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)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
[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.
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.
