News Briefs

By Elna Seabrooks
Staff Writer
Distracted driver in accident
    LITTLETON — A Mapleton man was in fair condition Tuesday at Eastern Maine Medical Center according to a hospital spokesperson there following a two-car, head-on collision Monday at approximately 6:15 p.m. in Littleton.
    Dave Guerrette, 27, was traveling southbound on U.S. Route 1 in a 2000 Honda Civic when Elmo Villeneuve, 22, of Royalton, N.B. was distracted by a for-sale sign on a pick-up truck as he attempted to turn left into a driveway. Villeneuve was in a northbound lane in his 2005 Chevy pick-up, according to Sgt. Julie Bergan of the state police.
    Guerrette was transferred originally to Houlton Regional Hospital with several broken bones, according to the police report. Villeneuve was not injured but his vehicle sustained about $4,000 damage and Guerrette’s car was totaled, also according to state police.
    Bergan said there was no obvious use of intoxicants. Chief Deputy Craig Clossey and Deputy Rudolph Levesque of the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Department assisted Maine State Trooper Chad Fuller, the investigating officer. Houlton and Littleton Fire Departments also assisted by diverting traffic at the scene, about one mile north of Porter’s Gas Station.
$1.4 million grant for Indian housing
    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded $1,416,122 in combined funding to the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians and the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Indian Township for affordable housing initiatives. The grants are funded through the Indian Housing Block Grant program.
    The Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians will receive $500,537 and the Passamaquoddy Tribe will get $915,585 which can be used for various affordable housing programs such as construction, modernization and crime prevention.
Houlton officer recovering
    HOULTON — Officer Stewart Kennedy is still on medical leave from the Houlton Police Department following an accident Aug. 12 when his car was struck by Michael Kelley who was arrested and charged with OUI.
    Kennedy was off-duty at the time traveling to Houlton from Linneus on U.S. Route 2A. According to the police report, Kennedy sustained lower back injuries and burns to his arms resulting from an airbag deployment.
    Police Chief Butch Asselin said Kennedy is doing better and wants to return to work, but cannot until he is medically cleared, possibly in three weeks.