The Portland Daily Sun, Friday, September 2, 2011

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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2011

VOL. 3 NO. 151

PORTLAND, ME

Police arrest two, say five children living in squalor

PORTLAND’S DAILY NEWSPAPER

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PPD: Conditions ‘pretty bad’ for kids BY MATTHEW ARCO THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN

A Portland couple was arrested Wednesday after police say they allowed their five children, including a newborn baby, to live in inhabitable conditions. Siyad Abdi, 30, and Kathleen Johnson, 31, were both charged with endangering the welfare of a child after officials found their home was without running water and infested with insects, filled with scattered debris and had its windows broken out, police said. Officers responded to the residence on Hemlock Street and also reported finding feces on the floor, broken glass and no cleaning supplies. "The conditions were pretty bad," said Lt. Gary Rogers, a police spokesman. "Bad enough that the officers felt the parents were endangering the welfare of

Abdi

Johnson

(the children)." The kids were ages 2, 4, 7, 12 and two months. Rogers said the children were already removed once by the Department of Health and Human Services. He didn't know how long ago they were removed. "After having been removed from there, apparently they came back and that's what the officers were following up on,"

see SQUALOR page 3

Police: Teens likely behind S. Portland racist graffiti BY CASEY CONLEY THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN

South Portland police believe one or more teenagers, rather than an organized hate group, are responsible for spray painting swastikas and other racist symbols on the Southern Maine Community College campus. Community response officer Jeff Caldwell said yesterday the department had collected several leads in the case but still hadn’t made any arrests. Swastikas, racist remarks

about President Barack Obama, and "KKK" were found spray painted on Fort Preble, pathways leading to the fort, and an academic building on the college’s South Portland campus Aug. 23. Visitors reported seeing the racist graffiti several days after it was first reported. In fact, a local photographer reported that a swastika near Fort Preble was still there as recently as Aug. 31. see GRAFFITI page 8

Jesse LaCasse spent much of the day Thursday re-installing banners in downtown Portland. Roughly 60 of the banners, which denote various city neighborhoods and districts, were removed late last week in anticipation of Hurricane Irene. LaCasse said high winds could have damaged the banners and even the light poles had the banners been left up (and the winds were much higher than they actually were). Here, he installed a banner on Congress Street in the Arts District. (CASEY CONLEY PHOTO)

Police seize crack and heroin Portland’s unseen scene Equality and the golden rule WH predicts high jobless rate See the story of arrests on page 3

See Jeffrey S. Spofford on page 4

See Justin Chenette on page 5

See the story on page 6


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