PORTLAND

Tao Restaurant in Brunswick to defend its name in court

The owners of Tao Restaurant in Brunswick are demanding a jury trial in the trademark infringement lawsuit that the owners of large New York and Las Vegas nightclubs have filed against them.

TAO Licensing LLC, a Delaware-based company that runs TAO New York and TAO Las Vegas, sued the family-run Maine restaurant last month in U.S. District Court. TAO Licensing argues that the Brunswick restaurant is free-riding on its goodwill and claims trademark dilution, unfair competition and cybersquatting.

In a response filed Thursday, the Maine restaurant argues that there is no likelihood that consumers in Brunswick would confuse Tao Restaurant with the New York and Las Vegas nightclubs, whose websites tout their “hip/hop techno music and scantily clad employees and patrons.”

Its response also notes that the “tao” in the restaurant’s name means peach and it is represented by a different Chinese character than the “tao” of TAO Licensing, which translates to “the way.”

Museum loses appeal related to Homer studio

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court sided with the town of Scarborough on Thursday in a dispute over a building permit for a lot next to the Winslow Homer studio on Prouts Neck.

The Portland Museum of Art appealed to the state’s highest court after losing in Superior Court and before the town’s Zoning Board of Appeals.

The estate of Doris Homer owns five lots surrounding the studio and was granted a permit to build a house on one of them.

The museum holds an easement for a septic system on one of the lots and opposed the building permit on the grounds that construction could infringe on its easement.

Doris Homer, who died in 2009, was married to Charles L. Homer, a nephew of the painter.

TURNER

Police say Leavitt student admitted Facebook threats

Police say a 17-year-old student at Leavitt Area High School in Turner has been charged with terrorizing for allegedly threatening staff and students at the school on Facebook.

The student whose name was not made public, was charged by state police on Wednesday.

The alleged threats were made Tuesday morning and Monday night. Their exact nature was not disclosed.

The Sun Journal reported that school officials contacted police.

Police say after the student was identified, he was interviewed and took full responsibility. No other students are believed to be involved.

The case will be turned over to the district attorney’s office and the juvenile court system.

WINSLOW

Young driver in fatal crash ignored license restrictions

Police say the teenage driver and passenger who died in a car crash in Winslow last week weren’t wearing seat belts and the driver had an intermediate license that prohibited him from carrying passengers who are not family members.

Scott Loisel of Winslow and Alexandria Ferland of Vassalboro, both 16, were killed on Oct. 26 when the car Loisel was driving crested a hill at about 70 mph, went out of control and slammed into an oncoming taxi. Three people in the taxi were hospitalized.

Police say Loisel was in violation of a license restriction that applies to new juvenile drivers.

The crash remains under investigation. Funerals for the teenagers were scheduled Thursday.

CHARLESTON

Youths at detention center treated for ‘huffing’ vapors

Corrections officials say three youths were treated at a hospital after “huffing” chemical vapors at a detention center.

Department of Corrections spokeswoman Judy Plummer said the youths fell ill Tuesday night while being held at the Mountain View Youth Development Center in Charleston. Their names and ages were not released.

Plummer told the Bangor Daily News that the three inhaled a chemical used in a vocational program at the center. She said the youths were engaging in a practice known as “huffing,” deliberately inhaling chemical vapors to get high.

After being seen by an on-duty nurse, the youths were taken by ambulance to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor as a precaution before being returned to the correctional facility.

LEBANON

Town plans a Halloween that will be worth the wait

Children and their parents had to wait a few days but they’ll get their chance to celebrate Halloween on Saturday with a party at the local fire station and trick or treating around town.

Lebanon’s selectmen canceled trick or treating on Wednesday in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, which created safety hazards after winds blew down trees and power lines.

Town officials will try to make it up to the town’s youngsters by hosting the Rescue Department’s 9th annual Halloween open house on Saturday at Lebanon Central Station, from 4 to 8 p.m.

The party will feature hay rides on Belgian Meadow horses, a monster mud truck, Halloween mask making and tours of emergency vehicles. Town officials are encouraging children to go trick or treating from 5 to 8 p.m.

THOMASTON

Boatyard launches yacht built to circle the globe

A boat builder is launching a custom-built yacht for a Florida man who plans to sail it around the world alone.

The sleek, 63-foot Kiwi Spirit was being launched Thursday at Lyman-Morse Boatbuilding in Thomaston. The vessel is described as one of the fastest mono-hulled yachts in the world.

The boat was built for Stanley Paris, 76, of St. Augustine, Fla., who plans to use it on a solo circumnavigation beginning in November 2013. Paris hopes to complete the voyage in a record 120 days.

He also intends to not use hydrocarbons during the trip, using solar panels and small water-powered generators for power.

Paris, who has a home in Maine, was the founding president of the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences.

CARIBOU

Mars Hill man gets jail time and big fine for fatal crash

A northern Maine man has been sentenced to five years in jail for being drunk and causing a traffic crash that took the life of one man and seriously injured another.

William Barton of Mars Hill was also ordered Wednesday to pay $20,000 in restitution and fined $2,100 for the September 2011 crash that killed Nathan York and injured Herb Young. Both were passengers in the vehicle struck by Barton’s pickup truck.

Barton, 52, was convicted last month in Aroostook County Superior Court of aggravated drunken driving causing death and aggravated drunken driving causing serious bodily injury.

Prosecutors say Barton was driving home after working in Portland and had been drinking beer and taking Nyquil for a cold.

The Bangor Daily News reported that Barton expressed remorse.

BANGOR

Rhode Island man in state to face murder charges

A man arrested in Massachusetts in connection with the fatal shootings of three Maine residents found in a burning car has been returned to Bangor to face charges.

Nicholas Sexton of Warwick, R.I., faced a judge Wednesday in Brockton District Court in Massachusetts. The judge, armed with a warrant from Gov. Deval Patrick, ordered Sexton, 31, returned to Maine.

The Bangor Daily News says Sexton arrived several hours later in an unmarked cruiser.

Sexton, who was captured in Brockton on Oct. 4, and Randall “Ricky” Daluz face murder charges in connection with the Aug. 13 discovery of the three bodies in Bangor.

Police say Sexton and Daluz will be separated in jail.

The victims were Daniel Borders of Hermon, Nicolle Lugdon of Eddington, and Lucas Tuscano of Bradford.

Driver of getaway vehicle sentenced in armed robbery

A Fairfield man has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison for being the getaway driver in an armed robbery of a federal credit union.

Forrest T. Goodwin Jr., 34, also was ordered Thursday to pay $1,700 in restitution and a $2,000 fine.

Court records say Paul Garland held up the Taconnet Federal Credit Union in Skowhegan at knifepoint in June of 2009 and made off with more than $9,000.

Prosecutors say he then fled on the back of a motorcycle driven by Goodwin. They rode to Goodwin’s home where they changed clothes and then fled in Goodwin’s truck.

Garland paid Goodwin $1,700 from the stolen proceeds.

— From staff and news services