Editor’s note: The following excerpts are taken from South Portland reporter Linda Hersey’s blog, a feature of www.keepmecurrent.com:

Hard-Ball politicking in South Portland

(Posted Monday, Nov. 5)

David Jacobs, a former city councilor, is urging SoPo voters to vote for only one at-large city councilor, instead of two as the ballot allows.

A resident forwarded to me a mass e-mailing that Jacobs sent to residents the day before the vote.

Here is the full text of the e-mail he sent today:

“Often in races there never are perfect candidates for all the seats. How many times have you held your nose while choosing someone or you cast your vote for the lesser of two evils?

This is why Paul & I are only casting one vote Tuesday for the At-Large City Council race. There is only one candidate that completely believes in the issues that matter to us: protecting the environment, smart growth, quality education, civil rights, public safety, and transparent government.

We are only casting one vote and it is for Tom Blake.

The concept of casting only one vote is called bullet voting. A description of this found online is:

If there’s just one candidate the voter feels strongly ought to be elected, he might choose to “bullet vote,” that is, vote only for that one candidate and no others. The reasoning is that casting votes for his second and third choices might result in those candidates finishing ahead of the first choice and not being elected.

So, please join us in voting for Tom Blake on Tuesday, Nov. 6. Thank you!”

(To view comments posted to this entry online, link to Hersey’s blog at www.keepmecurrent.com.)

Foreign correspondent lands in SoPo

(Posted Monday, Nov. 5)

A British political journalist, writing about the war in Iraq as he travels the U.S., recently made a stop in Maine – which included a visit to Becky’s Diner in Portland and a tour of South Portland, where he wrote this dispatch today for the Daily Telegraph of London:

“The story we did was a very sad but nevertheless fascinating dispute over whether yellow ribbons supporting US troops should be displayed on public property. Divisions in South Portland are clearly more stark than in most of the rest of the US but it is an indication of how bitter a split there is more generally in people’s thinking over Iraq.”

Foreign correspondent Toby Harnden thankfully does not stereotype Maine with folksy anecdotes of lobsters and moose in the “Crossing America” series for the newspaper.

But his brief take on South Portland offers an oddly different perspective of the city and its politics.

He focuses on residents Valorie Swiger and Calvin Muse, who represented two distinct sides in the recent yellow ribbon dispute.

Harnden chose to conclude his news item on South Portland by staying overnight at the Comfort Inn motel, where “Mohammad Atta, leader of the 9/11 hijackers, spent his last night on earth.”

Pets get the full spa treatment

(Posted Saturday, Nov. 3)

Residents are used to grim reports on downtown SoPo’s economy. Yet many businesses thrive in the Mill Creek/Knightville area.

Today I profile one such business – Creature Comforts, which offers pet grooming and day care. Owner Jan I’boni is so busy, clients book a year out for her pet grooming services, which include shampoos, facials and pet-icures.

See the photo gallery below of Jan’s four-legged customers getting the full spa treatment at her Ocean Street shop. Double-click on the photo to read the caption.

The slide show is the first in an occasional series introducing readers to the people and businesses shaping downtown:

Sheraton Hotel seeks tax abatement

(Posted Friday, Nov. 2)

The Maine Mall made news several months ago when owner General Growth Properties appealed the shopping center’s revaluation at $260 million and applied for an abatement on its $3.5 million tax bill.

The mall’s appeal will be heard next month by the Board of Assessment Review after the city denied the abatement request.

Now the Sheraton Hotel, the mall’s neighbor, seeks an abatement on its 2006-07 property tax bill. The hotel is familiar for its twin, circular buildings and tinted brown windows.

The Sheraton is in a high-traffic retail area, off Maine Mall Road. The hotel site is right next to five acres the Maine Mall owns and plans to develop as a shopping center.

The Tax Assessor’s Office appraised the 10-acre property at $13.2 million, when it conducted a citywide revaluation in 2006. The property tax bill is $173,182.

Previously, the Sheraton was valued at $8.9 million; its property tax bill was $164,216.

The city denied the hotel’s application for a tax abatement, so owner Starwood Hotels Inc. is seeking recourse with the Board of Assessment Review, just as the Maine Mall is doing.