Central Maine News: June 15, 2015

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

Maine lawmakers will soon consider a bill that would allow physicians to provide lethal doses of medication to terminally ill patients who want to hasten their death.  The bill is modeled after legislation passed in Vermont two years ago. According to WMTW the bill faces an uphill battle. Lawmakers in Maine have repeatedly rejected similar measures and voters defeated a ballot referendum on the issue in 2000. It's being opposed by many religious and medical groups, who say lawmakers should focus instead on ensuring that all residents have access to proper health care that can make them comfortable in the final months of their lives. (WMTW)

The Bethel Maine Moose Festival & Moose Lottery kicked off Friday with the qualifying rounds of its Moose calling championship. According to WCSH the moose festival lasts through Sunday in Bethel. The signature event is the annual moose hunting permit lottery, held under a big tent on the town common. The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife issued 2,740 permits, down 11 % from last year's 3,095. Nearly 90% of the permits went to Maine residents. The 35th annual Maine moose hunt starting in September. (WCSH)

Police say a 25-year-old man has died from injuries he sustained after falling off the deck of a bar. WCSH reports that Mark Boynton of Rockland fell about 17 feet to the pavement below the deck at the Time Out Pub on Main Street in Rockland. He reportedly was attempting to use the deck's railing as a seat when he fell. Boynton died Saturday at Maine Medical Center. Rockland police and the Chief Medical Examiner are investigating his death. (AP)

Four people were injured on carnival rides this weekend in Waterville. A woman was injured when she fell off a seat of the Air Time swing ride Saturday while the ride was still in motion. She was treated at the hospital and released. On Friday three children suffered minor injuries when the "Dragon Wagon" roller coaster came apart. A fire marshal investigator said the investigation into Saturday's accident is ongoing, but it appears rider error, not an equipment failure, may have been the cause. (AP/centralmaine)

Maine legislative leaders are spent the weekend trying to finalize a budget deal that will keep state government open at the end of the month. The top lawmakers in the House and Senate are working furiously to work out a budget agreement that can earn the two-thirds support in each chamber it needs to go into law. Lawmakers have until June 30 to pass a budget and prevent a government shutdown. (AP)

Police say a Maine man supplied alcohol to an 11-year-old girl before sexually assaulting her in Belgrade. Maine state police have charged 21-yar-old Travis Gerrier with gross sexual assault and supplying alcohol to a minor. Authorities say they responded last week to a report of a missing 11-year-old girl. After a brief search, police say they found Gerrier and the girl a short distance from her home in an outbuilding on the property. Police arrested Gerrier yesterday, after a weeklong investigation. (AP)

A prison tailoring shop instructor accused of helping two killers escape from an upstate New York prison is due in court Monday morning. Prosecutors say Joyce Mitchell had agreed to be the getaway driver, but she backed out. Richard Matt and David Sweat used tools to break their way out of the Clinton Correctional Facility near the Canadian border more than a week ago. They're still on the run. (AP)

The U.S military says it likely killed an al-Qaida-linked militant leader when it launched airstrikes in eastern Libya over the weekend. Mokhtar Belmokhtar is charged with leading the attack on a gas plant in Algeria in 2013 that killed at least 35 hostages, including three Americans. But an Islamist with ties to Libyan militants says Belmokhtar was not killed. The Islamist says the U.S. strike killed four members of a Libyan extremist group the U.S. has linked to the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. (AP)

Pot may be legal in Colorado, but you can still be fired for using it. The state's highest court could change that Monday when it's expected to decide a case involving a medical marijuana patient fired by Dish Network after failing a drug test in 2010. The man didn't use marijuana at work and wasn't accused of being high on the job. (AP)

An all-white jury will hear closing arguments Monday in the federal trial of a former Philadelphia TV news anchor who lost his job in 2007 after using the N-word during an in-house discussion of the racial epithet. Tom Burlington argues that black employees could use the word with impunity but not whites like him. The managers at WTXF-TV insist that Burlington "did not get it" and continued to use the word as tension built that week. They also say Burlington was never fired and was paid through the end of his contract. He now works in real estate. (AP)

U.S. gasoline prices are up again, but they're rising at a slower pace. The average price of regular jumped 3 cents a gallon in the past two weeks to $2.87 a gallon. Analyst Trilby Lundberg says it's the smallest hike in nine weeks. The highest price in the continental United States was $3.62 in San Diego. The lowest was $2.45 in Tucson, Arizona. (AP)