THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Thursday, April 21, 2011— Page 3
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State says no charges expected after deck collapse in Carrabassett
Paper: Chief Craig applies for police chief job in Cincinnati
The weekend collapse of a deck at a Carrabassett nightspot was likely caused by the combined weight of too many people on it at the same time, the State Fire Marshal’s Office reports. The deck was attached to a fire escape from the second floor of the Rack. Investigators say no charges are anticipated, according to a Maine Department of Public Safety press release. Those hospitalized were Monica Yesmentes, 50, of Gardner, Mass.; Sandra Walczyk, 27, of Old Town; Judd Vear, 25, of Orono; Brescian Lander, 35, of Orono; and Patrick Frisbee, 25, of Eliot. Four of those injured were transported by ambulance to the Farmington hospital and one was taken by private vehicle, the press release stated. Up to 10 people were on the deck when it collapsed, the state reported. The Fire Marshal’s Office will be involved in the approval process, if the owners of the business decide to rebuild the fire escape and deck, the press release stated.
PORTLAND — Police Chief James Craig has applied for a police job in Cincinnati, the Portland Press Herald reports. Craig has been Portland’s police chief since May 2009. He is among the 37 candidates who applied. Craig, 54, said Tuesday that his application in Cincinnati should not be interpreted as a sign that he’s trying to leave Portland, the PPH reported.
Brunswick fire victim dies, state fire marshal’s office reports The State Fire Marshal’s Office says a Brunswick man, severely burned when his apartment caught fire in February, died over the weekend. Richard Rugg, 63, had been hospitalized since the Feb. 16 fire swept his apartment at 84 Union St. in Brunswick, reported the Maine Department of Public Safety. Investigators said Rugg had been cooking on the stove when the fire swept his apartment. He suffered severe burns to more than half of his body and died Sunday at Maine Medical Center in Portland. Fire Marshals also reported that last weekend’s fire in downtown Brunswick that destroyed a large apartment house on Maine Street started underneath a stairwell near electrical wiring, but because of the extent of damage and because inspectors could not enter the burned out building, the official cause of the fire will be listed as undetermined. Fire Marshals said the fire is likely accidental, state officials said. The stairwell where the fire broke out was off Mason Street in the middle of the large three-story brick building, which was torn down in the aftermath of the Sunday morning fire.
Women in Harmony chorus secures grants in support of May concert Women in Harmony, a Portland-based chorus of 58 women’s voices, has been awarded two grants in support of its upcoming May concert, the group announced. The Maine Arts Commission has given the chorus an “Artists in Maine Communities” grant of more that $3,000 for its concert, Moving On: Immigration in Song. Choral Arts New England has also awarded the group an Alfred Nash Patterson grant of $1,000 toward the spring concert, Women in Harmony announced. Performances will take place on Saturday, May 14 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, May 15 at 4 p.m. at Woodfords Congregational Church in Portland. Moving On: Immigration in Song will feature the premiere of “(F)light: A Borderlands Song Cycle” by Maine composer and former chorus member Erica Quin-Easter. The work explores the theme of immigration in the international border regions of Maine and Arizona. Quin-Easter, who lives in Stockholm, has set to music the writings of two award-winning Arizona poets, Eric Magrane and Wendy Burke. As part of the (F)light project, the poets conducted fieldwork among the border populations of Arizona and northern Maine, including the Acadian, Native-American, and working waterfront communities. The composer and the poets will present a pre-concert talk about the development of their work on both performance days. Women in Harmony director Catherine Beller-McKenna says the chorus is “delighted that the Maine Arts Commission and Choral Arts New England have recognized the value to the community of this collaboration. In an economic climate where support of the arts has dwindled, it is reassuring to know that there are organizations supporting innovative projects like this one.” Now in its 18th year, Women in Harmony espouses
a musical mission for social justice. In keeping with the theme of immigration, Moving On will feature a guest performance by Pihcintu, a local chorus of firstgeneration immigrant girls. For more information about Women in Harmony, visit www.wihmaine.org.
Local live audio recording company announces Decemberists EP release Satronen Sound owner and chief engineer Pete Nenortas announced the release of “Live at Bull Moose,” the limited edition EP by the chart-topping indie folk group the Decemberists. Satronen Sound recorded this live album during a concert by the band at the Bull Music Warehouse store in Scarborough in January, Nenortas said. This seven-track CD is available at all participating independent record stores including Bull Moose, while the limited supply lasts. Satronen Sound also announced the launch of their web-based social networks. The mobile live audio recording company, based out of Portland, is blogging at www.blog.satronensound.com, and can also now be found on Twitter and Facebook at Satronen Sound. To celebrate this launch, the company has just released a pair of live concert videos featuring the jazz/funk group, Soulive. The video, recorded at the band’s appearance at the State Theatre on March 18, shows Soulive with audio recorded by Satronen Sound and HD video by Richard Pelletier of Real Media Solutions (www.realmediasolutions.net). The videos of “Tuesday Night Squad” can be found on Satronen Sound’s Youtube channel at www.youtube.com/user/satronen.
State notes near-record timber harvest Maine’s Department of Conservation reported a near-record timber harvest on public reserved lands of 70,600 cords for the past winter season. The harvest, which was above that of recent years, is valued at approximately $2.23 million, a state press release noted. These funds support maintenance, operations and public access on the state lands, said Tom Morrison of the Maine Department of Conservation. The harvest involved hiring local logging contractors in 29 locations, harvesting timber across the state, and supporting more than 200 private-sector jobs, Morrison said. Logs were delivered to more than 40 Maine mills for valueadded processing.
Pingree says she ‘staunchly opposes’ increased offshore drilling WIND from page one
residents and its energy is provided by wind turbines. Pingree said she “staunchly opposes” proposals to increase offshore drilling and, responding to questions about the likelihood of drilling ever happening off Maine’s coast, noted that she would not “expect to see that” but added that she also never expected to see a nuclear plant disaster in Japan. Ben Hayman of Oceana’s Climate & Energy Campaign also tackled the “could it happen here” question, saying that “... there are currently several bills in Congress that would open up the Atlantic to offshore oil drilling, thus creating the possibility of an oil spill reaching us right here in Maine.” Previous oil spills in Maine have come from ruptured tankers, and Portland-area harbors are considered one of the top-five oil-import areas on the East Coast. As a candidate, Gov. Paul LePage voiced support for off-
“On offshore wind development, Maine’s potential is enormous. We could turn Maine from an energy importer to an energy exporter by fully implementing offshore wind in our waters.” — Ben Hayman of Oceana’s Climate & Energy Campaign
shore drilling. Hayman warned of environmental dangers, but also laid out a financial argument for wind power. “Studies have shown that investment in renewable energy jobs produces three times more jobs on average than the same investment in the oil industry,” he said. “On offshore wind development, Maine’s potential is enormous. We could turn Maine from an energy importer to an energy
exporter by fully implementing offshore wind in our waters.” The Oceana event was one of several planned for East Coast communities in advance of a Washington, D.C. meeting with federal regulators to present a new “energy plan” backed
with 100,000 petitions asking for an outright ban on offshore drilling. The plan, titled “Breaking the Habit,” calls for “eliminating our dependence on oil from the Gulf of Mexico by 2020, the Persian Gulf by 2030, and all other nations by 2033.”
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