Two local teens were arrested Wednesday in connection with a weekend fire that destroyed an Adams Avenue storage building.
The 15-year-old Lewiston boys were each charged with arson and burglary after detectives questioned the pair last week.
Although fire investigators believe the blaze was set from the outside of the storage facility, police say the two teens had entered the building before it went up in flames Sunday night.
Police did not disclose motives for the alleged arson. A witness reported seeing at least two young people near the building shortly before it went up in flames.
The two teens arrested last week were taken to Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland.
Fire inspectors were continuing to investigate the cause of the blaze in an attempt to learn exactly how it was set.
Auburn:
Landlords: Fee for trash unfair
Auburn landlords said they’d rather pay higher property taxes than trash collection fees.
“Spread the wealth. That’s what I say,” said Lewiston resident Marcel Roberts, who owns seven apartment buildings in Auburn. “If you raise property taxes, it’s spread over everybody in town and everybody pays less. This way, it’s discrimination against landlords.”
Roberts was among 40 area landlords who crammed the City Council chambers in the Auburn City Building to complain about the city’s plan to begin charging for trash collections at apartments of four or more units.
City Manager Pat Finnigan said the city hopes to begin charging $1.54 per apartment per week beginning in December – about $80 annually per unit. The new fee should generate $30,000 for the city in the current fiscal year, if approved.
Livermore Falls:
Police investigate vandalism
Police are investigating several instances of criminal mischief, vandalism, burglary and theft around town. At least $500 in damage was done.
Police responded to a report of a vehicle driving through a cornfield, Livermore Falls Police Chief Ernest Steward Jr. said. The vehicle did $500 in damage to the field, he said.
In separate incidents, two manhole covers were removed from roads. One cover was found on Richardson Avenue and belonged on the manhole at the corner of Bemis Street. The other cover was found on Gagnon Street and was returned to its place on the same street.
Steward called the mischief dangerous, especially if a child had been out walking or a car had hit the holes.
In another instance, a man house-sitting on Baldwin Street awoke Friday morning to find two males and a female standing in the house, the chief said, and left after taking a phone.
And a Fayette Road resident reported 25 to 30 gallons of fuel had been stolen from a Kenworth tractor-trailer.
Farmington:
Wilton woman charged with OUI
A Wilton woman was charged with operating under the influence after her Jeep crossed the center line Oct. 12 and hurtled head-on into a car traveling in the opposite direction.
Lynne Sue Buchheit, 44, was driving a 1995 Cherokee west on the Wilton Road in front of the J.J. Nissan Bakery outlet store when she crossed into the eastbound lane. She smashed “almost exactly head-on” into a 1998 Honda driven by 24-year-old Sarah Woodcock of Farmington, Lt. Jack Peck of the Farmington Police Department said.
Buchheit’s SUV then rolled onto its roof.
Woodcock and her passenger, Matthew Reynolds, 25, were both wearing seat belts but were taken to the emergency room at Franklin Memorial Hospital with complaints of chest pains and possible broken leg bones, respectively.
Woodcock, the daughter of District 17 Republican state senator and Skowhegan school teacher Chandler Woodcock and Franklin Health Access Project Director Charlie Woodcock, was treated and released that evening, according to Jill Gray of FMH.
Turner:
Junkyard problem lingers
TURNER – In the spring, when Gene Jordan did not comply with the town’s latest cleanup order for his junkyard on the banks of the Nezinscot River, the town instituted court proceedings. The court ordered the cleanup to be largely completed by Nov. 30.
According to officials and neighbors, that may not happen and a contempt order would be lodged if it does not.
“You can still see at least 20 junk cars” when driving by, Town Manager Jim Catlin told selectmen.
Officials have discussed options with the town’s attorney and may consider condemnation proceedings. The town has more than $80,000 in liens against the property.
Augusta:
Paris school site OK’d by state
The state Board of Education last week unanimously approved the site planned for the Paris elementary school.
“I will ask the school board to authorize a warrant and referendum vote to purchase the site,” said SAD 17 Superintendent Mark Eastman. “The referendum will allow us to buy the land and use bond funds, not local funds. The interest that we pay on the bond notes will be a project cost.”
The warrant will ask voters to appropriate $210,000 from the district’s undesignated fund to purchase the 16.2 acres of land on the corner of High Street and Hathaway Road. It further authorizes the board of directors to issue bonds or notes to refund the undesignated fund balances.
“The voter approval allows us to pay costs associated with the evaluating and acquiring of the land,” Eastman said. “That cost will be in the $20,000 range at this point. There is still more work to do related to DEP (Department of Environmental Protection), not a lot more, but some more. “We have already jumped through most of the hoops,” he said.
Sumner:
Inspection questioned
Fire Chief Bob Stewart said he believes a recent inspection of the town’s firetrucks was poorly done, perhaps to the point of endangering the town.
Stewart reported to selectmen Oct. 14 that there are documented discrepancies in the reports made by the inspection company. He showed the board three checklists filled out by the company employee who conducted the inspections.
Among items checked off as having been inspected are a number of parts that Sumner’s trucks don’t actually have.
The checklists show that pumps on the trucks were tested at 30 inches of vacuum, although the pumps are only capable of producing 23 inches of vacuum.
In addition, the town was billed for five hours of labor. Stewart said he doesn’t believe the inspections lasted more than four hours.
Stewart reported that he tried to contact the owner of the company and found that he was unwilling to discuss the matter.
Auburn:Androscoggin budget up $423,255
The Androscoggin County Commission recommended a budget of $9.4 million for 2004, an increase of $423,255 from this year.
There is very little in the new budget that is not from fixed expenses, said County Commission Chairman Elmer Berry. “The commission has held the line on salaries and wages, and recommended to the Budget Committee a cost of living increase for all employees.”
Berry said the commissioners have spent many hours preparing their proposed budget. He said they have held the line and not approved new positions, opting for authorized overtime instead, that could be eliminated when no longer justified by the workload.
He added that the county is expecting to receive between $25,000 and $30,000 from other counties for boarding prisoners next year. “The OUI programs are now profitable. They haven’t been in the past. Deed revenues are up,” Berry said.
Androscoggin to get court upgrade
AUBURN – The County Commission authorized a transfer of $50,000 to pay for security upgrades at the Androscoggin County Courthouse Wednesday.
County Treasurer Robert Poulin requested that the $50,000 be transferred from the undedicated reserve account to the building repairs account. Transfers between accounts require commission approval. The vote was unanimous.
Poulin said after the meeting that the funding is needed to pay for a security door and other security upgrades at the courthouse.
In other business, the commission authorized the expenditure of $8,550 to Simpson and Sons Paving for repairs to the parking lot at the jail and the inner courtyard. The commission also approved the spending of $1,050 to Simpson and Sons for repairs to a drain.
Turner junkyard problem lingers
TURNER – In the spring, when Gene Jordan did not comply with the town’s latest cleanup order for his junkyard on the banks of the Nezinscot River, the town instituted court proceedings. The court ordered the cleanup to be largely completed by Nov. 30.
According to officials and neighbors, that may not happen and a contempt order would be lodged if it does not.
“You can still see at least 20 junk cars” when driving by, Town Manager Jim Catlin told selectmen.
Officials have discussed options with the town’s attorney and may consider condemnation proceedings. The town has more than $80,000 in liens against the property.
Apartment building sold to city
LEWISTON – The city will buy a 23-unit Canal Street apartment building to make way for part of the lower Lisbon Street redevelopment.
Councilors inked a deal to purchase the apartment building at 480-482 Canal St. from owner Ray Frechette Jr. for $735,000 plus another $108,000 in heating and relocation expenses and incentives to help current tenants move.
Frechette called the deal traumatic. The building has been in his family for 30 years and he would prefer not to sell.
“But the threat of eminent domain is very real, and I don’t want to go through that,” Frechette said. “I don’t want to sell it, but you do what you have to do when you don’t have a choice.”
Frechette said he currently has 18 tenants.
The sale is part of a plan to revitalize the block of buildings surrounded by Lisbon, Maple and Canal streets. The first phase began last month, with crews tearing down the old FHP Engine Building to make way for Oxford Networks headquarters.
The apartment building would come down as part of the next phase for a parking lot.
Fire station eyed for activity center
WOODSTOCK – The Recreation Committee got the go-ahead from selectmen Tuesday to begin converting the town’s old fire station on Railroad Street into a community recreation and activity center.
Recreation Committee Chairman John Fitzmorris presented a breakdown of the costs, which would total approximately $24,000.
“This is only a rough estimate and it’s possible that it will be lower after we get exact quotes on some of the materials. The figures in our plan are only estimates because we’re waiting to hear from several companies with exact quotes on the heating system, chimney, plumbing, electric and septic,” said Fitzmorris, “When those figures are in, we will have a more accurate total.”
He presented the estimated costs for each phase as follows: second-floor underlayment, $2136.70; plumbing, $2,909; septic system, $1,725; electrical work, $3,000; heat, $5,500; windows, $3,594; doors, $1,200; roof, $852.82; kitchen, $1,400; and interior finishing, $2,000.
SAD 17 addressing fourth-grade gaps
OXFORD – High school students in SAD 17 were much closer to the state average on test scores than fourth-graders in last year’s Maine Educational Assessment testing.
“It looks like our kids do worse in the fourth grade and by the 11th grade they catch up,” SAD 17 board member Mike Brown noted during a report on the 2002-03 scores by Curriculum Director Kathy Elkins.
Elkins confirmed Brown’s observation, and said the district has been busy revising fourth-grade curriculums to meet the challenge.
“They are not overly stellar scores,” Elkins said. When compared with three-year averages, however, the scores for fourth-, eighth- and 11th-graders are essentially the same, she added.
Starting in March, fourth-graders will be tested in fewer subject areas – reading, writing, math and sciences – so the state can focus on those areas in more depth, Elkins said.
Treatment plant fix-up under budget
WILTON – Two major pieces of equipment have been replaced at the town’s Waste Treatment Plant in nearly half the time projected, said the plant superintendent. Preliminary figures show that the project is about 10 percent under budget.
Plant Superintendent Russ Mathers said two rotating biological contractors were installed in 8.25 days rather than the 15 days that had been estimated.
The project was to replace old equipment with two new 22-foot shafts and media, a plastic material where microorganisms are housed to treat wastewater. Preliminary calculations, Mathers said, show that the project cost about $15,000 less than the $150,000 projected.
Each of the shafts weighs 3.5 tons, he said, and full of the plastic media and microorganisms, it weighs about 10 tons. Once the plastic is installed on the shafts, the wheel is about 10-feet in diameter.
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