WESTBROOK

Strip club owner loses appeal to regain permit

The owner of the Dreamers strip club lost a second appeal Wednesday to regain a permit to operate his business on Warren Avenue in Westbrook.

After about 90 minutes of testimony, the Westbrook Zoning Board of Appeals denied the appeal because club owner Larry Ferrante had failed to file within the required 30-day window.

Ferrante had appealed the revocation of his occupancy permit by the fire inspector because of an inadequate sprinkler system and other violations.

Ferrante lost an earlier appeal of the revocation of his occupancy permit for building code violations. The Dreamers strip club opened in September but was shut down the next day for building code and fire safety violations.

Since then, the Westbrook City Council adopted a new ordinance that bans full nudity and alcohol in strip clubs, and sets a closing time of 1 a.m.

Ferrante’s lawsuit against Westbrook over the club’s shutdown is pending in U.S. District Court. He is renovating his club to meet building and fire safety codes in order to reopen, he said.

SACO

Police seeking driver who crashed stolen car, fled

Saco police are trying to find a man who got away after crashing a stolen car on Main Street.

An officer pulled over a 2003 Subaru Impreza at 12:30 a.m. Wednesday near City Hall on Main Street. The driver stopped, but then sped off after the officer got out and walked toward the car, police said.

At the same time, dispatchers notified the officer the car had been stolen in Portland on Monday morning.

Police estimate the car reached close to 100 mph before crashing at Ross Road, within a mile of the stop. Officers could find no occupants amid the smoke and smashed-out rear window, and began to search the surrounding woods.

A police dog tracked footprints and drops of blood to Industrial Park Road but lost the trail.

Portland police say the car was stolen on Emery Street at 5:30 a.m. after the owner started it and went back inside to let it warm up. 

Bail lowered for three people arrested in forced-sex case

A judge has lowered the bail for a trio of people arrested in Saco after a 26-year-old woman said they held her against her will and forced her to have sex for money.

As of Thursday afternoon, none of the three had met the lower bail, police said. They remained in York County Jail.

Lydia Ross Sholl, 26, of South Portland, Tiana Clark, 27, of Medford, Mass., and Wayne Hick of Scarborough appeared by video arraignment Wednesday in York District Court on charges of kidnapping. Their bail had been set at $100,000 following their arrest Monday at the Sunrise Motel.

Bail was lowered for Sholl and Clark to $25,000. Hick had his bail lowered to $1,000 as long as he agrees to a Maine Pretrial Services contract, which sets out certain conditions beyond the usual bail restrictions.

Police expect the three will be indicted by a grand jury, and will face additional charges. Police say they are investigating charges of promoting prostitution because the alleged victim said she was held against her will and forced to work as a prostitute after meeting the three at a Portland shelter.

AUGUSTA

New motor vehicles chief, AG and treasurer sworn in

A day after Gov. Paul LePage was inaugurated, he administered the oath of office to the three state officials who oversee motor vehicles, the treasury and state legal matters.

The three constitutional officers were sworn in Thursday afternoon in a House of Representatives chamber packed with relatives, friends and state officials.

Secretary of State Charles Summers replaces Matthew Dunlap in charge of motor vehicle registration and licensing, elections, corporation registration and the state archive.

The new attorney general is Bill Schneider, succeeding Janet Mills. The treasurer is Bruce Poliquin, taking over for David Lemoine.

The three were elected by the new Republican legislative majority. The former officials were all Democrats. 

On roll call votes, Collins is on a roll: 4,563 in a row

Democrat Barbara Mikulski of Maryland has replaced the late Maine Republican Sen. Margaret Chase Smith as the longest-serving woman in U.S. Senate history

But neither Mikulski nor any other member of the Senate can hold a candle to Maine Sen. Susan Collins’ voting record.

Collins began Wednesday’s 112th Congress as the longest-serving current member to have never missed a roll call vote. She cast her 4,563rd consecutive roll call vote on Dec. 22, and holds a perfect voting record since her 1996 election.

Collins says she was inspired by Smith, who never missed a Senate roll call in 13 years before surgery ended the streak at 2,941. Like Smith, Collins says she takes her responsibilities “granted to me by the people of Maine very seriously.” 

Report raises questions about kids’ school readiness

A new report finds mixed results on how well young Maine children are prepared to enter school.

The Maine Children’s Alliance is presenting the report today as part of Infant Toddler Awareness Day at the State House.

The report’s author, Judy Reidt-Parker, says Maine is ahead of the curve in providing prenatal care to pregnant women.

On the other hand, the report says only a small number of Maine child-care providers meet the highest standards for quality early care and education.

The Maine Children’s Alliance, a statewide nonpartisan advocacy group, says that birth to age 5 is a critical period for a child’s development. 

Rep. Michaud to co-chair Congress’ French Caucus

The first Franco-American from Maine to be elected to federal office is going to serve as co-chair of the congressional French Caucus.

Rep. Mike Michaud’s announcement Wednesday came on the same day as the inauguration of Paul LePage, the first Franco to become governor in Maine by popular vote.

Michaud, who met Wednesday with the French ambassador, says he’s honored to help lead the caucus, which was founded in 2003. He’ll be one of four co-chairs.

The caucus’ goal is to foster a dialogue with French officials. Delegations have traveled to France to meet with the French president and to commemorate the 60th anniversary of D-Day.

PORTLAND

African wells project wins grant from high school class

Casco Bay High School’s sophomore class has decided to give a $1,000 grant to Concern, a nonprofit agency that drills drinking-water wells in Sierra Leone in West Africa.

The students elected to support Concern based on a grant proposal presented by classmate Mohamed Awale.

Each student in the sophomore class presented grant proposals last month as part of a competitive Expeditionary Learning project. The proposals targeted problems in the developing world such as hunger, disease, poverty and lack of education. The class held a Halloween dance to raise money for the grant.

Teams of grant-writing and philanthropy experts selected five finalists and the entire class voted for a winner.

A woman who read a Portland Press Herald story about the grant proposals contacted Casco Bay Principal Derek Pierce and offered to donate an additional $500 to the project.

As a result, each of the four other finalists will receive a $125 grant to support their proposals. They are: Hellen Otto, Heifer International; Emma Maash, Equality Now; Nate Williamson, Heart to Heart International; and Ben Smith, Tearfund. 

Grant will provide laptops for 30 college students

Portland Adult Education has received a $25,000 grant from the Sam L. Cohen Foundation to provide netbooks to 30 qualified college-bound students in 2011.

Students selected to participate in the Personal Computers for College Project will attend weekly workshops. The small, affordable laptops will serve as handson tools for college transition activities such as researching degree and scholarship programs, applying for financial aid and writing application essays.

Participating students who enroll in college and successfully complete one semester will keep their netbooks to honor and extend their achievement. 

School board invites input on budget at Jan. 25 meeting

The Board of Public Education will hold a school budget hearing at 7 p.m. Jan. 25 in the King Middle School cafeteria.

Parents, school employees and community members are invited to speak before the board begins crafting the budget for fiscal 2012, which starts July 1. The district faces a $4 million reduction in federal funding as economic recovery money runs out.

SOUTH PORTLAND

SMCC and partner offering noncredit, online courses

Southern Maine Community College announced Thursday that it has partnered with Metrix Learning to offer noncredit, online courses to students and virtually anyone with access to a computer.

SMCC is the first community college to partner with Metrix Learning, providing public access to more than 5,000 SkillSoft, Medcom and Kenexa Prove-It online courses and assessments. Individual users may take as many courses as desired in 90 days, with 24-hour access, at a cost of $99.

Courses and programs are available in information technology, finance, accounting, human resources, health and safety, and government, among other subjects. For more information, visit http://www.smccme.edu/continuingstudies or call 741-5758.

WALDOBORO

Police: No sign of foul play in death of brother, 37

Police say there’s nothing to indicate foul play in the death of a 37-year-old man who was found outside his brother’s home in Waldoboro.

According to the state Medical Examiner’s Office, Thursday’s autopsy on Jeffrey Stone did not determine the cause or manner of death, pending further study.

Maine State Police spokesman Steve McCausland said Stone’s body was found Wednesday morning in the front yard of his brother’s Goshen Road house. He said police will await the results of toxicology tests.

SEARSPORT

Teen intent on expanding ban on protests at funerals

A Maine high school student plans to press forward with his idea of a federal law banning protests at military funerals.

Zach Parker, 17, a Searsport High School senior, learned during his senior history class project that about 40 states, including Maine, have limits on protests near funerals, and a 2006 law restricts protests near federal cemeteries. But he says he still wants a stronger law covering all 50 states.

The Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church had threatened to demonstrate Wednesday night as Parker gave a presentation at Searsport Regional High School.

Members of the church often hold signs at protests that say, “Thank God for Dead Soldiers.” But they were no-shows.

A Westboro spokeswoman says the church is exercising its First Amendment rights. Parker, himself a Baptist, says “they’re a bunch of wacks.”