PORTLAND

Couple can sue hospital over disclosure, court says

Maine’s highest court said a couple can sue a hospital that disclosed confidential health care information to police, leading to drug charges against them.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court on Tuesday reinstated a lawsuit brought by Dwayne and Debbie Bonney against Stephens Memorial Hospital in Norway.

The Bonneys went to the hospital in 2007 after being assaulted at their South Paris home. A security guard overheard them telling nurses what happened and called police over the Bonneys’ objections. Police went to their home and found evidence of marijuana cultivation.

The Bonneys claimed the guard violated their rights under federal and state laws.

The supreme court ruled state law does not shield health care providers from liability for disclosing confidential information unless it involves an examination to obtain evidence for prosecutors.

 

Police looking for suspect in two pharmacy robberies

Police in two cities were searching Tuesday night for a suspect or suspects who were involved in two late night pharmacy robberies.

Portland Lt. Robert Ridge said a white male entered the CVS Pharmacy at 449 Forest Ave. around 9:45 p.m. Tuesday and made off with an undetermined amount of prescription drugs. No weapon was displayed.

At 8:34 p.m., a white male entered the CVS Pharmacy at 50 Market St. in South Portland, demanded drugs and fled. The robber did not display a weapon.

Authorities are not sure whether the robber in both cases is the same person.

 

Greenlaw to give address at USM’s commencement

Best-selling author and swordfishing captain Linda Greenlaw will be the featured speaker at the University of Southern Maine’s commencement on May 14 at the Cumberland County Civic Center.

Greenlaw, who lives on Isle au Haut, will be awarded an honorary doctorate recognizing her contribution to the cultural heritage of the coast of Maine.

Born in Connecticut, she grew up in Topsham while her father worked at Bath Iron Works. She graduated from Colby College with a bachelor’s degree in English and government.

Greenlaw first came to public attention in 1997, when she was one of the commercial fishing captains profiled in Sebastian Junger’s best-seller, “The Perfect Storm.” She has written several books about life on the ocean and is featured in the Discovery Channel series “Swords: Life on the Line.”

She received the Sarah Orne Jewett Award from the Maine Women’s Fund in 2007, the New England Book Award for nonfiction in 2004 and the U.S. Maritime Literature Award in 2003.

SOUTH PORTLAND

Property management firm fined $3,500 over lead paint

A South Portland property management company has agreed to pay a $3,500 fine and complete $32,000 worth of lead abatement projects to settle claims with the federal Environmental Protection Agency that it failed to notify residents in Freeport and Portland about the presence of lead paint in apartments.

The EPA announced Tuesday that the violations potentially put residents at risk of exposure to lead, a heavy metal that can retard brain development in children and contribute to high blood pressure and nerve disorders in adults.

Preservation Management Inc. manages 70 properties totaling 7,000 housing units in 13 states. Almost 700 of the units were built in New England before 1978, when lead paint was banned.

The company was accused of failing to tell eight tenants about lead paint at its Lafayette Square apartments in Portland and Maplewood Terrace in Freeport, and failing to inform one resident before renovations took place.

Preservation Management will remove lead-painted trim at Lafayette Square, a 97-unit facility that has significant lead paint in its common areas, the EPA said.

AUGUSTA

IFW wants to cut number of doe permits 46 percent

The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife wants to cut the number of antlerless deer-hunting permits this fall by nearly half to maintain a healthy deer herd.

Commissioner Chandler Woodcock is proposing 26,390 antlerless deer permits, also known as “any-deer” or “doe” permits. That’s a reduction of 22,435 permits, or 46 percent, from 2010.

A string of severe winters, attacks by coyotes and human hunting and poaching are being blamed for a loss of deer in northern, eastern and western Maine. Deer are abundant in the southern and central parts of the state.

The annual Maine deer harvest has declined in the past five years, from 29,918 in 2006 to 20,063 in 2010. Woodcock said the proposed reduction in permits is necessary to help the state’s deer herd grow.

 

Hiking trail to be named for Marine killed in Iraq

A public hiking trail in northern Maine is being named for a Marine who was killed in Iraq.

Cpl. Dustin J. Libby of Castle Hill was killed in December 2006 in a firefight in al Anbar province.

Gov. Paul LePage on Tuesday signed a resolution that will designate the trail leading to the summit of Haystack Mountain in Libby’s hometown the Dustin J. Libby Trail.

LePage was joined by Libby’s mother, brother, nephew and wife when he signed the resolution.

BIDDEFORD

City Council votes to deny Homer’s Pub liquor license

City councilors voted 5-4 Monday night to deny renewal of the liquor license for Homer’s Pub and Sports Bar.

The decision comes after Police Chief Roger Beaupre recommended the City Council deny the license based on documented police calls to the pub.

Beaupre provided the council with documents for 33 calls for service during the past year. Of those, 11 concerned over-serving customers, lack of cooperation, disorderly conduct and drug activity; 17 dealt with assaults and disturbances; four were related to Maine Drug Enforcement Agency investigations; and one was a theft complaint.

City Clerk Carmen Morris said the council’s recommendation will be sent to the state’s liquor licensing and compliance division. She said Homer’s owner Thomas Huot is appealing the council’s decision at the state level.

 

UMaine sophomore says he plans to run for mayor

Ryan Gavin, 20, has announced his candidacy for mayor of Biddeford.

Gavin, a Biddeford High School graduate, announced his plans Sunday on the steps of City Hall. He previously served as a high school representative on the school board from 2007 to 2009.

“We need some new blood in the city,” Gavin said. “The city needs to realize we need to start talking about issues instead of personal attacks and personal side of issues that seem to bubble up.”

Gavin is a sophomore at the University of Maine, studying political science. He is living in Biddeford and taking classes online.

Mayor Joanne Twomey, who is serving her second term, said she has not decided whether she will run for re-election.

BANGOR

Town’s former treasurer admits stealing $200,000

The former treasurer of a small central Maine town has pleaded guilty to embezzling nearly $200,000 in town money.

Cindy Dunton pleaded guilty to felony theft Monday in Penobscot County Superior Court. She told the judge she hoped to “heal the wounds” she has caused the residents of Newburgh.

Dunton was fired as Newburgh’s deputy town clerk and treasurer in March 2010 after selectmen discovered financial discrepancies. The Bangor Daily News reported that an examiner found that Dunton stole $199,536 between 2006 and 2009 and used the money to pay her property taxes and health premiums, while writing numerous checks to herself and her husband. Dunton’s lawyer said Dunton’s husband was unaware of the thefts.

She faces up to 10 years in prison.

 

Officer rescues woman who jumped off bridge

A Maine police officer went into the Penobscot River to rescue a woman who had jumped from a bridge.

Bangor Officer Rob Angelo said he didn’t have time to think about the temperature of the water before shedding his bullet proof vest and his gun and wading into the water at about 5:30 Monday afternoon.

The 44-year-old woman who had jumped 40 feet from the Joshua Chamberlain bridge between Bangor and Brewer was in the water asking for help.

Angelo told the Bangor Daily News he was working on adrenaline as he pulled the woman 20 feet to shore.

The woman was taken to the Eastern Maine Medical Center for treatment and a psychiatric evaluation.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Collins receives award for children’s advocacy

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, received the Champion of Children Award on Monday from First Focus, a bipartisan advocacy group for children’s issues.

The award recognizes her continued support for the Children’s Health Insurance Program of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

The program provides federal matching funds to states that offer health insurance to families with children.

The program was created in 1997 by one of the first bills that Collins sponsored when she became a senator.

OLD TOWN

Several train cars derail, blocking traffic for hours

A train derailed Tuesday in the central Maine town of Old Town.

Public safety officials told the Bangor Daily News that several cars on a 33-car Pan Am train came off the tracks Tuesday morning on French Island in the Penobscot River.

None of the cars tipped over and nobody was injured, but for several hours, traffic coming and going from the island’s residential streets were blocked by the train.