Issue of May 30, 2008
As Scarborough voters head to the polls this week to validate the town’s $35 million school budget, the meaning of a “yes” vote is simple – but the meaning of “no” is open to interpretation.
“The problem is, because it’s a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ vote, we don’t really have a clear picture of whether people thought the reduction in our budget was too severe or whether people still think we’re getting too much,” said Scarborough Superintendent David Doyle.
However, he said, he would view a failed budget as an opportunity.
“If (the vote) came back ‘no,’ I would recommend that (the budget) be higher,” he said.
Last Thursday, the board held a special meeting to cut $875,000 from specific categories in its budget, after the Scarborough Town Council on May 21 finalized a budget $875,000 less than the board had requested.
He was an adventurer, a sharp dresser, an outgoing young man quick to see humor and quick to make friends. He lived in Maine and Florida, climbed mountains in Croatia, skied in the Rockies and loved playing football and watching the Sox and the Patriots.
He accepted his mother’s death from cancer three years ago with faith and courage, and was his father Stephen’s right-hand man through the best of times and the worst.
As roughly 1,000 people filed into St. Maximilian Kolbe Church in Scarborough May 23 to remember 15-year-old Cooper Campbell, they passed photographs that seemed to catch him in motion, a young boy looking up lovingly at his mother, a handsome young man with rakish dark hair and fun in his eyes.
Mourners filled the chapel and an auxiliary hall, and stood back-to-back in the church foyer when there was no more room to sit.
But three weeks after Campbell was killed in a crash allegedly caused by a drunk driver traveling the wrong way on Interstate 95, his death still seemed unreal to those who knew him.
“We’re definitely still in shock,” said 16-year-old Kayla Lauren, a sophomore at Cheverus High School in Portland, where Campbell was a freshman. “I don’t think anyone realizes…”
The largest and most costly public art project ever proposed for Maine will take 4,500 gallons of industrial paint to complete and cover 260,000 square feet of surface.
Just by its scope alone, the Maine Center for Creativity’s proposal to turn 16 Sprague Energy Corp. oil tanks in South Portland into a sprawling painter’s canvas will command a visual presence without comparison in the state.
The deadline is less than a month away for submissions to the global juried competition to create a design that will be painted on the above-ground storage tanks.
The Cape Elizabeth Planning Board has given preliminary approval to a 46-unit condominium development on Eastman Road.
The Eastman Meadows Condominium project has been under review since February 2007.
The 40-acre project, proposed by developer Joel FitzPatrick, will be composed of one-story condominium homes marketed to the 55-plus demographic.
The developer says it will benefit Cape Elizabeth by offering aging residents the opportunity to stay in town and increasing town tax revenue without burdening the school. In addition, the developer plans to build trails, put about 26 acres, or 65 percent of the land, into conservation, and extend the town sewer line about 2,300 feet at his expense.
The project has been somewhat controversial. More than 30 residents of Sawyer and Eastman roads have signed a petition to the Planning Board expressing their concerns about traffic and drainage problems.
Cape Elizabeth town councilors were to vote Tuesday night – just after The Current’s deadline – on whether to approve next year’s highly controversial $30.7 million proposed municipal budget.
The Town Council has gotten vocal feedback from students and taxpayers after the town Finance Committee – composed of the same members as the Town Council – voted to recommend a $19.7 million school budget for 2008-2009, an increase of 4.6 percent over the current year’s school budget.
The School Board – itself sharply divided – had recommended a $19.9 million budget, an increase of 6 percent. There is a difference of $263,083 between the versions approved by the School Board and Finance Committee.
As proposed by the Finance Committee, the overall budget would mean an 88-cent increase in property taxes, up 5.4 percent over this year’s rate of $16.46 per $1,000 of assessed valuation.
Linda Boudreau’s 1991 Volvo sits idle in her driveway, as the South Portland city councilor opts to ride the city bus weekdays to her office in downtown Portland.
Boudreau’s switch to mass transit for her daily work commute – which she announced at a recent City Council meeting – is a highly visible example of residents changing their driving habits as gas prices hit record levels.
With gas at the pump closing in on $4 a gallon, people in South Portland and across Maine are boarding buses more and driving less.
“This is a good news story for us,” said Tom Meyers, South Portland transportation director.
Bus ridership in South Portland was up by 10 percent for January-April, compared to the same period in 2007. In April alone, ridership increased 15 percent over 2007.
Scarborough’s Chris Bernard laced a double down the third base line with two outs in the sixth inning to score two runs and complete a Scarborough comeback as the Red Storm downed South Portland 7-5 at McFarland Field in Scarborough on Saturday.
Scarborough improved to 8-6 while South Portland dropped to 7-7. The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for the Red Riots.
The Red Storm trailed 5-2 entering the bottom of the fifth. Brendan Sullivan singled to lead off and scored on Jake Rutt’s double to right field. Jimmy Rouse reached on and infield hit and Rutt advanced to third, then scored when Ian Ramsdell hit into a fielder’s choice to make it 5-4 after five.
The Scarborough boys’ tennis team improved to 11-0 this season with a 4-1 win over visiting Westbrook on Friday. Adam Saltz claimed the third Scarborough point of the match with a victory over David Born to secure the win.
“It was a tough match (Friday),” said Scarborough coach Craig McDonald. “Our No. 3 singles was sick from (Thursday’s) match and we had to put a freshman in at No. 3 singles. He did very well but lost. Our No. 1 singles had a tough match with David Born of Westbrook.”
Scarborough’s top doubles duo, Nate Gove and Ryan Eddy, took the day’s first match in two sets, 6-0, 6-1, over Adam LaViolet and Brendan Walden. Gove and Eddy have been unbeaten all year.
“I thought we played really well today,” Eddy said. “My partner Nate Gove and I were really clicking. We played fundamentals. We played the way we’ve been playing all year.”
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