Morning Sentinel from Waterville, Maine • 1

SKOWHEGAN: Budget matters produce strong words at selectmen meeting Bl iHnrniiin rnti cl ounded in 1904 onllnesentlnelcom WEDNESDAY APRIL 8 2009 A BLETHEN MAINE NEWSPAPER Copyright 2009 Waterville Maine WEATHER Io idy i i1 A 8 SENTENCES APPEALED SPECIAL SECTION Go green with your garden IMMMBT iwsmbmjm ML Richard Reynolds Shannon Atwood take cases to highest court BY DOUG HARLOW Staff Writer SKOWHEGAN Convicted murderers Richard Reynolds of Waterville and Shannon Atwood of Canaan are appeal ing their prison sentences in separate cases to the highest court Atwood 38 also is appealing his conviction in what Justice Thomas Delahanty II said was the "cold bloody death of 38 year old Cheryl Murdoch of Waterville in the summer of 2006 Atwood was sentenced to 55 years in prison 2007 in airfield The two young sons then 4 and 6 were in the next room Reynolds pulled the trigger ATWOOD a a 41' Reynolds 43 was sentenced according to testimony during last month to 45 years in prison trial for the shooting death of his estranged wife Rhonda Wakefield Reynolds in January Both men are serving their sentences at the Maine State Prison in Warren Reynolds contends in his appeal that he did not inflict pain and suffering on Wakefield Reynolds He said other sentences in similar homicide cases were treated with lighter sentences and wants his case reviewed by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court the Law Court His lawyer Peter Barnett who filed the appeal in Somerset County Superior Court on March 26 was not available Tuesday for comment Reynolds cites in his appeal the cases of John Okie and Raymond Clark in Kennebec County as examples of lesser sen imposed for murder REYNOLDS i I Okie only received a30 year sentence in a stabbing that caused conscious pain and suf PLEASE SEE APPEALS A8 OUTDOORS Student groups at Unity step up Two clubs have com bined to raise nearly $5000 in the last two years and put that money to very good use C2 LOCAL STATE Snowe touts stimulus plan got to stop this downward said US Sen Olympia Snowe on a visit Tuesday to the Augusta CareerCentcr finally here! Get the latest ideas for and a pre view of the upcoming 36th Annual Spring Home and Garden Show in our special section today INSIDE WORLD Obama speaks In Baghdad The president told US troops and Iraqi officials on Tuesday it is time to phase out combat role there A3 WATER AND POWER ERVIN LEVESQUE LOOKS at the raging high water flowhig overthe dam before the Margaret Chase Smith Bridge In Skowhegan on Tuesday lood water Is expected to crest tonight in Augusta but officials with the Kennebec Emergency Management Agency do not expect problems on the Kennebec River Story B1 dwtoUUS11 vAT 8 (fife 1111 111 A JS5 Staff photo by David Learning Two arrested in Winslow cocaine bust Task force seizes more than 80 grams in Saturday raid of house on Bolduc Avenue WATERVILLE Mayor blasts Baldacci Paul LePage angrily denounces governor at council meeting BY AMY CALDER Staffwriter WATERVILLE An angry Mayor Paul LePage on Tuesday night blasted Gov John administration for what LePage called forcing cost ly unfunded mandates onto communities that cannot afford them doing is transfer ring state responsibility onto taxpayers and people keep falling for this LePage said comments came dur ing a fiery discussion of how much money the state is going to give Waterville for schools this year tjr WfiSB The City Council was about to take the first of three needed LEPAGE BY AMY CALDER Staff Writer A man and woman remained in Kennebec County Jail in Augusta on Tuesday after a drug task force raided their Winslow home Saturday and seized 822 grains of cocaine Kathleen Lynn Kennedy and rederick Herman of 10 Bolduc Avenue Winslow were arrested in the case and charged with unlawful traffick ing in scheduled drugs (cocaine) Waterville police Chief Joseph Massey said Tuesday is a very significant amount of he said been a long time since seen this quantity of cocaine discov ered in the course of a search warrant being executed very pleased to get this hard drug off the Members of the Kennebec County Drug Task orce searched the Winslow house at 9:30 pm Saturday after a two month investigation Massey and Waterville police Officer Duane Cloutier said Cloutier said the cocaine seized is worth about $8000 on the street and sells for between $80 and $100 a gram Kennedy 41 formerly known as Catalina Pagliaroli and Herman 42 were not at home rented house Herman was in Kennebec County Jail after being arrested April 2 on Sanger Avenue in Waterville Cloutier said Cloutier stopped Herman that day and charged him with operating after suspension a probation violation and unlaw ful possession Of a scheduled van which was parked outsidethe house Massey said the van they discov ered a he said were also scales and Baggies in the van and when the officers checked the purse there was so much residue from cocaine being placed in the purse 1 suspect over a period of time that they were actually able to collect a gram of cocaine just by looking on the bottom of the Police could not find Kennedy at the time but she called the Waterville Police Department on Sunday and votes on a pro posed $368 municipal and school budget for 2009 10 and LePage recommended that a first vote be taken to start the process But the process was interrupt ed when Council Chairman Dana Sennett Ward 4 asked School Superintendent Eric Haley about what he had learned recently about state funding for schools Haley said the city will get less money than anticipated for schools because the state used the number of students in the Alternative Organizational AOS of drug namely 24 grams of cocaine Cloutier said Cloutier on Tuesday went to the jail and arrested Herman on the traf ficking charge as well When the task force com prised of Waterville Winslow Oakland and airfield police searchecLthe Bolduc Avenue Cloutier said hespoketo hetoiu house Saturday they also frankly it when policesearchedtheir seized andsearched PLEASE SEE BUST A2 PLEASE SEE VOTE A8 INDEX Business D5 Classified D1 Comics D4 Community B2 Crossword C7 Entertainment C7 Local B1 5 National A2 3 Obituaries B4 Opinion A6 7 Sports CI 6 Sudoku D4 TV C7 World A3 III I 5 Educators seek civilized debate on same sex marriage legislation Officials want to keep students at public schools safe BY KELLEY BOUCHARD Portland Press Herald PORTLAND Several southern Maine educators called for respectful debate Tuesday over same sex mar riage legislation saying that they want to ensure the safety and acceptance of gay bisexual and transgender students in public schools across the state The educators also encour aged legislators to support the bilk regardless of their personal or religious views saying that rejection of the legislation might be a for harassment and violence against gay students vote is going to send a sad resonating said Stephen Wessler executive director of the Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence which offers educational pro grams in schools throughout Maine and beyond The center hosted a news conference at its High Street headquarters that included Ken Kunin principal of Deering High School in Portland Megan Walter princi pal of Memorial Middle School in South Portland and Gillian Watt a social studies teacher at Mt Ararat High School in RELATED STORY Vermont legalizes same sex marriage A3 Topsham an educator I want my students to come to school and feel safe" Watt said expect more than toler Walter said we look for acceptance" All four educators said they support the bill which is scheduled for a public hearing on April 24 at 9:30 am at Cony High School in Augusta A Judiciary Committee work ses sion is set for April 28 at 1 pun PLEASE SEE BIU AS TEDDY BALLGAME AP photo BOSTON RED SOX MANAGER TERRY RANCONA right applauds after US Sen Edward Kennedy Mass threw out the first pitch before the Opening Day game against Tampa Bay at enway Park in Boston on Tuesday The Sox won 5 3 Story C1 WEDNESDAY APRIL 8 2009 Al A RELATED STORY 1 ft 'i.