Portland Press Herald from Portland, Maine • 8

4 irdoy December 14 2002 2B PAGE TWO' Baldacci names his first cabinet nominee I ocal Staff photo by Shawn Patrick Ouellette Man gets 6 year term for shooting wife 4s Lendell Quint of North Berwick shot his wife in the leg familiarity with state fiscal processes and accounting practices makes her ideally suited in this Baldacci said his decision to name Staff Writer Grace Murphy can be contacted at 282 8228 or at: gmurphypressheraldcom By GRACE MURPHY Staffwriter ALRED A North Berwick man who pleaded guilty to shooting his wife in the leg during a domestic dis turbance was sentenced to six years in prison York County Superior Court justice Paul ritzsche gave Lendell Quint 57 the maximum amount of jail time possible in a plea agreement worked out last month Charges of attempted murder and aggravated assault were dropped in Defying the calendar a dedicated surfer strides out at Higgins Beach in Scarborough on riday a fairly mild day for mid December (Yes wearing a wet suit) forecast is for rain and wind and temperatures in the 40s make closing the budget gap a high priority He will focus on limiting the growth in state spending balancing the bud get and improving the economy he said and is working with outgoing Downtown commission loses seven year member The Downtown Development Com mission has a vacancy following the resignation of member Debbie Litalien Commission Chairman Brian Kee and inancial Services as his first cabinet nominee underscores his the current budget short determination to fall even more crucial tor this office to assist the Legislature and state agencies in managing revenues resources and Baldacci said extensive knowledge of the state budget process and that he planned to ask that his client serve the least amount of time possi ble because of his age and lack of past criminal history Van Houten could not be reached for comment riday ritzsche sentenced Quint to 10 years in prison Thursday with all but six suspended followed by six years of probation Petina Quint was shot the night of May 6 2001 The couple was having marital difficulties and were discuss ing the division of assets Quint had a protection from abuse order against her husband which prohibited him from possessing firearms Quint fled after shooting his then wife in the leg with a 357 caliber Magnum handgun at their home He exchange for Quint pleading guilty to a Class A felony charge of elevated aggravated assault The agreement called for a 10 year prison sentence with part of the time in prison suspended ritzsche could have sentenced Quint to no less than three and no more than six years in prison said assistant district attorney Brian Roberts Roberts said he argued that Quint should serve the maximum amount of time possible under the agreement was a gun involved it is a crime of domestic violence and there appeared to be a lack of true remorse on behalf of Mr Roberts said Thomas Van Houten who repre sented Quint said in a prior interview later turned himself in to police and wasarrested Lois Galgay Reckitt executive director of the amily Crisis Services said she was pleased with the length of the sentence The organization based in Cum berland and Sagadahoc counties helps victims of family crises includ ing domestic violence think that this sentence sends a strong message to potential or actual batterers that the behavior is not acceptable and when you ratchet it up by involving a gun the punish ment is going to be more she said Wyke joined the secretary of Office in 1986 As chief deputy she has been responsible for the financial technological and legislative activi She helped managed tne Maine Museum shifts closing time on Thursdays Beginning Jan 2 the Portland Museum of Art will close at 5 pm on Thursdays instead of 9 pm Kristen Levesque director of mar keting and public relations for the museum said the reduction in hours reflects recent visitation trends Staff photo by Doug Jones Two people were taken to local hospitals with minor injuries riday after a Jeep went over an embankment and struck a tree in Topsham I rom staff reports Rebecca the chief deputy secretary of state since 1995 is Gov elect John first cabinet nominee Baldacci on riday said he wants Wyke to be commissioner of the Department of Administrative and inancial Services Her job will Govemmental Committee and a member of the Information Services Policy Board the Maine Highway Safety Commission the Maine Qual ity Management Council the National Association of State Election Directors and International Associa tion of Corporate Administrators She is a graduate of the University of Maine and was president of the class of 1984 She also earned a mas i Art iers ueyrte hi puuuv duiiuiiiouauui information in dhe nueseacnyear Wyke is co chair of the from the University of Maine Gov Angus King and his administra tion to look for spending reductions and other savings to try to balance UlUUUUgCh Baldacci praised work on ties of the department making greater use of technology in She helped managed the Marne the secretary of office to make State Archives the Bureau of Corpo public information more accessible rations Elections and Commissions and allow the public to transact some and the Bureau of Motor Vehicles business electronically He said he Those 1 three agencies had 440 hopes Wyke will use that experience employees $30 million in annual bud to improve customer service and gets and collected $85 million in reve access to department BIDDEORD City councilors planning to finalize school referendum The Citv Council will meet Tuesday at City Hall to finalize a referendum former in the road on a new miooie school The council also will review four liquor license requests and take pub lic comment On the school issue councilors are scheduled to decide what construc tion price to include in a spring refer endum on the proposed new middle school Executive sessions are scheduled to evaluate pending litigation the trash to energy plant and the city performance stop for law enforcement officers and leaving the scene of an accident He is being held at the Cumberland County Jail on $540 bail Police got a call at 5:37 pm that Whalen had knocked down the pole in front of the ill It Up Please Car Wash at 1185 orest Ave and that there were live wires and a trans Police blocked off the road at the height of rush hour until crews from Central Maine Power shut off the power and removed the pole said Portland Police Lt Judy Ridge Traf fic was back to normal within 30 minutes told people to stay in their Ridge said danger was the wet road and someone getting electrocuted stepping in a Rebecca Wyke is tapped to become head of the Department of Administrative and inancial Services include managing the budget process the commissioner of Administrative and overseeing the collection oi taxes ALL IS BRIGHT' 1 11 HPJ! IW DISPATCrlt' 1 zvv' i 'i MSI rZ xL x' I a 'J a 1 7 7 1 1 4i 1 7 A ZA i 3 TL sass' XX XX 8 Wl i xf 1 1 ley said Litalien resigned for personal reasons following seven years of ser vice She formerly served as commis sion chairwoman and helped on activities such as the annual holiday celebration and a former sidewalk arts festival he said been a key member of downtown development and been responsible for a lot of the posi tive things that have Kee ley said YORK new service makes York Hospital has a new volunteer service for homebound or isolated residents who would benefit from hearing a friendly voice Specially trained Call will make daily calls to those in need providing social companion ship a sense of security and a link to the community goal is to help homebound and isolated people of any age whose needs might be helped by a daily reassuring phone said Roberta Sullivan volunteer coordinator at York Hospital If you or someone you know could benefit from this service or if you would like to volunteer as a riendly Caller contact Sullivan at 351 2224 PORTLAND Trucker who hit pole was drunk police say A airfield man was charged with drunken driving after he knocked down a utility pole on orest Avenue on riday with his tractor trailer and drove away Ralph Whalen 69 who was eventu idly stopped by police on Warren Ave nue also was charged with failure to Since the mid 1990s when the museum shifted its free admission night from Thursday to riday the crowds have followed All programs previously scheduled for Thursday in January and ebru ary still will be held she added Beginning Jan 2 new museum hours will be 10 am to 5 pm Tues day to Sunday and ridays until 9 pm After Memorial Day the museum will be open 10 am to 5 pm Mondays as well Memorial march vigil to honor the homeless The city will host a memorial march and vigil Monday afternoon for homeless people who died in Port land this year The march will start at 4 pm at the Preble Street Resource Center 85 Preble St and end at Monument Square At the vigil the names of the deceased will be read The public is invited TOPSHAM Speed blamed after Jeep goes over embankment A teenage driver was cited by police riday for speeding and not wearing his seat belt after the 1991 Jeep Wrangler went over an embankment and struck a tree Two passengers suffered minor injuries Ronald Groshong 17 of Topsham was attempting to turn right from Main Street onto Wilson Street when he lost control of the Jeep Julie Rankin 17 and Kathleen Groshong 17 both of Topsham were treated at local hospitals and released Police blamed excessive speed for the accident which took place around rom staff reports Channel 6 surpasses rivals in ratings again WCSH wins in every time slot followed by WGMEandWMTW By RAY ROUTHIER Staff Water WCSH (Channel 6) continued its dominance of local TV news in November drawing nearly twice as many viewers to its 6 pm news than any competitor WCSH had an average 6 pm audi ence of 122000 people in the Portland Lewiston area according to the latest local ratings released by Nielsen Media Research WGME (Channel 13) placed second at 6 pm with 64000 viewers while WMTW (Channel 8) was third with 15000 WCSH won all six of the timeslots in which it has competition from WGME and WMTW And in a pattern been repeated for the past decade or so WGME came in second at every time slot while WMTW was consistently third The 6 pm newscast is the most important to local stations because the most watched and produces the most ad revenue But ratings for all of the newscasts are important because they help determine how much a station can charge for ads Therefore local news is important to a overall financial health TV analysts say viewing habits are hard to change and partly why WCSH has been dominating the rat ings Its 6 pm news has won every ratings period since 1986 so thou sands of Mainers are simply used to tuning to it for news Steve Thaxton president of WCSH said his station was probably helped by the fact that many Mainers were turning to TV news during the rat ings period for election coverage He also thinks that several series the news team did during the ratings period including one on adult liter ary and one on long distance phone rates helped gain viewers Also during the ratings period WCSH began airing a 10 pm news cast on Portland station WPXT (Channel 51) WCSH is an NBC affiliate so obligated to show NBC programs at 10 pm But when WPXT a WB affili ate dropped its 10 pm newscast last June WCSH saw a chance to gain more exposure for its news opera tion So at on WPXT is only 10 pm newscast The new program did only fair in the ratings 3 percent of the viewing audience but to launch it WCSH added reporting positions to its news team Thaxton said WGME stayed a strong second behind WCSH and WGME general manager Alan Cartwright said his station will continue to build on its strengths Cartwright said he thought the fact that WGME focuses on southern and central Maine while WCSH includes news from all over the state will help Channel 13 gain ground in the ratings Nielsen Media Research compiles local TV ratings four times a year or the latest ratings it surveyed 747 households in southern Maine and eastern New Hampshire between Oct 31 and Nov 27 Staff Writer Ray Routhier can be contacted at 791 6454 or at: tTouthierpressheraldcom HOW THEY RATE Here is a list of the Nielsen ratings for local television news programs over the past year The ratings used to determine advertising rates are compiled four times a year in ebruary May July and November Each program is rated in shares a share being the percentage ofTV viewers who were watching that show or the latest ratings Nielsen surveyed 787 households in southern Maine and eastern New Hampshire between Oct 3 1 and Nov 27 2002 July Nov eb May Nov Time slot 200 1 200 1 2002 2002 2002 jO am A Vu" WCSH 50 48 52 45 53 WGME 14 13 13 II 14 Noon WCSH 30 31 28 33 32 WGME 21 23 24 19 21 WWSPWiP SSIIillSS 5 pnVJX 4 WCSH 22 23 22 22 26 WGME 16 18 19 18 20 WMTW 10 6 5 7 4 WCSH 22 24 24 25 26 WGME 16 19 19 19 20 WMTW 8 6 5 6 I 6 WCSH 3S 33 32 38 WGME 17 20 22 22 22 WMTW 7 4 5 5 4 0 pm icELJBL WPXTWCSH 3 WCSH 26 WGME 15 WMTW 6 Statflirt July Nov eb May Nov Time slot 200 1 200 1 2002 2002 2002 LkSS ''i'v ait 4.