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Serving Bridgton and the surrounding towns of Western Maine since 1870. Vol. 148, No. 42
24 PAGES - 4 Sections
Bridgton, Maine
October 19, 2017
(USPS 065-020)
Weather . . . . . . . . . . . 5D
www.bridgton.com
SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS
SAD 61 makes gains in testing
By Wayne E. Rivet Staff Writer Pat Hayden is first to say SAD 61 scores on the recent Maine Assessment tests remain “not where we want to be,” but students did show “some growth” in a number of areas. “We’re not satisfied,” said Hayden, the assistant superintendent of schools, to school board members Monday night. “We are moving in the right direction. We are moving forward.” With charts (see accompanying table on Page 3A) showing the percentage of SAD 61 students “at and above state expectations” projected on a big screen, Hayden told directors that students in Grades 3 through 8 and high school students in FIRE ERUPTS AT NORTH BRIDGTON HOME — Firefighters battled a Tuesday afternoon fire on Merriweather Grade 11 took the assessment Lane in North Bridgton. Personnel from 14 fire departments responded. A big cloud of smoke could be seen by motor- tests this past spring in the ists as they drove along Route 117. (Photos courtesy of Nick Lebel) areas of literacy, mathematics and science. Having two years of data at their disposal, administrators are taking a closer look at areas students succeed in “The guys did a phenom- of the fire. We cut another and where shortcomings conenal job. It was a lot of hard small hole to catch the fire tinue to plague them. work.” before it ran onto the ridge. Superintendent of Schools Bridgton Fire Chief The whole operation went Steve Fay commended his well.” squad members and fireIt took nearly three hours fighters from over a dozen to get the fire under control. surrounding departments in There were no injuries. battling a blaze at a North “We had firefighters Bridgton home Tuesday come in from as far away as afternoon. Standish. It’s the same everyPainters at the home at where. There’s not a lot of By Dawn De Busk 16 Merriweather Lane called available personnel, so we Staff Writer in the fire at 2:14 p.m. The need help from the outside,” NAPLES — By now, it has 2½-story-home was unoccu- Chief Fay added. been 96 hours. pied at the time. An investigator from the “Since about 15 minutes “We were able to contain state Fire Marshal’s office ago, the Town of Naples has the fire in the attic,” Chief was on the scene Tuesday, a marijuana moratorium,” Fay said. “We cut two holes, but at press time, Chief Fay Chairman Jim Grattelo said one to vent and the other to reported that the cause of during Monday’s Naples run a rotating nozzle inside, the blaze had yet to be deterBoard of Selectmen meeting. — WER which knocked down a bulk mined. He comment followed the unanimous vote to adopt the six-month marijuana moratorium, thus allowing the Town of Naples to put in place a recreational marijuana ordinance. The town’s new legal counsel Attorney, Amy Tchao, had provided the basic language for the moratorium. The basic idea is to give the town time to put together a proactive plan when the recreational use marijuana legalization goes into place. But, how that pans out is still up in the
Cause of N.B. fire unknown
(We are) not where we want to be...We are moving in the right direction — Pat Hayden Asst. Superintendent
Al Smith pointed out to directors that, when looking at the figures, they should follow a diagonal path across the chart to see how each class fared from Year 1 to Year 2 under the state’s new tests. For example, last year 31% of sixth graders were at or above state expectations in literacy. Now as seventh graders, the percentage jumped to 44%. In 2016, 36% of seventh graders were at or above state expectations, and this year’s eighth graders pushed the needle to 51%. While the news was good on the literacy front, mathematics continues to lag TESTING, Page 3A
Naples passes pot moratorium
Love & feed thy neighbor Reaching out to make a difference
By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer CASCO — Pam Black has a great relationship with the people who are involved in the local food pantries. And, there are a lot of folks involved: Those who do community service through the pantries, those employed at food banks and pantries, and those whose families benefit from using the food pantries. Black’s employer, Naples Rite Aid, pays for her to do four hours of community outreach each week. Her job title at Rite Aid is wellness coordinator. She said the volunteering opportunity has had positive benefit in her life and outlook. She started out working with the Naples Food Pantry, which serves 30 families or 90 individuals every Tuesday of the month. Then, Michelle Lamb, director of Preble Street in Portland, invited Black to Band for Hunger. Band for Hunger is the name of the fall fundraiser for about a half-dozen local food pantries. This year it was held at the Crooked River School in October instead of September — the month typically set aside for hunger awareness. FEED, Page 5A
air in Augusta. “If the amendments of legalization go through, we won’t need this,” said Selectman Kevin Rogers who had attended an information lecture on the law. “The biggest thing about the whole thing is if the last part of the amendments are accepted — unless the town creates an ordinance to accept the recreational” marijuanabased businesses, it cannot happen in that town, Rogers said. Therefore, if the amendments get a “thumbs up” in Augusta, towns would decide whether to allow those types of businesses. “If amendments get accepted, it won’t come into a town unless the town writes an ordinance to accept it,” he said. POT, Page 6A
Sign ordinance delay okay
WHAT IS MORE AMERICAN than localgrown apple pie, apples and pears from trees in town and listening to Arlo Guthrie? Helping out neighbors and friends in need of something as simple and basic as food. The event, Band for Hunger, was held at the Crooked River School in Casco on Saturday night. The people who attended had a lasagna dinner and live music for entertainment. The fundraiser’s proceeds will be split between a handful of food pantries serving local residents. (De Busk Photos)
By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer NAPLES — The new Sign Ordinance (SO) can wait. While this ordinance is very important to many in the community — to both business owners and the residents who will see the signs every day, there is no rush to get residents’ stamp of approval via ballot or town meeting. There is no hurry to put a new ordinance governing signs in the town’s book of codes. In fact, it a still a rough draft. So far, the Sign Ordinance draft has been reviewed by town counsel when the town contracted with the law firm of Bernstein Shur Sawyer & Nelson. Legal recommendations have been made. The
document has undergone multiple edits. The SO has been discussed from different angles by the Naples Ordinance Review Committee for probably what amounts to more than a year. And, the committee and code enforcement officer have sat back to see what would pan out with sign ordinances that were being and had been challenged in the courts nationwide. Currently, a draft of the proposed Sign Ordinance is available on the town’s website. All the proposed ordinances are on the town website,” which is www.townofnaples. org. That is according to Kate Matthews, assistant to the Naples Code Enforcement Office. SIGN, Page 6A
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