July 19, 1995

Police won’t say how much money three men got when they robbed the Peoples Heritage Bank office, 835 Main St., Westbrook, around 2:30 p.m. Monday. About 15 people, customers and employees, were in the bank when the men entered, wearing silk stocking masks over their heads. Police are not sure which door they came in. They ordered tellers to open cash drawers and they took money from all except one. At least two men were showing handguns.

Telco of New England Federal Credit Union has bought Michel’s Restaurant at Exit 8 for its new headquarters and will change its name to Infinity Federal Credit Union. Westbrook has had a special interest in the building since owner Michel Salvaggio proposed early this year to make it a nightclub with nude or nearly nude entertainment. He later dropped the idea and the building has been used as a banquet center.

A proposal for an auction house and function hall on Duck Pond Corner land will come back to the Westbrook Planning Board next month with more details about what functions would be allowed at a traffic study showing the impact on Route 302. Gerald Giguere is proposing the development on land to be bought from William W. Gowen.

You’re in a smoke-filled building surrounded by flames and you can’t find a way out. It sounds like a fireman’s nightmare, but in Gorham, Westbrook and Windham, they’ll be training to handle it. The three communities received a $2,500 state grant to set up a maze inside a portable trailer, fill it with smoke and use it to teach firemen how to deal with breathing equipment in unfamiliar settings.

July 20, 2005

The town of Gorham has filed a complaint in Superior Court demanding that local developer Susan Duchaine build a sidewalk along South Street from her company’s 82-lot Heartwood subdivision to Weeks Road. The sidewalk was a condition for Planning Board approval. Duchaine said the town doesn’t have sufficient land to build the sidewalk.

The “Dorcas Dishes” Calendar models were among the most popular attractions at Buxton Community Day Saturday. Modeled after a calendar in the 2003 British comedy “Calendar Girls,” the calendar features member of the Dorcas Society, which is devoted to historical preservation and was founded in 1897 by author Kate Douglas Wiggin. The calendar, selling for $15, was meant to be a fundraiser for the group, though it did raise some eyebrows, as well. “We were laughing when we did it,” said Linda Caouette, 57, featured in May. “Even the minister of our church totally supported it.”

Westbrook residents packed a public meeting July 14 to protest the Maine Turnpike Authority’s plan to close the 50-year-old Stroudwater Street bridge spanning the Maine Turnpike for about a year so that it can be replaced. John Searles, who owns a business on Stroudwater Street in Westbrook, said the closure would impact hundreds of commuters from communities west of Westbrook who use the bridge daily. “I think you’re making a mistake and it’s at our expense,” he said.

Westbrook police are searching for the person who apparently lost a large amount of wooden decking material. Capt. Tom Roth said police found the building materials dumped in the road on Route 302 near Pride Street. Police put the material in storage and are looking for the rightful owner to come and claim it.