Articles by Jake Freudberg

Health

Skowhegan robbery suspect made off with $140, affidavit says

SKOWHEGAN — The suspect in two Skowhegan robberies Sunday night, who told police he robbed a Waterville bank in 2014, is believed to have stolen $140 in cash, police wrote in affidavits supporting his arrest. Prosecutors filed a complaint Wednesday in Skowhegan District Court charging David Alvarez, 40, listed as transient, with two Class B counts of robbery, one Class D count of assault, one Class E count of theft by unauthorized taking, and three Class E counts of violation of condition of release. The robbery charges are lesser than the Class A offenses Skowhegan police initially charged Alvarez with when they arrested him Monday. Police had also listed an additional assault charge, one count of criminal mischief and 11 more counts of violation of condition of release, noting they believed that Alvarez was subject seven sets of bail conditions. Alvarez, being held without bail at the Somerset County Jail in Madison, was scheduled to make an initial in-custody court appearance Wednesday afternoon in Skowhegan. At that time, a judge would be expected to determine whether there was probable cause for the arrest, consider bail, appoint a defense attorney and set the matter for future proceedings. Jail booking records available online showed Alvarez was still being held later Wednesday with bail set at $2,500. As the robbery charges are felony-level, prosecutors must first obtain an indictment from a grand jury before Alvarez would be asked to enter any pleas. In an affidavit, Skowhegan police Officer Shane Lay wrote that at around 7 p.m. Sunday, he responded to George’s Banana Stand, a grocery store on North Avenue, for a reported theft. A cashier told Lay a man grabbed her hand while she was counting money at the register, took the cash out of her hand and ran out of the store, the affidavit says. About two later, a manager at the McDonald’s fast food restaurant on Madison Avenue reported to police that a man threatened her with a firearm and took money out of the register, Lay wrote. Police obtained a photo from surveillance tape at the McDonald’s and identified Alvarez with the assistance of a neighbor who lived near the McDonald’s and staff at Skowhegan’s homeless shelter, Shelters By Jesus on McClellan Street, where Alvarez was staying. Police located Alvarez at Redington-Fairview General Hospital in Skowhegan and arrested him once he was medically cleared, the affidavit says. The George’s Banana Stand employee later told Detective Sgt. Kelly Hooper the man took $90 and injured her hand in the exchange. In an interview with Hooper, Alvarez told her he took the $90 from George’s and $50 from the McDonald’s cash drawer, Lay’s affidavit says. Alvarez told police he did not actually have a gun when he robbed the McDonald’s. He reportedly said he used the money to buy crack cocaine. Alvarez also told Hooper he has pending criminal cases in Kennebec County and robbed a Waterville bank in 2014. The affidavit also notes an “extensive” criminal history in Maine and Florida. According to archived news reports, in the 2014 robbery at Bangor Savings Bank on Main Street in Waterville, Alvarez took $3,715 in cash, wrapped up in a teller’s jacket. The robbery was a spur-of-the-moment decision, police said, and most of the stolen money was recovered. Alvarez pleaded guilty in June 2014 and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, with all but five years suspended and three years probation, the Kennebec Journal reported.

Technology

Skowhegan’s second bridge could be a decade away, state officials say

SKOWHEGAN — The long-studied proposal to build a second crossing over the Kennebec River could still be almost a decade away from becoming reality, state transportation officials told residents Wednesday evening. The meeting, which drew about 70 people to a packed room at the Skowhegan Public Safety Building, marked the kick off of the first phase of the latest effort to explore building a second bridge over the Kennebec River. State engineers and their hired consultants emphasized they have settled on the general location downtown — in line with Route 150 on the north side of the river to link U.S. routes 2 and 201 and state routes 104 and 150 — but still have many details to study and challenges to overcome. Among those include evaluating potential impacts to historic properties, a veterans memorial, homes, endangered species and the planned in-river whitewater River Park; designing a bridge that would likely require a relatively steep grade; and analyzing other traffic improvements and alternatives. “This project, I know, has been batted around this community for, not just years, but literally decades at this point,” said Pete Walker, a project manager with the engineering consulting firm Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, or VHB. “There has been some really significant progress over the last several years in the form of two recent transportation studies.” The studies led local and state officials to prioritize a second river crossing, specifically near downtown Skowhegan, in addition to the Margaret Chase Smith Bridges that carry traffic on and off the island. With that preliminary idea, the state is now undertaking an environmental review process under the National Environmental Policy Act. The federal guidelines apply because the state anticipates Federal Highway Administration dollars will supplement state funding for the project, which at this point has no ballpark cost estimate. “For this phase of this process, we’re really at the beginning,” Walker said. “Our real focus is on the preliminary engineering and evaluation of design alternatives.” The Maine Department of Transportation is seeking feedback from residents at this stage of the process. People can view a virtual version of the public meeting and leave comments online. People with questions, comments and other inquiries about the project can also contact Maine DOT Regional Planner Matthew Drost via email at [email protected] or via telephone at 207-441-1879. The public has been asked for input many times in recent bridge-related efforts. Over the course of two state-led studies of Skowhegan transportation infrastructure in the last six years, officials reported holding nine study team meetings, nine advisory committee meetings, six Village Partnership Initiative meetings, six public meetings and two open houses. They also circulated four different surveys. And even more opportunities for public input are expected as the current iteration of the project progresses over several years. Drost, presenting a rough timeline subject to change, estimated the environmental review now underway would take 18 to 24 months, final design and permitting would take two to three years and project construction would take two to three years. Permitting and funding issues could lengthen the timeline, although it is possible some phases could move more quickly, Drost said. In the environmental study phase, engineers are looking at a variety of impacts, said Tony Grande, a transportation engineer with VHB. The goal is to evaluate impacts as they relate to the project’s purpose of the new downtown bridge, which Maine DOT has defined as a key link among major roads that would: • Provide an additional route over the Kennebec River for emergency vehicles and trucks. • Minimize or eliminate long-distance detours when the Margaret Chase Smith Bridges are closed to due flooding, crashes and special events. • Reduce existing traffic congestion at the Margaret Chase Smith Bridges during peak travel times. • Address high-crash locations in Skowhegan. Grande said engineers are looking at possible alignments of the bridge and necessary changes to intersections to accommodate traffic coming on and off the bridge. They are also analyzing other potential impacts, such as the potential need to move the Veterans Memorial Park, an issue raised in previous studies. “No matter where we go … there will be impacts from this project,” Grande said. “There’s no doubt about it. That’s one of the things we’ll have to try to balance as we move forward.” Steve Hodgdon, a bridge engineer with VHB, said the proposed downtown location presents hurdles for design and construction. The south bank of the gorge is much higher than the north side, Hodgdon said, and bridges do not generally have a steep grade for safety reasons. The span over the river would be about 300 feet. “It’s a really challenging site,” Hodgdon said. “How do you build it? It’s very challenging. We’ve also brought on a construction expert that’s going to work with us.” Maine DOT settled on the downtown location, however, after a 2021 bridge feasibility study and a 2024 master plan transportation study identified it as the best location. The 2021 study looked at several alternative locations, both upstream and downstream of the existing Margaret Chase Smith Bridges. Those proposals were later narrowed to two. The other of the final two options, farther downstream near the Great Eddy, was ruled out during the master plan study in 2024 as part of the Village Partnership Initiative, or VPI. The prospect of a second bridge took on new urgency during the VPI process after historic flooding following a major storm in December 2023. The rising river forced the closure of the Margaret Chase Smith Bridges to nonemergency traffic for nearly two days, cutting off one side of the town from the other and affecting first responders’ ability to handle emergencies. Those bridges are the only way for a vehicle to cross the river in town. Around that time, Maine DOT officials also shared that the Margaret Chase Smith Bridges are due for maintenance in the next decade, which would require the construction of a temporary bridge to detour traffic. The group of local and state officials and other stakeholders studying various traffic and transportation improvements as part of the VPI decided then that the construction of a second bridge should be a priority among other projects on the table. The effects of a second bridge would guide subsequent decisions, the committee largely agreed. Town officials requested the state proceed with the project in 2024. The VPI master study, finalized this spring, memorialized it as a priority. That marked a departure from the group’s initial outlook when it was brought together in 2022. Officials said at that time they were first focusing on other traffic improvements downtown while waiting to see how other infrastructure projects, including a new elementary school and the whitewater River Park, moved along. The town first formed a committee in 1997 to study the issue of a second river crossing. In 2004, residents supported a new bridge in a nonbinding vote. Talks went relatively quiet for the next decade before officials began formally discussing the idea again in 2018.