Residents in King were fumed over the weekend after a state of emergency declaration restricted the sale of alcohol and the carrying of firearms in vehicles.

King Police Chief Paula May said she’s received hundreds of threats related to the restrictions, which banned driving from 12 a.m. Sunday to 5 a.m.

The state of emergency for King was declared by members of the City Council after Stokes County authorities also declared a state of emergency.

Under North Carolina law, May said, when a state of emergency is put into place that includes a ban on driving, the sale of alcohol and carrying of firearms in vehicles is also banned.

The world’s largest Internet search company and the world’s most powerful electronic surveillance organization are teaming up in the name of cybersecurity.

Related link for the privacy conscious individuals out there: Panpopticlick – a new site from the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Some Maine privacy advocates are criticizing a new surveillance system used by South Portland police that automatically reads license plates.

The Portland Press Herald says South Portland is apparently Maine’s first community to use automated license plate recognition to target traffic scofflaws, people wanted on warrants and other offenders.

Cameras on a cruiser takes pictures of license plans and runs the numbers through the database of the National Crime Information Center.

South Portland police Lt. Frank Clark says the technology can be used to detect stolen vehicles and help find missing people.

Shenna Bellows of the Maine Civil Liberties Union says the surveillance system undermines the fundamental right to be left alone.

Category 3 storms don’t cause “catastrophic damage”. Plans for power outages and power failures are nothing new up here in blizzard country.

Via WCSH (10/21/2009):

A mock hurricane hitting the northeastern United States and eastern Canadian provinces will be staged to test the response of emergency agencies from both sides of the international border.

The exercise will be run Wednesday from Freeport, Maine. The exercise scenario is built around a Category 3 hurricane which has a catastrophic impact on the northeastern states and eastern Canada.

Participants will address problems such as a widespread loss of power and communications in both countries and moving emergency response resources across the border.

This exercise will test plans and procedures developed by the International Emergency Management Group, a consortium of emergency managers from northeastern states and eastern Canadian provinces.

Due to a significant outbreak of the H1N1 virus at Bates College in Lewiston Maine, the Director for the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention requested Maine Task Force One, a component of the Northern New England Metropolitan Medical Response System, deploy to the campus to assist with the mass vaccination of the student population. A total of 18 embers from Maine Task Force One (Me TF1) deployed to the campus on October 10, 14, and 15 and administered over 1000 H1N1 vaccinations (injections & Flumist) during the deployment.

The entire vaccination clinic was a total success due to the close collaboration between the staff of the Bates College Health Center and the members of Maine Task Force One. The vaccination clinic was held in Chase Hall on the Bates Campus. Staff members from Bates College conducted an initial screening for symptoms of Influenza Like Illness as the students entered the building; the students were then routed to one of two tables in an open foyer where vaccination consent and screening forms were completed. Next the students were directed to one of ten vaccination stations manned by Me TF1 members where they received either the H1N1 Flumist or H1N1 vaccination. The students then were the instructed to rear of the building where a Me TF1 team member was posted to answer any questions the student may have. The average through put time for both the injection and Flumist was 3 minutes.

A 65-year-old Maine woman is in jail, accused of allegedly assaulting a state trooper with a stun gun during an investigation into whether she was hoarding animals at her house.

Carol Murphy, of New Sharon, pleaded not guilty to multiple charges Thursday in Superior Court in Farmington. Murphy was under a court order barring her from keeping animals after nearly 70 animals were found at her home in 2004 and she was convicted of animal cruelty.

According to an affidavit, Murphy used the stun gun on Trooper Aaron Turcotte on Wednesday after he showed up at her house. He was not seriously hurt.

The Sun Journal reported at least 40 domestic and farm animals — including a donkey, two alpacas and a potbellied pig – were seized the next day.

Officers from seven local, county, and state police agencies met with the media to discuss the details of a major drug bust in central Maine. “I personally cannot remember such a large seizure of cocaine in the central Maine area, going back to 1989 when we arrested an individual from Alaska in a local motel that had a kilo of cocaine,” said Waterville Police Chief Joseph Massey. “It is a very large quantity of cocaine that was in our area and it was certainly nice to get that off our streets.”

On Friday October 9th, police executed a traffic stop on Hospital Street in Augusta, pulling over a van. Inside were Eric Prevost and Tabitha Waddell, whom police suspected of dealing drugs in the area. Police officers found just over a pound of cocaine and about a thousand dollars in cash on the pair. Police then searched their home, where they found a digital scale and other drug paraphernalia that leads them to believe drugs were being packaged and sold from the home.

“To disrupt this drug-trafficking group is a significant accomplishment,” said MDEA Director Roy McKinney. “Cooperation, coordination and collaboration is so important because the drug dealers do not know or do not recognize city and town boundaries.”

Waterville Police received a tip that the pair had been selling drugs throughout the area. They contacted other agencies and quickly set-up surveillance on the pair. The information they got aided the investigation greatly according to McKinney. “It is so important for citizens to provide information to the police. Information comes to us and we act upon it and as a result you see a seizure that takes place here and seizures that take place everyday across the state,” said McKinney.

Police estimate the street value of the drugs at about $50,000. Eric Prevost and Tabitha Waddell are both charged with Class A trafficking, which carries with it a penalty of up to 30 years in jail and fines up to $50,000. Waddell has been released on bail. Prevost is being held at the Kennebec County Jail in lieu of $100,000 cash bail. Both are scheduled to appear in Kennebec County Superior Court on December 8th.

Isn’t that nice. Your whole family can enjoy being poked and prodded like cattle all at once without having to feel rushed!

Is it a police state yet?

BBC:

SF Gate:

UK Guardian: