South Portland company sent vitamin D to trapped miners

As the 33 rescued Chilean miners adjust to life topside, Dr. Newton’s Naturals of South Portland announced that it had donated supplies of vitamin D to the miners while they were trapped 2,000 feet underground for more than two months.

Vitamin D, which the body normally generates through sunlight, helps regulate 3,000 hormones in the human body, said Andrew Majewski, Dr. Newton’s vice president of marketing. Vitamin D deficiency can cause body pain, loss of energy and immune system problems.

Majewski said his company sent the miners about $1,200 worth of its “sublingual vitamin D-3,” which, unlike other vitamin D supplements, is designed to be dissolved under the tongue so it goes “straight to work.”

DeLorme honored for device that ‘Tweets from anywhere’

With help from a communications device from a Yarmouth company, you can now Tweet from nearly anywhere on the globe – even the top of Mount Everest.

That’s where American climber Eric Larsen was Friday when he tweeted “Everest summit” using his Earthmate PN-60w, a handheld GPS device from the DeLorme mapping and satellite communications company.

Just a few days earlier, DeLorme and a partner company won a Popular Mechanics’ Breakthrough Award, which recognizes products and innovators that “move society forward.”

When using a satellite communication device from a California company, SPOT, PN-60w users can type and send personalized text messages from virtually anywhere in the world via satellites. The devices do not rely on cell phone signals.

DeLorme’s PN-60w with SPOT satellite communicator costs $549.95.

Grants awarded to groups for urban growth planning

Two urban planning groups will receive $2.4 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to support the creation of sustainable and community-integrated urban growth plans.

The Greater Portland Council of Governments will receive $1.6 million.

Executive Director Neal Allen said the money will help his group continue developing growth plans that will strengthen the community and economy, promote equity among residents, improve transportation and encourage energy conservation.

Allen said sprawl in Greater Portland “will result in a region that is no longer unique.”

The council partnered with 26 other government and community organizations from Kittery to Brunswick in developing its grant application. Next, the group will spend three years soliciting input and creating an implementation plan.

Caribou’s Northern Maine Development Commission received an $800,000 grant. It will use the money to create a regional development plan in partnership with nonprofits in Washington and Aroostook counties.

Northeast Bancorp reports gain in quarterly net income

Lewiston-based Northeast Bancorp, the parent company of Northeast Bank, reported net income of $960,691 for the quarter ending Sept. 30, a 94 percent gain over the same period last year.

The firm’s fiscal year 2010 first quarter net income was $495,669.

The bank attributed the results to strong residential loans and improved investment commission income.

Common stockholders’ diluted shares rose to 38 cents, up from 19 cents in the same period last year.