Articles by William Hall
‘Classic neighborhood eatery’ proposed for Woodfords Corner in Portland
PORTLAND, Maine — A new restaurant may be coming to the city’s Woodfords Corner neighborhood. On Thursday, June 20, the Zoning Board of Appeals will consider a conditional use application for the dining establishment at 34 Vannah Ave., near the intersection of Ocean and Forest avenues. William Street resident Birch ...
Portland councilor says fire department staffing ‘out of whack’
PORTLAND, Maine — In less than a month, the Fire Department is due to present an action plan in response to an external audit earlier this year of its staffing and operations. No one will be reading the plan with greater interest than City Councilor Ed Suslovic. Suslovic, the District ...
Portland council adds fees for on-street valet services
PORTLAND, Maine — For the first time, valet services using on-street city parking will have to pay fees for the privilege, the City Council decided unanimously Monday. Under an ordinance approved 8-0, valet services will be allowed between 6 p.m. and 2 a.m. to reserve two on-street spaces in a ...
Old Port Festival gets underway with Sunday morning parade
PORTLAND, Maine — The Old Port Festival is the largest one-day festival of its kind in northern New England, according to Portland’s Downtown District, attracting an average of more than 30,000 people to the city’s downtown waterfront. The 40th annual festival officially begins at 11 a.m. Sunday, June 9, with ...
3-D light show to cast optical illusions across Portland City Hall
PORTLAND, Maine — The 40th Old Port Festival will include a gigantic optical illusion. On Saturday night, the eve of the annual daylong celebration of music, crafts and food, the facade of City Hall will be transformed by an animated light show that seems to alter physical reality. Portland’s Downtown ...
Revised plans for Munjoy Hill arts center fail to satisfy critics with board review looming
PORTLAND, Maine — The Historic Preservation Board meets Wednesday to continue discussion of a proposed addition to the St. Lawrence Arts Center on Munjoy Hill. The Friends of the St. Lawrence Church, the nonprofit group that owns and operates the center, is proposing a 400-seat performance hall where the historic ...
Controversial Congress Square Plaza project faces next test in Portland
PORTLAND, Maine — Capping a month of public debate, informational meetings and sometimes frayed tempers, the City Council’s Housing and Community Development Committee is scheduled Wednesday to again consider a plan to build an event center in Congress Square Plaza. RockBridge Capital LLC and New Castle Hotels and Resorts, owners ...
New index predicts ‘slow, steady’ recovery for Maine real estate
PORTLAND, Maine — A new measure of Maine’s real estate industry shows the market still has a long way to go before it recovers from the impact of economic recession, but is beginning to make headway. In a May 22 conference at Holiday Inn by the Bay, the Maine Real ...
University of Southern Maine student writes, illustrates bilingual children’s book about Japanese princess
PORTLAND, Maine — A University of Southern Maine student from Portland has written and illustrated a bilingual children’s book that will soon be published — in Japan. Visual arts student Hiroko Fogarty created “Princess Aiko” as a project for a drawing class. The 23-page book will be printed by a ...
Federal agencies eye return to restored historic Custom House in Portland
PORTLAND, Maine — For more than a decade, one of Portland’s greatest architectural treasures has been locked away, with few people able to access its vaults. Now, after being closed to the public in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks and undergoing a $2.3 million restoration over the past ...
Portland doubles its spending on road paving; drivers worry about additional summer congestion
PORTLAND, Maine — Expect to see road crews out in force over the coming months. Last week, the city’s Department of Public Services began work on a $3 million effort to repave and make other improvements to 40 city streets, according to a City Hall press release. The streets include ...
Divided Portland council angers mayor by expressing ‘concern,’ instead of ‘opposition,’ to tar sands oil
PORTLAND, Maine — After nearly two hours of public testimony, after protests and petitions, and after a rejected attempt four months ago to ban the city’s use of fuel made from it, a City Council vote Monday against piping “tar sands” oil seemed to hinge on a single word. The ...
Cybersecurity experts urge diligence at Portland conference
PORTLAND, Maine — From a Maine nonprofit group’s leak of confidential data in February, to the May 9 discovery that a worldwide gang of criminals stole $45 million by hacking into a database of prepaid debit cards, information security problems are a widespread concern these days. A group of national ...
Portland panel spikes proposal for ‘Education District’
PORTLAND, Maine — The so-called “Education District” proposed for the city by members of the University Neighborhood Organization will remain just a proposal for the time being. The City Council’s Transportation, Sustainability and Energy Committee tabled the idea indefinitely on May 1. After urging by UNO President Carol Schiller, the ...
Transportation changes may breathe new life into Portland’s Libbytown neighborhood
PORTLAND, Maine — The Libbytown neighborhood, a historic area of the city that was decimated by changes in the transportation system a half century ago, is thriving once again. This time, transportation is helping. The neighborhood, which surrounds Congress Street between Sewall and Valley streets, was the home of mostly ...
Portland one step closer to banning Styrofoam, plastic grocery bags could be next
By William Hall, The Forecaster on May 08, 2013, at 5:59 a.m.
PORTLAND, Maine — The city is a step closer to banning many commercial uses of expanded polystyrene, including the light plastic known by the brand name Styrofoam. The Green Packaging Working Group, a task force appointed by the City Council earlier this year, voted 9-6 Monday to recommend the proposed ...
Portland area funeral homes go green with biodegradable caskets, non-toxic embalming fluids
PORTLAND, Maine — Some local businesses are helping Maine residents be kinder to the earth when they return to it. New England Green Funerals, a group of four funeral homes that include Jones-Rich-Hutchins Funeral Home on Woodford Street and Lindquist Funeral Home in Yarmouth, began offering environmentally sustainable services in ...
Is Portland’s promotion of bicycle traffic making city streets more dangerous?
PORTLAND, Maine — It’s a sure sign of spring: bicycle riders, from kids wobbling on their first two-wheelers to Spandex-clad athletes on high-tech racing machines, once again occupy city streets. This year, several initiatives are making Portland a more bike-friendly place for cyclists. But some wonder if it is becoming ...
Proposed Congress Square Plaza development draws mixed reviews in Portland
PORTLAND, Maine — Eight months after a previous design was rejected, a City Council committee got a look last week at a new proposal for developing public space in Congress Square Plaza. But regardless of the revised design, interviews this week showed that the proposal continues to polarize the neighborhood. ...
Portland Habitat for Humanity picks former chamber head for top post
PORTLAND, Maine — Habitat for Humanity of Greater Portland has named Godfrey Wood, former chief executive officer of the Portland Regional Chamber, as executive director. Wood, a Falmouth resident who retired from the chamber last December after a 15-year tenure, will begin his new role April 29, according to a ...
Orono man enters not guilty pleas in Cable kidnapping, murder
Maine House deals final blow to Medicaid expansion
A vote against the budget is a vote for a state shutdown
Susan Collins: Why Congress should reform federal court
LePage fails to surprise on Medicaid expansion
The cost of requiring more renewable power
Maine Sports Hall of Fame revokes Dana Wilson’s 2012 induction
Report: Patriots’ Aaron Hernandez not ruled out as homicide suspect
American Lung Association retires number of cyclist killed in Trek Across Maine
Retiring Hermon High School athletic administrator Soucy maintains love of sports
Midcoast multibajillionaire knows what her husband is doing before he does it
‘Sopranos’ star James Gandolfini dead at 51