OXFORD, Maine — Less than a year after it opened, Oxford Casino is being sold for about $160 million to Churchill Downs Inc., the Kentucky-based gambling company announced Friday.
The deal awaits approval by the Maine Gambling Control Board and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2013....
Bob Bahre of Black Bear Realty, the casino’s developer, said operating casinos is not its core business, ‘‘and we thought that the time was right to look for a major gaming company that could take this property to the next level. We are confident that we have found such a group in Churchill Downs, and we look forward to welcoming them into the community.’’
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"Fitness instructor gets 10-month term for prostitution" Associated Press, June 01, 2013
ALFRED, Maine — A high-profile prostitution scandal featuring sex videos, adultery, exhibitionism, and more than 100 clients drew to a close Friday when a Zumba fitness instructor who turned her studio into a brothel was sentenced to 10 months in jail.
Alexis Wright was sentenced under a plea agreement to 20 counts including prostitution, conspiracy, tax evasion, and theft by deception.
Justice Nancy Mills extended wishes for success after the sentence was imposed.
‘‘Based on what you have to say and what I know about you from your attorney, I know that you will succeed when you’re released and that you will prevail. I wish you success,’’ Mills said.
Wright’s attorney said the defendant had a difficult childhood, witnessing domestic violence and suffering sexual abuse, before she met Mark Strong, her eventual business partner. She said Strong used her background to manipulate her.
Addressing the judge through tears, Wright said she felt relief when police raided her business on Feb. 12, 2012, because she wanted out. She said she intends to work when she’s released to help other women in similar situations.
‘‘In my eyes I’m free. I’m free from this. And I have an incredible amount of strength that I knew was in me somewhere. Now that I have the strength I want to encourage others to come forward,’’ she told the judge.
‘‘It’s my intention to stand up for what is right. When I’m out, I’m going to pursue helping people fight through situations that are similar to mine. I’m optimistic that something good will come out of this.’’
Afterward, she was led from court to begin her sentence.
Wright, 30, was accused of conspiring with an insurance business owner to run a prostitution business in which she videotaped clients without their knowledge and kept detailed records over an 18-month period indicating she made $150,000 tax-free.
Why was this cut (among other things)?
The scandal in the seaside town of Kennebunk, known for its sea captain's mansions, beaches and New England charm, became a sensation following reports that Wright had at least 150 clients, some of them prominent. So far, those who have been charged include a former mayor, a high school hockey coach, a minister, a lawyer and a firefighter.
We never found out the more prominent names.
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Related: Maine Zumba instructor pleads guilty to prostitution
Also a Slow Saturday Special.
Also see: Sunday Globe Special: Zipping Shut the Zumba Prostitution Case
"Lewiston School Committee has first Somali member
Lewiston has long had a significant Somali population, and now the School Committee in Maine’s second-largest city’s has its first Somali member. Zam Zam Mohamud cast her first votes this week following her appointment by Mayor Robert Macdonald to complete the term of a member who resigned. Mohamud, 38, told the Sun Journal that she intends to serve out the term that expires in January and might seek election. She was an active parent during the education of her children, both of whom are now in college, and she has been a US citizen since 2006."
"Lawyer wants documents in Maine teen death sealed
The lawyer for a Maine man charged with killing a 15-year-old girl wants a judge to keep affidavits and search warrants with details about the case under seal. Stephen Smith, lawyer for Kyle Dube, filed the motion Friday, a day after news organizations challenged a judge’s decision to impound a State Police affidavit. The document explains why the Orono man was charged this week in the death of Nichole Cable."
"Maine panel hears case for marijuana legalization
With other states starting to allow the legal use of marijuana, Maine needs to get ahead of the issue and legalize, regulate, and tax the sale of the drug, lawmakers were told Friday. ‘‘This issue is coming to our state,’’ Representative Diane Russell, a Portland Democrat, told the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee as it took up the bill she sponsored. It has 35 cosponsors in the 186-member Legislature. Russell pointed to two other states, Colorado and Washington, where residents voted to allow recreational use of marijuana by adults. Russell’s bill would legalize, tax, and regulate the sale of marijuana for personal consumption by people over 21. Adults could possess up to 2½ ounces legally, and grow up to six plants for personal consumption. The bill establishes a tax rate of $50 per ounce for marijuana sold by licensed marijuana cultivation facilities that would generate $13 million in revenue for the state, supporters say."
Related: UMaine has offshore wind data buoy
Smells funny to me.
Time for some tube:
"Maine’s governor in a tussle over TV outside his office" Associated Press, May 25, 2013
AUGUSTA, Maine — Governor Paul LePage, who got into a tussle with legislative leaders for having a television set running outside his office, was still staying away from his State House office in protest Friday.
But the television set had a new, less political message Friday. Ushering in Memorial Day weekend, LePage and his wife, Ann, presented an address honoring Maine’s fallen soldiers.
‘‘Since becoming your governor, I have written too many letters of condolence to the families of the fallen. It is, by far, the most difficult part of my job,’’ LePage said in the address. ‘‘What I do hope families take from these words, however, is how deeply appreciative I am for their sacrifice.’’
It was a far different tone from a day earlier, when attention was called to what the Republican governor considers delays in passing his $6.3 billion, two-year budget and a bill to repay hospitals a $484 million debt.
The governor’s staff had been told earlier this month that running the television outside his office violated State House rules of decorum. LePage considered the rule an attempt to stifle his free speech and in protest advised legislative leaders he would vacate his State House space by July 1. He worked across the street Thursday and Friday at the governor’s mansion.
‘‘The issue is about the equipment being there, not the content,’’ David Boulter, executive director of the Legislative Council, said Friday. LePage could have run the television if he had obtained permission from the council, the bipartisan group of House and Senate leaders that has authority over State House grounds and buildings.
LePage will be out of the office this weekend as he and his wife attend several ceremonies in the state honoring Maine’s fallen soldiers. In the first, the Battlefield Cross remembrance ceremony in the State House Friday, four identification tags bearing the names of servicemen and women with ties to Maine who died during overseas operations were added to the memorial, bringing the total to 54 names.
Names read by Ann LePage included....
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