Central Maine News: August 21, 2015

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

Augusta police are asking residents to be extra careful after a series of car break-ins and tires being slashed in the city. According to WGME, police say these issues have been happening overnight, mostly in the Mayfair neighborhood and the Cony, Quimby and Pearl Street area. Police are increasing their patrols in those areas. Police say you should lock your car and do not leave items of value in the car. Police are also asking residents to keep an eye out for suspicious people during the overnight hours. (WGME)

Kennebunk police are baffled by a new graffiti tag popping up throughout town. Police say the tag first started showing up in the Kennebunk Beach area, but the bigfoot-shaped mark has spread through the whole town. According to WGME they are also saying that the graffiti has caused the town a lot of grief by  defacing public property and the money replace and clean up the tags. Some of the signs that have been damaged cost more than $500 to replace. (WGME)

Officials with Verso Paper Corp. say that 300 workers at the company's mill in Jay will lose their jobs. According to WGME the company said Thursday that it's shutting down a pulp dryer and paper machine at the Androscoggin Mill in Jay. It will also indefinitely idle a mill in Kentucky. Verso said declining demand for coated paper as well as Maine's high energy costs and local property taxes contributed to its decision to reduce production capacity. (WGME)

Authorities say a Saco resident charged with killing a 59-year-old mother of five at a Maine supermarket is due to make a court appearance for the first time. State police spokesman Stephen McCausland says Wendy Boudreau was fatally stabbed Wednesday at a Shaw's supermarket in Saco by 31-year-old Connor MacCalister. Police say there is no indication Boudreau and MacCalister knew each other. MacCalister was arrested and charged with murder Wednesday night. MacCalister is due at York County Superior Court in Alfred at 1 p.m. on Friday. MacCalister's attorney declined to comment on the charges on Thursday. A court affidavit says MacCalister confessed to the slaying. The affidavit says the attack came after a month of planning. (AP)

Augusta City councilors voted unanimously Thursday to extend the city’s single-sort recycling program for the next five years. According to the KJ, councilors agreed to authorize City Manager to sign a five-year contract with ecomaine to continue to accept recyclables collected in the city’s single-sort recycling program, which began six months ago as an experiment to see how it went. This means the drop off recycling system will continue uninterrupted. (centralmaine.com)

The border between North and South Korea is heating up as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has declared his frontline troops in a "quasi-state of war," ordering them to prepare for battle. On Thursday, South Korea's military fired dozens of artillery rounds across the border following what it said were North Korean artillery strikes meant to back up a threat to attack loudspeakers broadcasting anti-Pyongyang propaganda. (AP)

Thai police are stepping up patrols in hopes of insuring jittery tourists that it's safe to visit the kingdom. Meanwhile, authorities continue their search for the man they say carried out this week's bombing at a Bangkok shrine that killed 20 people. A military spokesman says security agencies have assessed that Monday's attack was intended to damage Thailand's economy, its tourism industry and its image. (AP)

Another tragedy in Ferguson, Missouri. Police say a 9-year-old girl who was doing homework on her mother's bed was killed Tuesday night when someone fired a shot into her home. Police aren't sure if someone targeted Jamyla Bolden's home or if the shots were random. Her mother was struck in the leg and treated at a hospital. The shooting happened a couple of blocks from the site where last year 18-year-old Michael Brown was fatally shot by a police officer. (AP)

Authorities in Honduras say the body of a U.S. tourist who fell from a cruise ship has been found in waters near the island of Roatan The tourist is identified as 65-year-old Carol Ann Dimas, and authorities say she fell from the ship after it left Roatan en route to the Cayman Islands. Carnival cruise ship employees found the body. (AP)