Articles by Alex Lear
Cumberland school board approves payment for hastily installed security system
CUMBERLAND, Maine — After deadlocking earlier this month on paying for school security equipment that had already been installed, the School Administrative District 51 Board of Directors approved the purchase Monday in a second vote. The School Board voted 7-1 to authorize the full project payment of nearly $276,000 to ...
Maine Maritime Museum’s sculpture representing largest wooden sailing ship finished
BATH, Maine — Looming on the banks of the Kennebec River, six masts reach 120 feet into the sky to remind observers of the magnitude of the ship built there more than a century ago. The recently erected structures are part of Maine Maritime Museum’s sculptural evocation of the schooner ...
Greely Middle School principal to take job in Poland-area schools
CUMBERLAND, Maine — School Administrative District 51 will lose an award-winning administrator when Kimberly Brandt becomes assistant superintendent in Regional School Unit 16, which includes Poland, Mechanic Falls and Minot, on July 1. “It’s hard; I’ve been the principal here for eight years, and I do love it here,” said ...
New security system at Greely High School ignites debate
CUMBERLAND, Maine — After a lengthy and often heated discussion Monday about a new security system purchased for School Administrative District 51, the school board deadlocked on the nearly $166,000 equipment lease/purchase. The 4-4 vote defeated the proposal. Co-chairmen Jeff Porter and Bill Richards now will meet with Superintendent Robert ...
Bath council moves toward moratorium on strip clubs
By Alex Lear, The Forecaster on May 03, 2013, at 5:42 a.m.
BATH, Maine — A proposal to open a strip club in the city prompted the City Council on Wednesday to support a moratorium that temporarily prohibits licenses and permits for so-called “adult-use establishments.” The council voted 6-2 for the six-month ban, which requires a second vote later this month before ...
Bath council OKs turf field construction
BATH, Maine — Nearly three years after the project was proposed, the City Council voted 7-1 Wednesday to build an artificial turf field at the Edward J. McMann Outdoor Athletic Complex. The council also unanimously approved the sale of the Mid Coast Center for Higher Education for nearly $800,000. The ...
Parents sue SAD 75 for not allowing boy to wear recording device to school
TOPSHAM, Maine — After being rebuked by an independent examiner, the parents of a special education student at Mt. Ararat Middle School are suing School Administrative District 75 for allegedly violating their son’s constitutional rights. Matthew Pollack and his wife, Jane Quirion, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in ...
Bath council delays vote on turf field
BATH, Maine — The City Council won’t vote until April 17 on construction of an artificial turf field at the Edward J. McMann Outdoor Athletic Complex. A building committee established at Wednesday’s City Council meeting consists of two councilors, various city staff and two members of the Fields for Our ...
Group seeking artificial turf athletic field in Bath nears fundraising goal
BATH, Maine — An artificial turf field planned for several years could become a reality this summer at the Edward J. McMann Outdoor Athletic Complex. Fields for Our Future, the group raising money to install the surface, has about $50,000 left before it reaches its $580,000 goal. Kay Beveridge, chairwoman ...
Voters pass RSU 1 cost-sharing formula despite objections by towns that will pay more
BATH — A new cost-sharing formula that will assess the five member communities of Regional School Unit 1 on a per-pupil basis passed, 580-138, in a district referendum Tuesday, according to unofficial numbers. Bath approved the change, 190-6. Arrowsic voted 82-1 for the formula and Phippsburg OK’d it 270-2. The ...
Former Topsham candidate faces third drunken driving charge
TOPSHAM, Maine — Jean Wolkens, a former candidate for the Legislature and Board of Selectmen who was charged twice in January with operating under the influence, was charged with OUI again March 7. Wolkens, 43, of Meadow Road, was at Woodside Elementary School to pick up one of her children ...
Cumberland, Falmouth and Yarmouth approach deal to lay 1.2M feet of pipe in towns for natural gas
YARMOUTH, Maine — The town councils of Cumberland, Falmouth and Yarmouth — which last month endorsed a Summit Natural Gas proposal to extend service into their towns — expect at their upcoming meetings to vote on a memorandum of understanding with the company. The councils met at Town Hall Tuesday ...
North Yarmouth teen to bring ballet to Tanzanian orphanage
NORTH YARMOUTH, Maine — When Holly Perkins makes a return visit to Africa next month, she’s coming equipped with ballet slippers, tights and leotards. The 17-year-old, a senior at Merriconeag Waldorf High School in New Gloucester, visited an orphanage in the southeast African country of Tanzania with her family two ...
RSU 1 cost-sharing change heads to polls March 19
BATH, Maine — A new cost-sharing formula that would assess the five member communities of Regional School Unit 1 on a per-pupil basis will go to a districtwide referendum vote Tuesday, March 19. The RSU 1 board of directors unanimously adopted the new plan last December for implementation in the ...
UMaine graduate competing on ‘Survivor’
CUMBERLAND, Maine — You may see someone familiar when you tune into “Survivor” this season. Michael Snow, who moved to Cumberland in the early 1970s with his family and graduated from Greely High School in 1986 and later graduated from the University of Maine in Orono, is among the 20 ...
Hitler salute photo uncovers ‘disturbing’ culture among Greely High School athletes
CUMBERLAND, Maine — Maybe the photo was staged and posted on the Internet without any thought. But its effect has been thought-provoking. The image of two members of the Greely High School girls’ basketball team giving a “Heil Hitler” salute while a third sits cross-legged on the floor flashing a ...
Quaker school plans move from Falmouth island to Cumberland
FALMOUTH, Maine — After seven years on Mackworth Island in Falmouth, the Friends School of Portland is planning to move a few miles north. The Quaker school, which serves about 85 prekindergarten through eighth-grade students, has purchased 21 acres of property at 11 U.S. Route 1 in Cumberland, near the ...
Declining births, rising costs raise questions about whether Chebeague Island life is sustainable
CHEBEAGUE ISLAND, Maine — In 1997, six babies were born to island residents — as many as in the past five years combined. That’s a problematic, downward trend for any town that comes with ramifications a newly formed sustainability coalition is expected to consider as it tries to find ways ...
Cumberland, Falmouth, Yarmouth consider natural gas proposals
CUMBERLAND, Maine — Two companies have submitted proposals to extend a natural gas pipeline into Cumberland, Falmouth and Yarmouth. Maine Natural Gas and Summit Utilities sent proposals electronically, Cumberland Town Manager Bill Shane said Monday morning. Shane solicited proposals to three companies last fall, on behalf of the three towns. ...
Cartoonist and former colleague of Marvel legend Stan Lee launches art workshop in Yarmouth
FALMOUTH, Maine — He’s had his own New York City art museum, helped bring Beavis and Butt-Head to the comic-book world and worked with comics legend Stan Lee. Rick Parker — a longtime comics artist and letterer, whose cartooning, fine art, photography and sculpture has been shown in the New ...
Police find remains believed to be Nichole Cable, 15, in Old Town woods
Orono man charged with murder in death of Glenburn teen
Family remembers Nichole “CoCo” Cable, warns of social media dangers
Informational roadblocks, ground searches yield more tips on missing Glenburn teen Nichole Cable
Nichole Cable: In our minds, hearts
Obama’s boyfriend line
UMaine narrows candidate list, hopes to name men’s hockey coach next week
Former Dexter, Nokomis coach Pratt takes Mount View football post
Eastport teen notches first ‘Bandolero’ racing victory
Houlton makes plans for new hockey boards at Millar Civic Center
Unity Raceway heading in new direction when track opens for season Sunday
Fun, informative or just plain strange: 8 museums in Maine worth a road trip
Microsoft unveils new Xbox One game console
Bangor veteran of World War II exemplifies the way life should be
So what the heck is a “Show Choir”?