Bangor, Maine News Update: October 6, 2017

It took a jury just over 6 hours to decide on a verdict and find Robert Burton guilty of murder. The man who led police on the state’s longest manhunt was accused of shooting to death his ex-girlfriend, Stephanie Gebo, in a jealous rage. He now faces 25 years to life in prison and will be sentenced at a later date.

Governor Paul LePage and Attorney General Janet Mills are locking horns over the governor’s transfer of over 10 million dollars from a consumer protection trust fund. Mills says LePage lacks the legal authority to transfer the money that’s currently used to purchase naloxone for police departments and to sue corporations. The governor says he feels the AG’s authority over millions of dollars is unconstitutional.

Folks living along the Kennebec River are being asked to remove boats and other belongings from the river’s edge as repairs are done to the Weston Dam. Workers doing routine maintenance on the Skowhegan dam noticed some of the concrete had deteriorated on a southern pier. Crews will now lower the water level in the river to inspect the dam and fix the dam, which could take as much as six weeks.

The Downeast Scenic Railway is once again hosting the pumpkin train, a 1 ½ hour ride out of Ellsworth that includes fun for the whole family. Parents can enjoy the fall colors along the ride, and kids can pick their own pumpkins from a pumpkin patch during a stop, and will then be given stickers to decorate them. For more information on the pumpkin trains that will run October 14^th and 15^th, log onto Downeast scenic rail dot org.