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By Giselle Goodman April 07, 2008 08:05 AM

Sunrise Herald is the early morning news update feature at pressherald.com. It is updated at 6, 7, 8 and 9 a.m. on weekdays.

IN THE WEATHER

At 9 a.m., it was 37 degrees and bright in downtown Portland.

Don't be discouraged by the frost on your window this morning. Dry air moves into the state with mostly sunny skies today. An eastern wind blows some chilly air around, but bright sun should help keep the temperatures up into the low to mid 40s. Yes, some snow will melt today.

OUR WEATHER WATCHERS' REPORT

• From Mark in BRUNSWICK: Clear skies and cool, 31 degrees.
• From Shawn in YARMOUTH: "It is a quiet Monday morning here. At 6:15, it is 34 degrees, with a brightening sky and no wind. Hoping for more melting!!!"
• From Bill in ROCKLAND: "Happy Monday! 32, clear, and pretty calm in Rockland."
• From Karen in STEEP FALLS: Good morning! What a beautiful morning, even with everything coated in frost! The sun is so bright and it's a chilly 30 degrees this morning. Happy Monday!

ON THE OCEAN:

Not much to talk about today out there on Casco Bay. Eastern winds blow a slight 5 to 10 knots. Seas 2 to 4 feet.

High tides today in Portland at 12:06 a.m. and 12:39 p.m. Tide goes out at 6:26 a.m. and 6:39 p.m.

ON THE ROAD:

• Drivers might run into some delays at mile 32 in Biddeford on the northbound side of the Maine Turnpike today. A double lane closure is scheduled there from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. for pavement repair.

• Fire and rescue crews now are on the scene of a car crash on Route 11 in Casco that will more than likely tie up some traffic as the morning commute gets underway. Cumberland County dispatchers had no information on whether or not there are injuries.
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THE CUMBERLAND POLICE DEPARTMENT is warning residents to be aware that the Cumberland Fire Department is NOT calling townspeople and asking them for donations.

There has been at least one report of a phone call seeking money that was supposedly coming from the fire department.

But fire officials say they are NOT involved in a fund-raising campaign currently. The department is NOT soliciting donations, by telephone, door-to-door or by any other means. If you live in the area and get a call asking for donations for the Cumberland Fire Department, do not respond. Instead, report the call to the Cumberland Police Department at 846-3333, or the fire department at 829-5421.

A LOT OF GREEN WAS OFFERED UP this week by 10 hunters who won the privilege to hunt moose in Maine during the upcoming season by bidding a total of $109,111 in the 2008 Maine Moose Permit Auction.

More than 30 people took part in the auction. The 10 successful bids ranged from $8,500 to $12,650.

All of the money derived from the auction goes to partial scholarships that will help send Maine youngsters to the Maine Conservation School in Bryant Pond and Conservation Camp at the Greenland Point Center in Princeton.

“The 10 successful hunters are doing more than bidding on the opportunity to participate in the hunt of their lifetime in the outdoors that they love,” said Roland D. Martin, commissioner of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. “They are giving children a chance to learn valuable outdoor skills and gain a greater appreciation for the Maine outdoors as well.”

The annual Maine Moose Permit Auction was created by the legislature, which authorized the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to publicly auction permits as a way to raise funds for youth conservation education programs. Since the first auction in 1995, five permits have been auctioned annually. In 2007, the legislature voted to double the number to 10.

A PILOT AND HIS PASSENGER WALKED AWAY VIRTUALLY UNHARMED
after the two-seater plane in which they were traveling skidded off the runway and flipped onto its roof at Lincoln Regional Airport.

Lincoln Police Chief William Flagg said the pilot, 51-year-old Galen Kimball of East Millinocket, had a cut above an eye. His passenger, 54-year-old Gerald Millett of Lowell and owner of the plane, was uninjured.

Officials say a Federal Aviation Administration investigator will look into the mishap, which occurred yesterday afternoon when the pilot was practicing takeoffs and landings.

SMOKING IS LIKELY TO BLAME FOR A FIRE IN PITTSTON last Sunday that critically burned the homeowner, Jesse Philbrook.

The Fire Marshal’s Office said Philbrook, 32, was found by firefighters near a couch in the basement of his home at 16 Oak Ledge Road. He was flown by helicopter directly to a Boston hospital. The rest of the home’s occupants escaped without injury.

Fire marshals determined that the likely cause of the fire was due to smoking.

SEARCH AND RESCUE CREWS FROM THE COAST GUARD are still searching the waters of Belfast Bay this morning, after a chartered plane crashed there around 6:15 p.m. Sunday.

The Coast Guard Station in Rockland received a call from the Waldo County dispatch reporting a plane with one person aboard crashed into the water near the Belfast airport.

A 25-foot boat crew from Rockland and a Jayhawk helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station in Cape Cod, Mass., were at the scene last night searching for the missing person. Maine Marine Patrol and local fire and police departments also assisted.

An oil slick and debris matching the missing plane's description were found in the area. It is unknown whether the plane was taking off or landing at the Belfast airport. The airport has no control tower to monitor air traffic. The identity of the person flying the plane is unknown at this time.

"We hope to find a sign that the person made it safely from the plane," said Petty Officer 2nd Class Dean Drake, the situation controller for Coast Guard Sector Northern New England who was coordinating the rescue events last night. "The Coast Guard and local emergency responders immediately saturated the area with rescue equipment and personnel and plan to continue to search throughout the night."

A MAN WHO POLICE SAY WAS SELLING DRUGS NEAR A SCHOOL was arrested over the weekend and slapped with three felony counts of drug trafficking.

Auburn police say Jeffrey Hyde, 47, was arrested at his home at 46 High St. in Auburn and charged with three counts of aggravated trafficking in a schedule "W" drug.

The charges are elevated, police say, due to the due to the fact that Hyde was found selling drugs within 1,000 feet of a school zone.

Investigators seized from his home approximately 344 various prescription pills, ledgers and $2,463.00 in cash.

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At 7 p.m. today, the father of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl is scheduled to speak at USM's Hannaford Lecture Hall.

Judea Pearl will appear alongside Islamic studies professor Akbar Ahmed for a conversation titled “Beyond the Clash of Civilizations: A Dialogue for Muslim-Jewish Understanding.”

The event is part of an ongoing effort to initiate talk on divisions between Muslims and Jews, as well as Muslims and the West.

Daniel Pearl was reporting in Pakistan in early 2002 when he was kidnapped by an Islamic group demanding the release of U.S.-held prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He was later beheaded and a video of his execution leaked onto the Internet.

His father, a professor at the University of California-Los Angeles, and Akbar Ahmed, a professor at American University in Washington, D.C., have appeared together at forums on Muslim-Jewish relations since 2003.

The talk is free and open to the public.