February 1982

Officer Wayne Syphers has resigned as Westbrook Democratic City Committee chairman because of a police regulation, but he doesn’t plan to resign as a committee member. Syphers said he expects to talk with City Solicitor James Gagan. Before talking with Syphers, however, Gagan told the American Journal he believes the police regulation bars Syphers from membership, not merely from chairmanship. Syphers’ view is that he met the concerns raised about his chairmanship by stepping down, but that membership in the committee and membership in a political party are constitutional rights that can’t be taken from him by a police department regulation.

A big brown-and-tan dog was bothering children on Settlers Road, Westbrook, and climbed into the car of Linda Lavisier, 2 Settlers Road, leaving muddy footprints on the recently cleaned seats.

Three boys had a campfire going in the old foundation behind the S. D. Warren warehouse off Maple Avenue in Cumberland Mills on a Sunday afternoon. They were lectured, and firemen were called to put the fire out.

Jan Halla, Birch Knolls, Cape Elizabeth, is the new manager of one of downtown Westbrook’s oldest retail stores, McLellan’s Department Store at 855 Main St. Hall has been with the company six years, most recently as assistant manager of the J.J. Newberry store in Brunswick.

Rep. Ada K. Brown, a Democrat, is seeking reelection to the Maine House from District 30 which includes parts of Gorham and Westbrook. Brown, a life-ong resident of the district and part-time operator and owner of Ada’s Beauty Shop, is serving her second term. She’s a member of the Joint Standing Committee on Education and has served on the Committee on Legal Affairs. She and her husband, Willis, live at 697 Gray Road, Gorham.

The new manager of S.D. Warren’s Westbrook paper mill is Richard Frost. He replaces Charles Rose, who announced his retirement last week. Since 1987, Frost has managed the Scott Paper Co.’s Northeast Timberlands operations, responsible for the management of over 900,000 acres of company-owned forestland.

Shaw Brothers Construction Co. of Gorham has been fined $15,000 by the Department of Environmental protection for mining rock without a permit at a pit in Buxton. Shaw Bros. signed a consent agreement, in effect an out-of-court settlement, that called for the implementation of a restoration plan filed with the town of Buxton in 1987, in addition to the fine.

February 1992

The Methodist minister declared himself a customer of the Bus Stop -“if they’ll have me” – as that Westbrook bar fought for it liquor license. The Rev. George Abosamra’s words and those of other friends helped. The mayor and city council voted 8-0 for a year’s extension of the licenses. “If I had known Richard (Willoughby) when he was 4 years old, he’d probably be a preacher today instead of a bartender,” said Abosamra. He said the Willoughbys are fine members of his church. Willoughby remains in Maine Medical Center fighting to recover the near-total paralysis that followed when a drunken customer knifed him in the neck.

Gorham voters will be asked to express an opinion on an issue that has bedeviled the planning board and underscored the need for answers to the town’s traffic problems. Voters will choose between a $15 milliion shopping center and an empty field; between commercial growth and preserving Gorham’s village center; and between what many see as a shot in the arm of local economy versus controlling development as some would like to see it.

Two Westbrook men with the same surname, ages 26 and 21, were taken to the Cumberland County Jail, one at 3 a.m. and one at 3:45 a.m., from a Marrett Street house, each on a charge of assault. The younger also was charged with obstructing justice.

Ms. Smith called from Maple Avenue at 2:50 a.m., reporting a rat in the sink. It ran off before the police arrived.

A Bridge Street man said a beagle at his door wouldn’t let him out. Police took it to the Animal Refuge League.

The school bus supervisor asked for a lock cutter at 6:30 a.m. Someone put a bicycle-type lock on the gate and he couldn’t get in.