Facing low patient numbers, delays in state reimbursement and heavy competition from nearby nursing homes and assisted-living facilities, the Viking and the Crescent House in Cape have been given to Haven Healthcare Management of Cromwell, Conn.
In late November 2002, Viking and Crescent House co- owner and Administrator Duane Rancourt recognized he needed some help. Rancourt had suffered a heart attack in August and shortly afterward, a resident of the Viking’s Alzheimer’s unit, Shirley Sayre, wandered off the grounds and died.
At that time, state reimburse- ments for Medicare were sever- al weeks behind schedule for most healthcare providers, he said. The company went into debt and faced the tough choice of paying creditors or meeting payroll.
The market was also very competitive, Rancourt said. Piper Shores and Chancellor Gardens were attracting more residents, and the Viking and Crescent House were hurt by the publicity about Sayre’s death.
Rancourt went looking for someone to come in as a con- sultant to improve programs and patient numbers, and even- tually take over both operations. “It was a business deci- sion,” Rancourt said.
Scarborough police made one of their biggest marijuana busts in recent memory last week after a teenager’s parents turned him in.
Police received a call from the parents of Randall Libby, 18, of 8 Mayflower Drive on Jan. 13. The parents told officers they had found a sizable amount of marijuana in their son’s bedroom. In their search, police found 29 pounds of marijuana, a gun and cash.
Libby had been arrested by Gorham police the night before on a charge of furnishing marijuana, according to Gorham Lt. Ted Blais.
The CEHS Concert Jazz Ensemble won its fifth consecutive Division 5 title at the Berklee College of Music Jazz Festival Jan. 18 in Boston. But they almost didn’t get to play in the finals.
“It was probably the biggest roller-coaster day I have had in education,” said Music Director Thomas Lizotte, who was in his first Berklee show for Cape. “I felt good about our (prelimi- nary round) performance and was told that the judges really enjoyed our band.”
Scarborough Town Councilors may ask that the total number of units proposed in the Great American Neighborhood project in Dunstan be reduced, and developers and brothers, John and Elliott Chamberlain, say they are willing to listen.
And whether the council would be willing to reduce the number of benefits of the project at the same time,” Elliott Chamberlain told the Current in an inter- view earlier this week. However, Chamberlain also said, “Don’t come to me and just ask for a simple reduction in the amount of units. We would need real reasons and a justification.”
If a property tax cap referendum, being pushed statewide by Carol Palesky and the Maine Taxpayers Action Net- work (MTAN), were to pass in November, Scarborough, Cape Elizabeth and South Portland- would face losses of revenue in the tens of millions of dollars.
According to Paul Lesperance, Scarborough’s town assessor, if the referendum being proposed were to take effect, the town would have a $12.5 million hole in its budget. Cape Elizabeth, according to Town Manager Mike McGovern, would lose about $10 million. In South Portland, the city would have to cut $17.9 million, or 31.5 percent of their total budget, according to City Manager Jeff Jordan.
The proposal by the MTAN calls for a property tax cap of 1 percent of a municipality’s total valuation based on 1997 figures. In addition, the assessment of property values could not grow by more than 2 per- cent a year. The MTAN has until today – Thursday – to get enough signatures to get its proposal on the ballot.
If a property tax cap referendum, being pushed statewide by Carol Palesky and the Maine Taxpayers Action Net- work (MTAN), were to pass in November, Scarborough, Cape Elizabeth and South Portland- would face losses of revenue in the tens of millions of dol- lars.
According to Paul Lesperance, Scarborough’s town assessor, if the referendum being proposed were to take effect, the town would have a $12.5 million hole in its budget. Cape Elizabeth, according to Town Manager Mike McGovern, would lose about $10 million. In South Portland, the city would have to cut $17.9 million, or 31.5 percent of their total budget, according to City Manager Jeff Jordan.
The proposal by the MTAN calls for a property tax cap of 1 percent of a municipality’s total valuation based on 1997 figures. In addition, the assess- ment of property values could not grow by more than 2 per- cent a year. The MTAN has until today – Thursday – to get enough signatures to get its proposal on the ballot.
As Cape Elizabeth High School deals with the issues of student drink- ing and discipline, a new book by a retired CEHS English teacher offers a look inside the drama of everyday high school life.
Sally Martin retired “a few years ago” from CEHS, after 20 years, and still lives off Old Ocean House Road, near the cove that figures prominently in her work of fiction, “The Shape of Dark.”
Based on her experiences in the classroom, and including characters based on real Cape Elizabeth figures and events, the book addresses com- plex issues of child abuse, infidelity, teen loyalty and underage drinking. The book is self published.
“If only people knew the drama that goes on every day in a high school classroom, they’d be astounded,” Martin said.
Army Specialist Brendan J. Sweeney of Cape Elizabeth has deployed to Afghanistan in sup- port of Operation Enduring Freedom. A paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division, he is a gunner and leads the base gun team of a 61mm mortar squad.
Some Cape parents are worried that a strict school alcohol policy may be doing more harm than good, while others are supportive of the school’s efforts to battle teen drink- ing. A recent Cape Elizabeth High School Parents Association meeting became a forum for discussion of the issue.
HSPA Vice President Beth Currier opened the debate by referring to a New Year’s Eve party at Sugarloaf, following which two students were kicked off sports teams for violating their athletic contracts.
In their first full look at a $9 mil- lion school building project proposal, Cape town councilors were concerned about enrollment projections and parking at the high school.
They did not address possible project delays due to budget constraints. That subject is expected to come up at a Jan. 30 budget workshop between the School Board and the Town Council.
The project is in two parts. The first is a $1.5 million addition to Pond Cove School, to add space to accommodate the kindergarten, now housed at the high school. The one- story addition would include five classrooms, group workrooms, occupational therapy space and a teacher’s room. It would be able to support a future second story.
The second part is a $7.5 million renovation to the high school, including expanding the entrance to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and making the cafeteria larger to seat all students in each of two lunch periods.
It’s five and a half months before graduation, and Scarborough High School seniors are beginning to get “senioritis,” that common disease afflicting seniors everywhere as they look forward to getting out of high school at last.
But the senior class officers at SHS and most of their friends know how important those final grades can be, and so while they are look- ing forward to having some fun when finals are over, they still have their eye on the ball.
The Current took the time to sit down with the senior class officers and find out what’s on their minds. The officers are Becky Condon, president; Emily Kipp, vice presi-dent; Sean Flaherty, secretary; and Jim Beattie, treasurer. Beattie is the only one who is not sure where he will be attending college, but said Cornell is his first choice.
The Scarborough Rotary Club is sponsoring a fund drive to purchase five thermal imaging systems for the Scarborough Fire Department. The money will buy five handheld Bullard T3 devices, which weigh two and a half pounds and cost $10,500 each.
The thermal imaging devices will enable firefighters to quickly save lives in smoke and deadly fires. The fire department had been interested in buying them over a period of years, to eventually equip each fire station with a camera, according to Steve Chamberlain, a firefighter who is helping coordinate the effort.
The crowd gathered at the Rotary Club’s turkey bowling contest to pick up some pointers on the proper technique for sliding a frozen turkey breast over the ice in this file photo from the issue of Jan. 23, 2003. Send questions/comments to the editors.
