Sad week in the land of Zip Code 04074….Bob Taylor, 25-year 4 a.m. deliverer of the local daily paper to houses in Pleasant Hill and Higgins Beach area of town, dead, single-car crash, smashes into big tree on Spurwink…controversy continues over plover killed by dog at Pine Point Beach…Dottie McCann, one of the “Pine Point McCann girls,” of Periwinkle gift shop fame, dies at age 83; who is left to sing show tunes at the drop of the hat?

Let’s throw it around the horn today, see what happens, shall we?

CIVIC CENTER BROUHAHA

Remember two years ago you approved a $33 million dollar referendum to fix up the Cumberland County Civic Center? Portland Pirates hockey team was supposed to be one customer that provided money to pay the loan back.

Now, they are gone. To Lewiston. Scarborough’s Neal Pratt is chair of Civic Center brain trust. What now?

DEEP THROAT WAS HERE

In the 1970s political Watergate scandal, a guy from the FBI agreed to meet with Washington Post reporters regularly to help either verify or deny the facts they thought they had discovered in the case. The Post called the guy “Deep Throat.” The meetings of the crew were always at a parking garage in Virginia, suburban Washington. The parking garage will be torn down soon for a commercial project. Am I the only one who cares?

WIN, WIN, WIN

Little League coaches and others talk to players about, “We’re going to win this game!!” Some huddle players together and say, 1-2-3, Win!!! Former UMO coach Paul Kostacopoulos (1995-2004) once said, “I NEVER use the word win with players. It is too confusing to l9 and 20 year olds. What does win mean? Hit a 500-foot home run? Throw the pitch 200 mph? Take steroids? Instead, I would say, catch the ball, throw the ball, and hit the ball and good things will happen.”

Kosty had a .600 winning percentage in his nine years at Orono.

JOSHUA CHAMBERLAIN WAS GREAT, JUST ASK HIM

Joshua Chamberlain was a Civil War general at Gettysburg. Later, he was Bowdoin College president, and then governor of Maine. He was good at many things and PR and self-promotion was one of them. Author Allen Guelzo has written a book entitled “The Last Invasion.” It has stuff in it about Gettysburg that will make even Chamberlain-fan Angus King think twice.

THE SMARTEST KIDS IN THE WORLD?

The new guy who is running North Yarmouth Academy this year, Brad Choyt, thinks our schools can learn from foreign schools. He talks about our kids doing foreign exchange gigs. South Korea kids go hard all day, then have evening sessions. “The hamster wheel,” they call it. “It was relentless,” he said, “but kids knew what it felt like to grapple with complex ideas, and think outside their comfort zone. They understood the value of persistence. Sometimes fail, work harder, do better.” The new word “rigor.”

CAN’T BUY A THRILL

Saw Steely Dan concert in Boston the other night. 1970s jazz-rock. Childhood buddy from 1970s for the tickets. Geezer night with 50-somethings both in the audience and on stage. Thankfully, a bunch of 20-somethings there, too. Funny how some kids discover mom and dad’s music.

SORRY. WE CAN’T TAKE $100 BILLS.

Ever stand behind someone in line at the checkout and they are attempting to pay with a $100 bill? The process that kicks in resembles brain surgery. A couple people hold bill up to the light. Mark it with a special Sharpie. Examine color. Doesn’t it make you proud how technologically sophisticated our fellow citizens have become apparently at counterfeiting?!

BYE, SEAMUS HEANEY

Irish poet died this summer. One of few who understood the stew that is Northern Ireland. Some of his poetry brought out the little boy at the parade watching the Emperor with no clothes. But one of his pals at Queens University, Belfast, once defended Heaney against a question from the audience about the worth of poets in society. He quoted from a poem by Heaney called “Digging.”

“Between my finger and my thumb,

The squat pen rests.

I’ll dig with it.”

Heaney from downtown for 3.

Next week will be a better week. Gorgeous crisp fall days. Cool nights. Pumpkin contests at the Fryeburg Fair. Bob Taylor’s gone. Who will flash their headlights at 4:30 a.m. runners now in 04074 land?

Dan Warren is a lawyer in Scarborough. His email address is jonesandwarren@gmail.com.