SCARBOROUGH

Loaded pistol among items stolen from unlocked cars

Police are investigating a series of car burglaries, including one in which a loaded 9 mm pistol was taken.

Police said the car burglaries were reported over the weekend on Beech Ridge Road and Ottawa Woods Road. The cars were all unlocked, police said.

Other items stolen included an iPhone, expensive sunglasses, a carton of cigarettes and an iPod. Police urged residents to lock their cars, saying that locked cars were not broken into even though they were parked alongside those that were raided.

Walmart customers say man took photos up their dresses

Scarborough police are investigating a case in which customers at the Walmart store in town reported a man with a miniature camera on his shoe taking pictures up women’s dresses.

Police released a security image that they say shows a man who was reported to have the camera attached to his shoe.

Several women reported the incident, which occurred on July 16. The suspect is described as white, with a shaved head and no facial hair, who was wearing a green polo shirt.

Police ask that anyone with information call 730-4314 or the anonymous tip hotline at 730-4200, extension 3093.

PORTLAND

Biker’s trek raises $16,000 for gay-marriage efforts

An advocate for same-sex marriage is finishing a cross-country bicycle trip in Portland that’s raised money for gay-marriage initiatives in Maine and other states.

Richard Carey of New York City began his 3,700-mile, 54-day trek in June in Vancouver, Wash., to raise money and support for the legalization of gay marriage.

Carey, 53, ends his trip Tuesday in Portland, where he’ll join gay-marriage supporters for a news conference at the headquarters of the Mainers United for Marriage organization.

Carey has raised about $16,000 during the trip that will be used in support of gay-marriage efforts. His goal is to raise more than $25,000.

Mainers will vote in November on a proposal to legalize same-sex marriage in Maine.

GREENVILLE

Less wind means progress for crews fighting wildfire

With winds dying down, crews are making progress in battling a wildfire on a mountain near Greenville.

Forest rangers said Monday that the reduction in wind means helicopters were able to ferry 10 firefighters, two forest rangers and a medic up to Spencer Mountain. Helicopters are replenishing a portable water tank, which is being used by firefighters.

Firefighters hope to have the blaze contained by Tuesday morning, but it could take the rest of the week to put the fire out for good. No one has been hurt.

Construction workers who were building a communication tower for the border patrol were in the area around the time the fire broke out over the weekend.

CORNISH

Deputies stop car for noise, end up arresting two men

York County sheriff’s deputies stopped a car in Cornish on Saturday because its muffler was loud, and within a few minutes had two people in custody.

The passenger in the car, Austin Frew, 18, of Rhode Island, is wanted for robbery in Massachusetts, police said. He initially complied with Deputy Bob Carr’s instruction to get out of the car and put his hands on the roof, but when the deputy went to pat him down, he ran, police said.

Carr caught him a short distance away.

When Carr returned to the car, he smelled alcohol and gave the driver, John Kuczek, 43, of Cornish, a field sobriety test, then arrested him for driving under the influence.

Frew was scheduled to appear in York County Superior Court in Alfred to face extradition proceedings, after which he will be sent to Massachusetts.

Kuczek posted $300 bail and is scheduled to be in court in October.

AUBURN

Unattended pot on burner started fire that killed one

The Maine Fire Marshal’s Office says a stove burner that was left on caused a fire that killed a 51-year-old woman.

Sgt. Timothy York said Monday that investigators believe the burner, with a pot on it, was left on by Nicole Lagasse, who went to bed and apparently fell asleep. Firefighters pulled her from the burning apartment early Sunday, but she was pronounced dead at Central Maine Medical Center.

The six-unit apartment building was evacuated but the fire was quickly brought under control before it could spread within the building or to adjacent buildings. Officials said the building had working smoke detectors, which helped alert other tenants.

ORLAND

Death of man riding Jet Ski remains under investigation

Authorities said an Orland man died while riding a Jet Ski on a local pond.

The Maine Warden Service said Ross Staples, 52, was operating his Kawasaki Jet Ski on Toddy Pond about 3:30 p.m. Sunday when he fell.

Witnesses said he got back on the watercraft, but fell off again about 50 feet from shore and appeared to struggle while trying to get back on.

Witnesses jumped in the water and pulled Staples to shore where they performed CPR. Staples was transported by boat to rescue personnel who attempted to revive him, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

The death remains under investigation.

AUGUSTA

Labor board rules that state has right to hire, reorganize

The Maine Labor Relations Board has rejected the Maine State Employees Association’s contention that the state is prohibited from hiring contractors and reorganizing agencies after a contract expired last year.

The board on Monday rejected the union’s complaint that the state’s right to reorganize or hire contractors expired with the contract, but it gave the state’s largest labor union the right to file an amended complaint.

The board’s chief previously rejected a similar complaint in April.

Julie Armstrong, attorney for the state, said the ruling was important. Without it, she said, the state would have been at a disadvantage in contract negotiations.

Gov. Paul LePage’s Chief of Staff John McGough said the decision reaffirms that the “administration is well within its right to reorganize state government” to make it more affordable and accountable.

Convicted killer’s parents moving back to be near state prison

The parents of a Maine man serving a 45-year prison sentence for murder said they plan to move back to the state they left almost 25 years ago so they can be closer to their son.

Stephen and Ann Bathgate used to live in Vassalboro, but moved to New Port Richey, Fla., in 1988.

They have put in a bid on a home in Freedom. They made up their mind to move after spending this summer in Maine and making twice-weekly visits to the state prison in Warren to see their son Peter George Bathgate.

Their son pleaded guilty in January to killing Paul Allen, 47, in December 2010. Prosecutors said Bathgate was angry that Allen and his girlfriend had flirted.

TOPSHAM

Topsham Fair starts Tuesday, continues through Sunday

The 158th annual Topsham Fair is getting under way.

The five-day fair at the Topsham Fairgrounds starts Tuesday and runs through Sunday.

More than 25,000 people attend the fair each year, drawn by agricultural exhibits, carnival rides, demolition derbies, music, food, harness racing and more.

Admission costs $10 a day Tuesday through Thursday, and $12 a day Friday through Sunday.

BRUNSWICK

Flags flown at half-staff for soldier killed in Seoul

Gov. Paul LePage directed that state and U.S. flags be flown at half-staff in Brunswick on Monday for the funeral of a Maine soldier who was killed last month while stationed in South Korea.

The funeral for Capt. David Haas was held at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Brunswick, followed by a burial with full military honors at the Maine Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Augusta.

Haas, 30, was struck by a city bus in Seoul on the night of July 27 while stationed in South Korea as part of the 403rd Army Field Support Brigade.

BANGOR

Woman sprays two men with mace at Bangor Fair

Police said a woman sprayed mace in the face of two men over the weekend at the Bangor Fair.

Police said the incident involving Renee Paine, 30, of Bangor was unprovoked, with her spraying a man with whom she’d had an altercation with earlier in the year, then spraying the man’s father. Two other people were inadvertently sprayed Saturday night and were decontaminated by Bangor rescue crews.

Police issued a summons to Paine for criminal use of disabling chemicals. A telephone number for Paine was disconnected, and she could not be reached immediately for comment.