KC hosts blood drive

The Westbrook Knights of Columbus Council 2219 is sponsoring an American Red Cross Blood drive from 1 to 6 p.m. Friday, April 9, at St. Hyacinth’s Church Hall (St. Anthony Parish) on Brown Street.

“As always, there is an urgent need for blood donations,” Russ Champagne, Knights of Columbus spokesman, said in an announcement.

WPD eyes pedestrian safety

The Westbrook Police Department has been awarded a grant to focus on pedestrian safety issues.

The department has begun assigning officer details that will focus on crosswalk safety, according to a Facebook post on the police department’s page.

Police see issues throughout the city, with vehicles failing to yield to pedestrians who are in crosswalks and creating a dangerous situation, the post said.

Officers will be on the lookout for violators this spring and summer. Drivers are reminded to yield to pedestrians in a crosswalk, or they may have to yield a few minutes of their time to get a ticket from the police.

Land trust seeks volunteers

Spring is here and so is the opportunity to be a fish count volunteer and/or a water quality monitoring volunteer for Presumpscot Regional Land Trust.

According to the trust’s website, fish count volunteers are needed for Mill Brook, which supports the largest migratory fish run in Casco Bay, as alewife travel from the ocean to Highland Lake. Volunteers count fish at the Highland Lake Dam in Westbrook for 30 minutes at a time.

Water stewards attend a training led by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and then collect samples and data every other Saturday morning from mid-May through mid-September.

For more information, or to volunteer for either opportunity, visit www.prlt.org/get-involved, where other volunteer opportunities are also listed.

50 years ago

The American Journal reported on April 7, 1971, that a chimney at the Mechanic Street fire barn was smoking at 11:30 p.m. but there was no fire, according to the report.