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Sunrise Herald is the early morning news update feature at
pressherald.com. It is updated at 6, 7, 8 and 9 on weekdays.
Welcome to the Sunrise Herald with Giselle Goodman, the place to go to get the news from overnight and onward...
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IN THE WEATHER:
If you are building an ark, please give me a call. A break from the rain should develop later today, as the fog, showers and misty drizzle clears out. By the afternoon, we might even see some sun.
Despite that, there is a flood watch for most of Maine's big northern rivers. There is a flood warning for the Kennebec River, especially for Skowhegan. Do not drive through flooded areas. As the National Weather Service reminds you: "Turn around...don't drown."
From WEATHER WATCHER Bill in Rockland: Sixty-four humid degrees here at 5:30 a.m. after an extremely damp night. My less than precise rain gauge seems to indicate that at least 1" of water fell on us last night and almost 2" since Wednesday evening. It's gray and unprepossessing at the moment and the breeze is pretty soggy too.
From WEATHER WATCHER Mark in Brunswick Well, it isn't raining, although the air is humid enough to make you think it is. We have thick gray skies overhead and a very damp 65 degrees here.
From WEATHER WATCHER Shawn in Yarmouth When I first got up, the sky was a lot brighter than it is now. At least for the moment, the rain has stopped. It is 68 degrees with no rain or wind. The sky is covered in clouds and is brighter than it has been in a few days, but no breaks to blue or sunshine. Seems to be a bit less damp, at least my kitchen floor isn't as sticky as it was yesterday.
From WEATHER WATCHER James in Cape Elizabeth Cape Elizabeth has a cool breeze and 66 degrees at 7 a.m. The sun tried to break through but a little fog has rolled in. Have a great weekend all!!
ON THE ROAD:
Milling and paving crews will begin night work on the Exit 31 southbound on-ramp and 31A off-ramp in Topsham. (See map below).
This will be night work, conducted from 7 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. and is expected to continue through Saturday. Instead of using Exit 31, motorists should plan on using Exit 28 and those who normally use Exit 31A should use 31B.
ON THE OCEAN:
A small craft advisory remains in effect through this evening with south winds blowing 5 to 10 knots and seas 3 to 5 feet. A chance of showers and thunderstorms, tapering off through the day. Visibility 1 to 3 nautical miles.
High tide in Portland at 4:54 p.m. Low tides: 10:35 a.m. and 11:15 p.m.
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STORM DAMAGE ROUNDUP FROM AROUND THE STATE: (Got pix to share? Stories to tell? I'm right here, ready to listen: ggoodman@pressherald.com)
GORHAM: A large number of customers in Gorham lost power for about an hour during the heavy lightning and rain around 2 p.m. yesterday. Public safety officials speculated that a lightning strike caused a transformer to blow. The outage began shortly after 2 p.m. and was repaired at about 3 p.m.
BRIDGTON: Was it a tornado? Maybe. Yesterday, at the height of the storm, a funnel cloud was reported in Bridgton, where trees were uprooted by high winds. One tree fell on a house.
Kirk Apffel of the weather service office in Gray said a team will be sent to the site today to inspect the damage and determine whether it was an actual tornado.
PORTLAND: The National Weather Service in Gray reports that Portland broke a record yesterday! A record rainfall of 1.77 inches in one day was set, thanks to the storm that blew through. This breaks the old record of 1.56 inches of rain in one day, set in 1976.
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THE NEWEST NEWS:
FRYEBURG -- Main Street is back open after a fire destroyed part of the NAPA Auto Parts store this early morning.
However, it will be some time before officials know what caused the blaze that set off some small explosions and caused severe damage to the building.
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The fire was called in around 2 a.m. and Main Street was closed for almost six hours afterward as fire crews worked to control the fire that engulfed the building. At this hour, they are still there, dousing hot spots and waiting for the Maine Fire Marshall's Office to investigate the cause.
In West Paris, fire Thursday evening destroyed the Perham Field grandstand that's long been a landmark in town.
Firefighters said they could see smoke from the station and when they got to the fire, the grandstand was already engulfed in flames.
There was also a fire in a single-family trailer in Norway at 269 Harrison Road. Harrison Road was closed as they fought the blaze. This one was also reported around 3 a.m. but was put out rather quickly. And the road is open now.
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FARMINGTON -- A woman who had been rafting down the rain-swollen Sandy River in Farmington Thursday afternoon was rescued by firefighters after her raft capsized and she was snared in a fallen tree.
The woman, who had been rafting with two friends, was not injured but was shaken up, said Farmington Fire Chief Terry Bell.
The other women were able to reach the other bank. They were not wearing life preservers.
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PORTLAND -- Two men have been arrested in Manchester, N.H., on charges of aggravated assault, stemming from a savage beating in Portland's Old Port in May that left a Navy man in critical condition.
Manchester police arrested Christopher Hartt, 22, and Thomas Hartt, 25, of Manchester, on Wednesday on warrants issued by the Cumberland County District Attorney's office. A third man accused in the assault is still being sought in the Manchester area, said Lt. Tony Ward, head of detectives for Portland.
The men are accused of repeatedly punching and kicking Petty Officer 3rd Class Odelmo Robinson, even as he lay on the ground unresponsive.
The fight happened following a harbor cruise May 25 as a group of people who had been on the charter boat Casablanca milled about in the parking area at 84 Commercial St. at 10:30 p.m. The men apparently had made inappropriate remarks to a woman Robinson was with and when he told them to stop, they attacked him, police said.
The men did not know Robinson and police characterized the clash as a random act of violence.
Robinson was in an induced coma following the incident, but Ward said he has made a remarkable recovery and has apparently returned to work at the Brunswick Naval Air Station.
No plans have been made for the men's extradition to Maine.
Reported by David Hench and first posted in News Updates on Thursday.
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AUGUSTA -- A Sabattus man at the wheel of a truck that struck a guardrail on the Maine Turnpike last week did not die as a result of the crash, investigators said Thursday.
The manner and cause of 36-year-old Randy Sebring's death are pending additional testing, according to a spokeswoman at the State Medical Examiner's Office.
But State Police now say Sebring did not die as a result of his truck striking the guardrail.
Sebring's truck veered off the southbound lane near mile marker 84, close to the Lewiston-Sabattus town line, on July 17.
The flatbed truck struck the center guardrail and came to rest, on its wheels, in the median.
No other vehicles were involved in the crash.
Traffic backed up several miles as travel was reduced to one lane for nearly three hours until the scene was cleared around 5:30 p.m.
The truck was owned by Boston Ladder and Scaffolding.
Sebring was returning to the company after making a delivery to the new Mount View school complex in Thorndike.
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AUGUSTA (AP) -- Edgar Erwin, who represented the Rumford area in the Maine Senate from 1983 to 1990, died Thursday. Erwin, a Democrat, served alongside his wife Phyllis, who was a member of the House of Representatives from 1981 to 1994.
Gov. John Baldacci spoke with members of Erwin's family to express his condolences.
Baldacci, who was a state senator at the same time Erwin served, remembered Erwin as a thoughtful legislator who was "always focused on working people, their problems and their issues."
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OF NOTE TODAY:
Summer is half over. Know how I know? Because Maine's blueberry harvest is underway.
And blueberry growers are expecting a pretty good crop this year.
University of Maine experts expect an average or slightly above average yield of 80 million to 100 million pounds of berries, thanks to adequate rain in May and June.
Blueberry specialist David Yarborough says the hot, humid, but largely dry first few weeks of July stressed crops to some degree. But he says recent showers are refreshing them.
Love to head out and pick the little blue bubbles of yummy, juicy goodness?
If you are in southern Maine, there are probably a number of pick-your-own stands. Next week the blueberry harvest should begin in the mid-coast area and the first week of August in the extensive blueberry barrens Down East.
DID YOU KNOW: Maine is the nation's top wild blueberry producer? Last year's harvest came in at 3 percent above the 2006 crop.
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