Oct. 11, 1989

The Gorham Planning Board denied Peter Vose permission last week to split a 4-acre lot containing two duplexes that he bought from Dewayn Shaw’s daughter Susan Duchaine in June. Vose wanted to sell both duplexes, located on Buck Street, as separate lots. But the lot has quite irregular lot lines, because it was once part of an 11-acre parcel in which Duchaine searched for suitable soils to create three other lots to give to relatives. Because conveyances to family members are exempt under state statues, this was viewed by the board as an attempt to circumvent proper subdivision.

An alert citizen, a cellular phone and nose-to-the-ground police work came together Thursday, putting the brakes on three male juveniles from Portland driving around in a stolen car. Jeff Sawyer was backing out of the driveway of his Crestwood Drive home at mid-morning when he saw a young man walk toward a neighbor’s driveway, then hesitate and walk away. Across the street was a blue 1986 VW with two more boys in it. Sawyer approached the young man and asked if he could help. The youngster told Sawyer he was looking for a bike that had been offered for sale. He feigned being lost. Acting nervous, he told Sawyer he was from Portland. Sawyer left and so did the VW and the three boys. Sawyer then called the police on his cellular phone. Moments later, Officer Robert Mailman spotted the VW and motioned it to stop. The car sped away, was found a short distance down the road, with the boys bolting into the woods. It was learned the car was stolen. After calling in a tracking dog, police eventually found the boys.

Gorham councilors agreed unanimously last week to enter into a mutual aid contract with the town of Standish. The pact would eventually bring a Standish fire truck, which has yet to be purchased, to the North Gorham fire station. Under the pact, which will take effect with Standish’s approval of the plan, firefighters from either town would be paid by the town in which a fire occurred. Workers’ compensation will be handled the same way.

Advertisement: C.N. Brown, Gorham and Portland, heating oil, 72.9 cents per gallon cash price, 10 days to pay with approved credit. Kerosene cash price 85.9 cents.

North Gorham’s Poetry Group meets Oct. 16 at the North Gorham Library under the leadership of Warren Gilman, North Gorham. All are welcome at the meeting, which will present works of Emily Dickinson and Rupert Brooke.

Peter Eckel, Westbrook’s new administrative assistant, began work Oct. 10.

Oct. 13, 1999

In a big article on the front page of Monday’s business section, the New York Times gives glowing praise to Westbrook native Avadis Tevanian, chief software design engineer at Apple Computer Corp., for his share in turning the company’s fortunes around since joining it in January 1997. After co-founder Steve Jobs was forced out of Apple in the mid-‘90s, he wooed Tevanian, then about to graduate with a doctorate in computer science from Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, to join his startup, Next Computer. There, he worked well with Jobs. When Apple bought the company and got Jobs back, it got Tevanian, and he got top authority over Apple’s software. “Mr. Tevanian has re-energized Apple’s programming force and sharpened its efforts,” the paper said. Proudly watching his success now are his three younger brothers, Alan, Greg and Mike, who run the family businesses, Westport Lanes bowling and West-Port Marine.

WPXT, the Fox Network affiliate broadcasting locally on Channel 51, wants to build a new studio and broadcasting facility on the ledges above the County Road, Westbrook, above the former home of Pete Blanchette, and it has offered the city free promotional ads on its station as part of a tax increment financing district tax break on the property. The City Council will hold a public hearing on the proposal Oct. 18. Reportedly, the station has already bought the property, at 4 Ledgewood Drive.

Martin Pizzo, running for mayor of Westbrook Nov. 2, denounced Wednesday a Maine law that sets a new cap of $250 on how much anyone can give to a candidate’s election campaign. It’s grossly unfair, he said, to a candidate like himself, who is not already in office and needs to make himself and his views known to the voters. Pizzo said a friend was willing to give $3,000 to his campaign. Because of the cap, in order to get that much, he has to find a dozen contributors who will give $250 each.

Matthew Eddy, Brunswick, will start Nov. 5 as Westbrook’s director of community development-planner, the City Council confirmed Oct. 6. He was hired at a starting salary of $52,438. Since 1995, he has been research and planning director of the Maine State Housing Authority. He’s also worked for the city of Bath and for the Greater Portland Council of Governments.

An open house will be held at Gorham’s public works garage Oct. 14. Residents can tour the facility in anticipation of a referendum Nov. 2 to build a new, $1.7 million public works facility nearby.

Gorham town councilors have voted to endorse major traffic improvements at the Mosher’s Corner intersection, but haven’t determined what they will be. Among the options are a traffic signal, estimated at $340,000, and a rotary, estimated at $670,000.

Benjamin Johnson, a Gorham High School student and the son of Melvin and Barbara Johnson, Gorham, has been named a National Merit Scholarship Program semifinalist, putting him among the top 1 percent of high school seniors in Maine. GHS Commended Students by the National Merit Scholarship Program are Michael Douglas and Shannon Houlihan.

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50 YEARS AGO

The Westbrook American reported on Oct. 7. 1964, that Richard Barden of Gorham, president of the Millett School Parents Club, called for a meeting to introduce new teachers and to discuss a future meeting schedule.

In Buxton, Margaret Eaton was to be chairwoman of a rummage sale sponsored by the thrift shop at Tory Hill Congregational Church.

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The old Marian Hotel was built in the 1880s and was located  across from the Walker Memorial Library at 805 Main St. When the hotel closed, the building was converted to apartments. The building was razed during urban renewal and the site is a grassy lot with a gazebo. To see more historical photos and artifacts, visit the Westbrook Historical Society at the Fred C. Wescott Building, 426 Bridge St. It is open Tuesdays and Saturdays, 9 a.m.-noon, and the first Wednesday of each month at 1:30 p.m., September-June. Inquiries can be emailed to westhistorical@myfairpoint.net. The website is www.westbrookhistoricalsociety.org.