Nov. 5, 2013 Elections: Municipal and state referendums, ordinance changes, candidates

NORTHPORT - With a large tax base for its 185 school age residents, Northport receives no money through the state’s Essential Programs and Services school funding formula, making it the one town in RSU 20 that may not be hanging on the actions of the districts two biggest players — the school board and the city of Belfast.

At Northport’s most recent RSU 20 withdrawal committee meeting, discussion centered around the potential of converting Edna Drinkwater Elementary into a…

ROCKLAND — Moose, venison, brisket, lobster, scallops and crab were just a few of the ingredients found in 15 entries for the Rockland Fire Department’s Chili Chowder Challenge held Jan. 5 at Trackside Restaurant in Rockland. The event took place from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Attendees sampled chili and chowders from entrants and then voted for their favorite. Entries from individuals and restaurants could be just chili or chowder, or both.

2014 winners for the Rockland Fire Department Chili…

BELFAST - Maine Maritime Products processes and distributes seafood from a facility in the Belfast Business Park. The company also sells steamed lobsters and other fresh and frozen seafood from a small retail shop on the premises. In October, company president George Delaney approached the city planning office about what he thought was a minor addition to the business. As he described to the City Council on Tuesday night, he just wanted to take what he was already selling, “put it…

ROCKLAND — Knox County Commissioners held an informal forum with municipalities of Knox County this afternoon, January 7, in the Commissioners' Hearing Room at the Knox County Courthouse.

Commissioner Roger Moody, of Camden, opened the forum, saying he got the idea for the forum from the Maine County Commissioners Association. This is the fifth forum to be held by the county commissioners since 2009.

"Everyone is under a financial squeeze," said Moody. "One of the things that we…

BELFAST - A memo from the city manager’s office Thursday reminded residents that the ice storm is still here and may pose new problems as temperatures stay frigid over the next few days.

A list of guidelines, reproduced below, also addressed questions about what to expect from the city’s public works department:

• It is too cold to get the ice off the roads. Salt does not work at these temperatures. When it warms up we can use salt to loosen the ice and the grader to scrape it…

AUGUSTA — On the last day of 2013, Dec. 31, Gov. Paul LePage signed emergency legislation allowing Maine fuel transport and delivery trucks to drive additional hours to ensure timely heating fuel deliveries during the unusually cold weather that is expected over the next several days. This is the second such proclamation the governor has made in the last 30 days. The legislation will expire Jan. 14.

The National Weather Service is calling for temperatures to be single digits to below…

“I wanted a really peppery scallop salad. I love scallops, I love warm salads,” said Francine’s owner/chef Brian Hill. “This salad has two different notes of heat in it. We sear the scallops with cracked black pepper. We only sear them on one side. Then we make a chili dressing with pomelo and endive, both of which are in season now. Pomelo is a relative of the grapefruit. It’s drier and a lot sweeter, not so bitter. A lot of people dislike grapefruit, especially in salads, but pomelo, is…

CAMDEN — Tuesday, Dec. 31, will be the final day for service at Graffam Brother's Harborside Restaurant at Bay View Landing on Camden Harbor. Kim Graffam and Leni Gronros, owners of Harborside, said they have enjoyed the time spent in business on the harbor, and will greatly miss both guests and their crew.

The time has come to close that portion of the business, they said in a press release.

In addition to the difficult financial climate which is affecting much of downtown…

BELFAST — Christmas was memorable for 36 local residents who spent the day in a Red Cross shelter at Troy Howard Middle School. With temperatures in the teens, families without power, and without a wood stove or generator, needed a spot just to escape the cold. The Waldo County shelter was one of six open in different cities as of 9 a.m. Thursday morning. Other open shelters around the state included one in Androscoggin County, and others in Calais, Lewiston and Auburn.

Glenn Kaminsky…

(I don’t think there is a need for another article, but wasn’t sure which article to update with the pics)

Shepherd’s Pie, at 18 Central St. in Rockport, gives us a simple yet exceptionally tasty beet salad. Easy to make, it goes well with just about any dish. You’ll find it on the menu as Cool Beet Salad and it consists of hummus, grapefruit, tahini, sesame seeds, scallions and, of course, beets.

According to Mark Senders, head chef at Shepherd’s Pie, this salad is…

BELFAST - Following a closed door session on Tuesday night, the Belfast City Council voted to allow the city manager to enter an option-to-purchase agreement for a property on corner of Front and Pierce Streets.

The elevated 0.2-acre lot at 59 Bridge Street is probably best known for the crumbling rock retaining wall that separates it from Front Street on the inland side of the road.

City Planner Wayne Marshall said the purchase agreement with the owner Dan Clarke would be…

BELFAST — The following cases were closed in Belfast District Court Nov. 12 – Dec. 3.

Zachary Barnett, 27, of Winterport, criminal mischief in Winterport Feb. 3, dismissed.

Dustin Beaulieu, 25, of Benton, unlawful use of migratory game birds hunting in Unity Oct. 5, $100 fine.

Joseph Bonaddio, 46, of Searsport, theft by unauthorized taking or transfer in Belfast Aug. 31, $500 fine; possession of revoked/fictitious/fraudulent…

BELFAST - The Regional School Unit 20 board of directors voted Wednesday to renew Superintendent Brian Carpenter’s contract for an additional year.

Twelve of the board’s 17 members attended the meeting, which had been rescheduled due to Tuesday night’s snow storm. The group deliberated behind closed doors for close to two hours before inviting Carpenter in for additional discussion.

In the public vote that followed, eight members of the board favored renewing Carpenter’s contract…

BELFAST - Residents of Regional School Unit 20’s eight towns could be forgiven for not knowing where to look these days. Discussion by district administrators of consolidation within the school district has been lurching forward in fits and starts since plans were put forward in November.

At the same time, six municipalities are considering withdrawal from RSU 20 in what may or may not be a repeat of a prior unsuccessful bid. The Belfast City…

CAMDEN — After listening for three hours to more public and professional commentary on the merits or pitfalls of a proposed ordinance amendment enabling the Fox Hill alcohol treatment center, the Camden Planning Board agreed to schedule another meeting for its own internal conversation and final vote on the matter. That meeting will take place Jan. 2, 5 p.m., at the Camden Opera House.

…

ROCKLAND — The steering committee for Improving Access to Quality Care for Uninsured Individuals met Dec. 10 at the Maine Lighthouse Museum and among the news to come out of it was the group introduction of their new project manager. The group’s mission is to create a community and stakeholder engagement process that delivers a concrete, sustainable plan for providing high quality medical, dental, mental and substance abuse services for uninsured and under insured low-income individuals in…

The Travel Channel has Jingle Brawls, a competition among cities across the United States to find the most unique Christmas-themed celebration. The competition this year includes the singing choir Christmas tree of Muskegon, Mich., versus the Christmas Lobster Trap tree from Rockland, Maine. The episode aired on Sunday night, Dec. 8, at 7 p.m. on the Travel Channel.

Since 2003, Rockland Main Street, Inc., has been building the World's Largest Lobster Trap Tree. Volunteers,…

HOPE - Almost nine years after he opened Hope General Store, Andrew Stewart has put the business on the market in order to pursue his new job as director of Hope Elephants. 

When he told his friends and family the news, some of them thought he was crazy. Not only was Stewart the owner of a successful business, but the general store he resurrected from a…

BELFAST — The door to New Hope for Women in downtown Belfast, near Opera House Video, is inconspicuous and easy to miss; its mission, however — to help victims of dating and domestic violence — is vital.

Much like the nondescript front door, victims of domestic/dating violence often “hide” in plain sight. According to a 2007 domestic violence report from the office of the Maine Attorney General, there are more than …

BELFAST - When Rich Deneka left Barrington, NH on his Honda Goldwing trike Sunday morning, it was 19 degrees. At noon, outside the Bank of America building in Belfast, it was a comparatively balmy 25.

Inside the atrium, Deneka chatted with Maine First Lady Ann LePage about heated gloves, cell phone protocol, and other details of their upcoming trip with the Wreaths Across America convoy. Over the next week, they would travel 650 miles through eight states accompanying a convoy of…

BELFAST - Fire leveled a garage and caused significant damage to a home on Hayford Hill in Belfast late Sunday morning.

According to Belfast Fire Chief Jim Richards, owners Jasha and Sara Brown were inside their home with their two children when the fire started at around 10:30 a.m.

“They said they heard some kind of explosion in the garage,” Richards said. “They didn’t know what it was.”

All of the occupants escaped uninjured, he said.

Richards said…

BELFAST – Jacob Marley’s ghost will haunt the Troy Howard Middle School ‘cafetorium’ this December as John Bielenberg’s adaptation of A Christmas Carol comes alive, courtesy of the Midcoast Actors’ Studio.

I was able to join Director Jason Bannister and the cast for part of a recent dress rehearsal, arriving just in time to catch the end of the play.

I expected something akin to my past theater experiences: frantic directors pacing around and tugging at what little hair they have…

SWANVILLE - Selectmen on Thursday set a date of Dec. 17 for a municipal referendum on whether to seek withdrawal from Regional School Unit 20.

Swanville is the last of six towns from the former School Administrative District 34 to hold the preliminary vote on withdrawal.

Belfast, Belmont, Morrill, Northport and Searsmont have already approved measures to petition the state Department of Education for withdrawal from the district and formed the local withdrawal committees required…

BELFAST - The City Council on Tuesday approved plans to expand Thompson’s Wharf, but turned down a chance to apply for grant money. 

Harbor Master Katherine Pickering painted a bleak picture of city-owned dock, located in the inner harbor between properties owned by Front Street Shipyard. The steel pilings have significantly corroded, she said, and the fasteners that hold the floats together have deteriorated so much over the years that the planks came loose on a regular basis.

“…

BELFAST - The Waldo County Budget Committee will hold it’s final public hearing on the county’s proposed 2014 budget, Friday, Dec. 6.

The hearing will be held on the second floor of the Fifth District Courthouse in Belfast, starting at 6 p.m. The public will have an opportunity to weigh in at the beginning of the meeting.

The roughly $8 million bottom line of the draft 2014 budget is down 2.2 percent from 2013. The discretionary portion of the budget — excluding the $2.8 million…

BELFAST - On a recent fall afternoon at Belfast Area High School, a group of sophomores were debating the specifics of inter-regional trade in ancient Mesopotamia. Nearby, their classmates were analyzing the family values of ancient Greek society from Homer’s Iliad. Another group was discussing the strategies used by ancient Israelite rulers to secure resources.

This is Global Studies, a course that covers the entirety of human history, from the…

ROCKLAND — Despite the cold, throngs of bundled men, women and children lined Rockland's Main Street for the Festival of Lights Parade. As the spectators gathered three and four deep on the sidewalks, it was as if all of Rockland had turned out for the event. Unlike the Lobster Festival Parade that hosts thousands of tourists, the Festival of Lights Parade was for the community as a way of capping off the Thanksgiving weekend and welcoming the start of the holidays. The following gallery…

ROCKPORT — Swing and Sway Dance Studio, at 143 Maverick Street in Rockland, will present Dancing Through the Decades, a Holiday Dance Performance, Sunday, Dec. 1, at 2 p.m. in the Strom Auditorium in Rockport. Jessica Libby, manager and instructor at Swing and Sway, said the show will start in the 1800s and go all the way though the current styles of dance: Viennese Waltz, Cha Cha, Mambo, and Belly Dancing are all likely to be seen by the audience during the show. There will only be…

ROCKLAND — Rockland’s Festival of Lights kicked off at noon Friday, Nov. 29, with the arrival of Santa Claus aboard a U.S. Coast Guard boat. After disembarking at the public landing, Santa and Mrs. Claus went to his workshop in Mildred Merrill Park next to the Lobster Trap Tree, where he spent the afternoon listening to childrens’ wishes for Christmas Day. Later that evening, the community turned out in force to watch the lighting of the tree, followed by a brief ceremony that included a…

ROCKLAND — At approximately 7:30 Thanksgiving night, Lisa Carlton, of Rockland, was driving north on Front Street in Rockland when a dog ran across her path. As she swerved to avoid hitting it, she heard a loud noise from the front end of her sedan just before she lost control it.

Carlton hit the curb and then slid across the property of Prock Marine. After sliding several yards, the car came to rest at the…

ROCKLAND — More than 400 people were fed Thanksgiving Day dinner by three organizations whose only goal was to provide a place to get together and share a meal on the holiday. Close to 100 volunteers worked from early morning and through meal time to prepare a complete Thanksgiving dinner.

Darryl Leavitt, Post Commander at Winslow-Holbrook-Merritt American Legion Post 1 in Rockland, said volunteers prepared six turkeys, each weighing approximately 24 pounds.

“We did 50-plus…

ROCKLAND — An effort begun more than two years ago to envision what Camden Street (Route 1) from Rockland to Glen Cove in Rockport might look like with improvements culminated Nov. 26 at Rockland City Hall as landscape architects delivered the study and assorted designs, “Unlocking the Potential”, to the  Rockland City Council, Rockland Economic Advisory Committee, members of the Rockport Select Board and the public.

…

BELFAST - The Belfast Fire Department extinguished a burning car on Mitchell Street, Monday evening, that according to a witness included some unusual pyrotechnics.

Fire Chief Jim Richards wasn’t working at the time of the blaze, but he confirmed that firefighters responded to the scene. Richards passed along information from a report on the incident.

The car fire was reported at 4:44 p.m., he said, at which time the vehicle, described as a white limousine, was fully ablaze.

BELFAST - On stage at the Playhouse Theater, Jacob Fricke prepared to recite a poem with his hands behind his back. It would be a challenge for “an inveterate hand talker,” like himself, he said.

Fricke had organized the event as a poetry slam, but along the way it had turned into something else — “uncharted territory, he would say, at one point with a kind of muted giddiness.

An hour earlier, it had been a different story.

Looking…

MIDCOAST - High winds and downed trees accounted for pockets of power outages in Knox and Waldo Counties, Nov 24.

The National Weather Service has also issued a gale warning for Penobscot Bay along with much of the coast of Maine.

As of 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Central Maine Power reported 26,934 customers without service in the utility’s 14-county coverage area.

In Knox County, CMP reported 188 customers without power at 1:30 p.m. An hour later, that number had dropped to 103,…

BELFAST - Fire gutted a house in the residential area of downtown Belfast, Friday night.

The fire was reported at 9:16 p.m. according to records from the Waldo County Regional Communications Center.

Belfast Fire and Ambulance responded to the scene, a single-family home at 43 Pearl Street, located between Church and High Streets, across from the Jeweled Turret Inn.

According to tax records, the property belongs to Pamela Ann Callaway.

A representative of Waldo County…

CAMDEN — The First Congregational Church, at 55 Elm St. in Camden, welcomes back patrons and friends to its Wednesday Soup Kitchen, held at the church from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Debbi Hitchings is the director of Church Life for First Congregational. She is also the soup-ervisor for the Wednesday soup kitchen.

“We have about 18 volunteers here every week,” she said. “We have two chefs. One makes a meat soup and one makes a vegetarian. We also have a sous chef who helps make the soups…

PALERMO - Two men were hospitalized after their cars collided on Route 3 in Palermo, Monday night.

Information about the crash was not immediately available. However, on Tuesday, Waldo County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Jeffrey Trafton described the circumstances of the accident, which closed Route 3 for several hours and required one of the men to be transported from the scene by helicopter.

Trafton said Derek Elvin, 20, of Augusta was traveling north on Turner Ridge Road when…

KNOX - Five Midcoast residents reportedly suffered minor injuries as a result of a two-vehicle accident at the intersection of Routes 137 and 220, Sunday evening.

According to Maine State Police Trooper Corey Smith, Foner Curtis, 59, of Rockland, was traveling southbound on Route 220 in a 2001 Toyota Camry just before 5 p.m. when he failed to yield to a stop sign at Route 137. 

His vehicle struck…

SEARSPORT - Voters at a special town meeting Thursday approved spending up to $475,000 toward completing a nearly-20-year-old program of repairs to the town wharf. 

Roughly 80 people attended the meeting at Union Hall, Nov. 14, according to town officials. The group approved the measure by a show of hands.

The wharf dates to the 1800s and was built as a stop for passenger steamboats on the way to Boston. The wooden structure of the…

BELFAST – The last time I was in preschool, I distinctly remember the furniture being much larger.

When I arrive at the historic Johnson-Pratt house at 212 High Street, I am greeted by rather tiny furniture along with the sound of what seems to be a small pack of wolf pups howling and babbling with excitement.

I follow the howls to a classroom, where I meet Iris and Dennis Hooper — the owners and operators of The Children's Voice Preschool — who are overseeing the early morning…

ROCKLAND — Rockland Mayor Will Clayton presided over his last city council meeting Wednesday evening, Nov. 13, at City Hall. The meeting was punctuated by accolades for Clayton from the public during the public comment portion of the meeting. Not all the awards, however, were lavished on the Mayor. The Rockland City Council gave three plaques to organizers of the Lobster Festival, Blues Festival and Maine Boats, Homes and Harbors show.

Steve Barrow, of Rockland, took the podium to…

BROOKS - A year ago, Regional School Unit 3 switched to a single bus run system in an effort to cut down on fuel bills and driver hours. On Nov. 12, school officials voted to seek bids from private transportation companies in hopes of saving a little bit more.

Superintendent Heather Perry said the vote did not amount to a decision to contract out…

SEARSPORT - Public comment took up a substantial portion of the Regional School Unit 20 board of directors meeting, Nov. 12. Or rather, the evening started with a lengthy internal debate about the district’s policy on accepting public comment.

The school board meeting was the first since Superintendent Brian Carpenter released a set of cost-saving …

BELFAST - The City Council last week approved a slate of 14 small businesses to receive grants for improvements under the state-funded Micro-Enterprise Assistance Program.

The $150,000 received by the city earlier this year was initially heralded as a welcome boost for small businesses, but as the real details of the awards came forward, some councilors expressed mixed feelings and misgivings.

“I was very happy for the people who got the grants and façade improvements,” said…

BELFAST — The Belfast Harbor Walk has been open to the public since about June. Informally, the clipped string of alleys, sidewalks and parks has been passable for much longer. Nov. 9, however, the city gave the path a proper grand opening ceremony, complete with speeches and a ribbon cutting with giant scissors.

Around 100 residents gathered at Steamboat Landing to mark the occasion. In a circular plaza that anchors the southern end of the…

BELFAST - City officials got a first look at plans for a grant-funded overhaul of the roads and sidewalks in small portion of the downtown.

The area, which includes Cross Street, portions of Federal, Spring and MIller Streets and the north entrance to Belfast Common was the subject on Tuesday of a presentation by Sebago Technics, a South Portland-based engineering firm hired by the city to reconsider the area in light of a $500,000 Downtown Revitalization grant the city received in…

BELFAST — The planned dredging of parts of Searsport Harbor is unprecedented in scope with potentially catastrophic results, a group of coastal legislators and activists said in a press conference on Wednesday, Nov. 6.

The group is asking the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to conduct a full environment impact study before permitting the work, which would remove 900,000 cubic yards from areas around the Mack Point port facility. The work as…

BURNHAM - Given a choice between converting their former elementary school into town offices and selling the building Burnham voters on Nov. 5 favored selling the building by a small margin.  

This isn’t the first time residents have voted on this exact issue.

The town acquired the building in 2010 as part of a school district consolidation in MSAD 53.…

CAMDEN — By a vote of 1,124 in favor and 239 opposed, Camden voters approved a proposal to borrow $2 million and help fund a $6.5 million mountain improvement project at the Camden Snow Bowl. Town voters also approved the three ordinance amendments.

Article 3, the amendment to add some residential uses in the Business River District, passed 1,140 to 188; Article 4, the amendment to define and regulate accessory…

BELFAST –  This is my first time voting for mayor in this town. 

I grew up here in Belfast, and have continued to live and work here since graduating from high school in 2012. 

In hopes of getting a better understanding of race, I attended and worked behind the scenes at Penbaypilot.com and Bel-TV’s …

AUGUSTA - Election Day always comes with a slate of state ballot questions, and this year it’s bonds, bonds and more bonds — almost $150 million worth ($182 million with interest), to improve transportation systems, public higher education facilities and National Guard Centers.

Many of the loans would make the state eligible for federal matching money or include provisions for private fundraising.

The $4.5 million requested in Question 1 for National…

BELFAST - Recent talk of consolidation in Regional School Unit 20 has left some parents and residents waiting anxiously for the other shoe to drop. This week, Superintendent Brian Carpenter released a raft of seven proposals that would, in various ways, seek to keep the district afloat in the long term.

The good news is that the proposals came a month ahead of schedule. The bad news, according to Carpenter, who drafted the 50-page, slideshow-style document, is that a major overhaul,…