Local Entrepreneur Looks to Develop Water Park on Presumpscot

PPH:

Rob Mitchell's commute has taken him over the
Presumpscot River in Westbrook for the past 15 years. But when he took up
kayaking about 10 years ago, the river started to look different to him.In it,
Mitchell saw the potential for a recreational water park -- a project he thought
he'd take on once his kids graduate from high school.

- John C.L. Morgan

Group Promoting Lower Taxes Forms in City

AJ:

An organized group of Westbrook residents is
looking over the shoulders of city and school officials throughout this year’s
budget season.Westbrook Taxpayers United, boasting about 30 members, has been a
vocal presence during the budget process.

- John C.L. Morgan

City's Surplus Could Offset School Department's Deficits

PPH:

The school department ended fiscal 2011 more than
$760,000 in debt. But because the city finished the fiscal year ending last June
with a $9 million surplus the school department could get a bailout. The city
administration is recommending that the City Council use some of that surplus to
erase the school department's debt, which has accumulated over a couple years,
said City Administrator Jerre Bryant.

- John C.L. Morgan

High School to Host Community Forum on Drug Use Prevention

AJ:

The forum will feature a panel made up of
[Westbrook High School's substance abuse counselor Bruce] Dyer, Westbrook Public
Safety Director Mike Pardue, District Court Judge Keith Powers, representatives
from the Westbrook schools and Westbrook High School graduate Kyle Shangraw, a
member of the class of 2005, who will be sharing his story about his struggles
with substance abuse.

- John C.L. Morgan

Idexx Posts Strong First Quarter, Wins State Award

PPH:

The revenue growth was driven by higher sales of
laboratory diagnostic and consulting services in the companion animal-- or pet--
group, which contributes most of Idexx's sales. Idexx said it added customers
with a geographical expansion.

PPH:

Six Maine businesses, including two in Greater
Portland, have won Governor’s Awards for Environmental Excellence.The seven-year
old program is administered by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.
The awards were presented on Thursday by Gov. LePage and Maine DEP Commissioner
Patricia Aho in a ceremony at Jotul North America’s headquarters in
Gorham.

- John C.L. Morgan

PPH: Dancing Elephant 'Like Heaven on Earth'

Overcoming her prejudice against Westbrook,* Press Herald food reviewer Shonna Milliken Humphrey has good things to say about Dancing Elephant:

And that's when the magic happened. Ganesh-like,
all obstacles were removed to reveal a cup of spicy-sweet chai tea, steeped and
lovely, and somehow in the space of wondering where to look and what to focus
on, I was served some of the finest Indian food in my history of eating Indian
food

- John C.L. Morgan

* Exhibit A: "When an Indian restaurant opens in Westbrook, it is equal parts hopeful and wistful."

* Exhibit B: "[T]he 'I love Indian food!' enthusiasm tangles with 'But it's Westbrook' suspicion, and the result is confusion."

Next Stop for School Budget: City Council

AJ:

The council is scheduled to hold its first
discussion and a preliminary vote on the combined city and school budget at a
meeting in Westbrook High School’s room 114 on May 7 at 7 p.m. If the budget
passes the preliminary vote, the council will hold a final budget vote on May
14.

- John C.L. Morgan

Public Comment Kerfuffle Leads to Critical Ad, Review of Policy

AJ:

The debate started at an April 2 City Council meeting, when James
Tranchemontagne, who owns The Frog and Turtle and is a member of the group
Westbrook Taxpayers United, attempted to give a speech during the first of two
public comment periods on the council’s agenda on his frustration with the
city’s tax burden on home and business owners. Tranchemontagne initially spoke
for six minutes, twice the allotted time allowed for residents to speak during
the open comment period, before City Council President Brendan Rielly
interrupted him to remind him about the time limit (which is announced before
each public comment period at council meetings) and asked him to wrap up his
comments.

Video footage from the April 2 City Council meeting can be seen here. Tranchemontagne begins his comments at the 10:35 mark, and the testy exchange between he and Rielly described in the article begins at the 15:35 mark.

- John C.L. Morgan

Westbrook Gets Food Coma'd

A reporter from the University of Southern Maine's Free Press tagged along and chronicled the crew's visit to the Paper City.

- John C.L. Morgan

News Fit to Post: April 12

City Council to take another look at home fire sprinkler ordinance. (April 12)

City celebrates completed renovations to the exterior of Walker Memorial Library. (April 12)

School Board and City agree to a revamped policy regarding school resource officers. (April 12)

- John C.L. Morgan

School Board Restores Some Positions in School Budget

PPH:

Westbrook school officials have put nine positions
back into the department's 2012-13 budget, which initially called for a net
reduction of 21 full- and part-time jobs. Three high school teachers, a school
resource officer and a guidance counselor are among the positions that are no
longer targeted for cuts in the $31 million budget, which the School Committee
unanimously supported Wednesday night. The committee will take its final vote
April 11 on the budget, which now calls for the elimination of 26 positions,
including 10 full-time teachers, and the addition of 14 positions, including two
assistant principals.

- John C.L. Morgan

Full disclosure: I teach at Westbrook High School.

Casella Closure in Biddeford Could Impact Westbrook

AJ:

A newly revealed plan to finally close the
controversial Maine Energy Recovery Co. trash incinerator in Biddeford could
have big repercussions in Westbrook--construction of a long-delayed transfer
facility on land owned by Casella Waste Systems.

- John C.L. Morgan

Idexx Breaks Ground on New Headquarters

PPH:

The 108,000-square-foot administrative building,
which will hold offices for 300 employees, is the first half of a planned $60
million expansion, announced in July.The timing of the second phase, a
100,000-square-foot building for 400 employees, will depend on the continued
growth of the company, said facilities manager Dick Daigle."If we continue to
grow at the rate we're growing now, it's going to be fairly quickly," he
said.

- John C.L. Morgan

Westbrook Churches Join Forces to Feed Hungry

PPH:

More than 60 volunteers from four Westbrook
churches and other groups set up assembly lines in the basement of the Trinity
Lutheran Church to put together and pack 10,000 meals through Outreach Inc.'s
Kids Care program. Outreach Inc. is an Iowa organization that works to provide
food, clean water and education for needy children around the world.

- John C.L. Morgan

Food Coma TV Comes to Westbrook

AJ:

Food Coma TV is a collection of short films
released as a series online at www.foodcoma.tv, and hosted by Joe Ricchio, food
editor at Maine magazine. The show is based on Ricchio’s blog, Portland Food
Coma, and starts its second season on April 16 "We're excited to show off a city
that too often gets overlooked because of its proximity to Portland," Ricchio
said in a release.

- John C.L. Morgan

Related: Maine Food Coma (January 7, 2012)

Westbrook High Band to Play at UMaine Inauguration

AJ:

It’s not every year that the Symphonic Band at the
University of Maine gets to give a performance for the inauguration of one of
the university’s presidents.On April 11, the Westbrook High School Band will get
an even rarer treat: The privilege of playing at the same event.

- John C.L. Morgan

Westbrook Volunteer Recognized for Longtime Efforts

PPH:

A face in the crowd caught Lou Lampron's eye. So
did another and another. Familiar faces, but faces he didn't usually see at a
middle school basketball tournament late in March. "I knew something was up,"
said Lampron, who was becoming more uncomfortable by the minute. "I didn't know
exactly what."He was about to be hit with more affection and appreciation than
he wanted to handle last Friday night.Later he would say he didn't see it
coming. He had been too busy making sure the basketball tournament he started 20
years ago would complete its 11-day run without too many glitches.

- John C.L. Morgan

Mayor Hilton Joins Group of Maine Mayors Focusing on Economic Matters

Morning Sentinel:

The group, Mayors Coalition on Jobs and Economic
Development, includes mayors from Auburn, Augusta, Bangor, Biddeford, Lewiston,
Portland, Saco, South Portland, Waterville and Westbrook. Its first targets are
changes to the state General Assistance program proposed by Gov. Paul
LePage.

- John C.L. Morgan

Idexx to Break Ground on New Headquarters

AJ:

After waiting for nearly three years, Idexx
Laboratories is breaking ground in two weeks on a $35 million expansion of its
corporate headquarters on Eisenhower Drive in Westbrook.Code Enforcement Officer
Rick Gouzie said Idexx this week submitted an application for foundation work at
the site.

- John C.L. Morgan

Mayor Hilton Joins Effort to Legalize Same-Sex Marriage

PPH:

More than 160 mayors [in the U.S.] have signed a
statement advocating for the freedom to marry. Two other Maine mayors have
joined the group, Charlotte Warren of Hallowell and Colleen Hilton of Westbrook.
[Portland mayor Michael] Brennan said in a prepared statement that he will work
to bring marriage equality to all Maine families, and he invited municipal
leaders to join the coalition.

- John C.L. Morgan

Prides Corner School to Join Other Schools on Real Estate Market

PPH:

When Westbrook's Prides Corner Elementary School
closes in June, it will join a growing list of former school buildings in
Greater Portland in search of a new purpose. Four schools in Portland, Gorham
and Falmouth were closed last year, reflecting a statewide trend of declining
enrollments and the construction of new, larger schools that consolidate
classrooms.Officials have found new uses for some of the old buildings, but
other schools remain vacant and their future is uncertain.

- John C.L. Morgan

City Officials: Expect a Tax Increase

AJ:

Despite a proposed 2013 Westbrook municipal budget
of $23.25 million--a decrease of nearly $46,000 compared to this year--a drop in
the city’s property valuation of nearly $20 million may force a tax hike.And
that doesn’t include the school department’s proposed $31.6 million budget,
which could push the tax rate even higher.

- John C.L. Morgan

School Board Decides to Shut Down Prides Corner School

PPH:

Prides Corner School will close. The Westbrook
School Committee took a final vote Wednesday in favor of closing the elementary
school for kindergarten through second grade.The committee voted 6-1, with Jim
Violette opposed. Closing the school will allow the district to move forward
with a plan to restructure all elementary grades next school year.

- John C.L. Morgan

Westbrook Joins Cities in Political Fight Over General Assistance Funding

PPH:

[Gov. Paul LePage's] plan calls for the most
far-reaching change to Maine’s General Assistance funding in 20 years, said
Portland Mayor Michael Brennan."It will increase local property taxes and make
hundreds of people homeless in Portland," he said. Portland is joining with nine
other cities--Biddeford, Bangor, Lewiston, Auburn, Waterville, Augusta, Saco,
Westbrook and South Portland--to pressure lawmakers to reject LePage’s
proposal.

- John C.L. Morgan

Westbrook Principal Wins State Award

PPH:

The Maine Principals' Association has chosen Kate
Hersom of Saccarappa School as the state's 2012 Elementary Principal of the
Year. The award was presented to Hersom [Monday] morning at a schoolwide
assembly.

- John C.L. Morgan

Headline Update: March 3- March 8, 2012

AJ: Westbrook Historical Society opens new home in Community Center. (March 7)

AJ: Charter Commission presents its proposed changes to the City Council. (March 7)

AJ: Municipal spending is expected to remain level, and positions are expected to be eliminated. (March 7)

PPH: City Councilor Brendan Rielly opts not to run for Congress after Rep. Chellie Pingree decides not to run for the U.S. Senate. (March 7)

AJ: Sappi engineer becomes the University of Southern Maine's first engineer-in-residence. (March 7)

PPH: Comprehensive Plan Task Force prepares to unveil 10-year plan. (March 3)

- John C.L. Morgan

Happy Friday

h/t: Wool, Wood, and Whiskey

- John C.L. Morgan

A Couple Quick Thoughts on the School Budget

(Editor's Note: I am in my second year as a teacher at Westbrook High School, and the pilot program I'm involved with is once again on the chopping block. That's not what this post is about, though. Instead, it's my take on a couple issues that I have mulled over since we first learned about the particulars of this tough budget season back in December. And now that those specifics have been made public, here's my two-cents.)

Scrap the nearly $1 million in pay raises.

In the two most recent news articles about the school's budget quandary (here and here), most of the attention has been placed on the number of jobs cut and the amount of state and federal aid dollars that won't be coming our way. In both pieces, though, there's also a key paragraph, even though it has the tone of a throwaway passage.*

That paragraph is about how almost half of the $2.2 million budget deficit in the FY '12-'13 budget is due to pay raises for school district employees. Mindful of the conflict of interest I have in arguing against the pay raises within the context of job cuts and additions, I'm going to stay away from that debate and instead look at the pay raises within the context of rational economics and the need to raise taxes in order to fund at least some of the pay increases.

The pay raises should be extracted from the budget because they are not rational given the tough job market, both within and without the education sector; Westbrook's classroom teachers are well-off, at least relative to the population from whom we are looking for a tax increase; and because the culminating school of our district, Westbrook High School, is performing at a below-average level.

According to the Maine Department of Education, Westbrook High School's students in 2011 scored below the state average in all four of the categories (mathematics, reading, science, and writing) of the SAT,** which is used by Augusta as a common assessment for high schools across the state. Moreover, our high school's graduation rate in 2009-2010 (the most recent public information available) was about 80%, which was a couple points below the state average. And our high school's dropout rate in 2009-2010 was about 5% (see grad link above), or roughly a point above the state average.

These are three important criteria that assess not only a school but a district, and we are not even meeting state averages in any of them. Continuing to clutch to this pay raise will only continue to give fuel to public education's critics who complain our system rewards mediocrity, except in our case the argument could actually be made that we aren't even achieving mediocrity in return for said reward.

Another reason the pay raise should be scrapped is because the median salary for a classroom teacher in Westbrook is already more than what the median household earns in Westbrook. This is a significant point, because it is of course these households that will pay more taxes in order to fund at least some of our pay raises.

According to the conservative think tank Maine Heritage Policy Center's online database of public institutions' spending, the median salary for Westbrook's classroom teachers was $47,010 in 2009. As the 2010 U.S. Census figures confirm, that median wage for an individual teacher is slightly greater than what the median household in Westbrook earns ($46,810). This data is even more relevant when you consider our teaching wages are for about 40 weeks of labor over the course of a school year, or roughly 20-30% fewer weeks of labor than most working taxpayers in Westbrook work in a salary year.

Naturally, the argument for why Westbrook residents' taxes shouldn't be raised in order to fund administrators' pay increases is even stronger when you consider the median salary among Westbrook's administrators in 2009 ($83,761) outstrips the earning power of the median household in Westbrook by an even greater ratio than that of the median-earning classroom teacher in Westbrook.

Finally, the nearly $1 million in pay raises should be scrapped because they are not rational given the contraction and unique pecularities of the education labor market.

Obviously, I'm not a Human Resources expert (nor did I stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night), but I figure pay raises are utilized for a couple reasons: As a reward for a job well done and as a tool for the retainment of valuable workers. I've already addressed why we should not get a pay raise for the former reason above, so I'll address why pay raises don't make rational economic sense within the context of the second point of staff retainment.

Even just a cursory glance at the daily headlines would give you the accurate perspective that the job market in education is stagnant. In fact, if there's any movement in the labor market, it's the contraction of jobs available, not the expansion of job opportunities. So why give pay raises to retain employees, when there's nowhere else to go? And why give pay raises to retain your most veteran staffers, when there is little chance they will trade the (job) security blanket of seniority at their current school district for the lack of a (job) security blanket resulting from the loss of their seniority when they shift to a new job?

The job markets for almost all sectors right now are management-friendly, yet these pay increases would give you the impression from a purely rational perspective that it is labor who has the multitude of options. Pundits arguing for how and why governments and public institutions should be run like businesses often overestimate how feasible such an approach would be. But pay raises is an area in which there could be an overlap between the public and private sectors.

These arguments probably give the impression that my idea of a good school employee is a poor one. That's not true. It's just that pay raises for school staff should be taken on a case-by-case and year-by-year basis, instead of being viewed as an entitlement captured by an unwritten amendment to the Natural Rights portion of the Maine Constitution. Put simply, this is not the case nor the year for Westbrook's school employees to be awarded nearly $1 million in pay raises. Our culminating school is performing at a below-average level, our average staffers are already earning more than the average taxpaying household in Westbrook, and a pay raise is a failure to recognize the scarcity of options for us teachers to relocate elsewhere if we are discontented by the lack of a pay raise.

* The reason the pay raise is mentioned in a throwaway manner is because among all the fluidity of the budget, the contractual nature of the pay raises makes it as close to a fixed cost as you're going to find. That's why this issue won't be solved by the School Committee, which is busy enough without provoking a messy fight with the employees' unions only a year after the contract was agreed to. So it will either be resolved by the unions voluntarily re-negotiating the contract (t'aint likely) or it will be solved by taxpayers.

** As the teacher of a brief SAT Prep. Course, I share some of the blame for the relatively low SAT scores. Fortunately, the program was eliminated ruing the last year's budget cycle due to the ineffective nature of the course and the inability to attract a critical mass of students to participate in the course.

Recruit a sponsor for the upper athletic fields.

Whether it was S.D. Warren president George Olmsted contributing $150,000 in the mid-1960s for the construction of the eponymous field Westbrook High School currently uses or Hannaford's $100,000 donation toward Cape Elizabeth High School's athletic fields in 2006, there is evidence that Westbrook High School could raise revenue by selling the naming rights to its various athletic complexes.

As it stands now, the baseball and softball fields are nameless, but are sometimes referred to as Olmsted more out of happenstance, I think, than out of formal agreement. And the upper fields on which the soccer teams practice and the lacrosse and field hockey teams play their games are currently called just that, the upper fields.

Retain the Olmsted name for the stadium complex, sell the naming rights to the baseball and softball fields either together or separately, and package the upper fields as a complete complex in which varsity-level soccer, field hockey, and lacrosse teams compete. I've always thought the Olympia Sports Park had a nice ring to it, and it also could be a win-win situation for both the school and the Westbrook-based company Olympia Sports.

Besides increasing revenue, selling naming rights to the upper fields and shifting more events up there could save money in the long run: There would be less annual wear and tear on Olmsted, which would therefore lessen the need for a future, capital-intensive investment in the form of replacing the current field with costly synthetic turf.

- John C.L. Morgan

Westbrook Barn Refashioned as Kitchen

PPH:

Tina and Erik Richardson's new kitchen has all the
modern conveniences that most home cooks yearn for--top-of-the-line appliances,
stunning granite countertops and lighting fixtures that illuminate the room in
just the right way. But the 700-square-foot room also retains plenty of features
that showcase its previous life as a barn.Yes, you read that right--a
barn.

- John C.L. Morgan

Former Westbrook High Teacher Sentenced to Jail

PPH:

A longtime Westbrook High School teacher and
soccer coach who resigned last fall was sentenced Thursday to five days in
jail and forced to surrender his teaching license for providing alcohol to
a minor. Westbrook police received a report in September that Timothy
Gillis, 43, of Portland had given alcohol to a 16-year-old at his
apartment on Whitney Avenue in August.

- John C.L. Morgan

Full disclosure: I teach at Westbrook High School.

A Look Back at the Blizzard of '52

AJ:

The fierce storm, remembered as the Blizzard of
1952, belted greater Portland with 25.3 inches of snow driven by gale-force
winds. "We were snowbound for three days," Roger Knight of Smiling Hill Farm in
Westbrook said recently, recalling an 8-foot snowdrift in front of the farmhouse
on County Road."“The wind did howl."

- John C.L. Morgan

Local Retailer Bullish on Downtown Westbrook

AJ:

We absolutely encourage retailers to move here. The
more dynamic the retailers are in downtown Westbrook, the better it will be for
all of us. Westbrook’s Rudy Vallee Square is a gem that has been hidden for a
long time and it’s time to let it shine again.

- John C.L. Morgan

METRO Board to Consider Investment in Technology

Portland Daily Sun:

[T]he board will consider spending another $75,000
for new technology that offers real-time updates on arrival times that bus
riders could access via smart phones, iPads or personal computers.

[snip]

Last month, Metro’s board deadlocked 5-5 about
whether to spend the additional $75,000 or so for the AVL devices, software and
installation on every bus--which is just 20 percent of the total cost.
Portland’s five members supported the proposal while members from Falmouth and
Westbrook opposed it.

- John C.L. Morgan

Officials Take First Steps to Sell Relocate City Hall

PPH:

The city is taking the first steps toward selling its City Hall building on York
Street and consolidating administrative offices for the city and school
department. The City Council's Facilities and Streets Committee authorized the
city's administration Monday night to seek bids from commercial real estate
brokers.

- John C.L. Morgan

Westbrook Woman, Local Pools Part of Worldwide Event

PPH:

Pat Gallant-Charette, the Westbrook grandmother who
conquered the English Channel and the Catalina Island crossing off California at
age 60 last year, wants you to swim a few laps with her today. Or, at least, pay
a visit to a community pool for a free health screening or sponsor a swimmer
raising money for local heart programs. It's all part of an international
effort--29 countries are involved – called Swim for Your Heart to raise
awareness of heart disease and its prevention.Fourteen pools in Maine are
participating in the event, held for the second year in a row on Valentine's
Day.

- John C.L. Morgan

School Board Approves the Closure of Prides Corner

PPH:

The School Committee voted Wednesday night in favor
of closing Prides Corner Elementary School, which would set in motion a plan to
reconfigure elementary grades throughout the district. The 6-1 vote was the
first of two needed for the school to close and the plan to move forward.
Committee member Jim Violette cast the sole dissenting vote, but said he might
change his mind before the final vote next month.

- John C.L. Morgan

City Officials Unveil Plan for Maine Rubber Site, Seek Partners

PPH:

Westbrook Housing plans to hire architects to
design a multi-story building for the western end of Westbrook's Main Street, in
hopes that this will attract a commercial partner to share in developing and
owning the site, which used to house Maine Rubber Co. It is the most detailed
public proposal yet for the property at the intersection of Main and Saco
streets and William Clarke Drive, which the city has long seen as an impediment
to developing the downtown area.

- John C.L. Morgan

Competitor of Westbrook Business Closes

PPH:

Market Fresh's owner, Stephen Goodrich, said the
company's 20 employees were notified last week that Saturday will be their last
day of work. Goodrich said his sales staff has been referring customers to a
competitor, Native Maine Produce and Specialty Foods in Westbrook.

- John C.L. Morgan

Chipotle to Completely Replace Blockbuster

AJ:

A national chain of Mexican restaurants now has its permits to open in its
newest location next week in a shopping plaza in Westbrook, but the former
tenant of that property, a video rental store, will not be returning to an
adjacent space as originally planned.

- John C.L. Morgan

City to Begin Dialogue on Moving City Hall

AJ:

Westbrook city officials are planning to hold the
first official public discussions Feb. 13 on whether or not to move out of City
Hall and sell the building. City Councilor John O'Hara, president of the city's
Facilities and Streets Committee, said Tuesday that there will be an item on
next Monday's agenda referencing "consolidation" of city facilities.

- John C.L. Morgan

Paulians Take Over Westbrook Republican Caucus

PPH:

It won't be known for certain until Saturday who
got the most votes at the Westbrook caucus, but half of the 30 or so voters who
attended openly supported Paul. They frustrated some other attendees by
objecting to the process, introducing motions and ultimately choosing a Paul
supporter to be Westbrook's delegation chairman. The chairman gets to select who
will fill open seats to attend the state nominating convention in May.

If I weren't still recovering from last night's game, I might re-hash my thoughts on why I don't like the caucus system. Instead, I'll just link to a 2008 piece I wrote in which I complain about the unrepresentative nature of caucuses in the wake of a Republican caucus that attracted more than twice the participants than this year's edition.

- John C.L. Morgan

Westbrook Schools Take Hit in State Aid

PPH:

Westbrook Superintendent Mark Gousse was "stunned"
to learn that his district's state-aid allocation will decrease an estimated
$607,000, from $13.3 million this year to $12.7 million in 2012-13. "It's
devastating," Gousse said Friday. "It's a game-changer." Gousse fully expected a
reduction in state aid. Last September, the education department had estimated
it would be a disappointing but manageable $215,000 loss. But when the
department released updated figures last week, Westbrook's hit had nearly
tripled.

- John C.L. Morgan

Full disclosure: I teach at Westbrook High School.

Legacy Publishing Expands, Nearly Doubles Workforce

AJ:

The event celebrated a major expansion for Legacy
Publishing, which already has one 10,000-square-foot office on Speirs Street.
Now the company, a call center that produces multimedia personal development
products for families, has leased another 10,000-square-foot building on
Larrabee Road.

- John C.L. Morgan

Westbrook Schools Save Money with Alliance

AJ:

That [tough] financial climate makes the
Sebago Education Alliance an even more welcome opportunity to cut costs and pool
resources for five member districts: Westbrook, Gorham, Scarborough, School
Administrative District 6 and Windham/Raymond. The alliance has saved its
districts thousands of dollars a year, particularly in special education costs,
which are typically a large piece of any school’s budget.

- John C.L. Morgan

Full disclosure: I teach at Westbrook High School and have worked at the SEA's day treatment program.

Maine DOT Begins Bridge Repairs Early

PPH:

Construction is under way to replace the bridge in
Westbrook that got its 15 minutes of infamy last fall when President Obama cited
its deterioration as an example of the nation's desperate infrastructure needs.
Workers from Reed & Reed, the contractor for the $5 million project, are
erecting a temporary bridge next to the Cumberland Mills Bridge, which is to be
replaced and ready for use by the spring of 2014. Traffic is expected to shift
to the temporary bridge in May, said Ben Condon, project manager for the Maine
Department of Transportation.

- John C.L. Morgan

Cuts in State Spending Could Close Westbrook Drug Rehab Center

PPH:

At Mercy, the cuts would lower revenues by an estimated $6 million a year, said
Eileen Skinner, president and chief executive officer. As a result, the hospital
would likely close the Mercy Recovery Center, the largest substance-abuse
treatment center in Maine. Closing the Westbrook facility, which serves people
from all over the state, would eliminate 100 jobs. Mercy supports the governor's
goal of being fiscally responsible, Skinner said. "But we obviously endorse an
approach that is more gradual and targeted so things can adjust and people can
understand the unintended consequences of whatever action they take," she said.

- John C.L. Morgan

Swimmer Looks to Raise Funds to Fight Heart Disease

AJ:

An informal effort to raise money for heart health
research and education, started last year by a Westbrook woman, has blossomed
into a worldwide event scheduled for Valentine’s Day. Participation in Swim for
Your Heart Feb. 14 has grown exponentially since last year, said the event’s
founder, Pat Gallant-Charette, who drew international acclaim after swimming the
English Channel last summer.

- John C.L. Morgan

Related: Westbrook Woman Swims English Channel (August 22, 2011)