contact@westernmaine.com
PO Box 102, West Paris, ME 04289
Because the people deserve to know
Lady leads police on chase through 3 towns, running on blown out tires ... South Paris joins other towns in enacting moratorium on data centers, but does so without voter approval ... court cases show why it's not always a good idea to call 911
Listen to the news podcast here:
Because the people deserve to know.
The news for
Western Maine
The Scanner Log
Possible strangulation in Buckfield ....Woman makes strange accusations ...Stolen cat case solved in Oxford ...Police called to tame out of control 12-year-old ...Woman attacks grandmother...School bus runs over dog in Mexico
Real Estate News
Recent real estate sales in Western Maine from the records of the county registry and state and local records
Court News
63-year-old woman held on $5,000 bail after running over husband ...Guy mooching wifi spooks store employees ...4' 11" woman in court after battling husband and police ...Dangling rearview mirror thingies cause drug dealer to get caught in Rumford
Coming Events
Walks through the cemeteries of Bethel ...The Fryeburg Fair!Â
Audio Reports
The town of Denmark could become the first town in Maine since 2009 to say no to allowing Poland Spring to extract spring water within its town limits. A summer long series of public hearings continues as townspeople and the selectboard try to figure out what to do.
With aging dams, it's fix them before they fail. The experience of the town of Oxford in replacing the 166-year-old Welchville dam shows that it takes persistence.
The well known Mollyocket Motel on Rt. 26 in Woodstock went under the auctioneer's gavel last month. Here's what it sounded like and who won the auction.
The professsion of town manager in western Maine used to be an all male affair. In the last few years, there's been a remarkable turn around and now almost the opposite is true. Women outnumber men three to one in the job. Local town managers share their thoughts.
â
Latest news
After stealing two cars, South Paris man
arrested at gunpoint
A South Paris man was in Oxford County District Court after an alleged spree through Norway September 25 in which police say he stole at least two vehicles and was finally arrested at gunpoint by the Norway police.
Anthony Bizzochi, 46, first came to the attention of local authorities when a 2020 Ford Escape was reported stolen. The thief then swapped rides: the Ford was left in a driveway and an Audi from that driveway was stolen. Shortly thereafter, a property owner posted a warning to the public on the Norway Facebook site: âI arrived to my home on Pikes Hill after getting groceries with my family to find a strange car parked in my driveway, a silver Audi sedan, Maine plates reading: 8769R,â she wrote. â There was a skinny, averaged height man in a gray tee shirt, black pants and a hat standing in the middle of my open shed, looking to be heavily under the influence of drugs. I rolled down my window and asked him what he was doing on my property. He replied âIt seemed familiar.â He tried walking closer to my window, I told him to not come any closer, and to leave immediately. He did so, and proceeded to drive 5 miles an hour down Pikes Hill and turned onto Roberts Rd. I immediately called police. He is an obvious danger behind the wheel and blatantly trespassed on my property. Please be aware of this individual!â
Police located the Audi a short time later but the driver, later identified as Bizzochi, fled into a nearby âtree lineâ, according to police reports. Since they couldn't see him clearly and didn't know where he was, two Norway officers approached the woods with their guns drawn. He surrendered peaceably. On September 28, he was ordered held on $500 cash bail until his next court day later this fall. As of September 29, he was still in the Oxford County jail.
Despite taxpayer protests, new, higher
valuations and rates are set in Norway
After a contentious month in Norway, when many residents vociferously protested tax increases brought about by a revaluation of property values, the town has finally set its tax rate. According to assessor John O'Donnell "The tax rate is $10.85 per thousand or .01085 Last year's rate was .02038. The total taxable valuation is $1,171,209,173. Last year's total taxable valuation was $569,139,547."
Â
The tax rate actually came in slightly lower than the initial projection of $10.95 per thousand. With over 1900 property owners seeing a potential increase in taxes due to the revaluation, recent selectboard meetings have been the scene of residents insisting that the board hold off on implementing the new values. Just under 1500 property owners will see a reduction in taxes.
Â
In the end, the board refused for a variety of reasons, but in an official statement September 29, they stated that the town attorney had ruled that they don't, as a board, have the legal authority to interfere with the new valuations.
Â
Property owners who disagree with their new assessment can appeal to the assessor for an abatement. The town pays for abatement refunds out of the overlay, which has been increased, according to O'Donnell, from $19,130 last year to $75,476 this year. This contrasts with many towns who customarily set overlay amounts in the six figures, and may not be enough if there is a rush of abatement requests. If a property owner is granted an abatement, they will get a reduction on any taxes still due for the year, or a refund on any they have already paid. If an abatement is refused, they may appeal to an Oxford County assessment review board.
Man charged with drugging, raping
group of 12 to 14 year old girls
A 31 YEAR OLD with a Gorham address is being held on $25,000 cash bond in Oxford County Jail for allegedly luring 5 young teenage girls to an apartment in Rumford, drugging them and raping them.
Nkialuzitu Mayingi is charged with three counts of gross sexual assault, with endangering the welfare of a child and furnishing alcohol to a minor. The incident happened on August 3, according to police, when Mayingi encountered the girls, aged 12 to 14, in the parking lot of the Circle K convenience store on Rt. 2 in Rumford. The girls were looking for places to charge their phones, and Mayingi is alleged to have gotten them into his vehicle on the pretext of doing that for them. He drove them to an apartment on Spruce Street, not far from the Circle K, and there he and an accomplice, named in the police report as Diego Ramirez, provided âalcohol and marijuanaâ to the girls, some of whom became semi-conscious. In subsequent victim interviews, according to the police report, one girl said she suspected the drinks were spiked with drugs. After a few hours, Mayingi drove the girls back to the Circle K. The incident was almost disrupted by police as it happened when a neighbor in the building called 911 to complain about the noise. A Rumford police officer arrived to investigate but Mayingi and Ramirez had left. In the following days, the girls made various complaints to their parents and police were notified because, during the evening, one girl had punched another. The Rumford police began a prolonged investigation of the events, eventually conducting victim interviews with all of the girls, arranging for medical tests, and reviewing video footage from Circle K. In late August, they arrested Mayingi. Ramirez is listed in court records as having a court date October 15, but no information about whether he has been arrested is yet available in public records. On September 18, the district attorney recommended $10,000 cash bail. Mayingi expressed confusion about why he was in jail and asked whether there was some fine he could pay to be released. He told the court that he now lives in Portland. He is listed there as an income tax preparer. Judge Andrew Robinson imposed $25,000 cash bail, pending a hearing December 23.
Jail break attempt sinks
attempt at bail reductionÂ
â
AN ATTEMPTED JAIL BREAK cost a Norway woman with a lengthy criminal record the chance to get reduced bail conditions September 4. Lindsay Clark, 46, was before Judge Andrew Robinson with a de novo bail hearing asking that the $100 cash bail requirement from her August 19 arrest for possession of drugs and violation of conditions of release, be lifted. "I don't think she could even raise $5 at this point," the defense attorney stated, noting that she is homeless. Her most recent arrest came after Norway police responded to complaints of a woman going through parked cars and stealing milk from Cumberland Farms in Norway. Allowed to search her under the conditions of her prior release, police found a packet of white powder, which did later test as sugar, but also drug paraphrenalia. Judge Sarah Churchill imposed $100 cash bail or personal recognizance if she could find a rehab facility. She has been held in the Oxford County jail since that time.
On September 4, the district attorney objected to lifting bail, telling the judge that Clark had attempted a jail break shortly after being jailed. When inmates were brought to an outside area for exercise, he stated, Clark attempted to jump the chain link fence even though it has razor wire on it. She refused to stop climbing until the guards used tear gas to get her down. She was treated for injuries caused by the razor wire as well as the tear gas irritation.
Judge Robinson, noting he had been inclined to grant the request to lift the cash bail, then stated that, given the attempt to escape, he would deny it instead. She may be able to leave jail on a "bed to bed" transfer under the terms of the original bail ruling, and apparently could still pay the original $100 and be released. Otherwise she will remain at the Oxford County jail until her next court date, December 4.
Paris town government warns of
planning board scam
Scammers are taking information from town government notices about upcoming hearings and contacting applicants to demand money in the name of the town, the Paris Selectboard heard in their September 28 meeting.
Code enforcement officer Chris Summers told the board that the scammers send out false invoices in varying amounts in the thousands of dollars, claiming the money is owed as part of the hearing process. "They started out using incorrect information," Summer said, but now the invoices seem more authentic. "They even include bank numbers and routing numbers to make it seem more authentic."
Summers said that, to his knowledge, no one in South Paris has fallen for the scam, in that no one has sent money to them, but the town has received angry emails and phone calls from applicants who thought at first that the invoices might be real. The Paris police have been notified about the scam.
"We need to get it out there that the town will not email you and demand more money after a planning board meeting or any meeting," town manager Natalie Andrews said. "If anyone has any questions about something they've received, they should contact the town office immediately."
Brownfield man shot in hands by police
forbidden to go back to Brownfield
The Brownfield man shot in the hands at his home by an Oxford County Sheriff's deputy appeared in Oxford County District Court September 2 and was issued conditions by the judge that he is forbidden not only to go back to his home until his case is resolved, but that he not go back to the town of Brownfield at all during that time.
Â
Police had been called to the home of Aric Junkins, 40, with the report that he was âchasing his wife around with a gun,â according to a release from the Sheriff's Department. When they arrived, they found Junkins displaying what looked like a weapon. Sheriff's deputy Andre Chasse opened fire on him, hitting him in the hands. Aric was holding, it turned out, a BB gun. Junkins wife, Heather, disputes that it was a domestic violence incident, but has stated instead that it was a suicidal crisis her husband was experiencing due to diabetes medication he takes. She has criticized the police action on Facebook and in interviews with the press.
Â
Junkins was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital where he underwent reconstructive surgery on his hands. His wife was kept informed of his treatment, but was not allowed to speak to him directly. During that time, customary to usual practice, Maine authorities took no action to pursue charges, even though they had been announced.
Â
Junkins was released from Mass General last week and taken to the Togus VA hospital in Augusta. There, on August 31, Oxford County deputies took him into custody again. Junkins appeared in court September 2 via Zoom from the Oxford County jail, facing an indictment on three charges of domestic violence, plus two charges of criminal threatening as the result of displaying the bb gun toward the police. No plea was entered on the charges since the case is headed for the grand jury where the plea will be lodged. In the meantime, Judge Julia Pitney set his bail conditions as personal recognizance but with house arrest at Togus, where he will be returned for further treatment. At the behest of defense attorney Maurice Porter, the judge amended the conditions to allow Junkins to leave Togus for future court appointments, and, when Porter told her that Junkins needed to return to Mass General for further hand surgery September 8, she added that he could leave for any necessary medical appointments.
Â
He is to have no contact with his wife or the officers at which he displayed the gun, may not return to his house in Brownfield, and, at the request of the district attorney's office, not return to Brownfield at all until his case is resolved. Junkins spoke up via his Zoom link and asked whether at least his wife could come see him in the hospital. The judge made it clear that was not allowed. âThe no contact provisions are effective immediately and any violation could result in new criminal charges,â she warned. She noted he could appeal for a revision of these conditions as his case proceeds. His next court date is December 23 for a dispositional hearing.