Worst Logging Truck Nightmare

Many Mainers who have driven the roads near northern woods in our state know to stay well away from logging trucks on the back roads, though we unavoidably find ourselves driving near them on larger roads. There is always a certain amount of worry that something will go wrong with their load or the driver's field of vision (which we allow to ourselves is a paranoid fantasy), even in broad daylight on a good solid road when paired with them.

WMTW-TV8 reported this morning on a terrible hit-and-run which happened just after 5pm on Wednesday night (yesterday) which is the result of a Maine driver's worst nightmare:

NEW VINEYARD, Maine -- ...According to investigators, the truck was traveling along Route 27, about 3 miles north of Farmington, when it lost its load and crushed a car in the oncoming lane, touching off a multi-vehicle collision.

The driver of the car was killed, while two people in a second vehicle suffered minor injuries.

Police said the driver of the lumber truck did not stop and left the scene.

[Source]

From WCSH-6, more info, including a number to call if you have any information:

They say the falling lumber struck two cars in the opposite lane from the southbound truck. A man alone in one of the cars was killed. His identity has not been made public.

The driver of the second car, Katherine Jones, and her passenger were checked by ambulance personnel and released at the scene. Both vehicles were a total loss.

The truck driver did not stop at the scene, and is now being sought. Anyone who may have witnessed the accident is asked to call the Sheriff's Dept. at 1-800-773-2680.

[Source]

Honeycomb Hideout in Farmington, Maine

The Sun Journal provides insight into a fantastic tale of indoor beehivery at the Farmington USM campus. Photo from Sun Journal, more at site of full article.

Built-in beehive found in old house
By Donna M. Perry , Staff Writer
Monday, July 16, 2007

FARMINGTON - Robert Brackley Jr. believes an old beehive discovered in a house he and his crew are dismantling was man-made and built into a wall of the structure, which he suspects was built in the late 1800s.

Brackley, of New Vineyard, the owner of Brackley's Nostalgic Restorations, is dismantling what was known as the Thomas House on the campus of the University of Maine at Farmington. The wood flooring, bricks and other material from the old house, which is located behind the Psychology House, a former church on Main Street, will be used in Brackley's restoration projects.

Brackley climbed up the stairs to the second floor of the house Thursday, sweat dripping from his face. He set up a ladder on a piece of wood spanning several floor joists before he climbed up next to the formerly active beehive built between wall studs near a chimney.

When they had started to tear the roof off the building, Brackley said, they found some boards that had some honeycomb on them. He began to wonder if they had bees, since he had raised them before and this was a tell-tale sign.

With more boards removed and more light let in, they could see what looked like a built-in hive.

He believes the house was built between 1870 and 1890.

All the evidence points to the beehive being built into the wall. It was active more than a hundred years ago, he said.

It was so symmetrical it looks like it was man-made, Brackley said.

There is a wooden plug near the bottom of the hive, firmly set in the hole Thursday, that would have been how the bees entered the hive, Brackley said. Honeycomb was still on the outside of the hive before it was torn down.

"It seems bizarre," he said, but it looks like the people built it into the wall and when they wanted honey, they would go up and get it.
[Source]

We want... A SHRUBBERY!!!

Are the Knights Who Say "NI!" here in Maine? Either that, or one stingy tree thief made off with a bunch of plants that were destined to be sold to support local educational programming in Farmington. Story from the Lewiston Sun Journal.

Plants, trees disappear from soil, water district
By Ann Bryant , Staff Writer
Friday, May 18, 2007

FARMINGTON - A variety of plants and trees were taken from the Franklin County Soil & Water Conservation District on Park Street sometime Monday night.
...
Thompson inventoried the items Monday night before leaving around 6 p.m., but did not notice anything unusual until Tuesday afternoon, when she thought there should be more plants, she said.

"Someone took their time doing it as it did not seem to be a random grab or vandalism," Thompson said. "Pear trees were rearranged and moved around very neatly so that it wouldn't be noticed and whomever took the plants did it in a proportionate way as only certain amounts of different items were taken," Thompson added.

The total items taken, she said, included 20 blueberry bushes, 50-plus high-bush cranberry bushes, three Bartlett pear trees, 23 gray dogwood and a small pot of chives.

"There is a security light in the area," she said, "and the odd part is there is a utility pole across from the office that has been run into very recently and has a fresh wound. Someone may have damaged their vehicle while they were taking the plants," she said.
...
[click here to read full article: Source]

Strange lights spark inquiry in Farmington

Here's something that doesn't happen everyday! The quantity of reports from Mainers in a wide range of towns within the area make this particularly interesting. From the Lewiston Sun Journal, of course. This hearkens back to some similar events back in November and in October of 2006, in Industry, Maine, and Skowhegan, Maine, respectively (click on links to read the original posts).

Odd lights, low sounds cause stir
By Maggie Gill-Austern, Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 14, 2007

FARMINGTON - Strange lights with no obvious cause were spotted all over northern Franklin County Tuesday night, Sheriff's Department dispatchers said.

"The phone was ringing off the hook," dispatcher Bill Hoyt said.

Multiple callers from multiple towns - New Vineyard, Wilton, Phillips, Industry, and around Mt. Abram - called to report bizarre, low-to-the-ground lights, he said.

"They were seeing, basically, a string of seven or eight lights low in the sky, that were fixed," he said. "There (were) also reports of jet engine noise low to the ground." One person who called worked with jet airplanes, Hoyt said. "They were not like any lights he had ever seen." Some people said they looked like stars.

Hoyt called a Federal Aviation Administration office in Boston, which monitors air traffic in this part of New England, wondering if what people saw and heard could be related to military exercises.

"They said the only air traffic was a couple of routine air flights at 40,000 feet," he said.

Hoyt doubts it was aliens.

"I think, personally, most of the time there's an explanation for everything," he said. "But you know, I don't deny the fact that people see things they can't explain."

"It was kind of odd," he said. "All these reports were from different locations at the same time. Maybe it was a meteorite."

The jet-engine sounds and the fixed-ness of the light pattern make him question that theory, though, he said.

[Source]

Some witnesses posted responses to the article online, recounting their experience that evening. Jeanne said, "I also saw the lights as I was leaving Edmunds store in Phillips. At first I thought it might be the big dipper. There were 7 or 8 big bright lights in a half moon quite low and then all of a sudden they were gone. Also I heard sounds of jets but these lights were way too low for jets. when I got out of my vehicle I saw another big bright light and it also disappeared."

Another poster, Audrey, comments, "I first saw the activity in the sky driving north of Belgrade and then again in New Vineyard. Almost as quickly as I could count the number of objects( at least 9) they would disappear. When I arrived in Kingfield and stepped out of the car I could hear what appeared to be airplane engine noise but did not see any further unusual lights."

The other commenter, Kingfielder, gave an even longer response: "I heard jets last night, like you often hear when they are doing maneuvers/practice, and I also saw a bright light in the sky at one point, and thought, 'if that's Venus it's a lot brighter than I've ever seen it... and it's in a different place.' Then, the light went out. I put my coat on and went outside and did see four or five lights (accompanied by the jet engine sound) flying around at different speeds and heights, both close and in the distance. With rapidly blinking white lights most of the time, and sometimes no light visible but just the roar of the jet. I also saw more of the same bright yellow lights (like a bright yellow moon, but maybe 1/20th the size), sometimes these lights were moving and sometimes appeared on the horizon as stationary. Perhaps moving away from me, but hard to tell. This went on for about a half an hour. The last I saw of them, they all headed toward the southwest (from Kingfield) and didn't return."