Bludgeoned by truck!

I popped onto the Mount Desert Islander newspaper website to check their police blotter (thanks to Nicole, who gave me the link and recommended the site back in October). And what rewards!!! Right off the bat, I was greeted by this bizarre headline:

Island Police: Driver bludgeons building with truck
Tuesday, February 24, 2009

BAR HARBOR — Police across Hancock County are on the lookout for a GMC pickup that allegedly struck the building housing the closed Nakorn Thai restaurant on Cottage Street Saturday evening. A witness to the events described seeing a maroon pickup stop at a stop sign on Federal Street, at the intersection with Cottage Street across from the restaurant. The driver of the truck then reportedly squealed the truck’s tires on the ground, flew across Cottage Street, went up and over the sidewalk, across the Nakorn Thai parking lot, and slammed into the building. The vehicle then backed up and drove up Kennebec Street, according to the report.
[...]
A woman reported seeing a broken window with a curtain blowing in and out of it on an upstairs floor of the Ledgelawn Inn Feb. 13. Police notified a contact person for the inn.
[...]
A blue “snowflake” flag was reported stolen from in front of a Main Street business Feb. 13. A number of similar flags, which announce that a business is open during the winter, have been reported stolen from downtown locations within the past weeks.
[...]

Mount Desert

A 15-horsepower Mercury outboard motor was reported stolen Feb. 13 from a boat at the Bartlett’s Island Landing.

That same day, a Seal Harbor woman complained about two men who came to her door wanting to talk about religion. She told police the men were aggressive and that she became frightened. The men left when the woman asked them to leave. The incident is under investigation.

[...]

View the complete blotter report here: [Source]

In Maine, it's easy to remember the adage that "Truth is stranger than fiction"!

Pineland Cemetery exploration

Pineland has long been a staple buzzword for Maine students of the paranormal and weird. Known throughout its history under various names, including the Maine School for the Feeble-Minded, this site has fascinated people because of its often tragic and emotional history. Stories circulated between friends included accounts of strange noises, ghostly cries in the night, and odd lights seen floating in trees.

Today the site houses the progressive Pineland Farms, and much of the grounds are open for public use as walking trails, etc. (I went hiking there a couple of winters ago, and it was stark and beautiful -- a few pictures here). It exists now as a sunny and cheerful place, active and well-populated, a blazing contrast to the bulk of its century-long history as a mental institution and work farm.

The Maine Ghost Hunters paid a visit to the cemetery at Pineland as part of their ongoing research into the site before embarking on a full-blown investigation, and recorded their meditations on the site in a blog posting.

At the beginning of August, 2008 TonyL and I (KatM) took a drive out to New Gloucester to observe the gravesites of the numerous patients who died while in the care and/or under the guardianship of the Pinelands institution. We’re still researching the matter but the history of Pinelands, as a mental health institution, really preceded its very name up until the most recent of times. The accounts of patient maltreatment, abuse, neglect, and abhorrent human condition that plagued the earlier days of this facility have given rise to notions that those who passed-on while confined to Pinelands never really left this place; and some may still haunt the location of their final resting spot.

Read full post here, with photos: [Source]

Photo (c)2007 by Michelle Souliere.