Town discusses move

of team to Ballpark

A baseball team could soon call the Old Orchard Beach Ballpark home.

Town Manager Jack Turcotte said the town is in discussions with representatives of the Lowell All-Americans to relocate to Old Orchard Beach. The team is part of the New England Collegiate Baseball League, which includes the Sanford Mainers.

“The reason we’re interested is because the young men come and live in the community with host families,” Turcotte said.

Community members have spent the last couple years fixing up the Ballpark, which had been empty for years. Turcotte said members of the Ballpark Commission were interested in bringing this level of baseball to Old Orchard Beach because it provides community spirit and opportunities for players to become role models to children in town.

The team plays about 25 home games each season as well as away games across New England. Most of the players are juniors and seniors in college who want to play in the majors, Turcotte said. League attendance averages 300 to 700 people per game and ticket costs are minimal, he said.

If approved by the council, the team would pay the town $10,000 per season. Concession stand proceeds would be split, with 75 percent going to the town. The town also would receive 10 percent of ticket sales, Turcotte said. The move also requires approval from the league.

The Ballpark would still be available for other events on days the team does not have home games.

Turcotte said the community will have the chance to help name the team and new logos and uniforms will be designed. The council was scheduled to discuss the proposal at a Wednesday night workshop, after the Courier publication deadline.

“We’re excited about it because it seems to be a good fit,” Turcotte said.

Agencies check up

on sex offenders

The York County Sheriff’s Office teamed up earlier this month with other law enforcement agencies to ensure convicted sex offenders comply with registration and notification procedures in York County, according to Sheriff Maurice Ouellette.

The sheriff’s office, federal deputies from the United States Marshals Services, Maine Probation and Parole officers and Saco and Biddeford police officers worked together to verify registered sex offenders are living and working where they have reported to state and county authorities, Ouellette said. The U.S. Marshals Service participated as part of Attorney General Eric Holder’s “Operation Guardian” initiative.

During the three-day compliance check, officers apprehended two fugitives for non-sex offender offenses.

“Now that the sheriff’s office is back to its authorized staffing levels, the public can expect to see more proactive measure such as these compliance checks,” Ouellette said in a prepared statement.

Farmers hit by storm

may apply for aid

Farmers in York County have until Sept. 30 to apply for financial assistance from the United States Department of Agriculture Emergency Conservation Program.

Sandy Truslow, executive director for USDA’s Farm Service Agency in York and Cumberland counties, announced $21,600 is available to help repair cropland damage from tornado and microburst damage sustained July 21.

“This funding will provide much-needed assistance to farmers with debris and fencing damage on cropland,” Truslow said in a prepared statement. “It will allow assistance to farmers with the cost of cleaning up debris on cropland and repairing fencing.”

For a producer’s land to be eligible, the disaster must create new conservation problems that, if untreated, would impair or damage the land and affect its productive capacity.

For more information, go to www.fsa.usda.gov or call Sandy Truslow at 883-0159.

Equest will continue

program for veterans

The Equest therapeutic horse-riding program has received grants to continue its “Horses for Heroes” program for disabled veterans.

The $20,000 in grant money came from a variety of sources, including $7,500 from the Elmina B. Sewall Foundation of Brunswick; $3,600 from the Maine Community Foundation; and state and individual donors. Last year’s veterans program was fully funded with a $40,000 Maine Community Development Block Grant.

“Horses for Heroes” started at Equest’s Spring Creek Farm in Lyman in response to a community need to assist veterans who had physical and emotional disabilities resulting from their military service. The program, in collaboration with area providers of veteran services, is provided at no cost to veterans of all ages.

“We can’t thank these donors enough,” Equest Executive Director Sarah Chappell Armentrout said in a prepared statement. “We’ve seen how Horses for Heroes has had a profound healing effect on the lives of the veterans who have participated and on the lives of their families, too. We are proud to be able to continue this program to help those who have made so many sacrifices to the rest of us.”

For more information, call 985-0374 or go to www.equestmaine.org.

No charges filed

in bicycle crash

Saco police said a driver will not be charged for hitting a bicyclist with her car as he crossed Route 1 on Sept. 7.

Police said the 25-year-old man was crossing Route 1 in a crosswalk at the intersection of Smith Lane on his bike when he was hit by a car driven by Allyson Tiela, 25, of Saco.

The man, whose name was not released, was transported to the hospital with injuries that included bleeding. Police Chief Brad Paul said Tiela was not operating her car recklessly when the accident occurred.

Sentencing in OOB

murder set for Oct. 4

Darlene George and Jeffrey Williams are scheduled to appear in York County Superior Court Oct. 4 for separate sentencing hearings.

Darlene George and Williams were each found guilty of murder and conspiracy to commit murder following a two-week trial in June.

Prosecutors said Darlene George conspired with Williams – who is her brother – and her longtime lover, Rennie Cassimy, to kill her husband. Winston George was found dead in the basement of his Old Orchard Beach home in June 2008.

Cassimy pleaded guilty in a plea deal that required him to testify against Williams and Darlene George. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison with all but eight years suspended and likely will be deported to his native Trinidad.

After the trial, the family of Winston George said they would travel to Maine from New York for the sentencing hearing.

Biddeford polls

to be moved Nov. 2

Biddeford voters in Wards 6 and 7 will vote at the Rochambeau Club on Nov. 2 because of ongoing renovations at Biddeford High School. The Rochambeau Club is located at 329 South St. and parking is available in the club’s lot. 

– Staff Writer Gillian Graham