Maine News Updates

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:

SUNRISE: 5 a.m. SUNSET: 8:26 p.m.

At 9 a.m., it was 64 degrees in downtown Portland.

The
flood warnings of yesterday have passed, and indeed the air feels
different this morning. Warmer. A bit drier. Kind of balmy.

But,
alas, the clouds will stay thick and the rain wil visit us on and off
for another day. Although maybe not as unrelenting as it was Friday and
Sunday and yesterday.

THE SUNRISE HERALD WEATHER WATCHERS REPORT:

• Bill in Rockland says:    Still gray and sprinkling at
  5:30 this morning here on the coast. The wind has lessened somewhat,
  but is still a presence whipping in  from the northeast. The
  temperature is a kind of nondescript 59
  degrees. So today so far is a less rambunctious yesterday. Attempt a
  stiff upper lip.
• Jim in Cape Elizabeth says:
  Do my eyes deceive me this morning?  It is actually DRY outside.  We 
  still have a heavy layer of clouds but it IS dry!  We have a gentle 
  drying breeze blowing out of the NE and at 0545 the current 
  temperature is 64!!!! Are we finally going to break out of this cycle 
  of wetness?  We shall see as the day progresses.  Have a great one all!
• Mark in Brunswick says: In Brunswick, we have 62 degrees, dark clouds overhead and it's...NOT RAINING, for the moment, at least.

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ON THE ROAD:

There is a bright side to all this rain: It certainly puts a damper on road construction. Crews
have had to suspend any paving projects as you need dry conditions to
lay down hot asphalt. Long-term lane closures, however, remain in
place.

If you'd like to know where those lane closures are, visit either of these links:

 

 

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ON THE OCEAN:

The gale warning of yesterday is a small craft advisory for today,
as there are hazardous seas in store. Winds blow 10 to 15 knots,
gusting to 25, with seas 4 to 6 feet. Showers likely through the day.  

IN PORTLAND: High tide at 12:07 p.m. Low tide at 5:52 a.m. and 5:59 p.m.

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IN THE NEWS:

PORTLAND -- A man, allegedly drunk, hit another on the turnpike
over the weekend, narrowly missing a Maine State Police trooper who was
already arresting somebody for driving without a licence.

Friday
night seemed like a usual one for Maine State Police Trooper Nathan
Jamo. He had just pulled a car over on the southbound side of the
highway, near exit 47, and determined the driver should not have been
behind the wheel, due to a suspended license.

Jamo arrested the
driver and made arrangements to get the driver's car towed away.
Everything was progressing as it normally would. Jamo's cruiser's
emergency lights were flashing. The tow truck operator,  Robert Sanborn
from B&B Towing, nearly had the car pulled up on the flatbed.

And that's when the night became not so routine.

Jamo,
standing guard, noticed another vehicle, this one a Chevy Truck,
heading in their direction ... and not moving over to the safer lane
... and not slowing down.

"The operator was not moving over and, I felt, was going to come dangerously close to striking my cruiser," recalled Jamo.

Instead, the full-sized Chevy truck hit Sanborn, the tow truck driver, with it's side view mirror.

"Sanborn
was thrown forward but remained on his feet," Jamo said in his report
of the incident. "My approximation of the offending vehicle's speed was
40-45 MPH when it struck (him). "

Jamo made sure Sanborn was not badly injured and then went after the Chevy, which stopped for Jamo's cruiser. 

The
23-year-old
driver, Derrick Hambleton of Alfred, failed sobriety tests at the scene
and was charged with operating under the influence. "(He) stated to me
that he had just left a local gentleman's club and
was on his way home."

Hambleton also was charged with leaving the scene of an accident with personal injury.

Jamo
said Sanborn is doing well. The case he said, certainly highlights the
need for the newly adopted "Move Over Law" which tells motorists to
move over to the left and slow down when approaching emergency
vehicles.

We are always in danger, anywhere, but more
specifically when we are stopping motorists on I-295 or I-95," Jamo
said.  "Statistics show that police officers are more at risk to be
killed by a passing motorist than to have someone just start shooting
at them on a traffic stop.  It's becoming a consistent problem in Maine
as drivers are distracted with cell phones, reading, dressing, and even
working on laptops while driving, and in this case...operating under
the influence. Another 8 inches would have killed the wrecker operator
or anyone of us out there."

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BANGOR
(AP) — A 21-year-old Greenbush man charged with robbing two banks has
been indicted by a Penobscot County grand jury for allegedly having 30
pounds of marijuana mailed to himself at the Old Town post office from
Texas, and for the Bangor robbery.

21-year-old Troy M. Gay,
also known as Troy Niles, was indicted Monday in the May 7 robbery of
the Bank of America branch on Union Street in Bangor and for attempted
unlawful trafficking in scheduled drugs.

He is scheduled to be arraigned Friday.

Gay also has been charged in connection with the April 27 robbery of the Bangor Savings Bank branch in Howland.

Gay remains at Penobscot County Jail unable to make bail.

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BALDWIN – Deputies from the Cumberland County Sheriff's Department
were in Baldwin last night investigating what Sheriff Mark Dion described
as a "dispute between neighbors."

But an initial report of a man wielding a gun was unwarranted.

Dion last night said one neighbor was
punched in the face during the incident and was treated at the scene by
an ambulance crew. He did not need to be hospitalized.

Dion said no arrests were
made. The incident took place at a home at 1147 Pequawket Trail, also
known as Route 113, around 9:30 p.m.

Dennis Hoey contributed to this report.

FROM OUR NEWS PARTNERS

Today's Bangor Daily News reports on:

• A Franklin man pleaded not guilty to trafficking $30,000 worth of heroin into Maine from Conneticut.
• A father and son were lucky to escape injury when a moose stepped in front of their car.
• An indictment for possesion of a "seal bomb."

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HAPPENINGS TODAY:

IN PORTLAND AT MERCY HOSPITAL: The American Red
Cross, Mercy Hospital and Maine Medical Center are holding a community
blood drive today to head off seasonal blood supply shortfalls.

The Red Cross donor coach will be at Mercy Hospital, 175 Fore River, between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Blood donors must be at least 17 years old – or 16 with signed parental
consent – be in good health and weigh at least 110 pounds.

And usually, blood donors get free treats! What more incentive could you need!

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A BIT 'O GOOD NEWS:

An occasional Sunrise Herald feature,

combating the harmful rays of too much bad news.

Tomorrow
will be a big day for 10-year old Hannah Ryder of Cumberland, who gets
to meet some pretty special people in the nation's capital.

Hannah
lives with Type 1 diabetes. She was diagnosed three years ago. And
tomorrow, she will get to testify before a congressional panel (that
includes Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins) about her disease.

But,
even better, she will testify alongside Nick Jonas (cue the pre-teen
girl scream). Jonas is one of the "Jonas Brothers," a musical group of
brothers who have become wicked popular with the tweens.

Hannah,
Jonas, and dozens of other children will join the Senate Committee on
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the Juvenile Diabetes
Research Foundation (JDRF) for the “Children’s Congress.”

In
essence, the event is designed to draw attention to the impact juvenile
diabetes has had on American children and their families. Jonas has the
disease, as does actress Mary Tyler Moore, international chairman of
JDRF, and boxing legend “Sugar” Ray Leonard. They will also be at the
hearing.

One more Mainer, 8-year old Cole Buchanan of Falmouth,
will attend the 9 a.m. event in Washington D.C. He and Ryder were
chosen as Maine's delegates for the "Children's Congress."

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