News Briefs

USM College of Education Series on Poverty Continues

On Wednesday, December 7, the third event in a USM College of Education and Human Development series on poverty in Maine, "Education and Poverty," will be held from 4-7 p.m. on the seventh floor of USM's Glickman Family Library, Portland campus.

According to the Maine Education Policy Research Institute (2005), the number of children in poverty continues to increase. In this third panel discussion, the challenges and successes of work will be highlighted in three areas--early literacy, adult refugee education, and access and aspirations for high school students. The three panelists include: Director of Maine Roads to Quality and Early Reading First Sue Reed of the USM Muskie School of Public Service; USM Assistant Professor of Social Work Otrude Moyo; and Poland Regional High School Director of Guidance Hillary Bush.

The format for the three-hour session includes a brief presentation by each of the panelists, followed by break-out sessions where members of the audience will have an opportunity to discuss issues such as early literacy, opportunities for adult learning, and rural issues and aspirations.
This series is sponsored by the USM Provost's Office, the University of Maine System Vice Chancellor's Office, and the USM College of Education and Human Development.

This event is free and open to the public. A light dinner (Sudanese) will be served. For more information, please contact Kim Warren at 780-5902.

Novaya Mortgage To Open Branch at One City Center in Portland
New Branch to be Novaya's Flagship Branch in Maine

PORTLAND, ME. - Novaya Mortgage will celebrate the opening of its flagship branch at One City Center in Portland with an open house from 2 pm to 6 pm on December 9. The open house will offer thousands in door prizes and a New Year's vacation package.

Novaya's 5,400 square-foot office at One City Center will offer residential, commercial and construction mortgages, for both purchase and refinance customers. The new branch will feature programs for both the sub-prime and conventional markets.

Haj Carr is President of Novaya Mortgage. For more information about Novaya Mortgage, its products and services, please call 888-668-2921, or visit www.novayamortgage.com or visit any of Novaya's branches.


Coastal Humane Society Receives Grant Awards

Brunswick, Maine - The Coastal Humane Society (CHS) in Brunswick has been the recipient recently of grants totaling $20,000. The grants were awarded to the Society by the Ahimsa Foundation, the Elinor Patterson Baker Trust, the Florence V. Burden Foundation, the Steven Leuthold Family Foundation and the Lyman Pope, Jr. Foundation in support of the Society's on-going efforts to improve and expand housing and care for the more than 2000 animals it serves each year.

The funds are targeted to help defray costs associated with the Society's recent purchase of a 14'x52' modular unit especially outfitted to provide clean, comfortable housing for the Society's incoming stray, abandoned, abused and unwanted cats and kittens. "All animals that come to the shelter without veterinary records must be tested, vaccinated, and spayed or neutered before they can be made available for adoption," says CHS's executive director, Sharon Turner, "and a clean, safe, quiet space is essential to facilitate their adjustment. We didn't have these conditions before, but thanks to the generosity of many individual donors, especially Ray Labbe & Sons, Inc. who provided the materials and prepared the site at no cost to CHS, we are now able to provide them."

Applications for the awards required the Society to provide access to all policies, procedures and records, and virtual or actual tours of the facility to representatives of the grantors. Representatives included individuals from the Humane Society of the United States and the Maine State Humane Society. Also required was in-depth discussion of CHS philosophy and its reflection in practices regarding spaying and neutering, provision of medical treatments, determination of adoptability of animals, suitability and screening of prospective adopters and euthanasia. Provision of complete information regarding income and funding sources, and projects and events was also necessary.

According to Turner, the awards are a welcome morale booster, providing validation to a dedicated staff that has worked far above and beyond what might be considered reasonable expectations to provide proper and loving care for the increased number of animals since the decision was made three years ago not to euthanize animals for lack of space, time limit, age, treatable illness or injury. "The investment required has been substantial," says Turner, "in terms of staff numbers and time, supplies and equipment, and medical and veterinary expenses which alone have cost over $100,000 annually for the past three years."

The result, however, is "incredibly gratifying" says Turner. According to the Lyman Pope, Jr. Foundation which tracks such statistics, CHS has the lowest euthanasia rate in the area served by the Foundation which includes Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. "We could not have accomplished what we have without the support of so many wonderful people in our surrounding communities," emphasizes Turner. "And our website has been a tremendous help bringing people from all over Maine and New England to adopt animals from us as well."

In addition to the high adoption rate, foster and hospice programs have been developed to help manage the numbers and provide the best possible care for the animals at every stage of life. Volunteers have helped generously in these areas and also provide support to events that include golf tournaments, rabies clinics, a plant sale, yard sale and now a booth at the Waterfront Fleamarket in Fort Andross. Volunteers also spend time helping in the shelter with cleaning, grooming, dog walking, cat socializing and providing animal transport to local veterinarians and satellite adoption sites. Volunteers have logged more than 3500 hours so far this year.

The modular unit is now housing a full complement of felines but is still in need of shelving, some plumbing, and external stairs and decking. Also needed are several banks of stainless steel cages. Anyone interested in helping can contact CHS at 725-5051 or info@coastalhumanesociety.org.

2005 New England Schools for the Deaf (NESD) Tip-Off Basketball Tournament
Governor Baxter School for the Deaf to Host Oldest Basketball Tournament in New England

The 2005 New England Schools for the Deaf (NESD) Tip-Off Basketball Tournament will be held on December 2 and 3, 2005 at the Governor Baxter School for the Deaf Gym. This annual tradition is so much more than a series of high school basketball games. Over the years, it has become a celebration of the richness of Deaf culture. Here, Deaf and hard of hearing students from all over New England, some in attendance at schools for the Deaf, others in mainstream schools, gather for a weekend of camaraderie with peers just like themselves. Full communications access is provided to all students via open captioning, and American Sign Language and Sign English interpreters.

Participating teams are:

Governor Baxter School for the Deaf (hosts), Austine School for the Deaf from Brattleboro, Vermont, Rhode Island School for the Deaf, The Learning Center from Framingham, Massachusetts.

The games begin on Friday, December 2nd at 2:00 p.m., then 3:30 p.m., 7:00 p.m., and 8:30 p.m. On Saturday, the consolation games and championship games are at 9:00 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 12 noon, and 1:30 p.m. Admission is free and the Tournament is open to the public.

The New England Schools for the Deaf Basketball Tournament originated in 1964 at the Mystic Oral School, Mystic Connecticut. Six schools participated in that first tournament, Governor Baxter School for the Deaf was one of them.

For more information, contact Jim Gemmell at (207) 781-6286 or Jim.Gemmell@GBSD.org