MAINE TO LAUNCH FORECLOSURE MEDIATION WITH HELP OF COURTS

Maine Public Broadcasting - A common complaint of homeowners facing foreclosure is that it's difficult to reach lenders to modify their loans. The state is trying to help by offering mediation between the parties. Created by the Legislature this year, the program doesn't officially start until January. But it's getting a trial run at York County District Court in Sanford, which has seen the state's highest rate of foreclosures. . .

So far, five judges have volunteered to serve as mediators. Homeowners welcomed the idea of a third party joining in on talks with the lender. They say they were tired of having to work with the banks or mortgage brokers on their own, and getting nowhere.. . .

Under the state program, the homeowner and his lawyer get a half-day of face time with the lender - who would probably participate by phone - and the lender's lawyer. Many of the homeowners had given up any hope of meeting their lender. . .

The state law requires that lenders who want to file foreclosures in Maine have to participate in mediation - or else. "The sanctions could include dismissing the case and barring the refilng of the suit for a period of time," says Andrew Janelle, the Maine District Court judge who is overseeing the program's launch in York County.

Foreclosure mediation programs are already up and running in more than a dozen states. Janelle says Maine's bears the most resemblance to Connecticut's, where a third of foreclosure cases have gone to mediation. In about 70 percent of those, he says, some sort of settlement is reached.

POLLS SPLIT ON TABOR

Maine Public Broadcasting - A new poll shows Maine voters closely split over whether to approve a proposed Taxpayer Bill of Rights on the November ballot. The poll, by Critical Insights, found 47 percent willing to vote "yes" on Question 4, while 45 percent say they'll vote "no." . . . Another poll released Monday by Pan Atlantic S-M-S indicated that support for the initiative had declined from a 14 percentage point lead to nearly seven percent behind. That poll has a margin of error of nearly five percent.

POLL: GAY MARRIAGE IS TOSS UP

A new DailyKos/Research 2000 poll finds a very close contest in Maine on whether to repeal the state's law allowing gay marriage -- 48% would vote to keep the law, 47% would vote to reject it and 5% are still undecided.

DOWN EAST NOTES

According to the Portland Sun,

"Marriage ceremonies have been put on hold at City Hall until after the Nov. 3 election to give city clerks time to process a record number of absentee ballot requests." So it looks like a referendum to uphold heterosexual marriages is holding up heterosexual marriages.

Boston Globe - Portland officials say they expect the city to set a record for both early voting and election-day turnout next week. City Clerk Linda Cohen says she's ordered 4,000 additional absentee ballots and scheduled extra hours on Saturday to accommodate voters.

Maine Public Broadcasting - The Maine Marine Patrol is investigating a complaint that two Tenants Harbor lobstermen cut lobster traps and one threatened another man with a shotgun. The Patrol's Sgt. Marlowe Sonksen says . . . the patrol knows all the men involved in the alleged incident.

Maine PTA - ME PTA supports the repeal of mandated consolidation. Any school administrative units which will be improved by consolidation should be free to do so. Commissioner Gendron has said that if this referendum passes repealing the consolidation law, she will act quickly with the legislature to enact legislation allowing existing RSU's to remain consolidated if they wish and, presumably, new RSU's to form. By the same token, school administrative units for which the currently mandated consolidation won't work need the right to choose the paths most appropriate for their students and communities.

Maine Public Broadcasting - Maine's Passenger Rail Authority has begun exploring the possibility of running some express trains between Maine stops and Boston. Authority Director Patricia Quinn says the authority is looking at running train 682, an 8 a.m. departure from Portland with stops only in Saco, Wells, and Exeter, New Hampshire. Quinn says leaving out the other stops would reduce the running time from Portland to Boston by about 15 minutes, to two hours and 10 minutes.

COMCAST INTERNET FAILURE HITS MID COAST

Times Record - A widespread cable Internet outage that began Monday and lasted through most of Tuesday created challenges for Mid-coast business owners and police, and sent Web surfers flocking to public libraries for Internet connections. . . Based on anecdotal reports provided by readers throughout the Mid-coast region, the cable Internet blackout stretched from Freeport in the southwest to Wiscasset in the northeast. Topsham residents were among those to first report losing service on Monday evening, while some cable Internet clients, such as those in downtown Bath, were not reconnected until after 6 p.m. Tuesday. The outtage also affected The Times Record's web site, preventing editors from updating web site content until the following morning. . .

John Goran, who runs TV 3 in Brunswick and serves as chairman of Freeport's Cable TV Regulatory Board, said today that he still doesn't know what caused the outages. . .

Susan Preece, director of Topsham Public Library, said the library saw a significant increase in foot traffic Tuesday, and in people carrying their laptops, to access the library's Internet. People with laptops also sat in their cars outside the library to access wireless Internet service. Preece said she knew of at least one person who came to the library instead of going to their office Tuesday.

PORTLAND TAKES ON FEMA'S CYA FLOOD MAPPING

FEMA, which mangled the post-Katrina recovery, is apparently trying to cover its butt in future storms by exaggerating the danger to ports it is currently mapping. The first victim is Portland, ME, a heavily island protected port that has been a safe haven for vessels for centuries, something of which FEMA is apparently not aware. It's not unlike the sort of federalized one size fits all formula currently being pushed in public education by Arne Duncan. Portland has struck back and may force FEMA to make some changes but it looks like any harbor that wants decent treatment from FEMA is going to have to hire their own scientists to prove the agency wrong.

Maine Public Broadcasting - Earlier this year, the Federal Emergency Management Agency caused quite a stir when it issued a draft of its updated flood insurance map for the southern Maine coast. Members of the Portland City Council, along with Maine's congressional delegation, were shocked to learn that FEMA proposed reclassifying Portland harbor from an A-zone to a V-zone, meaning it's considered much more prone to flood damage than previously thought.

City officials are concerned not only about much higher insurance rates, but also about severe limits on waterfront development.

"The V-zone designation is a very restrictive designation," says Penny St. Louis Littell, Planning Director for the city of Portland. "What FEMA would allow, absent a variance or some other exception, would be fishing or lobster shacks and no real development of any kind."

Littell says the new map would also prohibit any existing buildings on the harbor from being rebuilt should they burn down. The effect on the local economy would be devastating, says First District Congresswoman Chellie Pingree. "Given this economic climate in particular, it seemed like it would place a huge economic burden on much of the southern coast."

Pingree, along with Maine Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, wrote to FEMA in August urging it to reconsider the map, which they say is based on inadequate data. Portland planning director Penny Littell agrees. She says much of the data used by FEMA was based on information that was not specific to the harbor area, and that, she says, has led to some inaccurate conclusions.

"Just an example, they used a 71 mile-per-hour wind speed in the harbor, and that would be a one-hour duration. We don't get an hour's worth of 71-mile-per hour winds here in Portland harbor," Littell says.

Littell also points out that the harbor has, for a long time, been used by ships as a safe haven when a major storm hits. "Any of the cruise ships, or the oil tankers, the Coast Guard vessels come into Portland harbor. They get out of the storm by seeking safety in our port, and so the wave action that's been predicted by FEMA is really not there."

But Littell says now, after a meeting with federal officials last week, FEMA may be coming around. She says she's now more confident that a new, more favorable flood map will eventually emerge. "I think our engineer did a great job in impressing upon them the need to go back and take another look at the information they used in their study."

"The city raised a number of good points and FEMA will be reviewing engineering documentation that the city now has," says FEMA spokesman Dennis Pinkham.

He says FEMA's mapping experts are in the midst of a massive billion dollar plus effort to remap most of the U.S. coastline using updated technology. And they have a set pattern for gathering data, using a series of prescribed weather points.

"In many instances, the information may not be exactly pertinent to a particular area," Pinkham says. "Now if someone like the city of Portland comes and says, 'Well, you were gathering your scientific information from this point in the area, and we have other validated scientific information from another point, then of course we look at that."

But that could pose a problem, says Littell, for municipalities forced to pay the cost of gathering that additional data, if they're not happy with FEMA's conclusions. "It's expensive to go out and hire experts argue on your behalf," she says.

The Portland City Council has hired an engineering consultant at an undisclosed cost, to make its case to FEMA. U.S. Representative Chellie Pingree feels that's unfair. "I'm just concerned that the city of Portland had to spend the money and supply the data. This seems like it should have come from FEMA in the first place. We think it's an unfair burden for the city of Portland."

Spokesman Dennis Pinkham says FEMA hopes to have a new preliminary flood map out by the end of the year, in time for a 90-day public comment period due to start in January. The final map, he says, now won't be ready until June 2011.

NY Times - The shift means that construction of new buildings would be effectively prohibited on the sturdy plank piers, which lobstermen have shared for years with restaurants, office space, even some condominiums.

Existing structures would also face a grim future. They could be rebuilt to half of their current value if a hurricane rakes them into the ocean. That concerns city officials, who worry the wharfs could slip into disrepair if pier owners see little economic reason to maintain them, prompting memories of a dark period of harbor dilapidation in the 1970s.. . .

The sea near Portland has risen about 8 inches since 1912. Greenhouse gas emissions appear to be hastening that rate. Ocean temperatures are warming more quickly than in the past, having risen about 2 degrees Fahrenheit since 1970. Water expands as a result, and the rate of sea-level rise has accelerated in recent decades, according to a study released this year by the University of Maine. . .

"Our company is over 200 years old, and there's no documented history [of 3-foot waves causing damage]," said Charlie Poole, whose family owns the Union Wharf, a sprawling concrete pier where a shirtless man brushed weeds from wire lobster traps recently. "We're trying to have FEMA understand." . .

"Portland Harbor is not your mansions in the sand dunes." St. Louis Littell said. "Can I say that a catastrophic storm won't come into Portland Harbor? No. But I can say it hasn't happened in the last 100 years."

NEW ENGLAND LEAST RELIGIOUS SECTION OF U.S.

Kennebec Journal,ME - Trinity College's American Religious Identification Survey released this year showed New England overtaking the Pacific Northwest as the least religious region in the country. Twenty-two percent of respondents here said they have no religious faith of any kind, highest in the country.

In a Gallup poll this year, all six New England states were in the Top 10 least religious in the country, with Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts claiming the top four spots. . .

Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut do host the nation's heaviest concentration of Catholics, but those numbers have dropped substantially. In 1990, 50 percent of New England residents identified themselves as Catholic; by 2008, it dropped to 36 percent following the clergy sex abuse scandal in Boston, according to American Religious Identification Survey 2008.

GROUP OPPOSES FISH 'CATCH-SHARE' PLAN

Press Herald - A group in Maine is speaking out in opposition to a commercial fishing management plan that would allow shares of the annual fishing catch to be allocated to fishermen. At a news conference in Portland organized by an advocacy group called the Fair Fish Campaign, critics said a so-called "catch-share" system would drive out small-scale fishermen and lead to corporate ownership of fisheries. In New England, fishery regulators have approved a plan that would allow shares of the annual catch to be allocated to groups, or sectors, of fishermen in the ongoing effort to rebuild fish populations.

How the Fair Fish Campaign sees it

NY TIMES ON MAINE'S GAY MARRIAGE FIGHT

POLL FINDS NO ON ONE IS BIG YES

Maine Public Broadcasting - A new poll shows strong support for maintaining the state's new gay marriage law. The poll, conducted last week by Pan Atlantic SMS, also found dwindling support for the tax-and-spending cap initiative known as TABOR 2.

Pan Atlantic's Patrick Murphy says the survey of 400 likely voters found 53 percent opposing Question 1, which would repeal Maine's gay marriage law, while 42 percent favor the measure and six percent remain undecided. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percent. . .

On the TABOR 2 initiative, which is Question 4 on the ballot, Murphy says support has shrunk dramatically since Pan Atlantic's previous poll, dropping from 53 percent to 42 percent. The latest poll shows 49 percent opposed to the measure and 42 percent in favor. But a sizeable number of voters -- 10 percent -- remain undecided on the issue. The poll results found a wide partisan split on the issue, with Democrats heavily against it and Republicans in favor, Murphy says.

Question 3, which would repeal the state's school consolidation law, is close. While 45 percent are opposed and 39 percent in favor, 16 percent remain undecided.

The poll found strong opposition to a measure that would slash excise taxes in Maine, with 61 percent opposed to the idea and only 29 percent in favor. Eleven percent of voters remain undecided on that issue.

Question 5, which would expand the state's medical marijuana law, is winning voter support, according to the poll. Murphy says 59 percent of voters surveyed are supporting the measure and 32 percent are opposed. Nine percent of voters are undecided on that issue.

FAIRPOINT FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY

DOWN EAST NOTES

At a talk at the University of Maine, a student asked Attorney General Holder to reveal one of the nominees for Obama's vice president. Reports Maine Public BroadcastIng: Holder was legal adviser to Obama during the presidential campaign, and later on, the committee that recommended a vice presidential choice to Obama. "Alright, here's a little tidbit," Holder told the gathering. "One of the people that we did consider was this gentleman right here. And Secretary Cohen doesn't really know how close he came in the process. He had one problem, though. He was John McCain's best man at his wedding. And as we played that out we just thought, that's going to be difficult, that's going to be difficult."

We are now on Twitter. @CoastalPacket

MAINE RANKS SECOND IN DIVORCE

Maine Public Broadcasting - Maine's divorce rate is right behind Nevada -- number 2 in fact. According to the Pew Research Center, 15 percent of Maine women are currently divorced, compared to the national average of 12 percent, and 12 percent of Maine men are currently divorced, compared to nine percent nationally.

"When it came to divorce, per se, we didn't find too many correlations," says Paul Taylor, who directs Pew's Social and Demographics Trends project. "We were able to correlate high levels of divorce with the tendency of residents in the state to marry young, and there was a correlation there."

Residents in Maine, however, don't marry young compared to folks in other states. The median age for Maine women to marry is 29; for men, it's 27 -- in both cases, a year older than the national average.

"The issue is more about the working-class composition of the Maine population," says Brad Wilcox, who is with the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia. . . . Many Mainers fall into that categury. Mainers make less money than people living elsewhere in the Northeast. In addition, the percentage of Mainers with college degrees is less than the national average.

"College-educated couples are about half as likely to divorce now as are working class couples, and this divide has never been so large as it is today," Wilcox says. "College-educated couples on average, of course, have higher incomes and that protects them from economic stresses that can undermine a marriage. It's also the case that college-educated couples tend to have better social skills. They can deal with conflict, they're better able to communicate."

Bill Cote, a trial lawyer in Lewiston who handles divorces, says . . . he has noticed that a couple's financial woes are a major driver of divorce.

"We are a poor state in many respects," Cote says. "And one of the things that I certainly find in my family law practice is that financial pressures really wreak havoc on the sustainability of a marriage unit."

It's really difficult to persist when it's kind of hard to pay the bills and keep shelter and food on the table and have adequate transportation so you can get to and from work."

Cote adds that it is relatively easy to get a divorce in Maine. Just one party has to request the divorce, and need only cite irreconcilable differences. "And so there is very little that an opposing party -- the other spouse that is -- can do to derail the request for a divorce if one party is hell-bent-for-leather in getting a divorce."

Peg Libby of the Kids First Center, which helps divorcing parents work together to raise their children, thinks what sets Maine apart is that it's not a particularly religious state, and less beholden to traditional church doctrines governing marriage. "Maine is, I think, a more tolerant state, in some ways a more liberal state, and so there may be a greater acceptance of people recognizing that an unhappy marriage is also very difficult for children and that life could be better."

The rates of divorced people in New Hampshire and Vermont were also above the national average.

RANKED VOTING COMING TO PORTLAND?

LOBSTER CO-OP SECURES A PIECE OF WORKING WATERFRONT

WCSH - Another piece of Maine's working waterfront has been given special protection. The Bremen Lobster Co-Op has 13 acres of waterfront on Muscongus Bay, and 28 fishermen work from the docks.

The fishermen who own the Co-Op say they agreed to deed restrictions to guarantee the property is always there for commercial fishing. In return, the Co-Op receives $300,000 from the land for Maine's future program, the money will pay for needed repairs and for a modern chilled water system so they can store lobsters much longer.

DOWN EAST NOTES

Press Herald - Maine's unemployment rate dipped slightly in September. The September rate was 8.5 percent, down from 8.6 percent in August and up from 5.6 percent a year ago.

Press Herald - Maine moved into the top ten of states that are in the forefront of implementing energy efficient practices according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. Top states are California, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Oregon, New York, Vermont, Washington, Minnesota, Rhode Island, and Maine.

The latest Public Policy Maine gubernatorial poll, which shows Mills beating aboth Mitchell and Rowe, also shows a strong gender gap. For example, 42% of men support Mills while only 27% of women do. The figures are similar for Mills vs. Rowe. In a generic gubernatorial race, 18-29 years olds are the most likely to vote Democratic or for a third party or independent. The 30-45 group is least likely to vote Democratic and those over 29 are 6-7 points less likely to vote for an independent or third party candidate.

CATHOLICS FOR MARRIAGE EQUALITY

From an interview with Ann Underwood of Catholics for Marriage equality by Adam Bink of Open Left

Q: Tell me about Catholics for Marriage Equality and what they're doing here in Maine.

A: Catholics for Marriage Equality started on Labor Day. We had two reasons for starting: one was to give hope to people who are angry and hurt because of the Bishop's determination to overturn same-sex marriage for couples in Maine, as well as people who are Catholics, but also GLBT or parents/grandparents/siblings of GLBT people, who say "how can a Church who stands for justice do something terribly hurtful?"

The second reason we formed is to disseminate information which is both truthful and respectful stating why Catholics can oppose the Bishop's opinion on same-sex marriage, why they do not have a duty to do what the Church hierarchy says they want to have done on this issue. There is so much in Catholic social teachings that says one must form one's own conscience on an issue, and with prayerful discernment, and so we wanted people to have information on which they could educate themselves and make prayerful discernment.

The Church has a right under canon law and civil law to restrict information that is given out on its premises, and regrettably they've chosen to do that. Opinions counter to the Bishop's are not being permitted. So practicing Catholics and members of the community have no way of understanding what blogs, websites, articles, people they could go to seek information that would give them the ability to form an educated opinion as to how they should vote on same-sex marriage in Maine.

Q: What have you done in terms of outreach?

A: What we've done in terms of outreach has been primarily by word of mouth and online because we can't get into church publications or on church property. Last May/June, in every church bulletin in every parish for six Sundays, the Diocese printed very glossy, attractive sheets of paper that each week would address one topic on same-sex marriage the Bishop wanted to call attention to. One week was how parental rights would be harmed, another week was how religious liberty would be harmed. So people had to read those, and may were immediately saying, 'how do we respond to this?'

So in August I sat down and wrote brief responses to each of those statements or arguments by the Bishop and we printed those up. We have them in hardcopy and obviously most successfully online at religiouscoalition.org.

CME was part of the two rallies that the interfaith community held in Portland and Bangor on Sunday. We were part of the sponsorship of Bishop Gene Robinson this past Thursday. We have people from Kittery all the way up to Houlton that have signed an online petition that is a statement of conscience, online, saying that as faithful Catholics, we do not support the kind of hatred that we feel is being displayed in the way they are framing their opposition to same-sex marriage.

We point out that Catholics in America are people who have traditionally been on the outside, who have been marginalized, who know what it's like to have the body politic of a dominant group casting aspersions, and how can we now be doing the same thing that's unconscionable? In this Sunday's Portland Press Herald, we took out advertising space to print a declaration of conscience that 128 relatively prominent Maine Catholics signed saying that we regret the Diocese has chosen to take energy and financial resources and put them into a campaign at a time that there is so much need for the Diocese to be addressing homelessness, food banks, etc.

Q: Has the Church responded to your efforts? Have they made any statements?

A: The Church has had no direct response to our efforts, no. I think periodically Marc Mutty seeks to reassure people that it's a very small group of Catholics that feel this way. The Bishop spoke at the Yes rally in August at the end of September said there was a small group of dissidents called CME. . .

Q: What kind of response have you had from both Catholics who may be favorable to your message as well as rank-and-file Catholics who may be less favorable?

To be honest, I haven't heard anything from anybody that hasn't been favorable. I get so much enthusiasm, especially from younger Catholics, who are the face of the Church we'd all like to see, the face of the Church of a God of expansive and not exclusionary love. One of the things that's struck me in this campaign is when the Bishop did his six statements, he never cited Scripture. He never talked about Jesus. He never talked about God. He never talked about love, justice, fairness and compassion. He had a strict political message. And what we've been trying to do with our buttons is say God is love. We're speaking out of our tradition and out of the Gospels and speaking about love, not a political action. My experience with the people I've been talking with and the stories I was hearing, I thought I would be doing something political. I really feel I'm doing something more pastoral, and listening to people's stories, hurt, and hope.

WHAT'S HAPPENING

November 5

David Swanson will discuss and sign copies of his new book "Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union." 12:30 p.m. Talk on "Undoing the Imperial Presidency" Bangor Room, Memorial Union, University of Maine, Orono. . . 7:00 p.m. evening talk on "Forming a More Perfect Union: Rights We've Lost and Rights We've Never Had" Peace and Justice Center of Eastern Maine 170 Park St Bangor, ME

November 6

David Swanson will discuss and sign copies of his new book "Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union." 6:00 p.m. at Longfellow Bookstore 1 Monument Way Portland, Maine 207-775-4045

Other

As a Maine Clean Elections candidate, Green Independent Lynne Williams has pledged not to accept campaign contributions from businesses, groups, associations, political action committees, party committees, labor unions or trade associations. All the money used to fund this campaign will come from individuals and from the Maine Clean Election Fund. But she needs seed money to quality. Details

LATEST POLL: NUMBER ONE TIED

The latest Public Policy poll has 48% supporting Question 1 to repeal the gay marriage law and 48% opposing. Those 30-45 and older than 65 support the question, as do Republicans and men. Most surprising result: those 18-29 only oppose the measure by 47-45.

OFF TO BOSTON FOR A PROTEST

A POLICE CHIEF SPEAKS OF LOVE

Press Herald, ME - Portland Police Chief James Craig told a group of civic leaders that love can be an important quality in police work. Craig spoke to about 100 people gathered for the Institute for Civic Leadership's Leadership in Action Breakfast Series at the Mariner's Church. The title of his talk was "What's love got to do with it? Leadership lessons from the beat."

Craig described how as a Los Angeles officer he was assigned to some of that city's most gang-infested neighborhoods. It became apparent that youth were attracted to gangs because that's where they found love and security.

Effective policing meant providing alternatives to young people, he said. He cited one middle school program where officers ran a sort of "boot camp" two afternoons a week and on Saturday mornings for the most challenging students.

The military approach helped curb the students misbehavior but also led to relationships with the officers.

"Some of these young people never heard the word love, especially from an adult who will look them in the eye," Craig said.

The emotion doesn't need to be articulated to be felt, he said.

"Certainly, the gang members when he's trying to get a new recruit, doesn't say 'I love you' and rarely do you see a police officer use the word love," he said. "It's about action. "

"If you are truly passionate and care about your community, you must love people," he said. "You can't serve if you don't love."

ANOTHER HOT MEETING IN WISCASSET

Paula Gibbs, Wiscasset Newspaper - After what Wiscasset Selectman Bob Blagden described as a "heavy handed accusation," the town’s harbor master walked out of Tuesday night’s weekly selectmen’s meeting.

An altercation occurred between Harbor Master Peter Dalton and a former member of the Waterfront Committee, Joe Picirrillo, in a discussion about vendors on the town-owned pier behind Sarah’s Cafe.

Waterfront Committee member Dick Lutes started the discussion by asking selectmen if they would waive the current policy which says vendors must remove their temporary sheds from the pier by the end of the summer season. The selectmen agreed to waive the policy at the end of the season last year, prompting criticism from some residents that the closed up sheds were an eyesore. . .

Blagden read from the waterfront policies which say the buildings must be removed. "What’s the sense of having regulations if we don’t go by them?" he asked. "Should we just change them?"

Selectman Phil DiVece said the previous board, of which he was a member, had directed the committee to review the policies to recommend changes to the selectmen. Lutes said he had just recently joined the committee, so he was not aware of that. Lutes said moving the buildings twice a year "tears up the timber.". . .

Piccirillo got up to question why the tenants are only paying $400 for the entire year.

"That’s pretty cheap storage anywhere," he said. Picirrillo also complained about damage that he said Sprague has done to the pier, including burning a plank.

Sprague got up to defend himself. He said he replaced the plank, which was discolored. He said he has been on the pier since 2002 and has put a lot of time and money into his business. . . Sprague also said he is "constantly harassed down there by a few people… I don’t know what it is, I don’t even know how to describe it." At that point, Picirrillo chuckled.

Dalton walked up to the podium, saying, "This gentleman keeps coming up here," an apparent reference to Picirrillo, and made a reference to Picirrillo "breaking in" to one of the buildings.

"That’s a pretty heavy handed accusation," Blagden said to Dalton.

"You’re a liar, sir," Picirrillo said.

A few more remarks were exchanged, including, "I wouldn’t carry your lunch box," and Dalton walked out of the meeting.

DOWN EAST NOTES

A boat in Portland harbor was reported on fire. Firefighters responded but found it was just smoke from a malfunctioning pump. There's nothing very interesting about this story except that the vessel was a recently decommissioned fireboat.

Boston Globe - A Gorham company is seeking a $50 million federal grant to help it turn sawdust into an affordable heating oil substitute. For three years researchers at Biofine Technology have been working to turn a bag of sawdust into heating and motor fuel at a cost of about $2 a gallon.

The story of a piano - It sits in the far back of the house in one of the big empty rooms where we stuff everything that we can't fit into the main house. I dust it once a month if I remember, otherwise it just sits there with things on top of it, magazines I don't want to throw out, old albums and a Teddy bear that says "I have a friend at New York Law." It's a piano, and it's older than me, older than her or this house, maybe older than city hall downtown. She, who doesn't play the piano at all, bought it for me in Los Angeles as an anniversary gift. I think it was maybe the 10th. Those were the days when I really played the piano. . .

Portland Daily Sun - If you favor regionalism over local control, Augusta solutions over community solutions, bigger school systems over smaller school systems, then by all means vote for the district consolidations. If you believe local is better, then help your country cousins keep their districts and pray the state mandates are enough of a wake-up call to prompt community-level responses to school budget challenges.

Company gets seaweed farming lease

CONSOLIDATED DISTRICTS COULD HANDLE VOTE REVERSAL

Press Herald - If voters opt to repeal Maine's school district consolidation mandate Nov. 3, 25 new districts formed under the law would be left without legal standing. With a return to pre-June 2007 laws, there would be no place in Maine statute for "regional school units" or "alternative organizational structures." State lawmakers would need to decide how to handle the transition back to pre-consolidation laws.

Newly formed districts wouldn't necessarily dissolve, Education Commissioner Susan Gendron told the Legislature's Education Committee in September. But member towns would have the option to allow residents to vote on their schools' administrative future. "There's going to have to be some language that allows them to stay how they are, at least for some period of time," Gendron said.

Regional school units could easily become school administrative districts, the structure formerly in place for multitown school systems, she said. And alternative organizational structures would have "a clear path" to becoming school unions, loose affiliations of town schools that share a superintendent. Both structures were outlawed by the consolidation mandate.

GAY ACTIVIST FINDS FRIENDS OF FAITH IN MAINE

Adam Bink, Open Left - Since I've arrived here in Maine, I've been intrigued at the element of religion in the debate, religious activism around marriage equality. . . On Thursday, I went to a packed-to-the-walls talk by Bishop Gene Robinson in the Cathedral of St. Luke's here in Portland, where he spoke movingly about Question 1. Yesterday, I went to a large march that concluded with a several-hundred person rally in a Unitarian Universalist Church in the afternoon (this is on a Sunday afternoon in the rain in seemingly a Patriots-rabid area).

What amazed me was the degree to which people of every faith had turned out for this campaign. Nearly every religious creed was represented. I spoke with a number of people at the rally who self-identified as regular worshipers and people of faith- those would respond affirmatively to the Gallup question. But they were not only against Question 1, they were activists.

I talked with Pastor Stephen Carnahan of The Open House United Church of Christ in Portland, [noted that approximately] 140 ministers had went to testify on marriage equality at the state legislative hearing, the congregation has done phone banking, and so forth. . .

It really is heartening to see this, because in many places, there's prevalent assumption that if it's religious, it must not bode well for LGBT people. I have a lot of friends who feel this way, and I personally have a reflexive antipathy towards religion until I went to the famous Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco, an incredibly community of volunteering and welcoming towards all people of all walks of life, but where members of the congregation were just as religious as any other. That congregation, and the ones in Maine I saw gathered on Thursday and today, prove the assumption wrong.

SO WHY IS SNOWE SO DARN IMPORTANT?

David Sirota, Creators Syndicate - I don't get why Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine - or any Republican senator, for that matter - is attracting so much attention.

In the last few months, Democratic senators eliminated the public option and substantially weakened their health care proposals in order to buy insurance industry acquiescence and, thus, Snowe's vote. Now all of American politics is focused on this unaccomplished backbencher and whether or not she will endorse the final bill. It is as if Snowe, not Barack Obama, won the biggest presidential landslide since Ronald Reagan.

This is bizarre.

First of all, Snowe's much-celebrated initial vote this week for an embarrassingly flaccid health care initiative wasn't necessary to pass the bill - Democrats had enough votes to move the legislation out of the Senate Finance Committee. That's a mathematical fact, as is the fact that Democrats control the 60 votes to overcome a filibuster with or without Snowe; as is the fact that Democrats have the 51 votes to enact health care reform through a parliamentary procedure called reconciliation - with or without Snowe. . .

Second, the idea that Snowe's support will result in the final legislation being called "bipartisan" - and that such billing will politically protect Democrats - is absurd. How do we know this? Because Democrats themselves taught us that via the Iraq war.
Recall that with solid Democratic and Republican backing, the 2002 Iraq resolution was far more "bipartisan" than any health care bill will be. Yet, Democrats used the Iraq war to criticize Republicans - and because the conflict was so wildly unpopular, Americans in 2006 and 2008 were willing to overlook the contradiction and vote for the only major party echoing any semblance of an anti-war message.

On health care, it will be the same in reverse: The GOP will invariably attempt to turn any bill into an electoral cudgel against Democrats - regardless of how many Republicans end up voting for it.

The lesson, then, is simple: If Democrats' Iraq criticism worked because the war was such a disaster, then the GOP's inevitable health care attacks - however hypocritical - can only be thwarted by making health care reform a major success. For Democrats, in other words, good health care policy is great politics, and bad policy is the worst politics.

BILL TO PROPOSE LIMITS ON SOLITARY CONFINEMENT

Maine Public Broadcasting - Among the dozens of bills that will be taken up by the Maine Legislature in January is "An Act to Reduce the Use and Abuse of Solitary Confinement." It would set limits on how long prisoners can be isolated except under certain circumstances and allow them to defend themselves in a public hearing.

It's a well-established corrections practice that some critics say is tantamount to torture. Harvard psychiatrist Stuart Grassian, who examined a large number of prisoners in segregated, solitary confinement units, concluded that long term isolation tends to induce psychosis, and that even those who do not become psychotic exhibit symptoms that include confusion, aggression, free-floating anxiety and hallucinations.

WISCASSET EIGHTH GRADERS IN YEAR LONG STUDY OF A RIVER

Wiscasset Newspaper - Wiscasset Middle School eighth graders have begun a yearlong integrated Sheepscot River study.. . . Through science, art, literature/history, writing, and technology, students will explore their community's river during the year ahead. . .

Learning about where the river originates and seeing it firsthand was only one benefit of the trip. Culture Supervisor, Jamie Bray, led students on a tour of the Palermo Rearing Station. There they learned how the Sheepscot River is used at the hatchery to raise trout for Maine's fish stocking program.

Then they investigated the river and became "specialists," completing several studies along the river at the Sheepscot Valley Conservation Association Palermo Preserve. . . .

Students then joined one of the four study sites along that stretch of the river, and using a quadrat, they studied the stream's biodiversity (recording their information for future studies), the stream's physical characteristics (quite different from the mudflats behind their school), its geography, chemistry, and geology. All of the information gathered in their field notes and surveys will be used in the science classroom in the weeks ahead.

LINCOLN COUNTY ALTERNATIVE SENTENCING IS WORKING

Wiscasset Newspaper - County Commissioners commended the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office for their alternative sentencing programs at their meeting. Chief Deputy Kenneth Mason told the commissioners the Lincoln County inmate population at Two Bridges Regional Jail was 28 compared to 41 inmates from Sagadahoc County as of October 6. Inmates diverted by the county's alternative sentencing program was 22, and by the Volunteers of America program, 19.

Commissioner William Blodgett pointed out that alternative programs are the best way to reduce inmate housing costs, thereby lowering the cost to taxpayers. Each inmate diverted from being incarcerated saves the county between $80 to $100 per day in boarding costs.

The alternative programs also help the families of inmates. It allows them to work to support their families and live at home while being monitored by the Sheriff's Office to ensure they are complying with the rules of the alternative programs.

AUGUSTA OFFERS FREE DOWNTOWN WIFI TO VISITORS AND FIRST 50 BUSINESSES THAT SIGN UP

Kennebec Journal - [Augusta's] new high-speed wireless Internet system is free for the first 50 businesses that sign up, free to visitors, and available to downtown residents for a fee. City officials believe Augusta is one of the first cities in the country to provide free Wi-Fi use for businesses. The service is intended to attract businesses, visitors and residents downtown -- and help keep them there

BRUNSWICK SCHOOL TO HAVE ROOST FOR MIGRATING SWIFTS

Press Herald - About 400 chimney swifts pass through Brunswick twice annually as they migrate between Canada and the mountains of Peru, Bolivia and Equador each May and August. Brunswick will soon start building an elementary school that's loaded with earth-friendly features such as efficient lighting and a geothermal heating system. What will make this school truly unique in Maine is its roosting tower for migrating chimney swifts. Architectural plans for the $22 million school include what looks like a simple brick chimney rising from a corner of the gymnasium. The hollow tower is intended to replace the chimney from the old Brunswick High School, which was Maine's largest roost for chimney swifts before it was demolished in the spring to make room for the new school.

Maine Green Independent Party Voter Guide

State of Maine Referendum Election Ballot Questions

Question 1: People's Veto Do you want to reject the new law that lets same-sex couples marry and allows individuals and religious groups to refuse to perform these marriages?

Recommendation: No

Maine ought to be proud to uphold this long overdue piece of legislation. The institution of marriage is at least partially defined by our government in that issues such as tax benefits and rights of survivorship are automatically granted to married couples. If the institution of marriage is available to some loving couples, it ought to be available to all.

Question 2: Citizen Initiative Do you want to cut the rate of the municipal excise tax by an average of 55% on motor vehicles less than six years old and exempt hybrid and other alternative-energy and highly fuel-efficient motor vehicles from sales tax and three years of excise tax?

Recommendation: No

Municipalities count on excise taxes for local up-keep of roadways, and should not be subjected to the proposed revenue cuts without any explanation of alternative funding mechanisms. The MGIP believes in decentralization, and the philosophy that municipalities are the best equipped to understand their unique needs. An across-the-board reduction in excise tax runs contrary to that philosophy by mandating that towns find a way to make up for the lost revenue, or simply go without necessary services.

The MGIP supports tax structures that encourage Mainers to use bus, rail and other alternative transportation. A reduction to the excise tax would promote the sales and production of new vehicles, and give a tax break to individuals able to afford new vehicles. This will put more cars on the road in a time when we need to be moving away from the old model of an automobile-centric transportation system and towards a new era of clean, affordable, and convenient public transit.

Question 3: Citizen Initiative Do you want to repeal the 2007 law on school district consolidation and restore the laws previously in effect?

Recommendation: Yes

The MGIP has supported the school consolidation repeal effort from the beginning, and many MGIP members worked on the campaign to repeal consolidation. The party believes that individual municipalities are the best equipped to assess their structural and financial needs. Some areas of the state may benefit from consolidation, while others stand to lose out significantly. Communities are best equipped to assess the potential benefits (or lack thereof) of school consolidation.

Question 4: Citizen Initiative Do you want to change the existing formulas that limit state and local government spending and require voter approval by referendum for spending over those limits and for increases in state taxes?

Recommendation: No

This proposal (Tabor II) would cap the level of government spending according to a formula that does not adequately account for social services such as education and health-care. The MGIP believes that a crucial role of the government is to provide needed services to its people, especially those least able to provide for themselves. If passed, this proposal would essentially tie the hands of Maine's state and municipal governments to perform the basic function of providing social services to the people of Maine.

Question 5: Citizen Initiative Do you want to change the medical marijuana laws to allow treatment of more medical conditions and to create a regulated system of distribution?

Recommendation: Yes

Predominantly, this proposal refines the existing medical marijuana laws already on the books in Maine. Maine already has medical marijuana, but this proposal sets guidelines for production, distribution, and consumption. The MGIP supported medical marijuana when it originally passed, and supports this refining initiative.

Particularly, the MGIP applauds the aspect of this proposal that allows for the creation of non-profit dispensaries in Maine. Removing for-profit motive ensures that dispensaries remain true to the purely medicinal task for which they are chartered, and leaves the medical marijuana industry less subject to profit-driven corruption.

Question 6: Bond Issue Do you favor a $71,250,000 bond issue for improvements to highways and bridges, airports, public transit facilities, ferry and port facilities, including port and harbor structures, as well as funds for the LifeFlight Foundation that will make the State eligible for over $148,000.000 in federal and other matching funds?

Recommendation: Yes

The MGIP supports this question with a caveat. Philosophically, the party would like to see a shift in our approach to transportation in Maine that favors a rail-based infrastructure with commuter access among other alternative methods of travel - an infrastructure designed to get Mainers out of their cars and into more sustainable mechanisms of transit. This bond will allocate the vast majority of funds to highway and bridge repair, while allocating disproportionately small amounts to rail and other important areas.

Nevertheless, the bond includes funding for many important infrastructural improvements including ports, ferry, rail, and life flight. And, the funding for road improvements will relieve many Mainers located in rural areas. Rural road conditions are taxing to vehicle maintenance, creating an immediate hardship especially for low and fixed-income Mainers that rely on roads as a primary mode of transportation.

As a fiscally conservative party, the MGIP always encourages careful consideration of bond issue referendum questions. But given the state of Maine's transit infrastructure in this recessionary time, the MGIP feels that the pros of this proposal outweigh the cons.

Question 7: Constitutional Amendment Do you favor amending the Constitution of Maine to increase the amount of time that local officials have to certify the signatures on direct initiative petitions?

Recommendation: Yes

The MGIP backs the referendum process as a right of the people of Maine. Referendum serves as a check in the balance between the state government and the people that government represents. Thus, in order to endorse this question the MGIP made sure that it would not negatively impact the timeframe for petitioners to collect signatures. A yes to question 7 will simply alleviate the hardships of understaffed municipal clerks to verify signatures of direct initiative petitions.

NO ONE GAINING WITH NINE POINT LEAD

Press Herald - According to new poll data, 52 percent of people who plan to vote in November say they will vote no or are leaning in that direction on question 1, the people's veto of Maine's same-sex marriage law. The poll shows that 43 percent plan to vote yes, or are leaning that way. And 5 percent remain undecided.

FEDERAL JUDGE TACKLES ANTIGAY MARRIAGE LAWYER

MSNBC - A federal judge challenged the backers of California's voter-enacted ban on same-sex marriage to explain how allowing gay couples to wed threatens conventional unions, a demand that prompted their lawyer to acknowledge he did not know.

The unusual exchange between U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn Walker and Charles Cooper, a lawyer for the group that sponsored Proposition 8, came during a hearing on a lawsuit challenging the measure as discriminatory under the U.S. Constitution.

Cooper had asked Walker to throw out the suit or make it more difficult for those civil rights claims to prevail.

The judge not only refused but signaled that when the case goes to trial in January, he expects Cooper and his legal team to present evidence showing that male-female marriages would be undermined if same-sex marriages were legal.

The question is relevant to the assertion that Proposition 8 is constitutionally valid because it furthers the states goal of fostering "naturally procreative relationships," Walker explained.

"What is the harm to the procreation purpose you outlined of allowing same-sex couples to get married?" Walker asked.

"My answer is, I don't know. I don't know," Cooper answered.

Moment later, after assuring the judge his response did not mean Proposition 8 was doomed to be struck down, Cooper tried to clarify his position. The relevant question was not whether there is proof that same-sex unions jeopardize marriages between men and women, but whether "the state is entitled, when dealing with radical proposals to make changes to bedrock institutions such as this . . . to take a wait and see attitude," he said.

"There are things we can't know, that's my point," Cooper said. "The people of California are entitled to step back and let the experiment unfold in Massachusetts and other places, to see whether our concerns about the health of marital unions have either been confirmed or perhaps they have been completely assuaged."

Walker pressed on, asking again for specific "adverse consequences" that could follow expanding marriage to include same-sex couples. Cooper cited a study from the Netherlands, where gay marriage is legal, showing that straight couples were increasingly opting to become domestic partners instead of getting married.

"Has that been harmful to children in the Netherlands? What is the adverse effect?" Walker asked.

'Proof of no harm?' Cooper said he did not have the facts at hand.

"But it is not self-evident that there is no chance of any harm, and the people of California are entitled not to take the risk," he said.

"Since when do Constitutional rights rest on the proof of no harm?" Walker parried, adding the First Amendment right to free speech protects activities that many find offensive, "but we tolerate those in a free society."

Walker made clear that he wants to examine other issues that are part of the political rhetoric surrounding same-sex marriage but rarely surface in courtrooms. Among the questions he plans to entertain at the trial are whether sexual orientation is a fixed or immutable characteristic, whether gays are a politically powerful group, and if same-sex marriage bans such as Proposition 8 were motivated by anti-gay bias. . .

Attorney General Jerry Brown, who was named as a defendant, has taken the rare step of agreeing with the plaintiffs instead of arguing to uphold the voter-approved law.

In allowing the case to move forward, Walker said significant questions remain about whether the California measure, which was approved by 52 percent of voters in November, unlawfully violates the rights of gays and lesbians to equality and due process guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution. The measure overturned a state Supreme Court ruling earlier in the year that legalized same-sex marriages.

LONGEST RUNNING GAY BAR IN MAINE CLOSES

Fox News - The Sportsmans Athletic Club in Lewiston, which owner Roland Blais calls the longest-running gay bar in Maine, called "last call" for the final time on Saturday night. The bar has been a staple of the gay community in Lewiston for more than 30 years. Blais says the economy made it difficult to stay open, and that now was the right time to close. The building is expected to be torn down.

LEWISTON'S OLDEST CATHOLIC CHURCH TO CLOSE

Sun Journal - [Lewiston's] city's oldest Catholic church - St. Joseph's Church - will close its doors Tuesday. Bishop Richard Malone will officiate over the final Mass, ending 152 years of history in the grand, brick building at 253 Main St. . . Shrinking congregations throughout the Lewiston and Auburn churches forced the closure of St. Joseph's - as well as St. Patrick's Church, which will hold its final Mass on Oct. 27.

DEPARTMENT OF GOOD NEWS

Times Record - Construction costs for the new Brunswick elementary school may be $5 million less than the $28 million originally anticipated, based on bids opened at the Brunswick Superintendent's office Thursday afternoon. Seven bids were received by Thursday's deadline, Superintendent Paul Perzanoski said. Five of the seven came from Maine firms. All seven cost estimates were "closely clustered together," he said. "It looks as if we will be able to save at least $5 million on the project, based on our budget and where the bids have come in," Perzanoski said.

PORTLAND OFFICIALS COULD BE BREAKING LAW BY USING FACEBOOK

PORTLAND AIRPORT HAS THIRD WORST ON TIME RECORD

Christian Science Monitor - According a new survey by the Brookings Institution, on-time performance as of June was up 5.1 percent compared with last June. The main reason: air passenger traffic is down about 6.3 percent. . . Even though on-time performance has improved, the good news isn't universal. The worst metro-area airports to fly into and out of are:

- New York

- Melbourne, Fla.

- Portland, Maine

- Philadelphia

- Columbia, S.C.

- Atlanta.

The best of the metro airports are:

- Salt Lake City

- Honolulu

- San Jose

- Detroit

- Ontario, Calif.

- Bakersfield, Calif.

"Some of it is weather related," says Mr. Puentes, since places like Salt Lake and Honolulu don't get a lot of snow, especially compared to Rochester (ranked 7th worst) or fog compared to Portland, Maine (3rd worst).. . .

TEXT-A-COP COMING TO PORTLAND

Police "senior lead officers" with publicly available cell phone numbers will be a new twist in community policing in Portland. Reports the Portland Daily Sun, "as the head of community policing for a given area, they will also work with civilians and other department units to target crimes and address neighborhood issues. The purpose of the program is to break down the wall that tends to exist between uniformed officers and some residents."

THE CASE AGAINST SCHOOL CONSOLIDATION

GREEN INDEPENDENTS OPPOSE QUESTIONS 2 AND 4

Maine View - The Maine Green Independent Party has announced that they oppose Question 2 (excise tax) or Question 4 (TABOR II). Maine Greens believe cutting excise tax only benefits those who can afford to buy a new car, adversely impacts town budgets, and seeks to encourage alternative modes of transportation. TABOR II, according to the MGIP would limit Maine government's ability to care for those that most need help.

POLICE BUDGET DISSED AGAIN BY MONMOUTH VOTERS

Kennebec Journal, Monmouth - Despite attracting nearly 800 people to the voting booth, voters for the fourth time since June rejected a proposed police budget. This time by the widest margin yet. "I'm pleased with the turnout," said Town Manager Curtis Lunt. "We'll make sense of this and go forward." While previous budget proposals have failed by just a handful of votes, residents on Tuesday rejected the $256,000 budget proposal by a 426 to 351 margin. Those who voted no were asked if they disliked the budget because it would spend too much, too little or if their decision was based personnel issues within the police department. While 108 voters said they wanted to spend more to fund the department, 155 said they wanted to spend less and 202 said they have concerns about personelle. "It's certainly more decisive on its face," Lunt said. "We'll have to look at the poll results and see where to go next."

SHIPPING STOPS AGAIN AT INTERNATIONAL MARINE TERMINAL

Portland Daily Sun - Shipping activity at the city-owned, state-operated International Marine Terminal has ceased after a mill in Northern Maine decided to stop exporting its wood pulp, officials said this week. Old Town Fuel and Fiber began moving containers filled with wood pulp out of the Commercial Street port in April, starting with weekly service before scaling back to twice-monthly service in the summer months. In September, all shipping activity stopped at the port, the latest in a series of starts and stops for the facility.

BATH'S FRONT STREET NAMED ONE OF NATION'S TOP TEN DOWNSTOWN ROADS

Boston Globe - The American Planning Association has named Bath's bustling Front Street as one of the nation's top 10 downtown streets. The association said Front Street is one of Maine's "architectural treasures," permeated by the city's shipbuilding and maritime tradition.

NEW BROADBAND PLAN AIMS TO BRING HIGH-SPEED NET TO RURAL MAINE

LOBSTERMEN WORRIED BY TALK OF HERRING CATCH CUTBACK

Maine Public Broadcasting - David Cousins, president of the Maine Lobstermen's Association, says he's concerned by the findings of a recent scientific study that calls for drastic cutbacks in catch limits for herring - the main source of lobster bait. These cutbacks, he says, will mean the indusry will run out of bait by August next year. "If that's the case we're going to be crippled because most of our landings come in after the middle of August," Cousins said. He says the industry is facing at least a 50 percent cut in lobster bait caught in the gulf of Maine. By next year, he adds, the amount of herring available to the lobster industry would be barely a third of what it was in 2007.

THINGS WE HADN'T STARTED WORRYING ABOUT YET

Maine Public Broadcasting - Under Maine's new tax reform law, all chocolate is not taxed equally, and that concerns Sen. Phil Bartlett. Bartlett, a Cumberland County Democrat who has two chocolate companies in his district, he is proposing a measure he says will fix a problem that has both chocolate makers and chocolate eaters upset. "Inadvertantly we've created this multi-tiered taxation of chocolates and candy," Bartlett told Capitol News Service

October 6

Maine Public Broadcasting - The state and Maine's largest private insurer Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield are locked in a legal battle over how much profit Anthem should be able to make. Earlier this year, Maine's insurance superintendent Mila Kofman denied Anthem's request to raise rates for its individual insurance products, calling it "excessive," and instead approved an increase that leaves Anthem without a profit margin for providing those 12,000 policies. Now Anthem has filed suit to get the decision overturned. Janet Mills is the Maine Attorney General who is representing the superintendent of insurance. Mills' office counters that Anthem averaged a 3.2 percent profit margin in its individual line of products for the nine years that the company has been in Maine. And that going a year without a profit from those products will not drain the company.

Kennebec Journal - The NAACP is registering voters at prisons in Maine, one of just two states that allow all inmates to vote while behind bars, in what is apparently the nation's first such statewide drive. The relatively few votes at stake -- only a few hundred -- mean the drive's potential to affect outcomes this fall on such issues as gay marriage, marijuana laws and tax limits is low. . . The NAACP is wrapping up its effort in Maine prisons this week. After next June's primary election, the organization plans to lead another drive at all 15 county jails, as well as state prisons.

Forecaster- The federal funds that keep the Amtrak Downeaster rolling will continue to flow for another month, thanks to a last-minute resolution by Congress on Sept. 30. But just how long the subsidy will continue is still uncertain. The Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality program funds the majority of the Downeaster's $8 million operating expense. The CMAQ funding, specifically an exemption that allows Maine to use it for the Downeaster, was included in the six-year transportation bill that was scheduled to expire Sept. 30, the same day Congress passed a stop-gap measure that would keep transportation funding at 2009 levels until Oct. 31.


Casco Bay Boaters - The chemistry of our oceans is changing, according to scientists who monitor the world's coastal waters. Seawater is becoming more acidic thanks to too much carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. The shift isn't noticeable to humans and seawater remains essentially basic in terms of its pH level, but the change is robbing seawater of its carbonate ions - molecules made up of one carbon atom and three oxygen atoms that are critical building blocks for calcification and shell development. At risk is anything that builds a shell, including mussels, clams, oysters and even lobsters. Also at risk are the fishermen and small, independently owned companies that are the lifeblood of Maine's coastal economy.

Also in Casco Bay Boaters are some choice items from the LL Bean's 1930 catalog. Mentioned are the free souvenirs Bean used to offer, such as the tin cup above.

Press Herald - Maine's ambitious plan to weatherize all existing homes over the next 20 years has a big hole: With limited money, it's cost-effective only to make upgrades that will cut average energy use by 25 percent to 30 percent. What would it take to slice consumption by half, or even three-quarters?. . . Some of the answers could come from an abandoned 1875 house that stands a boot's throw from L.L. Bean. It could become Maine's first example of what contractors call a "deep energy retrofit." Proponents have a $10,000 federal research grant to finance initial engineering for the Mallett Deep Energy Retrofit. Now they're trying to find money to do the work. . . One goal of the Freeport project would be to help standardize methods that seriously tighten the building envelope. . . . Another goal is to develop techniques to help lower the cost of a deep energy retrofit, estimated at $30,000 for the project house. That doesn't make financial sense at today's energy prices. That conclusion has been reached elsewhere in the country. A recent project in Tennessee that included solar hot water and electricity – and cut heat use by 65 percent – had a simple payback of 22 years. But the equation could change, especially in Maine, which is highly dependent on fuel oil for heat.

Brunswick Times Record - School Administrative District 75 officials are happy to have learned they don't have to change the name of the district to Regional School Unit 75 after all. More important, they won't have to spend thousands of dollars from an already strained budget on bus lettering and signage to reflect the name change. Believing the district was required to change its name to RSU 75 under the state's school consolidation law, the SAD 75 board of directors at meetings on Sept. 10 and Sept. 24 expressed displeasure at the estimated $5,000 price tag attached to the task of changing lettering on its school buses and vehicles, not counting the cost of changing building signs and letterhead.. . . Board chairwoman Joanne Reinhart said . . . the district is not obligated to change its name due to language in the consolidation law. . . Reinhart said she believes the names SAD 75 and RSU 75 will be somewhat interchangeable. She expects there may be some documents where it must be worded RSU 75.

Matt Prindiville, Natural Resources Council - Several gardening companies sell inexpensive plastic spigots that screw on to a 2-L soda bottle (of any brand). Fill the bottle with water, screw on the spigot, invert, and bury the spigot in the ground next to a large plant to provide it with a steady supply of water as needed.

Photo of Portland with a rainbow

Recovered history: The great Maine fraud

FUROR IN FREEDOM

Things got a little tense at the Dirigo Grange Hall in Freedom as citizens discussed the planned wind turbine development. Reports the Village Soup: Freedom residents wondering how their taxes could have gone up this year despite a new $10 million wind development . . . The three, 400-foot windmills on Beaver Ridge started pumping energy into the grid last November. During the planning stages of the project, wind developer Competitive Energy Services estimated the turbines would be valued at $10 million. According to company literature, the boost in the town's overall valuation would contribute to a 27-percent reduction in residents' tax bills. For the past five years, [Selectman Carol] Richardson said, town selectmen made a clerical error that contributed to an artificially low tax rate, a problem that was corrected this year. . . .

The discussion became heated when resident Carrie Bennett questioned whether the assessment of the wind development was consistent with that of other properties. Bennett said the turbines' contractor, Jay Cashman, claimed the development cost $12 million. If that were the case, she said, the town had assessed the turbines at several million dollars less than construction costs. . .

Selectman Ronald Price tried to put an end to discussion of the turbines, but the Bennetts weren't finished with the subject. The exchange quickly escalated until Price shouted down the dissent and a half-dozen residents stormed out of the room. . . When Richardson tried to reply to Bennett, Price shouted her down. "God damn it, I want to answer him!" he barked, smashing his fist down on the desk.

Richardson appeared to be trying to end the meeting when there was a verbal exchange between Steve Bennett and Price, who had moved out from behind the selectmen's table to a position in the aisle, leaning against a desk, across the room from Bennett.

Price strode toward Bennett and several residents jumped out of their chairs to head off what looked like an overture to a fistfight. The men were kept separated and eventually returned to their places on diagonally opposite sides of the room.

More of Ethan Andrews' article including pix

A FEW REASONS TO DITCH THE SCHOOL CONSOLIDATION LAW

From the NE Coalition to Save Schools

The law has not worked.

Despite a goal of reducing Maine's 290 districts to 80 by July 1 of this year, 218 remain. The state says it cannot quantify any savings so far as a result of consolidation, but has spent more than $4 million to try and enforce it. At the same time, property taxpayers in merged districts are seeing their tax rates go up - in one instance by 25 percent.

The law is not fair.

There are 66 districts, representing 55 percent of the state's enrollment, that were exempt from consolidating because of size, location or other special dispensations granted by the Department of Education.

Yet citizens in the more than 100 districts that were ordered to consolidate but voted against it are being threatened with $5 million in penalties simply for exercising their democratic rights.

The law is too rigid.

There is no way for a town to get out of a regional district after it joins one. And the law does not recognize voluntary cooperation among districts as a legal alternative to this failed mandate - cooperation that could actually save money and improve education.

WHAT'S HAPPENING

On November 6, Mainers have the opportunity to demonstrate commitment to peace and justice, to an end to war, to recreating a healthy nation. On that date a Rally will be held on Monument Square , Portland at 5 PM and will feature David swanson, co-founder of After Downing Street. The Rally is being co-sponsored by Veterans for Peace Chapter 001, Code Pink, Peace Action Maine and the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space.

"Protecting the Nature of Maine: Fifty Years of the Natural Resources Council of Maine" is a new documentary currently being shown around the state. Times and places

October 1

Maine Public Broadcasting - According to the Natural Resources Council of Maine, wind power and energy efficiency programs are generating significant jobs in Maine, and the potential for future job growth is large. The group says there are more than 2,500 businesses in the state that, in some way, have helped to reduce Maine's dependence on fossil fuels or helped Mainers cut their energy bills. . . The Council's study finds that 289 Maine businesses have helped construct five wind power projects; 230 businesses provide home energy audits and weatherization services, 427 businesses install solar hot water and photovoltaic systems, 1,300 businesses provide products and services in connection with the state's Efficiency Maine program, and there are more than 300 green architecture, engineering and energy consulting firms.

Religious leaders come out for No on One.

Press Herald - The state ethics commission voted 3-2 o order an investigation of the fund-raising efforts by the National Organization of Marriage, a Washington D.C. based organization that has given money to fight same-sex marriage in Maine. . . The investigation is expected to take several weeks and will likely not be completed before the Nov. 3 election.

Here's one thing a lobster has over you: negligible senescence. This is a term for "a few select animals that do not display symptoms of aging. More specifically, negligibly senescent animals do not have measurable reductions in their reproductive capability with age, or measurable functional decline with age. Death rates in negligibly senescent animals do not increase with age as they do in senescent organisms. . . Of course, species displaying negligible aging still die of other causes and so extremely old individuals are extremely rare. Since relatively few animals have been examined, the ultimate life span achievable by such an animal is not known.". . . Lobsters can live 100 or more years.