SOUTH PORTLAND — As the 5-cent fee on single-use shopping bags and a ban on polystyrene food containers nears the six-month mark, one city councilor is thinking about the city’s next step in eliminating excess waste: a ban on single-use plastic water bottles. “It seems to me if we’re moving in the direction of being sustainable, […]
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Posted inSouthern Forecaster, The Forecaster
TD Beach to Beacon 10K: First time’s the charm
CAPE ELIZABETH — Legacy and elite runners get a lot of attention at the annual TD Beach to Beacon 10K road race. At the other end of the spectrum are first-time racers and casual runners – the people who usually stay in the middle of the pack or bring up the rear. When Portland resident Shannon […]
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Posted inSouthern Forecaster, The Forecaster
South Portland to re-examine residential zoning rules
SOUTH PORTLAND — City councilors on Monday overturned the Planning and Development Department’s temporary hold on permits for buildings on nonconforming lots. The temporary pause in permits issued by the Code Enforcement Office followed a February decision in Cumberland County Superior Court in a lawsuit brought by Thirlmere Avenue resident Devin Deane. Deane claimed that a […]
Posted inSouthern Forecaster, The Forecaster
South Portland Planning Board fails to endorse energy benchmarks
SOUTH PORTLAND — Saying the proposal is too intrusive, the Planning Board Tuesday declined to recommend requiring public energy-consumption benchmarks for some private building owners. The proposal would require owners of commercial buildings that are more than 5,000 square feet in the Mill Creek neighborhood to chart their building’s water and energy consumption for the public […]
Posted inSouthern Forecaster, The Forecaster
Food assistance program adds Portland, South Portland markets
SOUTH PORTLAND — The Farm Stand on Ocean Street and the Portland Food Co-op are the latest retail locations to join a program that brings locally sourced food to low-income shoppers who use federal food assistance. The expansion of Maine Harvest Bucks is part of a larger collaboration to make locally sourced food more accessible to those utilizing the […]
Posted inCoastal Journal, The Forecaster
Young, homeless in Brunswick: ‘It’s not something I would go to school and tell my friends about’
BRUNSWICK — Ruth Ann Driscoll became emancipated when she was 17 years old. She stood in the courthouse in West Bath in 2012 with her mother next to her. Driscoll’s mother didn’t actively participate in the legal process that would take her daughter out of her care, but consented by her presence. With the stroke of […]
Posted inCoastal Journal, The Forecaster
Brunswick church project progresses; solar farm, greenhouse get OKs
BRUNSWICK — The Planning Board on Tuesday acted on three projects that could change the face of the town. A solar farm at Crystal Spring Farm, and a greenhouse and bakery at Tao Yuan restaurant on Pleasant Street received final approvals. But the board OK’d only general guidelines for a proposed $4.75 million event center at […]
Posted inCoastal Journal, The Forecaster
Opinions clash on proposed Brunswick coastal access
BRUNSWICK — The Planning Board on Tuesday tried to take a “narrow approach” after being asked by the Town Council to provide a recommendation about a new public park at Mere Point. But after the meeting, emotions in the debate over the 4-acre parcel at 946 Mere Point Road spilled over, when an opponent of the project threatened one […]
Posted inSouthern Forecaster, The Forecaster
Public invited to discuss proposed Cape Elizabeth amphitheater
CAPE ELIZABETH — A public forum next month will provide feedback on a proposed amphitheater at Fort Williams Park. The Fort Williams Park Committee will lead the forum at Town Hall on Aug. 17 at 7 p.m. The committee has created a concept plan for the amphitheater, which will seat 350 people, but wants to hear […]
Posted inCoastal Journal, The Forecaster
Long-time Brunswick principal leaving for RSU 3
BRUNSWICK — Jean Skorapa, who has worked in the Brunswick School Department for more than two decades, will be leaving this fall to become assistant superintendent of Regional School Unit 3. She is the only principal Harriet Beecher Stowe Elementary School has had since it opened in 2011, and the second high-level school staffer to leave […]