August 2006: Environmentally speaking
 

(Jan 5): New Unity College President Mitchell Thomashow said he hoped students would embrace the concepts of character and virtue by the time they graduate. "Environmental studies education generates character and virtue. By studying the natural world, we can learn about reciprocity, connection, respect, economy, service, collaboration ... and maybe we can learn about reverence and wonder, too," he said.

The institution lives what it teaches, striving to build an energy-efficient campus that produces a meaningful share of the food, fuel and other resources needed by the community. Two new buildings under construction at the college, founded four decades ago on the site of a former chicken farm, are part of a long-term plan to create a model sustainable community. The college is also restoring a pasture for livestock. Farm animals will be raised on campus and harvested for consumption in the dining hall.

The Belfast Co-op Store, which boasts locally grown and organic food, marked 30 years of business. It is Maine's oldest and largest co-operative store.

A dead bird in Belfast tested positive for West Nile Virus. The bird was the first to be found with the virus in Maine in 2006.

Freedom voters again supported the construction of wind turbines on Beaver Ridge. In a 79-44 vote, residents rejected a moratorium that would have prevented town officials from approving the project. Voters did not debate the merits of the moratorium, however, as moderator Don Berry ruled that Selectman Steve Bennett could not discuss the recently enacted Freedom Commercial Development Review Ordinance. That decision baffled some as the moratorium sought to prevent town officials from using that ordinance to review the wind project until a new committee had a chance to address what Bennett claimed were flaws in the regulations.

Millinocket town councilors said issues surrounding how Sears Island should be used hit close to home. That, said Millinocket Town Councilor David Cyr, is why town officials unanimously passed a resolve opposing the preservation of the island. The resolve stated the town is opposed to any use that would limit the commercial and industrial viability of the existing port at Mack Point, and that Millinocket supports the Maine Department of Transportation's circa-1978, three-port strategy.

National Grid Communications Inc. filed a complaint in U.S. District Court against the town of Lincolnville and its planning board after the town denied Gridcom's application in June to build a 190-foot cellular tower in Lincolnville. The company sought an injunction from the court to allow construction of the cellular tower to begin. The structure would serve Unicel customers.

Life is more enjoyable with nature as a neighbor, said Oak Hill Estates President Jim Shue. So he invited the public to experience the beauty of Oak Hill Estates during an open house and tour of the 200-acre spread. Guests viewed land parcels available for purchase, as well as a 3,000-square-foot model home that overlooks 14-acre Nichols Pond.

The Maine Department of Health and Human Services said it was working on a plan to pay hospitals all the money they’re owed for treating Medicaid patients — a number the Maine Hospital Association estimated will be up to $480 million in combined state and federal funds by the end of the next two fiscal years. If the state wanted to set everything straight in the next biennial budget, it would cost $180 million in state funds. Those debts for one calendar year included $1.3 million for Waldo County General.

Getting the new Medicaid billing system up and running at the Maine Department of Health and Human Services had cost $56 million by August in state and federal funds, even though the original bid for the project was $15 million — overruns the vendor said were not its responsibility.

Founders College, which in June canceled its application hearings with the Maine State Board of Education and the North Carolina Board of Governors to receive degree-granting authority in each state, announced a 2007 opening date, yet the location of the college remained unknown. Soon after, a Virginia-based television station reported Founders College had purchased a vacant resort in Campbell County. The resort was to become home of a college, retirement community, and golf course, pending county approval. In April, Founders College officials had voiced interest in purchasing land and buildings on Ducktrap Mountain in Northport, which had been developed as a 360-acre corporate retreat center by MBNA in the late 1990s. The retreat, closed last year, is owned by Bank of America, which purchased MBNA in January 2006. The asking price for the mountainside resort was $26.4 million.

Developer Tom Roberts conceded it was likely that the Wakeag Landing project he shepherded through the city's contract rezoning process for more than a year would be sold. And chances are good, he added, that he won't be involved once the sale is final. He said three or four different developers were looking at the property.

City Manager Terry St. Peter said he would retire in June 2007. The manager will turn 65 shortly after his retirement is effective. St. Peter will have served more than nine years in the top job at City Hall by June, the second-longest tenure in Belfast's history. The city's first manager, Harrie Eckler, served for a decade between 1930 and 1940. St. Peter's predecessor, Arlo Redman III, held the job for seven years.

Representatives of the University of Maine at Augusta and Waldo County General Hospital announced the two institutions had entered into a two-year agreement to educate and train eight new Waldo County nursing students. The students will be educated at the University of Maine Hutchinson Center in Belfast beginning in September 2007, and will graduate with a UMA associate’s degree in nursing in May 2009.

The 10th annual Lobster Boat Races were held in Searsport Harbor. John Harris of Chesapeake Light Craft in Annapolis, Md., led six families through a weekend of family boat-building at Penobscot Marine Museum.

Water was a popular feature at the Northport Firemen's Field Day and Parade at the Edna Drinkwater School. Although turning 30 might be traumatic for some, the 30th annual Montville Field Day featured a footrace, a parade, a chicken barbecue (320 chicken halves cooked), a cake off, face-painting, horse-pulled carriage rides and a display of historical items from the previous 29 Field Days.

While observing its 100th birthday, Granite Grange 192 honored the Tozier family, who owns and operates Tozier's Family Market in Searsport, for its strong sense of community and for assisting area families in need. Tozier's Family Market is a two-time recipient (1997, 2004) of the Grocer of the Year Award from the Maine Grocers Association.

In Belfast, Tyler Hudon marked more than 150 miles of his 218-mile run for cancer awareness on The Way Life Should Be Tour from Kittery to Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park. Members of the Belfast Chamber of Commerce welcomed and talked with Tyler near City Hall. The goal was to raise $20,000 for Maine Cancer Foundation.

Veteran journalist Dave Piszcz, 54, of Searsmont, who was afflicted with cancer, died in Belfast. Piszcz was found dead in the driver's seat of his car on Church Street. Piszcz was an award-winning reporter and columnist for The Republican Journal and a long-time radio voice on community station WERU. "I have this alien invader I have to deal with," he said in an earlier interview. "It's hard to describe. The quality of pain I feel now is different from an injury. I've broken bones, driven things into my body, but this is different. This is more integral to your structure; it's in there deep. We're married now, myeloma and me."

The Ethics Commission fined Rep. Barbara Merrill’s gubernatorial campaign $10,000 for violations of the Clean Elections Act, after she allegedly paid campaign workers out of the wrong funding pot.

Waldo County commissioners began preparing for another referendum on a new county jail. Three years ago, county voters rejected a new $18 million, 70-bed jail after almost a year of campaigning by the commissioners and supporters. Since the 2003 vote, the number of inmates has climbed dramatically. Sheriff Scott Story has said more than 70 prisoners have been under the supervision of the jail on some days, with the majority boarded in distant facilities at a cost exceeding $100 per day per inmate.

A Maine State Police dive team searched Knight's Pond for the body of Jeremy Alex, but found nothing. Alex, of Lincolnville, has been the subject of numerous searches since he disappeared under troubling circumstances. Alex, then 28, was reported by a Northport resident to be hallucinating Saturday, April 24, 2004, after he came out of the woods and approached her. The woman and her husband tried to get Alex to talk, but he reportedly ran down the Pond Hill Road, behind Jeff's Marine on Route 1.

With the price of gas at $3 a gallon, gas thefts — or drive-offs — were a concern for convenience stores. Audrey London, cashier at The Big Apple on the East Side of the bridge in Belfast, said gas thefts were regular and costly. The situation improved after signs were posted at pumps explaining that cashiers would write down the license plate number of each petroleum-purchasing customer.

Russell Handler pleaded no contest to assault charges on the second day of his Superior Court trial and walked away a free man. Handler, 57, of Northport, was being tried on three counts of assault against his wife in May 2004, when he entered the pleas that resolved a handful of other charges pending against him. Justice Donald Marden sentenced Handler to five months in jail, which he had already served awaiting trial, on a single assault charge and a charge of violating a protective order. Deputy District Attorney Leane M. Zainea said Handler was offered the same deal before the trial began but declined to accept it. She said the only restriction Handler faces following Marden's decisions is a protective order obtained by his spouse that prohibits him from contacting her.

Handler accepted the agreement reluctantly, telling the judge he thought he would have more opportunity to present his side of the story. He also said he was uncomfortable being represented by Attorney Roger Katz of Augusta, who Handler tried to fire before the trial began. Marden refused to accept that dismissal because Katz had participated in selection of the jury. One of the assault charges that was dismissed involved Russell Handler ordering his wife to climb naked into a Dumpster outside their Northport home to find toiletry items. She was reportedly found in the Dumpster by a neighbor. The three assault charges on which Handler was tried all occurred May 20, 2004, during a scheduled visit to a therapist.

A Massachusetts man described as a "most-wanted criminal" when he was arrested in May in Belfast was back behind bars after he was seen stealing two shopping carts of meat from the Hannaford supermarket. Michael Mortell, 44, who had been living in Waldo, was arrested after witnesses said Mortell took off from the supermarket. Mortell was reportedly unloading the meat from his trunk when an officer arrived. Mortell has an extensive criminal history, including a conviction for rape that led to his listing on the state's Sex Offender Registry.