Editor’s note: The following excerpts are taken from a new blog available at www.keepmecurrent.com, where South Portland reporter Linda Hersey is posting news, insights and anecdotes that don’t appear in the stories she writes each week for the Current. In addition to the entries that follow, Hersey posted reports on a house explosion Monday morning shortly after it occurred.
(Posted Friday, Sept. 28)
A search of “South Portland Maine” on YouTube does not yield much – a real estate broker’s promotion, scenes from a summer thunder shower and a campaign ad for state Rep. Jane Eberle, among other pieces.
But I also found this video of ducks swimming in the Mill Creek Pond during a February thaw this year. It’s a pleasant little slice-of-life film from our fair city.
At a time when some folks wonder why more people don’t shop and visit downtown, this two-minute nature clip is another reminder of downtown’s unique appeal.
(For a link to the video, go to Hersey’s blog at www.keepmecurrent.com.)
Party on, South Portland voters
(Posted Friday, Sept. 28)
An item I wrote earlier this week noting the number of registered Democrats in South Portland elicited a cranky response from an anonymous reader:
“A good blogger would have also included the number of registered Republicans, Greens and Independents in the city.”
Ever striving to attain goodness, I phoned City Clerk Susan Mooney for the breakdown on registered voters.
Mooney was not only helpful, she offered some perspective on South Portland voters and voter registration in Maine.
South Portland has 17,818 active voters. The city recently joined a new statewide electronic database for collecting and maintaining voter records. Mooney says this is a much more efficient way to keep voter records, so there is no duplication when people move within the state.
Not surprisingly, she notes that voter turnout in South Portland varies depending on the election. Presidential races bring in the most voters. A statewide ballot in June on two bonds only drew 1,200 voters in South Portland.
Mooney guesses that up to 10,000 voters will turn out Nov. 6 to decide a $56 million bond to renovate the high school, two city council seats and four school board seats.
Overall, registered Democrats outnumber other party members, though the strong showing of South Portland independents suggests they are the swing vote in state and federal elections.
Here are the numbers:
• Democrats: 6,971
• Independents (unenrolled voters): 6,178
• Republicans: 4,126
• Greens: 543
Mooney also is putting the word out that she still needs a warden and ward clerk in District One, in the eastern part of South Portland. The posts, which have a three-year term, involve overseeing polling places on voting day. Contact Mooney at City Hall if you’re interested and she will tell you how to launch a late write-in campaign.
The skinny on Maine’s weight problem
(Posted Thursday, Sept. 27)
It seems only fitting that in the same week a World Burrito Eating Championship in South Portland gets chew-by-chew media coverage the CDC would release the latest trends on America’s weight problem.
Not surprisingly, Maine – along with the rest of the nation – is getting fatter. A lot fatter.
Up to 25 percent of Maine residents are obese, or nearly a quarter of the state’s population. In 2001, 15-19 percent of Mainers were obese.
Maine is hardly the exception either. Maine’s obesity rates are comparable to those in other Northeast states. Across the Midwest, obesity rates are even higher.
Obesity is determined by a person’s body mass index, which takes into account a person’s weight and height.
According to a CNN news report, a 5 foot 4 inch adult who is 30 pounds overweight is considered obese. The CNN report also offers a nifty map that lets readers see by state how obesity rates have increased since 1985.
Dora Anne Mills, director of Maine’s Health Bureau, describes obesity rates as “epidemic” in an article she wrote for the Maine Policy Review.
(Hersey’s blog at www.keepmecurrent.com has links to the CNN report and the article by the Maine Health Bureau director.)
SoPo Dems inject partisan politics in city campaign
(Posted Wednesday, Sept. 26)
The South Portland City Council race for two open at-large seats is nonpartisan, which means that a candidate’s party affiliation is not supposed to figure in the election.
But that philosophy has not stopped the South Portland Democratic City Committee from offering support to Tom Blake, a retired paramedic/firefighter and the only registered Democrat among the four candidates.
The other three candidates are Louis Maietta, Republican; Don Legere, Republican; and incumbent Linda Boudreau, an independent.
An article on the group’s Web site urges voters to support Blake, who spoke at the city Democrats’ September meeting.
According to the article, Blake describes himself as a fiscal conservative, but also a strong advocate for education and the environment.
“The South Portland Democrats always had a hesitation about getting involved” in city elections, said Matt Beck, secretary for the city committee. “But there is a lot of enthusiasm for Tom as a candidate. The support is driven by Tom himself.”
Beck, who spoke to me Wednesday in a phone interview, said there are a total of 6,100 registered Democrats in South Portland. He did not have committee membership figures readily available, but said it tends to increase during campaign seasons.
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