Nov. 5, 2013 Elections: Municipal and state referendums, ordinance changes, candidates
Voters go to the polls Nov. 5 to consider five statewide ballot questions, and various individual municipal warrant articles. Following are election previews and recent issue stories for Knox and Waldo counties, as well as a rundown of the bond issues voters across the state are being asked to decide.
View a list of polling places and town contacts here: Knox County, Waldo County
As polls close election night, results will be posted on PenBayPilot.com as they are reported for Knox and Waldo counties. Stay tuned.
Ari Snider: Flemish common folk
Same-sex marriage licenses: where and when to get one
Same sex marriage becomes a legal option for Maine residents Saturday, Dec. 29. And while Midcoast towns are unlikely to be issuing them at midnight as is planned in Portland, some Waldo County municipalities will be open on Saturday for business as usual. In Knox County, there are no regular Saturday town office hours and no special openings this Saturday.
Others, like Belfast have made special arrangements to be open when they wouldn't otherwise.
A full list of municipalities… Read more
Approving dock licenses, new sign, and tax abatements, Camden tends to last business of the year
CAMDEN — Camden's Select Board tended to a slew of business at its Dec. 18 meeting, including the acceptance, with regret, of longtime volunteer Sidney Lindsley's resignation from the Planning Board. The board also held a moment of silence for the community of Newtown, Conn.; approved placement of another group business sign, this one on Mechanic Street near a tree that some referred to that night as the “Roger Moody Tree”; and entered executive session to talk… Read more
Near misses, random hits and Battleship in the Far East
MORRILL - Two years ago, Russell Manton was on the verge of making the kind of business decision that might have earned him an invitation to a state functions as an example of Maine, or maybe American, ingenuity. So counter-intuitive and open to patriotic interpretation was it.
And it almost worked.
Manton’s office is in Morrill. The products he sells — electronic door locks and bedbug-blocking… Read more
The real time drama of Christmas
Twenty eight million deliveries in one day. Even Santa Claus would be impressed.
This week alone, United Parcel Service shipped 135 million packages around the globe. On Thursday, Dec. 20, UPS estimated it will deliver 28 million packages, making it the busiest day of the holiday season.
“That’s about 300 packages per second,” said a UPS corporate spokesperson.
To help with the holiday rush, UPS added 55,000 part time employees to work through the season. And it doesn… Read more
Front Street Shipyard gambles on good early feedback
(Editor's note: Questions from residents about building numbers referred to at the Shipyard led City Councilor Mike Hurley and BEL-TV's Ned Lightner to film a short video tour of the property, embedded here with Hurley's permission.)
BELFAST - A major expansion proposed by Front Street Shipyard got a warm enough welcome when it was unveiled earlier this month that the city has set out an expedited timeline for approvals.
The plan, which would allow the Shipyard to finish… Read more
On footbridge amenities, an armistice but no resolution
BELFAST - The thought of adding seats and lighting to the footbridge (a.k.a. Armistice Bridge) brought an angry contingent of veterans to City Hall last month. When the topic came up again on Dec. 18, the tone had mellowed but some disagreements remained about what amenities the bridge should have, if any.
"First of all, we're not angry," said Friends of the Bridge organizer Tammy Lacher Scully, who, along with American Legion Commander Tim Parker, spoke on behalf of a newly-formed… Read more
Camden, Rockland Hannaford supermarkets get overhauled; restaurant to burn
CAMDEN — The steady bang, bang, bang you hear as you walk around Hannaford Supermarket, just off of Route 1 at the Camden-Rockport town line, is not recorded music; rather, it is the sound of progress.
The Scarborough-based company is expanding its Camden store into the plaza’s former Movie Gallery space, increasing square footage from 28,000 square feet to 32.500 square feet. The additional space will house the Hannaford’s produce section and a new entrance to the store. Additional… Read more
Knox and Waldo County officials approve 2013 budgets
MIDCOAST - County government expenses, including the sheriff's department, corrections facilities, emergency management and 911 dispatch centers, account for around 10 percent of property tax bills in the Midcoast. This month officials in Knox and Waldo counties signed off their respective budgets for the upcoming year.
Knox County commissioners and budget committee approved a $6.6 million bottom line for 2013, up 4.3 percent, or roughly $281,000, from the current year.
Most of… Read more
athenahealth, the Arsenal and Belfast
WATERTOWN, Mass - Last week, athenahealth, a provider of web-based billing services for independent physicians' practices, made headlines after inking an agreement to buy the 29-acre Arsenal on the Charles office park complex from Harvard University for $168.5 million.
But what effect, if any, will the purchase have on the company's offices in Belfast?
Athenahealth has been headquartered at the Arsenal since 2005 and currently occupies 245,000 square feet of office space there,… Read more
Early returns from Islesboro's late season hunt
ISLESBORO - Outside Laura and Cliff Houle's auto garage, junkyard and oil delivery service, five deer lay in the back of a refrigerated truck. They were all does. And all of them had been killed with guns, which, depending upon who you ask, is a new thing on Islesboro.
Laura had removed one tooth from each, measured antlers of those that had them and logged numerous other details about the circumstances of their death. The teeth will be sent to a lab in Montana for tests that will… Read more
Rockland Coast Guard Chili Challenge winners announced
ROCKLAND — The Rockland Coast Guard City Committee Nov. 30 hosted its second annual Chili Challenge at the Maine Lighthouse Museum. Entries were received from U.S. Coast Guard Station Rockland, and cutters Thunder Bay, Abbie Burgess and Tackle.
Judges for the event were Tim Carroll, president of the Maine Lobster Festival; William Clayton, executive meetings and wedding coordinator at the Samoset Resort; Mike Woods, owner of Trackside Restaurant in Rockland;… Read more
Trips, capes, and many stories yet to tell
(Editor's note: This is an edited version of the article to correct the location for the New Year's Eve inauguration of the new poet laureate. The ceremony will be held at the Playhouse Theater on Church Street, starting at 6 p.m.)
BELFAST - Everybody has a heyday of sorts. But not often does someone momentarily embody the zeitgeist as completely as Ellen Sander, who was appointed Belfast's newest poet laureate this week.
As a young journalist she rubbed shoulders… Read more
Shipyard love mutes criticism of Belfast expansion plan
BELFAST - Front Street Shipyard detailed a major proposed expansion of its waterfront complex to the City Council on Tuesday night. The plan, which would call for the construction of the largest building yet on the property and most likely require use of city land, drew some strident criticism after it was announced last week. But an explanation by the Shipyard's soft-spoken president J.B. Turner seemed to have mellowing effect, reducing deal breakers to details, with several councilors… Read more
Shipyard expansion details tonight in Belfast
BELFAST - Front Street Shipyard will be laying out a proposal for a major expansion of its waterfront complex at the Belfast City Council meeting tonight. Below is a brief preview of this and other agenda items. The City Council meets at 7 p.m. tonight in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 131 Church Street.
More of a good thing, or too much? - The Shipyard's pitch for its largest addition to date is likely to include requests to use or build on top of one or more of… Read more
Parks, recreation, or can there be both?
BELFAST — The city manager, in his Dec. 18 report, said he expects to be advertising soon for the vacant park director's position.
The move would be standard procedure were it not for the three months it took to get there, a period of time during which the volunteer Parks and Recreation Commission set aside its grand ambitions and went into survival mode — with some members wondering to what degree the department would even continue to exist.
The story mostly unfolded between the… Read more
Wanderbird after Panther: Retracing a painting expedition to Greenland nearly 150 years on
BELFAST - A group of artists traveling by boat to the Arctic today could be blithely overlooked as a facet of the eco-tourism industry, but in 1869, the year nautical painter William Bradford set sail with two photographers for the west coast of Greenland, it was pretty much unheard of.
Much of the area remains relatively uncharted today, according to Karen Miles of Wanderbird Expedition Cruises, who along with her husband and co-captain, Rick, sailed with a group of photographers,… Read more
Belfast businesses brace for flocks (or braces) at Saturday's Early Bird Sale
BELFAST - Do you really have to drive an hour to find decent holiday shopping? According to Jean Watts of Glenburn, who came from the Bangor suburb with a friend to shop for stocking stuffers in downtown Belfast on Thursday, the answer is "yes."
"The stores here are so fun," she said. "They go out of their way to have quirky things and they greet you personally and explain the goods."
At Bella Books she picked up a copy of Les Misérables in anticipation of the upcoming… Read more
Front Street Shipyard talks expansion, use of city land
BELFAST - Following recent closed-door discussions with city officials, Front Street Shipyard went public Wednesday with a proposed expansion of its waterfront complex that would include a new pier, a larger mobile boat lift, and a new workshop that would be the largest building on the property.
Shipyard President J.B. Turner said the expansion is needed to accomodate larger vessels, some of which the business has had to turn away because of the 160-ton limit of the current travel lift… Read more
Showing up, with a rose or a wreath, between seasons
SEARSPORT - Selling handmade Christmas wreaths for $5 a pop out of the back of a truck parked alongside Route 1 could be a real grind, but for Larry Carrozzo of Searsport it's relaxing — fun, even — and it turns a decent profit.
Carrozzo used to contract with the big wreath companies, getting around $35 for a dozen wreaths that might retail at a supermarket for $20 apiece. They were good wreaths — double-sided and of a certain weight — but as Carrozzo came to realize, a lot of people… Read more
Vets take stand on footbridge seating, lighting
BELFAST - In an episode reminiscent of last summer's boycott of downtown businesses by motorcyclists, a passing comment at City Hall provoked another proud group. This time it was military veterans, who packed the Council Chambers to protest changes to the footbridge, or Armistice Bridge.
At issue was the Council's recent support of a request by the economic development group Our Town Belfast to pursue a $132,000 grant from ArtPlace, a… Read more
Camden called twice to High Street chimney fire
CAMDEN — The first time Camden firefighters were sent to 26 High St. (Route 1) Thursday morning for a reported structure fire, at 9:09, Fire Chief Chris Farley said the homeowner reported smelling "something warm upstairs."
A check of the area around the woodstove and the chimney included taking readings with a thermal imaging camera, from the stove up through the roof. Farley said the camera indicated a small area of the chimney showing a reading of 120 to 130 degrees Fahrenheit.… Read more
Statewide Student Mock Election results mirror adult vote with a progressive tilt
AUGUSTA - Their votes may not have counted in the traditional sense, but the students of Maine have spoken at the polls. Results from the 2012 Maine Student Mock Election were released by The Maine Secretary of State's Office on Wednesday and many of the figures were surprisingly similar to those turned in by registered voters on Election Day. There were also notable exceptions.
Student and adult voters agreed on the candidates for the four national offices and on all but one of the… Read more
How to sell a jail (or a mansion, or a school) in 2012
BELFAST - Creative conversions of 100-plus-year-old buildings is nothing new. The spacious, character-filled factories of the second industrial revolution, chicken barns and even big box stores have subjects of what is broadly termed "adaptive reuse." But other types of properties have been harder pressed to move beyond the circumstances of their times.
In Belfast, three historically-valuable but commercially tricky properties — products of expansive 19th and early 20th Century… Read more
House District 45, Senate District 20 slated for recounts
AUGUSTA - Recounts have been requested in the Maine House District 45 and Senate District 20 races, according to Megan Sanborn, a spokeswoman for the Secretary of State's Office, who said 14 recounts had been requested statewide as of 9 a.m. Wednesday.
In House District 45, including Burnham, Freedom, Knox, Montville, Palermo, Thorndike, Troy and Unity, incumbent Rep. Ryan Harmon (R-Palermo) lost his seat to challenger Brian Jones (D-Freedom) by 26 votes in Election Night tallies.
… Read moreBad creases, bleary eyes and every vote counted
BELFAST - At the close of polls on Election Night, workers at the city's three polling places printed out tallies from the optical ballot readers, posting those unofficial results for the benefit of those keeping a close eye on local races. Several days later, however, the city had yet to release official results.
So why did it take so long?
The issue was not one of "hanging chads," but it did involve odd voting machine behavior in which ballots were apparently read but then… Read more
Two scenes from Veterans Day
BELFAST - With the parades and other public celebrations of Veterans Day passed, the Monday holiday offered some in Belfast — veterans and nonvets alike — a chance to quietly be with their people.
The Belfast Chapter of Veterans of Foreign Wars held a parade on Sunday, so by Monday the scene at Post 3108 was, according to longtime member Lenny Harvey, typical of many days.
Johnny Cash played from speakers in the stairway leading to the upstairs cantina that Harvey manages for the… Read more
Belfast Harbor Walk start delayed by contaminated soil
BELFAST – From downtown revitalization, to transportation-related projects, the city of Belfast has been increasingly successful at getting grant money. But in a somewhat ironic turn of events, one of the city's quieter grant-funded projects, offering environmental assessments to owners of potentially polluted former industrial properties, has put a damper on its most expansive public works effort in years, the Belfast Harbor Walk.
Construction on the pedestrian and hiking promenade,… Read more
Recounts possible in three Midcoast races
MIDCOAST - Several Maine Legislature races were close enough that they could be subject to recounts should the losing candidate choose to challenge the results.
As of noon Friday, Nov. 9, Megan Sanborn, a spokeswoman for the Maine Secretary of State’s Office, said five recounts had been requested in state legislative races, but none in the Midcoast where two House races and one Senate race were decided by very small margins in the unofficial election night tallies.
Sanborn said… Read more
Mortier wins Belfast Council seat in close contest
BELFAST - Mary Mortier edged out Chris Knight in the only contested Belfast City Council race, winning the Ward 1 seat vacated by two-term Councilor Marina Delune.
Delune opted not to run for re-election. Councilors Roger Lee and Nancy Hamilton, from Wards 2 and 5 respectively, were each re-elected in uncontested races.
By an unofficial count on Tuesday night, the Ward 1 contest was decided by 188 votes. Mortier's opponent Chris Knight took Ward 5 by a decent margin and was… Read more