N.H. escaped inmate remains at large
SANFORD ( AP) — Residents of several Maine communities remain on edge as police continue to search for a man who escaped from a New Hampshire jail.
Authorities say there have been no confirmed sightings of 33- year- old David Glenn Hobson since the discovery over the weekend of an SUV near the Sanford- Alfred- Lyman town lines. Blood was found in the vehicle, suggesting that Hobson was injured last Thursday while scaling a razor wire fence at the Carroll County House of Corrections in Ossipee, N.H.
Police believe Hobson — who is considered armed and dangerous — may have headed to the area with the intent of injuring two people.
Local residents say they’re worried, particularly with children heading back to school after the weekend.
Hobson’s father has been accused of leaving supplies outside his home for his son after he escaped.
Hearing set today on Occupy encampment
BANGOR (AP) — A federal judge will hear arguments in Occupy Augusta’s request to remain in a park near the Maine State House without a permit.
U.S. District Judge Nancy Torresen today hears the activist group’s request for a court order barring the Capitol Police from requiring a permit allowing the Occupy participants to maintain a “tent city” in Capitol Park.
While smaller camping tents have been removed, two larger tents remain as a symbol of activists’ protest against what they see as uneven distribution of wealth. They also say they have a constitutionally protected right to maintain their presence there.
Last week, Occupy activists and police agreed to a standstill until the judge can rule in the case. Protesters agreed to not add to their encampment and police agreed to take no action to evict them.
Portland’s new mayor gets sworn in today
PORTLAND (AP) — Portland’s first popularly elected mayor in 88 years is being sworn in.
Michael Brennan is being inaugurated today at Portland City Hall. Brennan won the post in a 15-candidate race in November.
Brennan previously served as a state senator and representative, and most recently worked at the University of Southern Maine’s Muskie School of Public Service.
Brennan says he’s ready to start the job, whether it’s to create jobs, spur economic activity, help schools or make City Hall more responsive to residents.
In the past, Portland’s mayoral post rotated among City Council members. Voters this year narrowly approved changing the city’s charter to allow for a popularly elected mayor.
Bates College names new president
LEWISTON (AP) — Bates College in Maine has named a Harvard University official as its new president.
The Lewiston school’s trustees elected Ava Clayton Spencer as Bates’ eighth president on Sunday. Spencer, of Winchester, Mass., begins work on July 1.
Spencer is vice president for policy at Harvard, where she works closely with the president and deans. She previously served as executive dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, and was a lecturer at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education.
Spencer graduated magna cum laude from Williams College, and earned a theology degree from Oxford in 1979. She received a master’s degree in the study of religion from Harvard in 1982.
Spencer will succeed Nancy Cable, Bates’ interim president since July 1. Elaine Hansen stepped down from the position last June.
‘Silent Girl’ author to speak in Bangor
BANGOR ( AP) — The author of the “ The Silent Girl” is crediting Husson University students for research they did for the latest Rizzoli and Isles novel.
Dr. Tess Gerritsen will speak at the Bangor campus on Wednesday as part of the Dean’s Distinguished Lecture Series. The public event is free.
Gerritsen’s newest book is part of the series featuring homicide detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles. It inspired the TNT television series “Rizzoli & Isles” starring Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander.
Gerritsen acknowledges the Husson University Criminal Justice Club in the back of the book for its help researching several details in novel. The students researched animal primate hair and samurai swords, both of which played a key role in the plot.
Breast cancer bike license plate eyed
PORTLAND (AP) — State Rep. Meredith Strang Burgess led the successful push for breast cancer specialty license plates for cars and trucks in Maine. Now she’s hoping to do the same thing for motorcycles.
The proposal for pink ribbon motorcycle license plates calls for proceeds to be split between the Maine Cancer Foundation’s Women’s Cancer Fund, Maine Breast Cancer Coalition’s Support Service Fund, and the Maine Breast and Cervical Health Program’s mammogram fund.
More than $ 400,000 for breast cancer research and support has been raised through the sale of more than 15,000 specialty plates for cars and trucks since 2008.
Burgess hopes to have the motorcycle plate process completed by this spring, assuming at least 500 riders pay $25 to reserve one of the plates.
Officials prepare for jobless benefit cutoff
AUGUSTA ( AP) — More than 17,000 unemployment recipients in Maine could be cut off in the weeks and months ahead as federal emergency extended-benefits programs come to an end.
Maine Labor Commissioner Robert Winglass says the state is preparing for expiration of the programs, which provide additional weeks of jobless benefits to workers who exhaust regular state unemployment benefits without finding new employment.
Winglass says the Labor Department’s Career Centers are adding workshops and increasing outreach to unemployment recipients. Each center will double up on job search seminars and resume workshops to help people find new jobs.
The state unemployment program provides up to 26 weeks of benefits.
The last week for jobless benefits under the extended benefits program is the week ending Jan. 14.
Headstone returned to Bradford cemetery
BANGOR ( AP) — A 161- year-old gravestone has been returned to its rightful place in Maine after sitting for years in a sheriff ’s department evidence room.
The gravestone for Alzada A. Fifield, who died in 1850 at the age of 7 months, has been returned to the small Bradford Corner Cemetery in Bradford.
That grave marker and two other stolen gravestones had sat for years in a Penobscot County Sheriff ’s Department evidence room. Two of the headstones were returned to their proper places after Sheriff Glenn Ross asked for the public’s help in determining where they had come from.
But the Bangor Daily News says the third one remained in the evidence room until a member of the Bradford Heritage Museum and Historical Society recently discovered where it belonged.
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