Diocese names new superintendent

Bishop Robert P. Deeley announced that Marianne Pelletier has been named the new superintendent of Maine Catholic Schools.

Pelletier, who is currently the principal of Saint Dominic Academy’s Lewiston campus, succeeds Jim King, who served as superintendent since July 2015. As superintendent, Pelletier will work primarily out of Saint Dominic Academy’s Auburn campus. 

Freeport student getting the bugs out

A Freeport student was awarded a research grant from NASA to study two invasive insects this summer in the Sebago Lake region.  

Jared Burns, who is attending Saint Joseph’s College in Standish and is a National Science Foundation-funded Science Scholar, was awarded a summer research grant through the Maine Space Grant Consortium to investigate the distribution of the Emerald Ash Borer and Hemlock Wooly Adelgid.

“I used to catch bugs in my backyard as a kid, and now I get to do it as an adult,”  Burns said. “I couldn’t be happier.”

Burns is part of a NASA-funded research team. The project, titled “Monitoring Invasive Insects in southern Maine,” will set up pheromone traps and use biosurveillance of solitary hunting wasp nests to detect the presence or absence of the beetle. To detect the presence of the adelgid, they will visually inspect hemlock trees.

“The invasive insects in this study are specific to ash and hemlock trees, respectively, and can cause major destruction if not identified quickly,” Burns said.

Free meals offered for children this summer

Towns and cities across southern Maine will be offering free meals for area children this summer.

In Portland, Public Schools and Opportunity Alliance will be operating 15 summer meal sites across the city beginning June 18 and continuing through Aug. 23. All children and teens 18 years and younger may receive a meal free of charge, on a first-come, first-serve basis, at any of the meal site locations.

To get more information about sites and times in Portland and other locations in southern Maine, dial 211, text “Summer Meals” to 97779, or go to www.fns.usda.gov/summerfoodrocks.

PelletierU.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, met recently with North Yarmouth native Jay Raj Philbrick, who is participating in the United States Senate Page Program this summer.