Scallop Advisory Council: Maintain 70-day season

The Scallop Advisory Council is recommending that the Maine Department of Marine Resources maintain the current 70-day scallop season in 2015 rather than reduce it by 22 days, as the department had proposed. The council, which voted Monday while meeting in Brewer, said it would rather see the agency implement closures on an as-needed basis rather than shorten the season.

The Department of Marine Resources Advisory Committee will have the final say on the length of the season, likely at its October meeting, after receiving a final recommendation from Patrick Keliher, the department’s commissioner.

In late summer or fall, the agency will issue a notice of proposed rulemaking that includes an opportunity for public comment.

The department had proposed shortening the season because overfishing last season led to emergency closures in several areas.

Androscoggin County chamber head to retire

Chip Morrison, the affable and longtime president of the Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce, has announced his retirement.

Morrison, who has been at the helm of the regional chamber since 1995, expects to step down in the spring of 2015, according to the chamber’s newsletter. The board will consider candidates for his replacement.

Morrison, a former Auburn city manager and commissioner of the Maine Department of Labor, got his start in business at his father’s department store in a Chicago suburb. During his tenure with the chamber, he led an increase in membership from just over 600 to 1,365. Last year, the L-A chamber’s membership eclipsed the Portland Regional Chamber’s in a friendly rivalry that has been going on for years between the two largest metropolitan centers in the state.

Amazon prepared to fight FTC over kids’ purchases

Amazon says that it is prepared to go to court against the Federal Trade Commission to defend itself against charges that it has not done enough to prevent children from making unauthorized in-app purchases.

The FTC alleged in a draft lawsuit released by Amazon that unauthorized charges by children on Amazon tablets have amounted to millions of dollars.

Seattle-based Amazon.com Inc. said in a letter Tuesday to FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez that it had already refunded money to parents who complained. It also said its parental controls go beyond what the FTC required from Apple when it imposed a $32.5 million fine on the company in January over a similar matter.

– From staff and news services