KENNEBUNK

Group searching for dog stolen from animal shelter

The Animal Welfare Society is asking for the public’s help in locating a red-and-white Pekingese mix that was stolen Saturday afternoon from the society’s shelter in West Kennebunk.

Kerrie Leclair, director of development, said the dog, named Selene, was removed from its kennel between 2 and 3 p.m. Selene was wearing a pink collar.

Leclair said theft of shelter animals is highly unusual, but it may have occurred because someone did not want to pay the $190 adoption fee. That fee includes an obedience lesson, spay surgery, vaccinations, a free first visit to the veterinarian, and a collar and leash.

Anyone with information concerning Selene’s whereabouts should contact the shelter at 985-3244 or their local police department. Leclair said the shelter will offer a reward for the dog’s safe return.

MONMOUTH

Police charge dogs’ owner in attack on couple’s llama

A 33-year-old man is facing charges related to a dog attack on a couple’s 20-year-old pet llama on New Year’s Eve.

Police said Corey Lamontagne of Canton is charged with two counts of owning a dangerous dog, two counts of having unlicensed dogs and two counts of having dogs at large.

Police said Lamontagne owns two pit bulls that got loose and attacked a llama on a farm in Monmouth.

Llama owner Nancy Smith told WCSH-TV (Channel 6) that the dogs left puncture wounds on the llama and skin gashes down to the bone.

She said the dogs retreated only after someone called for them from an SUV that pulled into the yard.

The motorist drove away with the dogs inside.

SKOWHEGAN

Police: Driver ejected, killed after losing control of car

A Skowhegan woman died in a single-car crash that occurred sometime before 7:43 a.m. Sunday, police said.

Mary McGraw, 34, was traveling southwest on Malbons Mills Road when the 1998 Dodge Neon she was driving apparently went off the road near a bridge over Wesserunsett Stream, said investigating Officer David Tims.

Tims said it appeared that McGraw lost control of the car, which went down over the stream’s bank and across the ice, struck the bank on the other side and rolled over.

“She was ejected (from the vehicle),” he said.

A passer-by saw the vehicle and reported the accident at 7:43 a.m.

Tims said police have not determined exactly why the car went off the road. “There was some little light snow and the roads were wet,” so it would have been difficult to stop quickly, he said.

AUGUSTA

Federal funds allocated to affordable apartments

The Maine State Housing Authority says 184 new affordable-rental apartments will be built in six cities.

The authority approved allocation of nearly $30 million in federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits to finance construction of the privately owned apartments. The tax credits are used to attract private investors.

Maine Housing Director Dale McCormick said that will provide badly needed affordable rental housing while giving Maine’s economy a boost. She said the new housing will generate several hundred construction jobs.

The housing developments scheduled for funding include 29 units for seniors in Ellsworth, 24 units for seniors in Biddeford, 48 units for families in Lewiston, 34 units for families in Berwick, 25 units for seniors in Freeport and 24 units for families in Portland.

Rallies for, against reform repeal scheduled this week

Efforts to repeal and legally challenge the health care reforms enacted last year by Congress are causing a stir on both sides of the issue in Maine.

Nine groups advocating for seniors, labor, women and other causes plan a rally today in the State House to urge Gov. Paul Le-Page and Attorney General William Schneider to support the Affordable Care Act. Schneider has expressed interest in Maine joining a multistate lawsuit against the health care law.

The conservative Maine Heritage Policy Center and Americans for Prosperity-Maine plan a rally to urge Schneider to add Maine to the lawsuit. A rally scheduled for last Friday is being rescheduled.

Meanwhile, Democratic U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine issued a statement saying that legislation proposed in Congress to repeal the reforms are a step backward.

New map offers information on public reserved lands

Maine’s Bureau of Parks and Lands is putting out a new map that focuses on the state’s public reserved lands.

The map, “Your Maine Lands: Recreational Map and Guide to Public Reserved Lands,” is a comprehensive guide to the hundreds of thousands of acres of public reserved lands across Maine.

Public reserved lands are remote and unstaffed state-owned lands that are managed for a number of purposes, including recreation, wildlife and timber harvesting. The Bureau of Public Lands owns more than 500,000 acres of the lands.

The map can be obtained through the bureau’s website at www.maine.gov/doc.

– From staff and news services