PORTLAND

Capisic Park sewer work faces Oct. 15 deadline

Sewer construction in the city’s 18­acre Capisic Park is winding down.

The replacement and separation of old sewers that combine storm water and untreated sewage during heavy rains must be completed by Oct. 15, said Mike Bobinsky, the city’s director of public services.

Bobinsky said the federal govern­ment has mandated that the work be finished by that date to protect Capisic Pond, a significant habitat for migratory birds.

City officials met twice last week with neighbors concerned about the impact the construction was having on the park. A 30- foot- wide swath of land had to be cleared to accom­modate the sewer pipes.

Bobinsky said the $4.8 million project includes restoring the park to its previous state, which means that hundreds of trees and shrubs will be planted.

Public radio producer Gratz honored by national group

Irwin Gratz, the morning and radio news producer for the Maine Public Broadcasting Network, was honored this week in Las Vegas by the Soci­ety of Professional Journalists.

Gratz received the 2010 Wells Memorial Key on Wednesday. The award is named for Chester B. Wells, and is given annually to a member who has given meritorious service to the society.

Gratz is secretary of the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation, the society’s educational branch, and played a key role in organizing the society’s centennial celebration in 2009.

Gratz, a Falmouth resident, has been in radio news for nearly 30 years. A native of New York City, he has a master’s degree in journalism from New York University. He has taught a college course on media ethics and has been a guest lecturer on journalism ethics and broadcast news writing.

ALFRED

Ex-leader of La Kermesse begins 3- month jail term

The former president of a festival celebrating Maine’s Franco- Ameri­can heritage has begun serving a three- month jail sentence for embezzling from it.

Seventy- year- old Priscille Gagnon was sentenced Thursday for steal­ing about $ 80,000 from the La Kermesse festival in Biddeford and the Western Oaks Condominium Association. Gagnon, who apolo­gized for doing it, said she took the money to pay hospital bills that had mounted because of her husband’s poor health.

The Journal Tribune reported that Gagnon and her husband have sold their Biddeford home to pay bills and restitution, and moved to Georgia to live with a daughter.

Prosecutors say Gagnon has paid back about $ 6O, OOO, and she has 23 months to pay back the remaining $19,000 owed to the festival.

FREEPORT

Emergency dispatch calls all going to Brunswick

Emergency calls for Freeport residents are being handled by Brunswick now that the dispatch centers have been consolidated.

Freeport 911 calls already were answered in Brunswick, but fire and police emergency calls were transferred to local dispatchers who assigned the appropriate cruiser or fire apparatus. That function is now being done in Brunswick.

The public safety building will con­tinue to be staffed from 8 a. m. to 4 p.m., seven days a week, and seven­digit, non- emergency lines will be answered there at that time, and in Brunswick outside those hours, said Police Chief Gerald Schofield.

There also is a telephone outside the office at the public safety build­ing which automatically connects to Brunswick dispatch, he said.

The consolidation will save the town money, but a group of resi­dents continues to fight the change in court.

The town’s move, approved by the Town Council earlier this year, follows similar steps by other towns in Cumberland County.

BANGOR

Air Guard awaits decision on mid- Atlantic refueling

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins says the Maine Air National Guard should know within two weeks the fate of the program that refuels military aircraft crossing the Atlantic Ocean.

The Air Force notified 150 full­time Air National Guard members who run the Airbridge program in Bangor that their orders were being extended only through the end of the month. Col. John D’Errico, commander of the 1O1st Air Refuel­ing Wing, says those positions are typically renewed every year for 12 months.

It appears that the Air Force is re­evaluating the program as it seeks to cut costs, but Maine officials say it’s more cost- efficient for the Guard to run the program.

On Friday, Collins told officials in Bangor that the undersecretary of the Air Force assured her the Air Force is re- evaluating the position.

LEWISTON

Bates Mill could gain national register status

The Maine Historic Preservation Commission wants portions of the Bates Mill complex in Lewiston added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The mill is credited with helping turn Maine’s second largest city from a small farming community into one of New England’s largest industrial centers.

The 1.2 million- square- foot mill in downtown Lewiston supplied fabric to Union soldiers during the Civil War and bedding for GIs during World War II. Until the early 1960s it was Maine’s largest single employer. Now the mill is being redeveloped. WCSH- TV says that if the district is placed on the National Register, property owners could get tax cred­its for their redevelopment efforts.

BELFAST

Remains sent anonymously may be Japanese soldier’s

An expert in New York says the human remains sent to the Japa­nese consulate from Maine could be those of an Asian soldier who fought during World War II.

New York police spokesman James Duffy tells the Bangor Daily News an expert determined the remains appear to be those of a fully devel­oped adult male of small stature.

The remains were sent anony­mously to the Japanese consulate from Belfast, Maine, last month with a note saying they were those of a Japanese soldier and were taken from the Pacific Island now known as Palau, the location of a World War II battle. The sender asked that the remains be given a proper burial.

Officials are trying to find the sender to learn more about the origin of the remains.

— From staff and news services