Where $2 PBR Pounders Will Leave You in the Morning

From the Portland Press Herald:

Police charge man with OUI on Zamboni
David Hench

A Portland man faces charges of drunk driving and burglary after police found him atop an idling Zamboni inside the Cumberland County Civic Center this morning.

Firefighters and police were called to the civic center at 2 a.m. for a fire alarm. It turns out someone had been driving a forklift inside the facility and had hit a sprinkler line, damaging the system and setting off the alarm.

Officers investigating the damage found Adam Patterson, 25, sitting on the Zamboni which was running but not moving. He appeared extremely intoxicated, police said. There were signs that the building had been broken into, police said.

Patterson is being held without bail at Cumberland County Jail because of a charge of violating bail conditions. He also is charged with aggravated criminal mischief, burglary and operating under the influence.

Speeding tales you won't believe

By David Hench
Portland Press Herald

Sometimes, it might be better to be late.

Public Safety Department spokesman Steve McCausland today provides these gems from the State Police newsletter of late motorists who wound up in even more trouble.

On Sunday, Trooper Marvin Hinkley stopped a 20-year-old man on Interstate 295 in Freeport driving 99 mph with his hazard lights flashing. The man told him he was late getting to the methadone clinic, an appointment which he did not make.

Trooper David Andreasen, driving an unmarked 2008 Dodge Charger on the Maine Turnpike, was recently passed by two motorists: one who was late for a Portland court date and so was going 97 mph, and another going 100 mph trying to get to work on time.

Finally, McCausland's speeders of the week were a couple who were driving separate cars on the interstate in Clinton, trying to see which one was fastest. The man hit 107 mph, just edging out the woman at 106 mph.

Both were arrested.

Maine: Where Sesame Street and Harlem Intersect

From The Morning Sentinel:

Police: Man shoots 12-year-old with BB gun

SKOWHEGAN -- A 23-year-old Sesame Street resident was arrested Wednesday after he fired a CO2-powered BB gun at a 12-year-old boy alongside Dr. Mann Road, hitting the boy in the stomach, according to police. Randall L. Brackett, 23, has been charged with assault and may face other charges, Deputy Police Chief Rick Bonneau said Thursday.

Bonneau said neighbors began calling police at around 6:30 p.m., saying they heard a ruckus near a mobile home park on MRI Drive, off Dr.Mann Road, and said people were fighting.

"Three boys were out playing by the road on a pogo stick when people began yelling profanity at them," Bonneau said. He said one of the adults in a nearby mobile home came out and began staring at the boys and one of them raised the gun and fired.

Witnesses told Patrolman Joel Cummings that they heard a "pfft" or the sound of a pellet gun going off, according to Bonneau.

The suspect apparently had aimed at and struck a 12-year-old boy in the stomach. The pellet did not pierce the skin, but did cause a wound, Bonneau said. The boy was not hospitalized.

"A CO2-powered BB gun can be powerful, and it can be very damaging," Bonneau said. "I'm assuming the boy was protected by some clothing" and still got hurt. "I wouldn't want to have one pointed at me."

A Note to my Valued Reader(s)

While every other news outlet can not get enough of Sarah Palin, Financial Crisis's and other issues, let me come forth and say "Only In Maine" will remain what it's always been about, Maine.

But while I do have your attention, do you feel like Sarah Palin is the second coming of Paris Hilton? Suddenly famous for not really doing much. I don't know, just a thought.

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.