July 3, 1984

Westbrook body-shop owner Selden VonHerten will be arraigned in U.S. District Court in Portland Friday on an indictment charging him with a widespread conspiracy to move stolen trucks and cars across state lines and sell them, sometimes in pieces. Three other persons are named with him, and still others are involved, the indictment charges. Particularly mentioned in the indictment is a 1984 Ford pickup truck, which VonHerten is accused of receiving in Westbrook. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Terison said Friday that “Potentially, at least 13 other vehicles are involved. I don’t know if we’ll ever get to the bottom of this.” Andrews Campbell, lawyer for VonHerten, said, “We intend to fight it all the way. A man is presumed innocent. A charge is only a charge. Many people who are accused are innocent.”

Rebuffed when it tried to get the city to apply for $316,500 in federal funds for Cumberland Mills in March, the Westbrook Housing Authority now wants a modest $6,000 (plus $1,500 in city money) to prepare to ask for the big money again next year.

The City Council was expected to act on applying for the $6,000 state-federal grant last night. City staff members are going to try to get Planning Board support.

Five Colonial Acres boys, ages 14 to 17, have been charged with a series of burglaries at the home of Joseph DeRoche, 23 Constitution Drive, Westbrook. Police said their break in the case came when the mother of one of the boys found a check in her home that belongs to DeRoche and gave it to him.

The University of Southern Maine has given an award for excellence in teaching to Sandra U. Coburn, who has taught biology at Gorham High School for 19 years. She was described as a “major force” behind the Northern New England Science Symposium, a program that allows students to present papers at important regional meetings.

A new teacher-adviser program run last year at Gorham High School helped raise the grades of two-thirds of freshmen who seemed early in the year to be in academic trouble. Students who were failing two courses or received an unsatisfactory grade in attitude after the first ranking period were assigned a teacher-adviser who called the student’s parents and met with the student at least once a week, besides being available when a problem arose.

July 6, 1994

Rumor has it that Westbrook is sending City Clerk Barbara Hawkes and her deputy, T.J. Storer, to joint sessions with a therapist. Mayor Kenneth Lefebvre said yesterday that he couldn’t comment on the accuracy of the report until he had conferred with Richard Sullivan, the city’s staff lawyer. “We’re trying to work through the transition in the city clerk’s office,” he said, explaining that by “transition” he meant the coming (last January) of the first new city clerk in 38 years, Hawkes. On May 23, Storer asked the City Council to make her secretary of the City Council and its committees, a new job. The council quickly closed its door to talk about ” a little personality issue” involving Hawkes and Storer.

Anthony Van Horn, 32, of Running Springs Road, Gorham, who was released from Thomaston State Prison on April 23, was arrested June 28 after attempting to purchase a handgun from a police informant, according to Lt. Ron Shepard of the Gorham Police Department. Gorham police arrested Van Horn at 12:30 a.m. after Van Horn agreed to purchase a handgun from a State Street resident. Van Horn, a convicted felon, allegedly agreed to buy the gun in the parking lot of Village School, while police and members of the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office hid in the woods watching the deal. He was taken to the Cumberland County jail. Bail was set at $100,000 double surety or $50,000 in cash. As of Monday, Van Horn had still not made bail.

Gorham Police Notes: At 9:30 p.m., Wayne Smith told police he saw two young children wearing green pajamas, sitting on the side of Route 25 across from Nicely’s Market. When police arrived, the children were gone. A woman was afraid that intruders had broken into her home and were in the basement. So she called police. Police searched the house. No one was there but her son. Police were called to stand by where a man was picking up a handgun and other weapons from the house of his soon-to-be ex-wife.

Gorham Athletic Director Gerry Durgin’s first year on the job has been a fulfilling one. This year, for the first time in Gorham, the high school handed out “Scholar Athlete” awards to recognize students who have excelled in the field of sports while keeping up their grades and academic pursuits. Durgin is happy to see Gorham moving in the direction of placing more importance on maintaining excellent sports programs as well as academic standards. According to Durgin, 71 percent of the student body participated in sports during the fall season of the 1993-94 school year, and 88 of the fall athletes were on the honor or high honor roll.