Central Maine News: Sept 21, 2015

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

 _{A sting conducted by the Waterville and Augusta police departments and the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office resulted in 21 men being charged with engaging a prostitute, the Waterville Police Department announced Friday. According to WGME all 21 men were charged with engaging a prostitute, a Class E misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in prison and a fine of up to $1,000. (WGME)}

_{An 18-year-old woman is dead and a man injured in an ATV crash in Sidney Friday night.18-year-old Haley Cummings of Sidney was pronounced dead at the scene, and 21-year-old Alexander Biddle of Pittston was sent to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Wardens say the likely cause of the crash was Biddle lost control of the ATV in gravel causing Cummings to be ejected and the vehicle to roll over. Officials said alcohol and speed appear to be factors in the crash. Kennebec County Sheriff's Department and the Maine Warden Service are investigating the crash. (WCSH)}

Police are seeking the public's assistance in locating the driver of a pickup truck that struck and killed a South Paris woman Saturday night. Authorities say 21-year-old Brittany Stanhope was reaching for something in the backseat of her disabled car when she was struck by the truck in Turner at 8:50 p.m. Saturday. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Police are looking for the driver of a dark colored Ford pickup that should show damage to the front passenger side of the vehicle. Stanhope and a passenger were in the breakdown lane of Buckfield Road after experiencing mechanical difficulties. Anyone with information is asked to call the Androscoggin county sheriff's department at 207-753-2599. (AP)

An Augusta police officer and a Lincoln County dispatcher helped a now-grandmother deliver a baby Saturday morning on Route 3. According to WMTW, police said the mother went into labor while on the way to the hospital. Officer Michael Raymond helped as the grandmother delivered the baby. Mother and baby are both well.A dispatcher from Lincoln County Sheriff's Office also helped by giving the grandmother instructions over the phone. Saturday marked National Tell a Police Officer "Thank You" Day. (WMTW)

Two Maine tribes are getting federal grants. The Aroostook Band of Micmacs has been awarded $894,553 for its Violence Against Women Tribal Government Program. The Penobscot Nation was awarded $876,889, also for its Violence Against Women Tribal Government Program, and $307,891 for its Juvenile Healing to Wellness Courts. (AP)

A University of Maine scientist says the volume of this year's wild blueberry crop in Maine was slightly behind recent trends. Horticulture professor David Yarborough says the harvest is likely less than 90 million pounds, and possibly as low as 85 million. Recent years have yielded about 90 million pounds; The 2014 total was 104 million. (AP)

A Mainer who received unauthorized credit charges after visiting Donald Trump's campaign website isn't alone. Heather Nason of Saco says browsed the online store on Trump's campaign website and entered his payment information before deciding against making a purchase. She said a series of unauthorized charges appeared on her husband's bank statement days later. The Republican front-runner's spokeswoman told WMTW-TV that the campaign experienced a glitch with a third-party payment provider and that money is being refunded to accounts. (AP)

_{The public will get a rare look at the Maine State Archives in a nod to American Archives Month. The Maine State Archives is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and will open to the public on two occasions in October. Visitors will get a chance to take a look at areas not normally accessible to the public on October 13 and October 31. (AP)}

_{For the first time, the United States may be willing to accept a United Nations condemnation of the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba without a fight. U.S. officials tell The Associated Press that the Obama administration is weighing abstaining from the annual U.N. General Assembly vote on a Cuban-backed resolution demanding that the embargo be lifted. The vote could come next month. (AP)}

_{Pope Francis continues the Cuba leg of his trip Monday, with a flight to the eastern part of the island. On Sunday, he met with Raul and Fidel Castro. The Vatican describes the meeting with former president Fidel Castro as a 40-minute session with an exchange of books and discussion about big issues facing humanity. But Francis did not meet with Cuban dissidents. Nearly two dozen members of one dissident group say security agents prevented them from attending the pope's Mass in Havana. (AP)}

_{California officials say a wildfire north of San Francisco has now destroyed 1,050 homes, making it the fourth worst wildfire in the state's history. Officials say that fire and another blaze burning in Northern California have destroyed nearly 1,600 homes and killed five people. Officials are investigating whether the discovery of a body Saturday was that of a suicide victim. (AP)}

_{Authorities near Boston are expected to provide more details Monday when two people charged in the death of "Baby Doe" appear in court. The body of 2-year-old Bella Bond washed up on a beach in the Boston area, but it took authorities about three months to identify the child. The girl's mother and the mother's boyfriend are charged with murder. (AP)}

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., is hoping that a new online tool can help predict and prevent mass killings. The goal of the Early Warning Project is to produce early warnings that can help governments, policy makers, advocacy groups and scholars decide where to concentrate their efforts. And it's available publicly for the first time. It's identified Myanmar, Nigeria, Sudan, Central African Republic and Egypt as the countries at most risk for mass killings. (AP)