Former HCPC employee sentenced to prison
BANGOR A Newport woman who had been the interim executive director of the Hancock County Planning Commission was sentenced May 27 in federal court for wire fraud and federal government program theft, acting U.S. Attorney Donald E. Clark announced.
U.S. District Judge John A. Woodcock Jr. sentenced Sheri G. Walsh, 56, to two years in prison and three years of supervised release. Walsh also was ordered to pay approximately $325,000 in restitution. She pleaded guilty in December 2020.
According to court records, from June 2015 through April 2019, Walsh embezzled more than $325,000 from two not-for-profit organizations where she had previously been employed. Walsh carried out the scheme by fraudulently transferring funds from one organization to another, then converting the funds to her own use. During the relevant period, one of the not-for-profits received federal grant monies from both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S.
“It makes sense to be thinking regionally,” said Allen Kratz, a member of the Brooksville Sea Level Rise and Climate Change Committee who helped plan the peninsula-wide climate change conference. “The ocean doesn’t respect municipal boundaries.”
“It makes sense to be thinking regionally,” said Allen Kratz, a member of the Brooksville Sea Level Rise and Climate Change Committee who helped plan the peninsula-wide climate change conference. “The ocean doesn’t respect municipal boundaries.”
Gouldsboro to update comprehensive plan
GOULDSBORO – Twenty years have passed since the town crafted its comprehensive plan. In that time, the U.S. Naval base closed in Winter Harbor. The K-8 grade Peninsula School opened its doors. The nation’s last sardine cannery ceased operating and Acadia National Park’s Schoodic Woods campground and trail system and The Schoodic Institute were born.
With such major changes impacting Gouldsboro, Planning Board member Deb Bisson has volunteered to head a town committee to scrutinize the 60-page document over the next year and a half. Under Maine law, 14 of the plan’s chapters must address specific topics ranging from demographics and housing stock to forestry and agricultural land and marine-related resources. Seven maps also are required among other things in the plan viewed as a tool to chart the community’s future for generations to come.
Asbestos removed from former Hancock tannery as clean-up efforts continue
HANCOCK Clean-up efforts at the site of the former tannery in Hancock, located on Route 1 near Tideway Market, continue with the near completion of the site’s asbestos remediation.
The efforts have continued despite some initial difficulty accessing grant funding for the project. The money “was locked up for a period of time,” due to a legal case, George Colwell, chairman of the town’s Board of Selectmen, told The American.
He explained that Sheri Walsh, 56, of Newport had access to the grant funding “to pay for services rendered.” Walsh, who formerly worked for the Hancock County Planning Commission, pleaded guilty on Dec. 11, 2020, in federal court to wire fraud and federal government program theft.