Sept. 28, 1994

Students on the playground at Gorham’s Village School were startled Monday by a naked man in the woods. Principal Victoria Burns reported the incident to police at 1:56 p.m. Several children said a white male wearing no clothes stepped out from behind a tree in the woods along the perimeter of the property on Robie Street. “This has happened before and, though we have no basis for an arrest at this moment, we hope to identify and confront a suspect,” said Police Chief Edward J. Tolan.

A $12,000 management report to the Westbrook City Council Monday listed 80 steps that the city could take to improve its handling of money. They made no reference to the City Hall cash shortage now being investigated. Among the recommendations: No one person should handle a cash receipt all the way to the bank; endorse checks immediately and deposit daily; lock the back door; keep the basement vault locked.

Westbrook aldermen declined Monday to interfere with the decision to take city advertising away from the American Journal. The mayor and his assistant said it was purely a money matter, but each admitted to some resentment about articles that have appeared in the AJ. Publisher Harry Foote presented the facts about the newspaper to the Finance Committee in a lengthy memo.

Sept. 29, 2004

A swiftly moving fire that officials believe was deliberately set destroyed the Profenno’s restaurant building early Saturday morning. Pete Profenno, who owned the building at 920 Main St., Westbrook, said the fire was especially tough to take because he just completed extensive renovations costing $100,000. All four occupants of the upstairs apartments escaped safely, though two cats died in the blaze. Fire Chief Gary Littlefield said the fire began about 2 a.m. on the first floor in the rear. Investigators are following some leads, but will not discuss any specifics. It’s the third suspicious fire in the city in the past several months. Profenno said that once the insurance claim is settled, he plans to tear down what remains and rebuild.

The Gorham Planning Board recommended Sept. 20 that residents vote against a plan to rezone 72 acres at the intersection of routes 114 and 22 from residential and rural to commercial. But the Town Council decided not to place the recommendation with the referendum question, which will appear on the ballot this November after the landowner, Hans Hansen, collected enough signatures to put the rezoning to a vote.

Neils Sorenson, who turned 80 on Sept. 28, celebrated the occasion Sept. 26 aloft in a hot-air balloon. Accompanied by a daughter, Donna Osleger of Connecticut, and a granddaughter, Mo Harvey of Westbrook, Sorenson lifted off in the White Rock area of Gorham and soared high enough to view the ocean and Sebago Lake, where he and his wife, Patricia, have had a camp for 35 years. The couple has lived in the Prides Corner area of Westbrook for more than 50 years. They’ve watched hot-air balloons from their yard, and the ride was something he has always wanted to do.

Lisa Blais-Manning, a former Westbrook High School basketball star, was inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame last Friday. She led the Westbrook Blue Blazes to four straight Class A titles from 1978-1981, and finished her high school career with more than 1,500 points. At Old Dominion University, she was named the team’s most outstanding freshman. In the 1985 season, she led the team to a 31-3 record and a national championship win against the University of Georgia. She also played six months of pro ball for the Dublin Corinthians in Ireland. She now lives in Scarborough with her husband and three children.

 

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