Let me introduce you to a "Maine Mechanic"

From the Morning Sentinel:

WINSLOW - Police stopped a vehicle that had its passenger-side headlight out at 1:47 a.m. today, on Bay Street.

According to the report filed by Officer Haley Fleming, the operator stepped out of the vehicle and punched the headlight. The headlight came on and was functional, and no action on the part of police was required.

What the report failed note was that the man originally fixed his headlight with a roll of duct tape, a bottle of Allen's Coffee Brandy and a 9-iron.

Are you running for office, or going camping?

From the Morning Sentinel:

AUGUSTA -- The state ethics commission voted 5-0 today to require a Maine Senate candidate to reimburse the Maine Clean Election fund for purchases deemed primarily personal in nature.

Independent candidate Dana Kadey of Princeton, who is running for Senate District 29 in Washington County, will be required to pay back the state for a $1,363 truck cap and roof rack; $109.62 spent on mileage to buy the cap and rack; $414 for a Global Positioning System; and $188 for a cooler with electronic cooling and warming capabilities.

Kadey told the commission he is willing to pay back the money. He said he worried that if he used his own money to pay for those items, which he believes are related to his campaign, he would have violated clean election guidelines.

Maine (Blind) Lawyer Gone Wild

From the Associated Press:

PORTLAND - The chief executive officer of Maine's Iris Network faces criminal charges after flying into a rage over his daughter’s $5,000 cell phone bill.

James Phipps, 50, grabbed his 20-year-old daughter and repeatedly spanked her in a dispute over the cell phone bill and her boyfriend, the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department said. There is some dispute over who is responsible for the bill, investigators said.

The Iris Network is a nonprofit organization that helps people who are visually impaired or blind become independent. Phipps, a Portland lawyer, is blind.

Members of the Iris Network’s board say it’s too early to say whether the incident would affect his job there, the Portland Press Herald reported.

Investigators say Phipps spanked his daughter repeatedly with his hand as a dispute escalated in his home on Chebeague Island. The daughter then went upstairs to call her boyfriend and another scuffle broke out that involved the daughter taking her father’s cell phone, authorities say.


Not much I can say. Wow, just wow.

(Bad) Excuses for going 108 mph

From the Bangor Daily News:

Bangor -- Two people from the Waterville area were arrested Monday night in Bangor after passing a state trooper in an unmarked police car who clocked them going nearly 110 miles per hour on Interstate 95.

Maine State Police Trooper Forest Simpson said he’d heard a report of a vehicle with its hazard lights flashing traveling too fast on the interstate. A few minutes later, the car came up behind Simpson and his radar registered the vehicle at 108 mph in a 65 mph zone. The car passed Simpson and continued to go more than 100 mph into a 55 mph zone and when exiting I-95 onto I-395 toward Brewer.

The passenger, Thomas Selby, 42, of the Waterville area, opened his door while the car was moving and it looked as if he were going to jump out of the car, Simpson said. Selby then shut the door and the vehicle pulled over.

Simpson gave Selby and the driver, Dawn Parker, 29, orders using the cruiser’s speaker system because they both were acting strangely and Simpson said he wasn’t sure with whom he was dealing.

Neither would cooperate with Simpson. At one point Selby got out of the car and started running toward the trooper who said he then called for backup.

Police eventually were able to get the two suspects into custody.

The two said they were in a hurry to get to the airport for a 5 p.m. flight because Selby had a family emergency. Simpson said no plane tickets or receipts were found in their possession, the two were headed in the direction opposite from the airport, and it was 5:07 p.m. when Simpson pulled them over.

A search of the car turned up prescription drugs, only some of which Selby and Parker had prescriptions for, Simpson said. Police also found drug paraphernalia.

Selby was charged with disorderly conduct and Parker with criminal speed. Both also face charges related to the drugs found in the vehicle. They were taken to Penobscot County Jail.


If I were a betting man, I would say mind-alterating medication were involved. Call me crazy. If you are going to lie about your destination, at least pick destination in the direction you are traveling. And if making up a flight time is involved, make it for a time that hasn't already occurred.

Why Maine is "Vacationland"

Found this beauty of a headline in today's Kennebec Journal. This is why people come to vacation in Maine:

"Sword fights, fire eating on tap in Manchester"

The article was actually highlighting the upcoming Maine Renaissance Faire, but I was sold on the event after reading the headline... mostly because in past years I needed to travel all the way to Lewiston to see a good sword fight.

You Know You Failed Your Drivers Exam When...

From the Morning Sentinel:


ROCKLAND -- A state driving examiner was injured when a student crashed the car during her test.

Police say no charges were filed but the student, 18-year-old Desirea York of Port Clyde, did not get her license.

State Department of Motor Vehicles examiner Linda Norton complained of neck pain after the crash and was taken by ambulance to a hospital.

Police say Norton was administering a driving test to York when York made a left-hand turn into the path of an oncoming Mercedes Benz. Police say the Mercedes T-boned the passenger side of Toyota driven by York.

Total damages are estimated at $6,000.


My favorite part of the story is that the reporter had to confirm that she didn't get her licence. Honestly, we kind of figured.

And another point, why is this a news story?

Celebrating the 4th -- Maine Style (or is that Indianapolis?)

WATERVILLE — Police say a Waterville man faces felony charges for firing a pistol several times into the air as part of his Independence Day celebration.

Police say they received a report about 4 a.m. Saturday of a man firing a handgun outside a Main Street apartment building.

After police arrived, they arrested 46-year-old Gregory Markey and confiscated a 9-millimeter semiautomatic pistol.

Police say Markey told them that he fired the gun because he was homesick and missed his family and because "that's how he celebrated the Fourth of July where he came from."

Police say Markey, who was released on bail, is originally from Indianapolis.


Wow, just wow.

As a buddy put it, "I didn't think that was an arrestable offense in Maine. Was this guy wearing a Marvin Harrison jersey at the time?"