Body identified as Saco man

The man whose body was found under a railroad trestle in Saco likely died from a fall, according to police.

Saco Detective Sgt. David Loranger said the body of Kelly G. Jean, 60, whose last known address was in Saco, was found Jan. 31 by someone walking along the Saco River in the area of Lincoln Street. The state medical examiner’s office attributed the death to a fall and hypothermia, he said.

The medical examiner is awaiting additional tests to make a final determination, Loranger said.

Saco police called in state police to assist with the investigation because it was not initially clear if the death was a homicide. Loranger said police are not investigating the death as a homicide.

Baby hospitalized after fire

A 3-week-old baby remains hospitalized following a Saturday afternoon fire that heavily damaged her family’s apartment.

Biddeford Fire Capt. Rick Dussault said the fire started around 2:20 p.m. in the kitchen of the second floor apartment at 103 Foss St. A man was cooking when grease on the stove caught fire and spread to cabinets above, he said.

When fire crews arrived on scene, the man was outside and told firefighters his daughter was on the couch in the living room, Dussault said. Firefighters found the baby unconscious and she was taken to Southern Maine Medical Center in Biddeford before being transferred to Maine Medical Center in Portland.

Dussault said the baby was in critical stable condition early this week. He said he was not authorized to identify the infant because of privacy laws.

After rescuing the baby, Dussault said it took fire crews about 10 minutes to knock down flames. He said the kitchen was gutted by flames and the apartment has severe smoke damage. The first floor apartment sustained water damage.

Dussault said two families, or a total of six people, have to stay elsewhere while the building is repaired.

Dussault said the fire is being investigated by the state Fire Marshal’s Office, which is automatic whenever there is bodily injury.

Fire crews from Saco and Arundel assisted with the fire.

Lyman to get fire station funds

Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins announced this week the Goodwin’s Mills Fire Department in Lyman will receive nearly $880,000 in federal grants.

The grant was awarded by the Department of Homeland Security under the Fire Station Construction Grant program. It is being distributed in Maine through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, more commonly known as the stimulus act.

“This grant funding will allow the Goodwin’s Mills Fire Department to make necessary improvements to its facilities, and to strengthen preparedness and response capabilities. It is important to ensure that our first responders have the resources they need to better serve their communities,” Snowe and Collins said in a prepared statement.

Grant offers energy assistance

Congressman Chellie Pingree announced this week York County will receive a Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant from the U.S. Department of Engergy.

The $646,000 grant will be used to make municipal buildings around the county more energy efficient. Energy audits will be done on county buildings before officials determine ways to make the buildings more efficient.

York County also is developing a low-interest loan fund to help communities pay for their own energy efficiency programs.

“The improvements York County will make with these funds will save taxpayers thousands of dollars every year and provide an economic boost to the area,” Pingree said in a prepared statement. “As local governments struggle to meet their budgets, this offers immediate help to cut their energy bills.”

Funded by the stimulus act, the grant program is awarding $3.2 billion to communities nationwide.

Water rate increase proposed

The Biddeford and Saco Water Co. recently announced it will seek a rate increase later this year.

Company President and CEO Jerry Mansfield said the company will ask the Public Utilities Commission for a “modest” rate increase. He said bad weather and a weakened economy “combined in a perfect storm to suppress water use, which automatically pulls the company’s revenues down.”

Mansfield said fewer people watered their lawns last year and fewer tourists used water in the area. Federal stimulus spending also spurred a number of road and infrastructure projects that require help from water company crews. The company is not reimbursed for doing tasks such as upgrading, relocating or disconnecting water lines and services, he said.

“If we ask for a rate adjustment, we want to ask for as little as possible. Just enough to keep the high standards we have for outstanding water quality,” he said in a prepared statement. “Our rates are among the lowest when compared with other water utilities, and even with an increase, we will keep that distinction.”

Man sentenced on drug charge

A 19-year-old man who once lived in Biddeford and sold crack cocaine in Old Orchard Beach was sentenced to spend the next decade in federal prison.

Sidney Tyler, who is last known to have lived in Brooklyn, N.Y., was sentenced to a 10-year term after pleading guilty in U.S. District Court in Portland to a charge of possession of crack cocaine with intent to distribute. Court records indicate Tyler has lived in Biddeford, South Portland and Portland.

Tyler was sentenced by Judge D. Brock Hornby on Feb. 1. He entered his plea last August. Hornby also sentenced Tyler to eight years of supervised probation.

Although court records indicate Tyler may have been selling crack in Old Orchard Beach, Scarborough Police Sgt. Rick Rouse said Tyler was arrested on a charge of an outstanding warrant on May 27, 2009, in the parking lot at the McDonald’s restaurant on Route 1.

A search at the Cumberland County Jail turned up more than 5 grams of crack that was ready for sale, said Assistant United States Attorney David B. Joyce.

Tyler was also convicted of possession and trafficking charges in Cumberland County Superior Court in Portland in July 2008. He was sentenced to a three-year prison term with all but six months suspended.

At the time of Tyler’s arrest in Scarborough, court records show Maine probation officers were seeking a revocation of his probation because he had failed two drug tests and was not attending court-ordered drug treatment classes.