PORTLAND
Man who set fire to himself being treated in Boston
Authorities have identified the man who set himself on fire Wednesday in Longfellow Square as David Parker, 24, and said he is being treated in Boston for severe burns.
Police say Parker doused himself with gasoline in his apartment at 675 Congress St., then went across the street to the statue of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and ignited himself.
Police said Thursday that the reason for Parker’s act wasn’t apparent, though he did have mental health issues. He was being treated Thursday in the intensive care unit at Massachusetts General Hospital.
A passer-by used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames, and rescue workers took Parker to Maine Medical Center before he was flown to Boston, officials said.
Suicide threat shuts down part of Washington Ave.
A man who threatened suicide prompted police to shut down a section of Washington Avenue and the entry to a nearby residential development during Thursday’s evening rush hour.
Lt. Michael Jones said the 48-year-old man, who lives in Tamarlane, told a friend during a cell phone conversation that he was contemplating killing himself.
Jones said the man’s father reported the situation to police, who converged on Tamarlane, which is between Canco Road and Washington Avenue, around 5:20 p.m.
Jones said traffic heading inbound along Washington Avenue was rerouted because the man’s apartment window faced the busy road.
Several cruisers and officers with their guns drawn waited outside the man’s home for about 40 minutes before he came out of his home without incident.
Jones said the man, who was not charged, was taken to a local hospital.
Maine-based oil-cleanup vessel returns from Gulf
The Marine Responder, a 208-foot oil-spill cleanup vessel, arrived in Maine on Thursday after spending nearly five months working on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The vessel is owned by the Marine Spill Response Corp. and is based on the Portland waterfront.
It usually responds to oil spills in the Northeast but was sent to the Gulf in May. The vessel has thousands of feet of booms to contain and absorb spills, and equipment to remove it from the water.
Historical society and state library win grant
The Maine Historical Society, in partnership with the Maine State Library, has received a $745,313 grant to expand training and support services to local historical societies, libraries and schools that participate in the Maine Memory Network.
The three-year program will offer professional development to library, museum and education professionals to use history to encourage the development of 21st century skills. It also will support programs to help digitize historical collections and develop online exhibits.
The National Leadership Grant was awarded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
The funding will help expand the Maine Memory Network, a digital museum created by Maine Historical Society that includes an interactive database of more than 20,000 documents and other resources for learning about Maine’s history.
Three departments get money to hire new officer
The federal COPS program will provide more than $200,000 each to the York and Cumberland county sheriff’s departments and the Kennebunkport Police Department.
The grant was announced Thursday by U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, who noted that the Department of Justice has approved $1.5 million in grants for eight departments statewide.
The grants will fund a single officer plus benefits and expenses for three years, with the departments responsible for the fourth year. The funding is for rehiring officers who were laid off or adding staff.
The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office received the biggest grant, at $225,321; the Kennebunkport Police Department received $217,047; and the York County Sheriff’s Office was awarded $212,423.
ROCKLAND
Man robs pharmacy, takespills before police arrive
A man with a machete robbed a pharmacy in Rockland on Thursday morning, then took some of the painkillers he had stolen before police arrived to arrest him.
Joshua Powell, 23, of Rockland jumped over the counter and threatened workers at the Rite Aid pharmacy with a machete, demanding drugs, said Deputy Police Chief Wally Tower. The staff gave the man some oxycodone, a prescription painkiller.
Powell then apparently stayed in the store, taking some of the drug, before six officers – including the chief and deputy chief – responded. With guns drawn, they ordered him to drop the machete, which he did. Nobody was injured.
Powell was charged with robbery and taken to Penobscot Bay Medical Center for evaluation before being taken to the Knox County Jail, Tower said.
LEWISTON
Pro cyclist Contador won’t attend Dempsey Challenge
Three-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador of Spain has withdrawn from the Dempsey Challenge this weekend.
An announcement on the Dempsey Challenge website said that Contador was unable to come to the United States because of a personal matter.
It was announced earlier this week that Contador had tested positive for the banned substance clenbuterol after his Tour de France victory in July. Contador has said it was the result of food contamination.
BANGOR
Stockton Springs manfound guilty of wire fraud
A 50-year-old Stockton Springs man faces as much as 20 years in prison for defrauding investors for a second time in four years.
A jury in U.S. District Court in Bangor found Todd Denson guilty Wednesday of 13 counts of wire fraud.
According to the Bangor Daily News, prosecutors said Denson failed to pay investors back after persuading them to loan him money so he could gain access to millions of dollars he said he had in foreign bank accounts.
Denson spent 14 months in prison after pleading guilty to mail and wire fraud in 2007. He admitted taking $80,000 from victims and wiring the money overseas in hopes of getting millions in return, in what turned out to be an e-mail scam.
CAMDEN
Film festival, in sixth year,continues through Sunday
Dozens of documentary films from around the world are being shown as the Camden International Film Festival goes on for a sixth year.
The festival began Thursday and will continue through Sunday, with screenings, discussions, forums and special events at locations in Camden, Rockport and Rockland.
For this year’s event, organizers will show 46 films that were chosen from more than 300 submissions.
The festival aims to show the year’s best nonfiction films while connecting filmmakers and industry representatives with audiences about the role of documentary filmmaking.
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