BOSTON

Anti-gay marriage group loses disclosure appeal

The 1st Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld Maine’s campaign disclosure law that requires the National Organization for Marriage to release its donor list.

Tuesday’s decision pertaining to ballot question committees represents a defeat for NOM, which previously lost a challenge to Maine’s political action committee laws and laws governing independent expenditures and advertising attribution and disclaimers.

The latest appeal focused on part of the law that says groups that raise or spend more than $5,000 to influence elections must register and disclose their donors. NOM donated $1.9 million to a political action committee that helped repeal Maine’s same-sex marriage law in 2009.

Lawyer James Bopp Jr., who doesn’t want the donor list released, says the ruling will be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

FARMINGTON

Five students injured when bus, tractor-trailer collide

Police say a tractor-trailer slid head-on into a school bus, sending five students to the hospital with minor injuries.

Fourteen students from Mount Blue Middle and High schools were on the bus when the crash occurred Tuesday afternoon in Farmington.

Police told the Sun Journal that the bus was stopped when the tractor-trailer avoided another vehicle before sliding into the bus nose first, pushing it back 30 feet.

Investigators said the fully loaded logging truck was traveling at 25 mph, but slick road conditions contributed to its inability to stop.

ALFRED

Daughters of Dapolito expected to testify at trial

The jury in the murder trial of Patrick Dapolito heard an audio recording Tuesday from a police interview in which the defendant discussed how his wife may have been killed because of his dispute with his drug suppliers.

Dapolito, 41, is accused of fatally shooting Kelly Winslow, 30, in 2010. He initially told authorities that the gun in his right hand accidentally fired while they were sleeping. He later introduced the theory that Winslow was the victim of a drug hit.

The prosecution also presented testimony from Winslow’s mother, a man who planned to rent the Limington home of Winslow and Dapolito, and a state police trooper who analyzed calls and text messages from Dapolito’s cellphone.

The prosecution is expected to present evidence from the state police crime lab today before resting. The defense expects to call two of Dapolito’s daughters to the stand in York County Superior Court.

BATH

City police trying to identify man who took cash register

Police are asking for the public’s help in identifying the thief who took a convenience store’s cash register.

Police Monday released a video that showed someone walking into a Clipper Mart on Saturday night, picking up the cash register, ripping the cords off and walking out.

The lone employee in the store was in the cooler at the time and did not see the theft. The incident took just seconds.

The thief is described as a white male, about 5 feet 10 inches tall. A police dog helped track the suspect and some of the cash was recovered, but there still have been no arrests.

WESTBROOK

Man, woman accused of passing fake $100 bills

Authorities have arrested two people they say have been spending counterfeit money in Maine.

Authorities said that since October, nearly $30,000 in counterfeit money from the same source has been passed in and around Maine.

Police said Jamal Bradberry and Brittany Wildes of Westbrook were arrested last week for allegedly buying merchandise with fake $100 bills, then returning the items for real money.

The Bangor Daily News reported that they made their first appearance Friday in federal court in Portland. Wildes was released on personal recognizance. Bradberry, who is wanted on a warrant out of New York state, was held without bail.

BRUNSWICK

Land trust plans to open 60-plot community garden

The Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust announced plans Monday to open a 60-plot community garden on land that is now part of Crystal Spring Farm on Pleasant Hill Road.

Creating a community garden has been a goal of the land trust since it acquired the farm in 1994, Executive Director Angela Twitchell said.

The community garden will feature a large area where volunteers will grow vegetables for the Midcoast Hunger Prevention Program.

Garden plots will be 10 feet by 16 feet and include access to organic compost, tools, water, and master gardener consultants.

Plot applications are available at 108 Maine St., Brunswick, or by calling 729-7694. Each plot will cost $35 ($25 for land trust members).

AUGUSTA

Legislation cuts red tape for state contractors

A bill before a legislative committee has led to an agreement that snips red tape for businesses that want to bid on state contracts.

The State and Local Government Committee has unanimously accepted a report that puts the process in force.

The new system enables contractors to prequalify for contracts issued by the state Bureau of General Services. The same system is already in place for the Department of Transportation.

BANGOR

Grandfather loses $7,000 to man seeking wired funds

Police are warning elderly residents of the city not to fall for the “grandparent scam.”

A city man in his 70s was bilked out of $7,000 last week by a con artist pretending to be his grandson who called and said he was in jail in Spain and needed money.

Sgt. Paul Edwards said the con artist told the victim that vehicles were damaged during a drunken-driving incident and he needed just over $7,000 wired to him from the nearest Western Union outlet.

The victim described not thinking straight when he sent the money.