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Welcome to the Sunrise Herald with Giselle Goodman, the place to go to get the news from overnight and onward...
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RIGHT ABOUT NOW - Gloria Noyes, a fifth-grade teacher at Congin Elementary School in Westbrook, is finding out she is the 2009 Maine Teacher of the Year. The announcement was scheduled for 9 a.m today. Maine Education Commissioner Susan A. Gendron planned to make the surprise announcement at an all-school assembly in the Congin Elementary School gymnasium..
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IN THE WEATHER:
The thunderstorms of yesterday have moved offshore, leaving us with some very clean, clear air and a day with lots of sun and comfortable temperatures. Highs in the upper 60s to low 70s. But here's a sign of the season - there is a frost advisory posted for tonight for north and northwestern Maine, including southern Oxford County! Better get harvesting...
From Bill in Rockland: A cloudless sky and very light breeze here at 6 o'clock this morning,
but the 51 degrees does get your attention as you venture out. The
world looks great, but doesn't feel entirely welcoming without an extra layer.
From Mark in Brunswick: Cooler this morning as we have 49 degrees in Brunswick and clear skies with no wind.
From Shawn in Yarmouth: It is 52 degrees here in Yarmouth at 5:57 a.m. There is no wind, and it appears no clouds. The trees are a silhouette against the lighter sky. Before long it will just be dark when I get up. We must be on a flyway for the geese; we heard them honking all evening!
ON THE ROAD:
ON THE OCEAN:
High tides in Portland: 8:05 a.m. and 8:13 p.m. Low tide: 1:55 p.m.
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THE NEWEST NEWS:
AUGUSTA -- A Maine man who had sex with a 13-year-old girl after meeting her on the Internet is going to prison.
Twenty-seven-year-old Gabriel Hall of Farmingdale pleaded guilty to gross sexual assault and was sentenced to 59 months in prison and six years of probation on Friday.
A state police affidavit indicates the girl initially told Hall she was 19. She later admitted she was 12 and would soon turn 13.
Authorities say the girl was staying with her grandparents in Farmingdale in March 2007 when she sneaked out to meet Hall on the Kennebec River Rail Trail. Later they returned to Hall's apartment. Two days later, Hall met the girl again, this time in her Gardiner home. (AP)
PORTLAND -- A number of indictments were served this week in Cumberland County Superior Court, some of them noteworthy, as they update reports that have been in the Portland Press Herald. They include:
• PAUL GALAMBOS III of Portland was arrested on Aug. 3, moments after he allegedly robbed a 7-Eleven convenience store and whacked a customer on the head with a padlock. South Portland police arrested Galambos, 26, at Mexico Lindo just minutes after he allegedly took an undisclosed amount of cash from the convenience store across the street. Police said Galambos initially hit a customer in the store's parking lot after the man, Edward DiMillo, refused to hand over his car keys. After attacking DiMillo, police say, Galambos entered the store and removed cash from the register before crossing the street to order a drink at the bar. He was indicted on two charges of robbery, one count of failing to submit to arrest and violating the conditions of his bail.
• NICHOLAS MURDOCK of South Portland was one of four suspects arrested in conjunction with a robbery at a home in Scarborough on July 20. Police say the occupants of the Burnham Road residence awoke during the robbery and confronted the suspects outdoors. One of the residents was struck with a baseball bat. He was treated by rescue workers. The four suspects were later caught by Saco police. Murdock, 19, was indicted with robbery, aggravated assault and burglary. The other three men arrested, Mike Jensen, Sean Newton and Nicholas Leeman, were not indicted this month.
• JERALD RIDEOUT of Gorham was arrested on July 2 after an officer investigating a parking complaint on Brown Street in Westbrook observed what looked like a drug deal. Rideout, 41, was charged with possession of methadone, trafficking in Oxycodone and trafficking in marijuana. He was indicted on those charges.
• JEFFREY SMITH of Raymond who allegedly led police on a high-speed chase through Casco on Aug. 2 and then crashed his motorcycle, was indicted on charges of eluding and operating after suspension. A Cumberland County Sheriff's deputy tried to stop Smith, 20, on a road violation, but police said Smith took off. A chase began and ended after Smith lost control of his bike around a curve, crashed into a utility pole and plummeted into the woods. He spent three days in Maine Medical Center recovering from injuries.
• RYAN WILSON, 20, a transient, was indicted for criminal threatening with a weapon, criminal threatening and two counts of violations of condition of release after he was arrested July 30 for displaying a knife to police. It all started when a woman called police from outside Fore Play. a bar in Portland, to report that she and friends had been threatened by her ex-boyfriend. She said the man had approached her and three friends with a bottle, attempted to hit them with it and had thrown the bottle at the group, Portland police said. Police found Wilson down the street. When Officer Frank Pellerin ordered him to stop, he turned around with a knife in his hand. Pellerin said he took the knife away and arrested him.
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SOUTHWEST HARBOR -- A ferry struck an empty skiff in Southwest Harbor at 1:22 p.m. yesterday, prompting the Coast Guard to respond with a 25-foot boat crew from the station there.
No passengers were aboard the 42-passenger ferry Island Queen at the time and there were no reports of injuries to the crew. No damage to the ferry or pollution was reported.
The 12-foot skiff was attached to a mooring ball in the harbor when it was struck and sustained damaged to the bow (see photo below).
The Island Queen was later moored at the town pier in Southwest Harbor.
At the scene, winds were gusting up to 30 miles per hour with seas around four feet.
The Coast Guard Marine Safety Detachment in Belfast is sending investigators to inspect the ferry and determine the cause of the incident.
Photo courtesy U.S. Coast Guard
A coast guard officer inspects damage done to a skiff, that was struck by a ferry in Southwest Harbor yesterday.
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OF NOTE TODAY:
Have you considered supporting animal welfare advocates who are trying to sell vanity license plates that would benefit Maine's cash-strapped Animal Welfare Program?
Better do it today. Supporters originally had until Sept. 1 to collect $50,000 - $25 each from 2,000 people who agreed to buy the plates. But when Sept. 1 came around, and supporters fell short of their goal by about 250, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles agreed to extend the deadline to today.
If supporters reach their goal, next year state lawmakers will consider the idea of making this a real license plate (clicking on it will link you to the website to learn more about how to support the effort):
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I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP:
News of the weird and other strange things happening in Maine.
Hopefully, this will be the the last time I have to tell you about "Seemore," the 8-foot-tall mechanical gorilla from East Machias who was stolen over Labor Day weekend.
You probably already know the ape was taken from Sandy's Sales in broad daylight, without anybody calling attention to it.
You probably also already know that the monkey was found in a cornfield in Vermont after the alleged "abductor" (a sock-puppet wielding masked man) posted a video on You Tube, confessing to and apologizing for the crime.
What's new is this: Annette Farrington of Waterford has volunteered to get "Seemore" while visiting her family in Vermont this weekend. After being retrieved by authorities, Seemore is in custody of the Vermont State Police.
Farrington stepped up after Sandy Miller complained that her husband's truck was in no shape to make the 750-mile round-trip to Vermont.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
Copyright 2008 Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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