Charter schools in high demand as year begins

AUGUSTA (AP) — Charter schools in Maine are in high demand as the school year gets underway.

The Portland Press Herald reports fall enrollment figures show that most schools are operating at or near capacity.

The state’s second virtual charter, Maine Virtual Academy, launches Tuesday with 296 students logging in, one shy of its 297-student cap. The year-old Maine Connections Academy, the state’s first virtual charter school, is at capacity with 396 students and a waiting list of 140.

Maine Virtual Academy’s CEO, Beth Ann Lorigan, says students are coming from 91 school districts across the state.

Tuesday is also the deadline for the latest round of applications for groups hoping to open a charter school. Under the state’s 10-school cap, only three more schools can be approved.

Submissions for new bay advocate closed

SOUTH PORTLAND (AP) — An environmental organization is done collecting applications for a new baykeeper to advocate for Casco Bay in Maine.

Friends of Casco Bay in South Portland finished taking submissions from candidates on Monday. The nonprofit says its new baykeeper will have a background in environmental or marine science, environmental policy and regulations, or pollution response and abatement.

It’s unclear how long the group will take to select a new baykeeper. A spokeswoman for the group says the group received 65 applications and would like to have a new baykeeper in place by the end of the year.

Casco Bay stretches from Cape Elizabeth to Bath and is an important habitat for lobsters and other animals. Former Casco Baykeeper Joe Payne retired in January after almost 24 years on the job.

Chief sorry former officer not charged

BIDDEFORD (AP) — A police chief in Maine says he is sorry the state’s attorney general declined to charge a former police officer with sexually abusing a teenager.

The Portland Press Herald reports Biddeford Police Chief Roger Beaupre issued a statement through his attorney Monday in which he also criticized the alleged victim for what he says are baseless charges of misconduct against him and others.

The attorney general’s office announced last week there would be no criminal charged against retired police officer Stephen Dodd after investigating sexual abuse allegations made against him.

Attorney General Janet Mills said there was insufficient evidence to prove the elements of a crime beyond reasonable doubt.

The alleged victim’s attorney says they intend to file a civil lawsuit against the city by the year’s end.

6 Maine projects to get $1.6M in grants

PORTLAND (AP) — A total of $1.6 million in grants is going to six Maine projects to improve local infrastructure and spur investment in those communities.

U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King announced the Northern Border Regional Commission grants on Tuesday.

Among the recipients, the town of Jay will be getting $250,000 to upgrade a municipal road and to spur private investment in a quarrying operation and granite curbing plant. Other grants are going to create a high speed fiber optic network in Old Town and to upgrade the Lincolnville sewer district’s shoreline wastewater system.

The Northern Boarder Regional Commission is a federal-state partnership that was created by the U.S. Congress in 2008 to help alleviate economic distress and encourage job creation in northern Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York.

Ribbon to be cut on new campground

WINTER HARBOR (AP) — Federal officials and conservationists are celebrating the opening of a new campground at Acadia National Park.

The more than 1,400-acre Schoodic Woods Campground is opening today. U.S. Senator Angus King, Acadia Superintendent Sheridan Steele and Schoodic Institute President Mark Berry will speak at a ceremony at the campground.

An anonymous buyer using the name Schoodic Woods LLC bought the land in 2011 and spent the last two years constructing the campground and 8.5 miles of bike paths and four miles of hiking trails. The buyer donated a conservation easement of more than 1,400 of the acres to the federal government in 2013.