September 1980

In a letter, John R. Newell, president of Bath Iron Works 1950-1965, urges voters in the Sept. 23 referendum to banish nuclear power in Maine, and says, “May the values placed on life itself prevail over the values placed on money.” He quotes Einstein as saying that profound moral issues affecting the future of life itself are involved. Newell is in Florida, being treated for cancer.

Repairing the main beams in the draw bridge in the Million Dollar Bridge between South Portland and Portland, which is expected to keep the bridge closed for 28 days, will take eight days longer because the contractor now will work only five days a week. Seven days a week was expected.

The South Portland Housing Authority refused to tell City Councilor Charles Behounek who bid how much on SPHA reconstruction work.

The federal government went $15 billion further into debt in July. For the year ending Oct. 31, it looks like a $60 billion deficit compared with $27 billion last year. Jimmy Carter is president, and Democrats also run Congress.

Peanut oil is being tested as diesel fuel.

St. Edmund’s Roman Catholic Church, Westbrook, is scheduling classes for children in the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.

Hale Sand and Gravel, Scarborough, was low bidder at $75,736 to lay 1,134 feet of 24-inch sewer in Stanford Street, South Portland, and 537 feet in School Street. The highest of the five bids was $129,363. They replace sewers that are 75 to 100 years old.

Ferry Village needs $4 or $5 million in sewer work over the next 10 years, said South Portland City Manager Ronald Stewart. But a proposal for a community fish pier has some priority because it helped win a federal grant, in competition with other communities, he said.

Linda Johnson is a candidate for the South Portland City Council at-large seat. Terence Christy is resigning.

Richard Holmes asked the South Portland City Council how people can use Hinckley Park if police continue to ticket cars that park on its grass. He said City Councilor Frank Morong parks there while jogging in the park, and City Manager Ronald Stewart said he parked there to pick blackberries. Stewart said he’ll look into it.

The Gorham Town Council named the senior baseball field at White Rock School the Conrad E. Knight Memorial Field. Knight was a Gorham High School student who died at age 16 in 1973 after he was stricken while playing.

Ten members of Windham’s Brass Knobs 4-H Club will each offer a steer for sale in an auction at Cumberland Fair Sept. 24. The boys have raised them since winning them in a calf scramble a year ago.

Ribs and planking that showed up during the winter at Higgins Beach appear to be parts of the sailing vessel Howard F. Middleton that was wrecked there in 1897.

Ralph Kilgore, as executive director of the Southern Maine Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Council, said the Council has endorsed the application of Community Care Services, of Massachusetts, to build a 148-bed psychiatric hospital on Running Hill Road, South Portland.

September, 1990

A jury refused to assess any damages against Wassamki Springs campground in the 1983 death of Robert C. Tracy Jr., 16, whose spinal cord was injured in a diving accident.

Malcolm A. Noyes has succeeded Dorothy McGuirk on the board of directors of the Westbrook Housing Authority.

Police are looking for a man in his mid-20s who asked a 6-year-old girl to get into his car in Gorham.

Robert I. Mailman, a 16-year member of the Gorham Police Department, has been promoted to sergeant.

Construction of a new water tank on Freeman Hill, North Windham, by the Portland Water District is expected to reduce fire insurance costs. The tank will allow new hydrants and new sprinkler systems.

A new Eagle Scout is Michael Irish, 17, of Falmouth, Mass., grandson of Mr. and Mrs. Eugine L. Irish, Standish.

Edna J. Woodward celebrated her 100th birthday Aug. 14 at the Gorham House. Her family’s house was in the first to get electricity in Gorham. “We turned on all the lights and went outside to enjoy the sight,” she said.

Boy Scouts of Scarborough’s Troop 39 and their fathers will climb Mt. Katahdin Saturday.

Dolores Lymburner, candidate for state representative from Standish and Baldwin, plans to knock on every door in both towns.

Two August letters critical of the smell from S. D. Warren paper mill in Westbrook have drawn letters strongly defending the mill. One this week, listing Warren benefits in jobs, taxes, and contributions, invites the critics, “Do Westbrook a favor and move out. The mill was here long before you were.”

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