Busdriver pleads

not guilty to OUI

The Saco woman charged with driving her school bus while drunk has pleaded not guilty.

An attorney for Jan Mooney submitted a not guilty plea on her behalf Feb. 10 in Biddeford District Court. Mooney is charged with criminal operating under the influence and endangering the welfare of a child.

The charges stem from a Dec. 8 incident when Mooney allegedly drove a school bus to Saco Middle School after she had been drinking. There were 27 students younger than 16 on the bus in the school parking lot when a police officer operating ona tip from a bus department employee boarded the bus, according to court files.

Mooney did not put the bus in gear after students had boarded. After going with officers to the police department, her blood alcohol level was tested at .17,more than twice the legal limit, according to an affidavit filed by Saco Police Officer Megan Brownell.

Mooney was then dropped off at bus headquarters and told not to drive again. She was arrested a second time for allegedly driving under the influence after an employee told police she drove herself home.

Mooney  resigned from her position a week later.

Infanthurt in fire is

released from hospital

A Biddeford infant injured in a Feb. 6 fire has been released from the hospital,according to state police.

State Police spokesman Steve McCausland said 1-month-old Janell Ruffin was released from Maine Medical Center in Portland last week after being treated for smoke inhalation.

Janell’s father, Sidney Ruffin, told State Fire Marshal investigators that cooking oil on the stove caught fire while he was preparing a meal around 2:30 p.m. in his second-floor apartment on Foss Street. Sidney Ruffin was able to escape thefire with his 5-year-old son, but the baby was left behind on a living room couch.

Two Biddeford firefighters rushed through smoke to bring the baby out, McCausland said. Janell Ruffin was initially in critical condition, according to fire officials.

The fire marshal’s office automatically investigates all fires where bodily injuries are sustained. The second-floor kitchen was gutted and the unit sustained smoke damage. Ruffin’s apartment sustained water damage, according to Biddeford fire officials.

SupremeCourt hears appeal in assault case

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court heard arguments last week in an appeal filed byGeoffrey Reese.

Reese was convicted in July 2009 and sentenced to 29 years in jail for elevated aggravated assault for shooting Tanya Garza on May 4, 2008, in Old Orchard Beach. Reese also received concurrent sentences of 10 years for aggravated assault with a firearm and five years for charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was found guilty following a two-week jury trial.

Reese’sa ppeal says the York County Superior Court erred in sentencing and abused its discretion in employing a three-stop sentencing process. He also argues the court should have suppressed statements he made to detectives, and erred by denying amotion to suppress evidence and allowing expert testimony that had not been disclosed to the defense during discovery.

Reesealso says the court should have provided jurors instruction for considering a lesser offense.

Goodwins Mills gets

grant for fire gear

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree announced that a Department of Homeland Security program will allow Goodwin Mills Fire and Rescue to buy new safety gear.

The Security Assistance to Firefighters grant program allocated $300,000 to help volunteer fire departments in three communities. The town of Whitefield will receive a new fire truck, while Lyman and Dayton – the towns served by Goodwin Mills – will get $130,000 worth of new gear for firefighters.

“This is great news. This grant will buy all new breathing apparatus – 25 air packs –for the department. The packs are $5,000 each so it definitely would have been hard to come up with the funding on our own,” said Chief H. Rodney Carpenter.

The new packs incorporate systems that alert others when a firefighter stops moving,making it easier to give breathing assistance.

“This program will help Maine volunteer fire departments protect public safety,”Pingree said in a prepared statement. “And in these tough economic times it’s important that we don’t ask local taxpayers to dig any deeper to pay for these improvements.”