ORONO

Snowmobile crashes along lake, injuring 6-year-old girl

A 6-year-old girl from Carmel was transported by ambulance to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor after the snowmobile she was on crashed Sunday on Pushaw Lake.

Game warden Jim Fahey said the snowmobile was being operated by the girl’s cousin, a 16-year-old from Orono, with the girl in his lap. As they rode on the lake, which is frozen, the snowmobile crossed onto the shoreline and traveled along a snowbank, causing the sled to tip to one side.

The teenager fell off the machine, leaving the girl alone with her hand on the throttle, Fahey said. The snowmobile traveled about 70 yards before it hit a snowbank and a tree.

“She was holding on for dear life” and was too young to realize that she should have been squeezing the brake handle, Fahey said. The brake and throttle are both on the machine’s handlebars.

The girl was thrown off the snowmobile and lost consciousness, Fahey said, but she did not appear to suffer any life-threatening injuries. Both riders were wearing helmets.

No laws were broken in the crash, Fahey said.

SANFORD

Police make robbery arrest, recover cash with dog’s help

A Sanford man was charged with robbing Roger’s Supa Dolla at 81 Cottage St. in Sanford on Saturday.

Sanford Deputy Chief Tim Strout said Daryl Blums, 28, of 54 Thompson St. was arrested after a police dog followed the track of his scent from the store.

Police said a man entered the store at 8:53 p.m. and took money from an open safe. The man then fled on foot, chased by the store clerk. When the man brandished a knife and threatened to stab the clerk, the clerk returned to the store.

Officers from the Sanford and Wells police departments responded to the scene with a tracking dog, which located Blums. The stolen money was recovered, police said.

Blums is being held on $50,000 bail at York County Jail.

GREENWOOD

Young skier injured in fall, gets transported to hospital

A teenager was transported by ambulance to Stephens Memorial Hospital in Norway after she took a spill Sunday afternoon while skiing at Mt. Abram in Greenwood.

General Manager Kevin Rosenberg said the girl fell on the Boris Badenov trail, which has an expert rating and is named after a character in the 1960s television show “Rocky and Bullwinkle.”

Ski patrol crews transported the girl off the mountain to the ambulance.

Rosenberg was unable to offer details about her injuries, but said she did not hit a tree on the mountain, which is located just outside Bethel village.

AUBURN

Public service earns principal a trip to the 2012 Super Bowl

The New England Patriots say a school administrator from Auburn and nine other people from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New Hampshire have won the team’s “Super Bowl for Super People” online sweepstakes because of their work in the public-service sector.

Jim Miller, principal of Edward Little High School, and a guest will receive an all-expenses paid, one-day trip to Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis. The package includes game tickets, round-trip airfare, transportation to and from the game, and tickets to the Patriots’ postgame party.

The 10 winners were randomly selected from a pool of 4,000 New England residents — many of them firefighters, soldiers, nurses, police officers and educators — who were identified and nominated as “Super People” by their superiors. Miller was the only winner from Maine.

AUGUSTA

State must address shortfall before bonding, LePage says

Maine Gov. Paul LePage says the state must pay its bills before it borrows more money.

In his weekend radio address, the governor followed up on his State of the State speech last week. In that speech, he said the Legislature must tackle a $220 million revenue shortfall now. This weekend, he said he’s “cautiously optimistic” that the Appropriations Committee will come up with a solution by Wednesday.

LePage also acknowledged that Democrats are calling for a bond issue. He said there’s a real need for transportation improvements and that bonding would create short-term construction jobs, but the state can’t talk about borrowing more money until there’s a plan to pay current bills.

In the Democratic response, Sen. Seth Goodall of Richmond said bonds are a first step toward revitalizing the economy.

Reservations accepted Feb. 1 for Sebago Lake campsites

Maine park officials say they’ll accept reservations for one of the state’s most popular campgrounds, Sebago Lake State Park, starting this week.

The Bureau of Parks and Lands reservation system will be open for Sebago reservations only on Wednesday, and for all state park campgrounds at 9 a.m. Feb. 6. The starting dates for online reservations are being split to reduce wait times for campers.

There will be no fee increase for sites at the state park campgrounds. Fees do vary from campground to campground, with the highest fees for non-residents who want sites with water and electricity hookups.

Campers can make reservations at www.campwithme.com. They can also call state offices, mail in reservations or drop them off.

FARMINGTON

Professor named new editor of Thoreau academic journal

A Maine professor is taking the editorial reins of an academic journal devoted to author Henry David Thoreau.

Kristen Case at the University of Maine at Farmington has been named editor of the Concord Saunterer, an annual professional journal of The Thoreau Society.

Thoreau, who lived from 1817 to 1862, is well-known for his reflections on simple living in nature, especially through his book “Walden” about his two-year retreat in a small house on Walden Pond in his hometown of Concord, Mass. He also wrote “The Maine Woods,” a lesser-known book about his observations and thoughts during his three journeys to northern Maine, in 1846, 1853 and 1857.

Case has conducted scholarly work on Thoreau since 2007.

FALMOUTH

Tri for a Cure registration is now being done by lottery

The Maine Cancer Foundation has switched to a new lottery registration system for its popular Tri for a Cure triathlon fundraiser.

Last year, online registration for one of the 1,000 spots available for the South Portland event was filled within five minutes, said Cullen McCough, foundation spokesman.

So this year, the foundation has set a weeklong online registration, now open through 10 a.m. Feb. 5. Participants will be selected by a third-party lottery service and announced by 5 p.m. Feb. 6.

The triathlon is scheduled for July 29. More information on how to register is available on the Maine Cancer Foundation website at www.mainetriforacure.org

BANGOR

Troop greeter, 89, sidelined while healing from surgery

Bill Knight, one of the three Bangor troop greeters featured in the documentary “The Way We Get By,” is recovering at the Maine Veterans Home after undergoing a pair of surgeries to fix his broken hip.

The 89-year-old World War II Army and Navy veteran injured his hip in a fall at his Sunbury Village in mid-October 2011. Knight has been in bed or using a wheelchair since, said Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly, the now-husband-and-wife team that produced the documentary.

Knight is a member of the Bangor Troop Greeters, which gathers at Bangor International Airport to welcome soldiers as they return from overseas conflicts or wish them well as they leave for deployments. He is the oldest of the three greeters featured in the 2009 documentary.

Pullapilly and Gaudet said anyone interested in writing or sending a card to Knight may address mail to Maine Veterans Home, 44 Hogan Road, Bangor 04401, Attn: Bill Knight, Room C31.