Dec. 21, 1988

A long-awaited master plan for a new Super Shop ‘n Save Plaza at the Gorham racetrack was submitted last week to the Gorham Planning Department. The plan includes two major anchor stores linked by 15,000 square feet of retail space for smaller stores. The 63,000 square feet reserved for the Shop ‘n Save store at the west end of the plaza will be half again as big as the 43,000-square-foot Super Shop ‘n Save Plaza near the Maine Mall. The company is moving ahead with the project, despite the fact the town is not ready to act on a new Planned Unit Development ordinance that would specifically accommodate Hannaford’s plans. Hannaford has been waiting for almost two years for the PUD ordinance to be enacted.

Sixteen men or women who need a job, or a better job, will be learning how to drive a truck under a new program of Westbrook Adult Education. A key to the program is a four-month loan of a 1988 dump truck by Blue Rock Industries. Another key is a federal grant of $19,800. Between them, they will bring the cost of learning down. The program is set to begin with a course in driving a dump truck, running from January to March. It will qualify its eight students for a Maine Class 2 license required for four-axle trucks and buses.

The Squad Eight team of firefighters from Engine 1 in Westbrook has acquired a set of Hurst tool shears that double the effectiveness of the Jaws of Life tool already used by the fire department. The new shears, lighter and more portable than conventional Jaws of Life, will speed rescue operations by enabling rescuers to do two functions simultaneously in the process of cutting through metal to free a person trapped in a vehicle.

In a departure from her previously announced plans, Gorham School Superintendent Constance Goldman will stay on through June 1990. She said last year she would leave her post when her contract ends next June. But after an executive session last week, the School Committee accepted her offer to stay on one more year.

Dec. 23, 1998

Bulletin: Westbrook police announced last night that Richard Burns, 27, of Dow Street, Portland, has been arrested as the man who tried to run down Patrolman Robert Flood. Chief Steven Roberts said at a press conference that Burns said it was his birthday, his girlfriend was pregnant and he panicked. He said cooperation from neighbors and the public led to Burns. The incident occurred on a quiet dead-end street off New Gorham Road.

The Gorham Sno-Goers snowmobile club earlier this month replaced the old Libby Hill Bridge, popularly known as “Iron Bridge,” over Little River at the end of Libby Avenue, Gorham. Iron Bridge, rusty and missing planks, was deemed a safety hazard and removed by the town three or four years ago. The new bridge is 60 feet long and 6 feet wide, steel-framed and hemlock-planked. The Sno-Goers have christened the new bridge “Irish Crossing,” for the Irish family, longtime owners of land at the bridge, in honor of their cooperation with and accommodation of snowmobilers.

Mission Possible, the new Westbrook teen center in the Dana Warp mill building on Bridge Street, announced Monday a six-week campaign to raise $17,000, hire a program director, retrain volunteers, re-examine some activities and deal with some problem teens. The effort is being called “High Expectations.” The center will closed the first two weeks of January to “bring all components to full functioning,” according to Chris Trout, executive director.

Security concerns are prompting a change of the locks at Wescott Junior High School in Westbrook, and new restrictions on who will hold keys and which doors those keys will open. The changes complement the recent installation of an alarm system.

The exterior renovations are almost complete, but the Gorham PTA Community Center at Little Falls is still almost a year away from opening. The building will be used by Gorham students after school. The PTA hopes other groups will utilize it as well and the police department plans to have a substation office there. Formerly the Robie School, the building has been leased by the PTA since October 1995, after the town threatened to tear it down. Members have done a lot of gutting out of the building, taking out over 48 tons of materials and fixtures. “But we still have quite a bit of renovation to do on the inside,” said Bill Chicoine, PTA treasurer.

The Westbrook School Committee has voted against the unbudgeted $13,501 purchase of new high school sports uniforms. Football accounted for $4,500 of the proposal and the rest of the money was for girls sports. Chairman Debroah Frank said the issue should be discussed at budget time in the spring. It’s too much money to be spending before a budget is even drafted.