Sen. Susan Collins announced this week that General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products was awarded a $25 million contract to make grenade launchers.

Collins, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the Saco company will manufacture 130 advanced lightweight grenade launchers at its facility on North Street. The work is expected to be complete by August 2012.

“This contract award is welcome news for the skilled workers at Saco Defense. I applaud their work to supply our troops with the very best arms and equipment,” Collins said in a prepared statement.

Probe continues of fatal motorcycle crash

 Police continue to investigate a July 27 crash that killed a Biddeford motorcyclist.

Saco police said 39-year-old Nedal Dawoudi was riding his motorcycle when he was hit by a Honda CRV driven by Nathan Warren, 33, of Old Orchard Beach. The accident happened at the corner of Spring Hall Road and Route 1 at 8:38 p.m. Dawoudi was not wearing a helmet, according to police.

Police have not released further information about the accident because of the ongoing investigation.

New Kiwanis Club chartered in Saco

 The Saco River Valley Kiwanis Club became official during a chartering ceremony July 29 at Run of the Mill in Saco.

Kiwanis District 5 Gov. Dave Koohy of Newport, R.I., presented President Crystal Beaulieu with  the club’s official charter and bell. The club currently has 27 members.

Koohy said new clubs are added across the country on a regular basis and Saco Valley Club has been “a long time coming.”

“The goals and inspirations you have for this club are astonishing,” he said. “We put our own desires aside to work together as a group for the kids. That is where we’ll succeed.”

Beaulieu said the club will help with a Key Club at Thornton Academy and be involved with other school programs.

“I’m really excited to be inspired and motivated by the club members,” she said. “We’re doing a lot of great things for the community.”

Skate park planning draws crowd in OOB

 Plans are under way for a new skate park in Old Orchard Beach.

Recreation Director Jason Webber said a July 27 skate park design meeting attracted nearly 30 youth and parents. The meeting was the first in a series that will generate ideas for design and location of a park in town, he said.

“I feel it was very successful,” Webber said.

Much of the meeting focused on the question “What makes a good skate park?” Webber said everyone at the meeting generated great ideas. They were asked to bring sketches of ideas to the second meeting, which was held Wednesday after the Courier’s publication deadline.

Webber said the town council has designated a total of $30,000 in the past two years for a new skate park. The town previously had a small skate park on a paved area next to the Ballpark entrance. That site is where a new police station is under construction.

Webber said equipment was removed from that area two years ago because of safety concerns.

The equipment, purchased by the recreation department, was made of wood and not conducive to Maine winters, he said. Since then, many people go to neighboring towns to skateboard.

Building a new skate park likely will cost between $60,000 and $80,000, Webber said. He said grants, corporate sponsorships and local fundraisers could be used to help cover the cost. The town has not chosen a spot for the park, though it most likely will be on town-owned land, he said.

“A good skate park is going to make that sport a safer sport for kids,” Webber said.

For more information about the skate park or to get involved, call Jason at 934-0860 or e-mail jwebber@oobmaine.com.

Court upholds sex offender charge

 A Biddeford man will remain on the state’s sex offender registry after the Maine Supreme Judicial Court upheld his child pornography conviction.

Keith R. Nadeau, 21, pleaded guilty last year to two counts of possession of sexually explicit material on the condition he could appeal decision. Nadeau’s appeal was based on the argument his Constitutional rights were violated by university police when obtaining evidence from his dorm room, according to court records.

Nadeau was a student at the University of Maine at Farmington when, on Dec. 5, 2007, university police received a report he had showed child pornography to another student. Nadeau told police he meant to delete the images and gave them a flash drive, according to court records. Police also took his computer.

The court concluded Nadeau had consented to the seizure of his flash drive, but police violated his rights by taking the computer without his consent. The court ruled that police would have obtained the computer lawfully and denied the appeal.