Central Maine News: January 5, 2016

These are some of the stories central Maine is talking about today.

(WABI) -- Three people were taken to hospitals after a crash in Chelsea Monday evening. Responders say a Ford pickup driven by 37-year-old Rowe Palmer of Farmingdale collided with a Toyota Tacoma driven by 62-year-old Richard Morin of Randolph near the Randolph town line. The Toyota rolled over. 50-year-old Monique Morin was also inside. Only Palmer was in the Ford. Firefighters had use tools to free them from both pickups. Responders say their injuries are significant but non-life threatening. Investigators say alcohol may have contributed to the crash.

(AP) —Police are investigating the death of a motorist in a crash that apparently went unnoticed for as many as five days. Troopers say a passer-by noticed the crashed Honda Civic on Saturday on Interstate 295 in Gardiner. Investigators believe the crash happened Dec. 28. That's the day 27-year-old Gardiner resident Ian Carter was last seen going to work. No one reported him missing. Troopers say his car went into a median, became airborne and hit a tree before tumbling down a steep embankment. The crash remains under investigation.

(AP) — Medical marijuana caregivers and dispensaries in Maine say they're often forced to do business in cash because of a disconnect between state and federal law.  Medical marijuana businesses can't accept credit or debit cards from their customers, often can't write checks and can't borrow money through banks. That's because federal laws treat the drug as a prohibited substance, exposing federally chartered banks to penalties. Medical Marijuana Caregivers of Maine say federal law is making criminals out of people who are trying to do business the right away.

(AP) — Gas prices keep dropping across northern New England. Among the three states, the price-tracking website GasBuddy.com says gasoline prices are lowest in New Hampshire, where the average price fell 1.4 cents per gallon last week to $1.97. In Vermont, the average price is $2.14 per gallon, and in Maine, it's $2.07. The national average is $1.99. The national average has dropped 5 cents per gallon in the last month and is nearly 20 cents per gallon lower than the price a year ago.

(AP) — A Maine judge has set bail at $75,000 for the man accused of drunken driving in the fatal hit-and-run of a pedestrian in Farmington last week. 25-year-old Tommy Clark made his first appearance in court Monday. He faces charges of aggravated DUI and leaving the scene of an accident. Authorities say 21-year-old Taylor Gaboury died Friday of head injuries. Assistant District Attorney Joshua Robbins says Clark stopped his vehicle, checked on the East Wilton woman and got back into his vehicle to drive to a motel. Court documents say Clark told police he tried to wake the victim up, but left the scene when he concluded she was dead because he was nervous and needed a lighter.

(AP) — A man has been sentenced to 35 years in prison after pleading guilty to bludgeoning his grandmother to death with a hammer in December 2014. Dana Craney  Jr. changed his plea Monday in Franklin County District Court after reaching an agreement with the attorney general's office. Police say he fatally beat 67-year-old Joanne Goudreau with a hammer while she slept, then covered her body with trash and debris behind the mobile home they shared in Wilton. Craney's father is serving time for murder. His father, Dana Craney, was convicted along with another man in the 1993 killing of Leon Michaud. Dana Craney Jr. was 5 months old when his father was arrested three years later after the killing.

(AP) -- Income taxes are going down but sales taxes are expanding in the new year in Maine. The top income tax rate has fallen from 7.95 percent to 7.15 percent under a two-year, $6.7 billion budget approved by lawmakers and signed by Gov. Paul LePage last year. But most of the tax relief would go to the bottom 90 percent of earners. That's paid for in part by keeping the sales tax at 5.5 percent, instead of reverting back to 5 percent last summer. Also, there's an expansion of sales tax to food and beverages that were previously exempt, like ice cream, Nutella, chips and sports drinks. State officials have estimated that the changes in sales tax policy will generate an additional $97 million in revenue in the 2017 fiscal year.

(WGME) -- Lawmakers are taking the first steps to impeach Governor Paul LePage. The group of House lawmakers says they'll introduce what's called an "impeachment order" against the governor this week. The order calls for a House special investigative committee to look into misconduct allegations against the governor, including the role governor LePage played in a charter school's decision to rescind a job offer to Democratic House Speaker Mark Eves. To impeach the governor, the special committee needs to make a recommendation to the full House, which would then vote on the issue. If the House voted to impeach, the Republican-controlled Senate would run an impeachment trial.  A Maine governor has never been impeached.

(AP) —Republicans are calling President Barack Obama's broadened background checks for gun purchases a gross overreach. Obama on Monday called for expanding background checks to cover more firearms sold at gun shows, online and elsewhere. Obama acknowledges that his executive action won't "solve every violent crime in this country," but he says, "It will potentially save lives and spare families the pain of these extraordinary losses."

(AP/CNN) — It's gone on since the weekend, but federal authorities appear to be in no rush to end a takeover by armed, anti-government activists holding a remote wildlife reserve in eastern Oregon. About two dozen activists seized the facility to protest the conviction of two ranchers and as part of a long-running feud over public land use.