Brunswick house fire displaces 2 people
Feb 09, 2012 8:30 am
Brunswick firefighters cut a hole in the roof of a burning single-family home at 156 McKeen St. on Thursday, Feb. 8. Fire Chief Ken Brillant said the fire was caused by a candle in the living room, and had spread to the second floor when firefighters responded. Brillant described the home as "gutted," although it will likely not need to be torn down. No one was at home at the time, but the fire displaced the couple who had been living there. The Red Cross put the residents up in the Comfort Inn the night of the fire.
Amtrak discussion reveals rift among Brunswick residents
Feb 09, 2012 8:20 am
BRUNSWICK — Some residents' patience with the Brunswick West neighborhood group is apparently wearing thin. Seven people at the Feb. 6 Town Council meeting spoke against the group's request that the council write a letter to the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority asking the agency to have a proposed Amtrak Downeaster layover facility comply with state noise standards. NNEPRA is only required to follow federal standards, which are not as strict as the state's rules.
Brunswick school aid result 'could have been a lot worse'
Feb 08, 2012 4:10 pm
BRUNSWICK — Although residents may believe their state education subsidy is being unfairly reduced, a Department of Education spokesman said that's not the case. "There's no targeting," spokesman David Connerty-Marin said. "It's simply a matter of running the numbers through the formula." Try telling that to Superintendent of Schools Paul Perzanoski, who said "In situations like this, it's far from objective."
Harpswell budget could increase 7%; tax hike not expected
Feb 08, 2012 3:50 pm
HARPSWELL — Town Meeting will be asked to approve a 7 percent budget increase this year, but a tax increase seems unlikely. Town Administrator Kristi Eiane said that could change if selectmen do not approve using money from the town's fund balance to keep the tax rate low, or if she receives new information on how much Harpswell will owe School Administrative District 75.
Sunset on the sound
Feb 08, 2012 2:40 pm
A clammer finishes his day on the flats near the Town Offices in Harpswell, as the fading sunlight bathes Harpswell Sound.
Topsham selectmen approve crosswalk move
Feb 08, 2012 2:10 pm
TOPSHAM — The Board of Selectmen on Feb. 2 unanimously approved moving a Bridge Street crosswalk about 100 feet south, to where it used to be. The board also called for a sign to be installed that warns traffic of the crosswalk. Resident Jeff Deletesky, who proposed the move, said a crosswalk at the intersection of Union and Bridge streets, which led to the Swinging Bridge, was moved about four years ago to its current location. "People continue to use the old crosswalk," he said, noting that he has rarely seen the new one used.
Bowdoin College researchers predict impact of rising sea level on Harpswell, Brunswick
Feb 08, 2012 10:50 am
HARPSWELL — For generations, the Abenaki carried their boats from Harpswell Cove to Middle Bay across a narrow point of Harpswell Neck. Now a new study identifies that low-lying marsh, and the intersection of Route 24 and Coombs Road along Buttermilk Cove, as two of the most vulnerable areas to sea-level rise and flooding.
RSU 1 to move central office to Bath business park
Feb 08, 2012 10:30 am
BATH — Regional School Unit 1 signed a five-year lease last week to move its central office to the Wing Farm Business Park. The move is designed to cut costs for the school district, which serves Bath, Arrowsic, Phippsburg, West Bath and Woolwich. RSU 1 operated at the John E. L. Huse Memorial School on Andrews Road before temporarily moving its offices to the nearby Small School in April 2010. The move has allowed the students and staff of Woolwich Central School to attend classes at the 70-year-old Huse School while their own school is being largely rebuilt.
Bath planners approve new Hyde School dorm
Feb 08, 2012 10:20 am
BATH — The Planning Board on Tuesday unanimously approved the site plan for a new dormitory at Hyde School. George Paton, facilities director at Hyde, said demolition of the existing dorm is planned for June. Construction of the new dorm on the site is expected to be finished next January. The 17,000-square-foot Campus Drive building will replace an existing dorm built in 1975. It will house up to 56 students in 28 rooms and have four faculty apartments. The capacity of the existing dorm is 34 students and two faculty apartments.
Iconic Frosty's Donuts reopens Saturday in Brunswick
Feb 08, 2012 9:50 am
BRUNSWICK — Ever since he first stepped inside the small red building at 54 Maine St. and bit into a glazed twist, Nels Omdal has wanted a piece of Frosty's Donuts. "I said multiple times to my family, 'I'm going to buy this place someday,'" Omdal said Monday while sitting at a booth inside the shop. "This place is a gem." Nearly six years after that first bite, Omdal and his wife, Shelby St. Andre, are the proud owners of the town's iconic doughnut shop, and they're getting ready for a grand reopening Saturday, Feb. 11, at 8 a.m.