Budget reviews scheduled

The Westbrook City Council Finance Committee has set its schedule for upcoming discussions and budget review for fiscal year 2014-15. A session on Monday, March 10, in Room 114 at Westbrook High School includes:

6 p.m.: Police Department

6:30: Public Safety Dispatch

6:45: Fire/Rescue Department

7:30: Public Safety Building

7:45: Code Enforcement & Engineering

8: Buildings & Plant

9: Public Services Department

A session Saturday, March 15, also in Room 114 at Westbrook High School, will cover:

8 a.m.: Finance

8:45: Human Resources

9:15: General Assistance

9:45: Social Services

10:15: Community Services

10:45: Library

11:15: Planning

11:30: City Clerk

11:45: Mayor’s Office

Noon: Memberships

Morse Law opens

Returning to his hometown, David C. Morse has opened Morse Law LLC at 917 Main St. in Westbrook. Morse is a Westbrook High School graduate who attended Saint Joseph’s College of Maine and received his law degree from the University Of Maine School of Law.

After law school Morse, spent several years practicing with Alaska Legal Services Corporation in Fairbanks, where he represented low-income clients in a wide array of subject areas such as family law, domestic violence, landlord-tenant, Social Security and consumer rights.

“The experience of Alaska’s natural beauty and wildlife was life changing for me.” Morse said. “However, Maine is in my blood, and as a product of Westbrook’s schools and community I could think of no better place to lay down roots and start a business.”

Morse returned to Maine in April 2013 and practiced as a civil rights attorney for the Disability Rights Center of Maine’s Developmental Services Advocacy program. At the Disability Rights Center, Morse traveled extensively throughout central and mid-coast Maine protecting and advocating for the rights of Maine citizens with developmental disabilities.

Morse Law LLC is a general civil practice focusing on family law, bankruptcy, debtor rights, and landlord tenant law. To reach Morse, call 854-2828.

Grange to hold work day

The Highland Lake Grange is hosting a community service work day from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. on Sunday, March 16, at the corner of Route 302 and Hardy Road in Westbrook.

“We will be working on youth blankets for Project Linus. A local Girl Scout, working on her Gold Award, will lead us in making cat mats that will be donated to the Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland,” a Grange statement said.

Instruction will be provided for making both a blanket with machine-sewn fringe and a cat mat. To participate, bring 11?2 yards of 60-inch wide, printed fleece fabric and a half yard of a coordinating fleece fabric, or another blanket or mat project to work on.

Donations of clean, old blankets, towels or small rugs for padding in the cat mats would be appreciated. For more information, call Kathy at 854-5753 or email kathy@gowensawyer.com.

Annual food drive to aid pantry

Trinity Lutheran Church in Westbrook is sponsoring its third-annual, city-wide food drive this spring for the Westbrook Food Pantry.

Resources for the pantry, which serves many local people in need, are limited, and shelves are often sparse. Giving to those in need can make a huge difference in their lives.

From Friday, March 14, to Sunday, March 16, church members will be distributing money jars and food boxes to business establishments and churches in Westbrook. Money and food will be collected until mid-May.

From Friday, May 16, to Sunday, May 18, food and money will be collected and brought to the Food Pantry at the Westbrook Community Center.

For more information, leave a name and contact information with the Trinity Lutheran Church office at 854-5653 or via email at office@trinitywestbrook.com.

USM dean list

Full-time, in-state students from Westbrook named to the University of Southern Maine dean’s list for the fall semester include: Hannah Beal, Nicole Belanger, Kristine Brassard, Rachel Champoux, Adam Doyon, Susan Duong, Kathryn Fox, Nathaniel Gowen, Chanelle Hallsworth

Wei Po Huang, Eric Jensen, Ian Karby, Deborah Keyner, Andrea Mondor, Nickea Moss, Bayissa Mulat, Sviatlana Parker, Hanni Pastinen, Jennifer Precopio, Victoria Simoneau, Wantana Theerathampitak, Chasity Velez, Tyler Waterhouse, Morgan Wheeler and Sarah White.

David Morse