August 1980

Washington will be the last to know how the American people solve the energy crisis, predicts Amory Lovins, internationally-known expert on energy. He predicts more insulation, more efficient electric motors, hybrid (diesel-electric) autos that get 100 miles to the gallon, and other improvements. Lovins spoke in Portland in favor of a “Yes” vote to ban nuclear power plants in Maine. His speech is being reprinted in four installments in issues of the American Journal.

Scarborough schools are ready for the return of students, except that vandals broke $1,000 worth of windows last week, Superintendent Carl Burnham said.

Westbrook has a surplus of “more than $300,000” from 1979, said Mayor William O’Gara. He said auditors recommend not using it to cut the 1980 tax rate.

Metro is advertising its Westbrook crosstown service, connecting Colonial Acres with the Maine Mall, but warning that it needs more riders.

South Portland has an $18,000 state grant to study whether its oil-handling business is likely to expand or shrink.

South Portland’s Parks and Recreation Department has created a big sign made up of white and green or other plants at Mill Creek Park that says “SOUTH PORTLAND.”

Gorham schools will continue the health education classes they started last year. The classes include sections on drug use and sexuality.

The Gorham Chamber of Commerce greeted 26 new members.

Windham bought the waste burner of IDSOM Corporation in April and advertised for an operator. The town has decided to run it itself, and will hire a full-time staff of four, said Town Council Chairman Kenneth M. Cole.

SAD 6’s “How To Ride A School Bus” training bus will be back on the road, teaching kids from kindergarten through third-grade some dos and don’ts.

Wilfred Charron has applied to expand his Two Trails Diner in Standish.

Mrs. Robert D. Wilson, 194 Pierce St., Westbrook, her daughter Kathleen and her mother, Mrs. Beatrice M. Elwell, 524 Bridge St., are back after a month’s tour of England, Ireland, Scotland, Belgium, Holland and France.

Doreen Lampron, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Lampron, Ward Hill Road, Gorham, has visited in Germany, Holland and France with her sister Debra Johnson of Frankfurt, Germany.

Chris Stone and Steve Fitzgerald are co-captains of this year’s South Portland High School football varsity, coached by Jack Flynn.

Sign-ups for Tuffy League football in Westbrook will be Sept. 4 and 5.

August 1990

The water temperature at Crescent Beach, Cape Elizabeth, was 75 Sunday, and the beach was crowded with swimmers. This summer’s water temperatures have been the highest in memory, said Betty Scott.

Gorham has chosen R. Paul Weston as town manager, a position he now holds in Camden. He’ll get $55,000 a year.

All stores on the north side of Main Street, Westbrook, are suffering because of the city’s failure to fix Ash Street, said Robert Tetrault, manager of Westbrook Hardware. The end of Ash Street is sliding into the Presumpscot River, blocking cars from using Ash to run between Main Street and Bridge Street.

Regional Waste Systems will delay for about a year the construction of a “stump dump,” for construction wastes and other bulky wastes, at the Ross Grant property at Mosher’s Corner, Gorham, says RWS Deputy Director Eric Root. RWS paid $3 million for the land, and has set aside $13 million to run the dump.

A Westbrook woman’s letter calls on the S. D. Warren Co. to cure the smell from its Westbrook paper mill. She says her house was on the market during “the 1989 fiasco” at the mill and wouldn’t sell even though the asking price was far below what it cost to build it.

Another letter says closing the mill would be a disaster, that S. D. Warren has done more than any other Maine paper mill to control odors, that it’s “rich people” who criticize the smell, and that the smell is not a health hazard.

In a meeting of Westbrook merchants, the city’s rules restricting signs and the city’s use of trees in the business district were criticized. The rules and the trees are federal urban renewal left-overs. Lionel Dumond, of Show Me. Video, said 49 or 50 cities that appealed federal sign regulations won their cases. Marty Pizzo said Sullivan Tire successfully appealed to City Forester Wes McKague because new city trees were blocking it.

Grant Wilder, known to generations as “Chick,” will retire at Labor Day after 35 years as Willard Beach lifeguard.

Construction of a detention pond at Scarborough High School has been held up for removal of 90 cubic yards of soil contaminated by a 1976 oil spill.

Regional Waste Systems will spend about $410,000 for drop-off containers for recycling in 18 communities. Some communities are proud of their own recycling programs.

Westbrook Adult Education is offering more than 50 courses, many free, beginning Sept. 10.

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