Oct. 25, 1995

“Beer cans and baggies” were combed out of the woods between Westbrook High School and Canal School last week as the city’s Public Works crews, along with volunteer jail inmates, cleaned brush from a favorite student hangout. School authorities will now have a better view of what goes on there. About 100 yards separates the high school from Canal, whose students are in grades 3, 4 and 5.

A Gorham neighbor of Hans Hansen’s proposed professional center and business park on Route 22 has vowed to seek a referendum to overturn contract zoning if it wins Town Council approval Oct. 30. John Bump has been working to stop the project, which was recently approved by the Planning Board. “This business park doesn’t belong in South Gorham, in a rural area. It’s not compatible with the characteristics of the area,” Bump said.

A number of teenage Westbrook girls have been skipping school, Police Chief Steven Roberts said recently. He asked citizens to call police if they see students on the streets in the hours when they should be in school. “We’ll take them to school,” he said.

Steve and Dawn Andrews and daughter Whitney moved to Chandler, Arizona, in August 1994. They moved back to Gorham in August 1995. Steve said they moved out to get new techniques for their business, F.M.C. CAD Drafting Services, but found that they missed Gorham so much they had to move back.

Oct. 26, 2005

Brothers Michel, Angelo, Anthony and Marco Salvaggio are planning to convert the School Street United Methodist Church in Gorham into restaurants, stores and an event center. Members of the church, who want to build a new facility, will vote on the sale tonight. The church had dropped its original asking price a year ago from $495,000 to $390,000. The brothers did not return messages seeking comment.

Westbrook’s police union voted Oct. 19 to approve two, three-year labor contracts with the city. “I think both sides ended up making reasonable concessions and came up with two excellent contracts,” City Administrator Jerre Bryant said. It took three years to work out the agreements.

Mr. and Mrs. David Labrecque of Gorham recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. They were married Aug. 22, 1955, in Westbrook. She is the former Sally Parker. They have five children, 12 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Sandy River Health Systems, operators of the Springbrook Nursing Care Center on Spring Street in Westbrook, have announced plans to build a retirement community and assisted living home with nearly 200 units on land adjacent to their existing operations. The company is asking the city to rezone, from rural to residential growth area, 53 acres it has an option to acquire from the Animal Refuge League. Daniel Maguire, one of Sandy River’s owners, said once the project is built out, it will bring about 40 new jobs to the city and significant tax money, as well.