Dec. 1, 1982
Mayor William O’Gara confirmed is week that he balked when the
Westbrook Public Safety Commission asked him last summer if he would accept a list of nominees for police chief who were out-of-staters. . . and hence left out Carmine Russo. His comments and those of Commission Chairman Ronald Doak, made to the American Journal in separate interviews, show that the controversy between them has hinged in large part on O’Gara’s early support for Russo. Doak saidthe mayor insisted”that he could tell us to go back to the drawing
board and come up with three more names.”O’Gara’s version: “I told them flat out that I guess I’d have to think very carefully about any list that didn’t include Carmine Russo.” Russo, who was the deputy police chief, was the eventual winner. He was first on the commission’s final list, and was appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the City Council by a unanimous vote.
Due to increased demand, New England Telephone is installing new underground and aerial cable in Gorham from its central office on Cross Street to the Standish town line, according to
John Catherine, public relations manager.
In a snappy, 20-minute meeting Nov. 17 (the subsequent discussion over whether that was a record took almost as long again), the Gorham School Committee approved the proposed amendments to the town’s cost-sharing agreement with the Portland Regional Vocational Technical Center. The costs that would be shared under an agreement between PVTC and the 12 sending schools would be limited to the up-front costs of new programs and new or replacement equipment.
Two Gorham youths, 17 years old, got themselves bogged down in an ever-deepening mire of criminal mischief in an attempt to get their car unstuck from a clay bank on Windham Center Road on Nov. 15.After spending several hours trying to get the vehicle out, they went to the nearby Windham town garage and located a minibus with the keys in it. Apparently hoping to use the bus to pull the car out of the mire, they tried unsuccessfully to drive the bus onto Windham Center Road by ramming the locked gate, doing $150 damage to the bus, police reported. The youths then siphoned about three gallons of diesel fuel from the tank at the garage and put it into their non-diesel car, which was loaned to them by a friend. At about 1:30 a.m., Sgt. David DeGruchy drove over to the garage to fill his gas tank and noticed the damaged gate and bus. He called for assistance and noticed the inside light that was still on in the stuck car and the youths were
apprehended.
Dec. 2, 1992
College officials are planning to create a defined fine arts center on the University of Southern Maine Gorham campus with a pedestrian plaza between Russell Hall, Corthell Hall and Robie Andrews Hall. “We’re seeking to link the arts buildings together through landscaping,” said David Early, director of facilities management. Planners also intend to re-orient the buildings, primarily by designing the grounds so that entrances used
daily by students and faculty are more attractive. Work will occur
over the next five years, culminating with the completion of the
pedestrian plaza.
The Gorham Town Councill considered an agreement that could see the town never collect more than $3,000 in costs attributed in helping clean up hazardous wastes stored at a local company and fighting a fire there. The settlement, drafted by attorney William Dale, notes the town incurred cleanup expenses totaling $8,008 when safety personnel were called to a fire at Gorham International Inc. on June 10, 1991.
The Maine Drug Enforcement Agency wants to move its headquarters from Pownal to the Forest Street School in Westbrook. Westbrook gave it a warm but preliminary welcome. The state agency has been at the Pineland Center since it was formed four years ago. Francis Amoroso, Standish, its director, said it wants to be closer to the population center and other law enforcement agencies. The state director of the DARE program to teach children about drugs also would move to the Forest Street School, from Waterville.
A car knocked down Carol J. Dunn, 29, of 24 Giles St, Westbrook, as she crossed Stroudwater Street at Main Street, Westbrook, at 11:25 a.m. Nov. 24. The police report listed her injuries as leg pains. The car was driven by Veronica A. Carpenter, 36, of 47A Dow Road, Gorham, who told police she stopped at the stop sign on Stroudwater Street, but didn’t see Dunn in the crosswalk. Bruce Dyer, 37, who was at his desk in the First Baptist Church, said he saw Dunn on the ground, then saw her get up limping and noticeably shaken and get into Carpenter’s car.
Orland J. McFarland, 43, of 245 Narragansett St., Gorham, ran into a deer on the County Road at Karen Drive, Westbrook, at 10:20 p.m. Nov. 20. It did $2,000 damage to his 1988 Saab.
Westbrook schools are getting ready to choose a new system and set of books for teaching reading in Grades K-8, Superintendent Edward Connolly told the School Committee. He said the present books and system have been in use for five years. He gave no specifics on what new system he has in mind, but said the method used for teaching reading “has such a broad community impact that we’ll want community understanding”
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