April 27, 1983

Westbrook high School will segregate its freshmen next year as an answer to “a growing problem with ninth- and 10th-graders” that is “academic and behavioral.” The freshmen will have all to themselves the first floor of the

school’s three-story wing, for homerooms and lockers as well as

classes. Ten teachers will teach only freshmen. They will mix somewhat with 10th-, 11th- and 12th-graders, but not very much. The mixing will be at lunch and in the library.

Westbrook police notes: Two men fighting at Dunkin’ Donuts at 2:30 a.m. were arrested for assault. Three hours later a patrolman found two $10 bills at the spot. A woman reported a “small” person lying beside the road at Olive and Vivian streets at 10:45 p.m. Police found a 15-year-old girl overcome by drugs and alcohol and took her to Maine Medical Center. A 22-year-old man was taken to the Osteopathic Hospital from a Rochester Street home for treatment of injuries he received in a fight at the Hob Knob. Jack McCarthy, 235 Rochester St.,

found that his pool liner had been sliced during the winter; the loss is $1,300 to $1,400. Two persons were arrested inside the Weyhaeuser Co. plant at 9 p.m. on Sunday.

The first tenants have been notified and will move in Saturday at Larrabee Woods, the newest apartment house for senior citizens of the Westbrook Housing Authority. The

buildings have 25 apartments. It stands behind McDonald’s on lower Main Street.

The Westbrook Police Department’s animal control officer, Ed

Gagne, is launching a house-to-house search for unlicensed dogs. State law requires a license for each dog over 6 months

old on Jan. 1 or whenever during the year the dog reaches 6 months. The fee is $3 for neutered dogs and $6.50 for neutered dogs, and each must have a certified rabies shot.

Westbrook’s City Council has agreed to talk about the amount of time Engine 3 of the Westbrook Fire Department spends away from its station at Prides Corner. Alderman

Norman Conley brought the question before the City Council last week but declined to get into a general discussion about it. He asked, and the council agreed that it be discussed by the council’s Public Safety Committee. Conley said, “People call me in regards to the fact that Engine 3 is not always at the Engine 3 station. It’s gone out on training. Prides Corner is at the far end of the city and they’re somewhat concerned about it.”

April 28, 1993

James Rogers was suspended for 30 days without pay Friday from his job as a Westbrook firefighter after failing to report promptly that on March 16 he damaged a backhoe the fire department was renting. Rogers is due in Maine District Court May 27 to answer a charge of leaving the scene of the backhoe’s accident. Mayor Fred Wescott said Monday

that there might be an appeal under union grievance rules from the order of Fire Chief James Rulman suspending Rogers. A police report said Rogers hit the Black Bridge, the railroad trestle across Brown Street, at 6:05 p.m. that Tuesday, two days after “the Great Blizzard of ’93.” The accident did $4,800 damage to the backhoe. Rogers, 30, of 26 Price St., is a full-time fire department employee since 1988, and

is a son of Deputy Fire Chief Byron Rogers.

A large Portland disposal company would prefer seeing Regional Waste Systems abandon a full-scale recycling project in Gorham, and instead send trash to that company’s landfills, an RWS consultant said last week. Earlier this year RWS requested bids from contractors interested in building and running a recycling complex in Gorham.

Barbara Barhydt has submitted her resignation as Westbrook city planner, a position she has held on a half-time basis under Mayor Fred Wescott. The position had previously been full time.

Gorham is experiencing what one detective calls a rash of child, and sexual abuse cases. “We’ve probably had 20 Department of Human Services referrals in the past three months,” says Detective Wayne Drown, who handles the investigations for the town police. About a year ago there were only eight such cases that police had dealt with. “We have to listen to these kids. Ninety-five percent don’t make these kinds of things up. Kids make up stories about all kinds of things, but not about that. I haven’t found they often lie about being abused.”

Vandals did an estimated $2,000 worth of damage to Gorham High School last week, when the school was on vacation. Police are still investigating the incident. The vandals climbed onto the gymnasium roof and “filled the drains in the middle of he flat roof with rocks. It will be a real chore for someone getting the rocks out of there,” he said. They also forced a canvas canopy over one door, sliced the rubberized seal on the roof and painted obscene drawings at eight different places on the roof and doors.