PORTLAND

Citing exhaustion, Old Port Playhouse closing its doors

The Old Port Playhouse has ceased operations.

The playhouse operated one full season and a part of another at a small space on Temple Street. It presented its final shows last weekend.

Artistic director and co-founder Michael Tobin confirmed the decision to close in an e-mail, attributing the move mostly to exhaustion and stress.

“The good news is that the production company will continue. We realistically know that trying to produce a new show every month has become impossible. Since opening in October of 2009, we have done 21 shows and many events. It has been a very, very difficult and emotional decision for us to make but a necessary one personally and for me, health wise,” Tobin wrote. 

Designer T-shirt company moving to Portland from NYC

A designer T-shirt company has moved its operations from New York City to Portland.

Elykssor Clothing was started by Kyle Poissonier, a 2003 graduate of Skowhegan High School.

Elykssor, a name derived from the mythical “elixir of life,” touts the concepts of the renewal of youth and prolonging life in its T-shirt designs.

The Bangor Daily News reported that Elykssor started as a Husson University business school project for Poissonnier that took off when two of his friends jumped into the venture. In the past three years, the company has seen steady growth in sales in the U.S. and Canada.

AUGUSTA

LePage presses DHHS split, shift in state budget process

Gov. Paul LePage used his weekly radio address to highlight fiscal problems uncovered in the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, and his support for changing the way budgets are handled.

LePage pointed Saturday to $66 million in overpayments in Maine hospitals, a $10 million spike in weekly MaineCare payments and nearly $30 million the state must repay the federal government. To regain control, he’s proposing to split the department into two agencies.

LePage said the complexity underscores his support for moving the state’s two-year budget process to the second year of each Legislature.

He was required to submit his budget little more than a month into his term, providing little time to get up to speed.

LISBON

Community turns out to aid family affected by house fire

A community fundraiser took place at Lisbon High School on Saturday for a family that lost two daughters in a recent fire. The Lisbon High School Athletic Boosters, firefighters, student athletes and townspeople helped organize the event, at which people donated returnable bottles, clothing, money and $800 worth of gift cards to help the family.

Natalie Hogan, 11, and Kelsey Hogan, 6, died in a house fire March 4. Their mother, Lorna, and her four other children survived, and the community has rallied in support.

A steady stream of cars backed up onto Lisbon Street as the drivers waited to donate returnables.

“I have never seen this many bottles at once,” said Carrie Sylvia, owner of Lisbon Falls Redemption Center.

Karin Hall of Bowdoin said the $800 was collected from employees of the Central Maine Power Service Center in Brunswick.

WESTBROOK 

Three teens arrested in drug case

An alleged drug deal at Westbrook Middle School has resulted in the arrest of three local teens, according to police.

The three face felony drug charges following a Wednesday incident at the school. Police said a 13-year-old boy was charged with four felony counts of aggravated trafficking in scheduled drugs after selling prescription medication to two other students during lunch. Several students told police they saw the deal take place in the school cafeteria.

Police said the drugs were painkillers and an anti-anxiety medication.

A 14-year-old boy was charged with two felony counts and one misdemeanor count of unlawful possession of drugs, and a 13-year-old girl was charged with one count of unlawful possession of drugs.

Additional charges may be filed.

 

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