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A Year in Review: 2017

18 mins read
Fireworks lit up the sky at dusk over Prescott Field to conclude this year’s Fire and Ice Festival.
(Photo by Don Waterhouse)

Another year comes to an end this weekend. Here’s hoping that everyone has a fun (and safe!) new year.

In what has become an annual tradition, the Daily Bulldog takes a look back at some of the stories that drew the highest traffic over the past 12 months. Each story, ranging from important to trivial, heart-breaking to heart-warming, drew the most visits over a month-long period through either one or multiple appearances in Bulldog articles.

January – Dixfield man killed in Phillips crash

2017 began with a tragedy, after a 21-year-old Dixfield man died as a result of a crash on the Weld Road in Phillips. Loren Keim, the son of District 18 state Senator Lisa Keim of Dixfield, died on Jan. 28 after his 1997 Ford Ranger failed to stop at the intersection with Rangeley Road. A 2011 Peterbilt tractor trailer, operated by Richard Giles, 61, of Jay, struck the rear of Keim’s vehicle resulting in catastrophic damage. Franklin County Sheriff’s Office investigators said that weather conditions could have contributed to the crash.

February – Food pantry treasurer pleads guilty

Mary O’Donal, appearing in court with attorney Christopher Berryment, received a partially-suspended, 3-year sentence on Feb. 14.

The long-time treasurer of Care & Share Food Pantry pleaded guilty to felony theft in the Franklin County Superior Court on Feb. 14, admitting to stealing more than $300,000 from the nonprofit organization.

Mary O’Donal, then 74 of Farmington, pleaded guilty to theft by unauthorized taking, a Class B felony. O’Donal began working as treasurer for the Care and Share Food Pantry in the 1970s. It wasn’t until Jan 2015, when newly-appointed Executive Director Leiza Hiltz Scerbo took over leadership of the organization and implemented new safeguards, that O’Donal’s theft was discovered. O’Donal, who had more than 15 years of experience as the organization’s treasurer and was the only signer for the charity’s account, resigned her position at the end of 2015.

O’Donal admitted to stealing more than $117,000 between the years of 2010 and her resignation in 2015, and $306,000 since 2004. She paid back $15,000 of the stolen money after she confessed. She was later sentenced to a partially-suspended, 3-year sentence and ordered to repay $291,000. O’Donal also turned over her house to the food pantry.

March – 24-year-old dies at Sugarloaf

Alexander David Witt

Much of Franklin County mourned in March, after a young Sugarloaf employee was killed while preparing a mogul trail for competition on March 3. Alex Witt, 24 of Farmington, was preparing a mogul course on the Skidder Trail when the accident occurred. Rated as a double-black-diamond or “Experts Only” trail, the Skidder Trail is located on the central part of the mountain. Sugarloaf Ski Patrol responded to the scene and transported the employee to the mountain’s first aid clinic while performing CPR. NorthStar EMS continued CPR at the clinic, where Witt was later pronounced dead.

Alex Fest, a musical event celebrating Witt’s life and raising donations for a local ski education fund, was held on Titcomb Mountain in September.

April

An article announcing a new ice cream store in Wilton topped the Bulldog’s traffic in April. Ken and Monica Allen opened their shop at 280 Main Street, the former location of Bradley’s Pizza, and decided to hold a competition to name the store. The ensuing Bulldog article garnered 119 comments and a gigantic scoop of ice cream puns.

The Allens eventually went with The Family Freeze.

May – Fire destroys residence, sends boy to hospital

A home on Swan Road in New Sharon was completely destroyed by fire.

A 15-year-old boy was transported to Franklin Memorial Hospital in May after reporting that his home on Swan Road in New Sharon had caught fire. Home alone at the time, the boy discovered the fire in the back bedroom. He was cleaning out the shed at the time, going back and forth to the mobile home. In the boy’s attempts to assess how bad the fire was, he breathed in smoke, according to New Sharon Fire Chief John Welch. The boy was transported to Franklin Memorial Hospital via NorthStar EMS.

It is the second blaze the New Sharon department responded to in as many days; a two-story residence on the Kimball Pond Road burned down on the previous Friday.

June – Wilton man pleads guilty to escape, stealing and crashing vehicle

Derek Cook (Franklin County Detention Center photo)
Derek Cook (Franklin County Detention Center photo)

A Wilton man pleaded guilty to four felonies in June, with all charges associated with his escape from custody, theft of a motor vehicle and the ensuing police chase that resulted in a crash in Chesterville in 2016.

Derek Cook, then 32 of Wilton, pleaded guilty to robbery, a Class A felony; escape, a Class B felony; and assault on an officer and eluding, both Class C felonies. In a separate case, Cook also pleaded guilty to misdemeanor criminal mischief, relating to damage inflicted to Franklin County Detention Center. As part of the arranged plea, Cook was sentenced to 15 years, all but 7 1/2 years suspended, with four years of probation on the robbery charge.

The charges stem from a March 1, 2016 incident that began on Route 133 as Cook was being transported with two other prisoners. Cook later reportedly broke into a local woman’s home, taking a 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Police say Cook drive away and pursued, with the Cherokee crashing at the intersection of the Dutch Gap Road and Zions Hill Road.

July – UMF student outruns bears

Moninda Marube

A student at the University of Maine at Farmington made national news for outrunning a pair of black bears that charged him during a morning run.

Moninda Marube, a marathon runner from Kenya, has lived in Auburn with his host family for the past five years. Each morning, the dedicated runner wakes up, goes through his meditation routine, and leaves the house by 5 a.m. In July, he left the house for his morning training, expecting nothing unusual.

As he began his 18-mile route up Spring Road in Auburn, two large, and uninvited guests lumbered onto the path in front of him. The pair of bears weren’t expecting Marube either, heading out for their normal morning drink at nearby Auburn Lake. Within seconds the bears were heading toward him at full speed and Marube ran. Luckily, Marube found a screened-in porch of a nearby empty cabin. He hid on the porch as the bears sniffed the flimsy screen, before finally deciding to abandon their chase. As soon as the bears turned out of sight, Marube left the porch and ran in the opposite direction.

August – Origin USA opens in Farmington downtown

Peter Roberts, owner of Origin USA, speaks in front of the Church Street entrance Wednesday.

Origin USA, previously based out of Industry, moved into roomier digs in August to accommodate additional machinery and more employees to meet growing demand for its combat sports apparel. The company manufactures Gis, clothing associated with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, as well as other articles that range from shorts to hoodies. The company got its start in Industry five years ago, owner Peter Roberts recounted at the ribbon cutting, with he and a few friends using chainsaws to cut down trees that blocked the barn they used to house the company’s machinery, some of which was rescued from abandoned mills throughout Maine.

Roberts partnered with the town of Farmington earlier this year, successfully applying for a $500,000 Community Development Block Grant to purchase additional machinery and train additional employees. That funding supplemented $600,000 in other funding to secure the location and make improvements to the 20,000 square foot factory, including transforming an old loading dock into a large, glass entryway and erecting a large wooden awning on High Street.

September – RSU 9 school budget vote (the third one)

We could have picked a number of high-traffic stories for September, all of them relating to this year’s long, convoluted Regional School Unit 9’s budget process. In total, the budget was voted down three times, but the third vote drew particular interest after residents at the budget meeting voted to flat fund the 2017-18 budget at $32.6 million, a reduction of nearly $1 million. This led to a flurry of letters to the editor, online commentary and a rally in front of the post office in Farmington.

Roughly 4,500 voters would cast ballots on Sept. 12, voting against the reduced budget by a margin of 1,608 in favor and 2,893 opposed. Another iteration of the budget, set at $33.6 million passed easily on its fourth try on Oct. 24.

October – Young boy injured in bucket loader accident

Volunteers work to begin building a ramp in New Vineyard.

A four-year-old child’s leg was lost to an accident in October. Adam Mattson was critically injured in an accident involving a front-end loader near his family’s gravel pit that resulted in his leg being severed. Mattson’s grandfather, who wrapped Mattson’s leg and rushed him to Franklin Memorial Hospital, was credited by Sheriff Scott Nichols for saving the young boy’s life.

The Mission at the Eastward Housing Ministry responded to a request for help in December, building a roof-covered ramp to allow Mattson clear access to the ramp no matter the weather.

November – Fire damages iconic New Vineyard home

Firefighters standing in Route 27 beside a residence that was damaged by fire this afternoon.

A three-story home on the corner of High Street and Route 27 was damaged by fire in November, with eight departments on scene to combat the blaze. A family of five was living at the residence.

The large, white house, located at 2 High Street and immediately adjacent to Route 27, is easily distinguishable by its attached cupola and ornate weather vane. Firefighters utilized a number of tankers and pumpers provided by mutual aid calls and quickly sent in teams with air packs and tools to dig out the fire. One challenge of the specific building, fire officials noted, was that its old construction included significant numbers of plaster walls that had to be dug into to ensure crews were able to curtail the “extension” – fire moving either vertically or horizontally within walls or floors.

December – Local woman intends to donate kidney to stranger

Beckie Bowering intends to donate a kidney next month.

The top story in December was a heartwarming one, with Beckie Bowering agreeing to donate a kidney to an unknown recipient. Bowering, a Wilton resident, first had the idea while she was working at Franklin Savings Bank more than 15 years ago. One of her customers, someone receiving dialysis through a VA medical center, learned that they had made it to the top of the transplant list. Bowering said that she remembered how excited the customer was and thought about donating a kidney.

Bowering, who has researched the process, doesn’t anticipate significant lifestyle changes as a result of the surgery. She will not need to take medication in the long-term – something she says is a commonly-held belief about kidney donors – and expects to be back at work at Franklin Savings Bank within a few weeks.

More information about the Maine Transplant Program can be found here.

Top Art Stories

Words on Words: On books, patience and Chronoglacialis (by Kenny Brechner) Patrick Rothfuss, The Doors of Stone and an interview with Bast. [Click to view]

The astounding hermit phenomenon in our midst and the amazing book just out on it
(by Paul Mills) On the North Woods Hermit and Michael Finkel. [Click to view]

An interview with the Year 2017 (by Kenny Brechner) Spoilers! [Click to view]

Top Business Stories

Meg’s Thai Tea cupcakes on display at the Maine’s Best Baker competition.

Farmington baker turns hobby into business (by Amber Kapiloff)
[Click to view]

Accomplished Franklin Savings branch manager retires; assistant manager named replacement (Submitted) [Click to view]

Industry fire chief accepts Director of Operations position at Delta Ambulance (Submitted)[Click to view]

Top Happenings Stories

Local Masons receive recognition (Submitted)[Click to view]
Announcing the engagement of Dori Condon and Austin Beane (Submitted) [Click to view]
Class of 1967 celebrates 50th reunion (Submitted) [Click to view]

Farmington High School class of 1967

Top Opinion Pieces

Letter to the Editor: Incident during vote not reflective of Farmington (by Karol Maybury of Wilton)[Click to view]
Politics & Other Mistakes: Pension tension (by Al Diamon) [Click to view]
Letter to the Editor: Time to hold schools accountable (by Nancy Porter of Farmington)[Click to view]

Top Outdoors Stories

Doug Dunlap reaches Lac Megantic Quebec on his 200+ mile hike. (All photos by Doug Dunlap Copyright 2017)

Schedule for the 177th Farmington Fair (Submitted) [Click to view]
Local outdoorsman hikes 200 miles of Franklin County (by Amber Kapiloff) [Click to view]
Wilton landowner receives 2018 Maine Tree Farmer of the Year (Submitted) [Click to view]

Top Sports Stories

Pickleball program growing in popularity (Submitted) [Click to view]
Titcomb Mountain holds 21st annual Dummy Downhill (Submitted) [Click to view]
Mt. Blue field hockey contends with key losses, tough competition (by Jake Hanstein) [Click to view]

A chicken flies off the jump. (Photo by Woody Hanstein)
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