will be set in the spring.

Airport director resigning to take similar job in Idaho

The director of the Bangor International Airport is leaving after more than 10 years in the job.

Rebecca Hupp is taking a similar position in Boise, Idaho, Bangor City Manager Catherine Conlow told WABI-TV.