July 1982
Aldermen tabled a $10,000 contract with Edward C. Jordan Inc., for a new study of remodeling Westbrook’s old junior high school Monday when they learned that Edwin C. Lee resigned from the Jordan staff that day. Lee has worked for the city on maintenance of the building over several years. Alderman Donald C. Esty argued that he should be consulted before the city goes ahead with the Jordan contract.
A Massachusetts man went to a bachelor’s party (in Massachusetts) on the night before his wedding. He got drunk. His friends drove him to Windham and left him on the Hardy Road at 3 a.m. Windham Police handed him over to Westbrook police, who took him to the Greyhound station.
Someone was over the ceiling in the bathroom at Cinema City. It was two boys, ages 16 and 17, from Portland. Police found them behind the theater, where they had broken a light. They arrested them for criminal mischief, criminal trespass, possession of marijuana and possession of fireworks.
Aldermen beat back an attempt by Finance Committee Chairman Norman Conley to re-study the Westbrook city budget. They refused to second his motion and passed the 1981-82-appropriation resolve, 5-1 ,in final action. Conley was away on a long-planned vacation. He said his big surprise when he came back was to find that the aldermen had reduced the tax rate increase by dipping into surplus. He called it “ludicrous”.
Westbrook got only one bid to supply three new police cars because automakers no longer make police cars between May and December, aldermen were told. Alderman Norman Conley said he found it hard to believe that automakers would be out of production six months on police cars. “It was a learning experience,” said Jonathan Carter, the mayor’s administrative assistant. Under the circumstances, also, the city is accepting the cruisers in navy blue and white instead of Westbrook’s traditional black and white.
Delayed by weather, the final coats of waterproofing and painting were going on the Cornelia Warren outdoor swimming pool in Westbrook over the weekend and the pool is to open, Melinda Curran, city recreation director, said. Pool lifeguards have been hired.
Larry Knight, son of Frank C. Knight, 777 Methodist Road, who attended Westbrook schools, placed first in the short division in the Mr. Alaska contest. For body parts awards, Lindsay had best abdominals and was most muscular.
July 1992
“Far and Away”, the current box office hit starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, is a romantic epic that takes place during the Oklahoma land rush and features an Irish immigrant who settles in this country. In the credits is the name Beverly Burton. A Hollywood set operator, Beverly hails from the Duck Pond Road in Westbrook and was recently home for her brother’s wedding.
A 35-year-old Westbrook man suffered knife wounds to the head and left forearm after apparently arguing with his wife. Details of the incident are sketchy because the victim, Kevin Woodsum, of 332 Brown St., refused to tell Westbrook police what happened. Police “surmise” that he was stabbed by his wife. No charges were filed.
The Unitrode Corp. has sold its semiconductor division, which formerly operated a factory in Westbrook. The vacant plant was not a part of the sale. Allan Campbell, in charge of selling the building, could not be reached at Unitrode corporate offices in Billerica, Mass. Unitrobe stripped all equipment from the building after its 1989 closing.
From the police log: A patrolman found a girl and her friend trying to light a cigarette on the hospital spotlight at 10 p.m. He gave them a ride home. A boy shot another in the chest with a BB gun. Police took it away from him. A woman and two girls hid from a patrolman at Main and Bridge streets at 1 a.m. It turned out that they were making a nature call behind the mill.
Gorham is one of four schools included in a group named the Authentic Teaching, Learning and Assessment for all Students. (ATLAS) group. The group is headed by four school development groups: the coalition of essential schools at Brown University, the Education Development Center in Newton Mass., and development programs at Harvard and Yale universities. In years past, students’ progress was measured solely on their performance on standardized exams. For the past two years all this has been changing in the Gorham school system, and thanks to a grant, many old educational trends will be questioned, improved or cast away.
The exercise and jogging trail located on town land behind the municipal center and Narragansett School was formally dedicated to school nurse Claire Drew in an effort to recognize the woman who was instrumental in its creation. While Drew was on sabbatical in Augusta, she worked closely with Ean McKinnon of the University of Maine to develop plans for the project.
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