Thornton hockey team wins

Class A state championship

After 25 years, the Thornton Academy hockey team is officially the best in the state.

The team won the Class A state championship Saturday against the Lewiston High School in a sold-out game at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston. The Trojans scored in double overtime to top the Blue Devils 4-3.

Coach Shawn Rousseau said the game was “very exciting” and the two teams were well-matched. After a back and forth game, Sam Canales sent a puck to C.J. Maksut to score the winning goal.

“It’s incredibly exciting. I am very, very proud of the boys,” Rousseau said. “The kids were really committed to playing to win the championship. We won because we had a lot of kids playing really well.”

Rousseau said the team, which finished the season with a 17-5 record, had a “difficult road” to the championship and beat some impressive teams, including Biddeford and Lewiston. He said the atmosphere at the championship game was thrilling.

“I’m certain I’ll never see a game of that quality again,” he said. “This will go down as one of the all time great hockey games played in the state.”

Thornton Academy Director of Student Activities Gary Stevens said the win is a “very exciting moment for the school and the team.”

“It was a great moment in Thornton Academy’s athletic history and in the history of the hockey program,” he said.

RSU to hold forum for input

on future of district schools

Regional School Unit 23 will host a forum March 24 to allow the community to help design the future of district schools.

The district, which includes Saco, Dayton and Old Orchard Beach, is embarking on a long-term planning process to determine makeup of the schools and the kind of learning experiences students will receive. Feedback collected at the forum will be used to guide the planning process.

The forum will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. March 24, at Saco Middle School.

Police turn to DNA to solve

mystery of truck accident

Saco police continue to investigate an accident that caused tens of thousands in damages to three cars and a house.

Deputy Police Chief Jeffrey Holland said his department received a report of a truck hitting cars and a house on Maple Street at about 1 a.m. March 9. He said the driver of a 2001 Toyota Tacoma apparently lost control while turning onto the street before hitting parked cars and knocking down the support beam of the carport at 2 Maple St.

Police suspect speed was a factor in the accident.

Holland said when the homeowner, Donald Henson, went outside there was no one in the Tacoma. Henson’s 2004 Dodge 1500 pickup truck sustained $6,000 in damages and a 2010 Hyundai that belongs to Kimberly Henson had $4,000 in damages. The Tacoma had $10,000 in damages, he said.

Damages to the house could be as high as $75,000, Holland said.

Holland said police called in a K-9 unit to track the driver, but that was unsuccessful. Derek Nicholas of Saco, the truck’s registered owner, came into the police department later that day. Holland said Nicholas “is not cooperating with our investigation at the moment.”

Holland said police are waiting for results of DNA tests from blood found in the Tacoma to determine who was driving when the accident occurred. No charges have been filed.

HeartWorks to host forum

The HeartWorks Master Plan project, a partnership between the Heart of Biddeford, the city and Orton Family Foundation, will host a community forum 6 p.m. Monday at Biddeford Middle School. The event is free and open to the public.

Attendees will help prioritize possible strategies and actions to address the seven issues identified at previous master plan project neighborhood meetings and workshops.

For more information, e-mail director@heartofbiddeford.org or call 284-8520.

Job fair planned in Saco

Funtown Splashtown USA will hold a job fair Saturday at the Ramada at Saco Plaza to help fill 250 positions.

The job fair is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 352 North St. in Saco. All applicants must be 16 or older.

“The park needs to fill about 250 positions before we open in May,” said General Manger Cory Hutchinson. “That number is on top of the team members that have already been rehired from last season.”

Seasonal positions include ride operation, lifeguard, water slide attendant, food service, medical response (EMT), security, retail, cashier, game attendant, team member transportation, park supervisors and office assistants for the main office, accounting department and human resources department.

For more information, call 284-5139 or click on the jobs link at www.funtownsplashtownusa.com.

Saco plant to get more work

  General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products last week was awarded a $7.8 million Navy contract.

U.S. Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins announced General Dynamics was awarded the contract for the procurement of 22 M61A2 20mm lightweight Gatling gun systems for the F/A-18C/F fighter aircraft program.

Approximately half of the work will be done at General Dynamics’ Saco Defense facility in Saco.

“The Saco Defense team has proven to be the premier producer of gun systems like the M61A2. This award is further proof that, when it comes to producing gun systems for our naval aviators, the job done by Saco Defense’s employees is second to none,” Snowe and Collins said in a prepared statement.