Dec. 13, 1995

Resistance to the proposed changes to some Westbrook street names and numbering was so obvious in a public hearing Monday that Mayor Kenneth Lefebvre soon announced that the city doesn’t have to do it. But, Lefebvre said, he wants the decision to be made by this City Council, which leaves office at the end of the year, because members have had two years to learn about it. The new council will have five new members. A vote could come next week.

Hans Hansen won Gorham Town Council approval for contract zoning for a three-building business Park on County Road in South Gorham, overriding objections from neighbors. Resident John Bump has begun a recall petition drive to overturn the council’s approval. He has until Dec. 26 to gather nearly 900 signatures.

Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education has awarded a Certificate of Advanced Study to William J. Michaud, Westbrook High School principal. He earned 32 credit hours beyond the master’s degree.

Tim Dolby, owner of the Dolby Funeral Chapel in Windham, and his associate Bob Dorr have started a new chapel in the former York Funeral Parlor building in downtown Gorham. The partners began the business, named Dolby & Dorr Funeral Chapel, on Dec. 1.

Douglas and Anne Ward, Pine View Road, are the donors of the blue spruce that is this year’s Westbrook Community Christmas tree at the Scates Block site in Vallee Square. The Wards planted the tree on their front lawn over 40 years ago when it was an 18-inch-tall seedling. It grew to 65 feet.

Dec. 14, 2005

An internet job search company based in Westbrook wants to expand to add new jobs in the wake of the company’s sale to a New Jersey company. The Journal Register Co. has acquired JobsInTheUs, which runs listing sites throughout New England. All employees will be staying, said JobsInTheUs president Matt Hoffner. He said there are no plans to move from Westbrook. “We’ve been given direction by the new parent company that they’d like us to grow,” Hoffner said.

Jan Breton, director of curriculum, instruction and assessment for the Westbrook school system, has been presented the 2005 Library Media Service Award by the Maine Association of School Libraries. She received a plaque and a $500 donation to the district’s school libraries.

Gorham and Portland Water District officials said baby wipes are clogging sewers and increasing maintenance costs. They are asking residents not to flush baby wipes and other fibrous items down the toilets. For more than a year, water district crews have been going to Gorham to unclog sewer pumping stations. Town Manager David Cole estimated that the increased maintenance could add $25,000 to Gorham’s annual wastewater bills.

After dribbling a basketball for 20 hours, being taunted by spectators in Augusta and withstanding the elements, Tom Getchell and his buddies finally arrived at the Bangor Auditorium. The group of 10 football and track athletes from Westbrook had taken turns bouncing the ball all the way from their high school in support of their classmates, who were going to face off against Cony for the state title that Saturday in March 1972. “We were kids. We thought it might be fun,” said Getchell, who now practices law in Portland. The stunt may have helped inspire the team, which won the title by edging Cony, 77-75, in three overtimes.