News Briefs

Cumberland County Government considers redistricting

Portland -- Peter Crichton, County Manager of Cumberland County Government is hosting a Forum to be held Thursday, April 28, at 4 p.m. at the Cumberland County Courthouse Building located at 142 Federal Street, Portland. The forum will take place in the conference room on the first floor of the Annex.

The Board of Commissioners for Cumberland County has appointed a committee named the Cumberland County Redistricting Committee to evaluate whether there should be five or seven County Commissioner Districts, instead of the current three, to provide for greater citizen representation to the 270,000 citizens living in Cumberland County.

The members of the committee are as follows: Rep. John Robinson of Raymond, Ned Kitchel of Falmouth, Norman McKenney of East Baldwin, Jim Moulton of North Yarmouth, Mark Hough of Yarmouth, Shawn Babine of Scarborough, Arthur Boulay of Brunswick, Rep. Boyd Marley of Portland, Ralph Baxter of South Portland, Barbara York of Casco, and Rep. Chris Barstow of Gorham.

The committee will be reaching out to the communities of Cumberland County through a series of informational meetings to receive input from interested groups and individuals. The process is still being developed at this time.

Rep. Barstow has expressed a desire to have committee members go to meetings of town/city councils and boards of selectmen, as well as hold public hearings.
FMI e-mail crichton@cumberlandcounty.org
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Current Cumberland County Commissioners:

Commissioner Esther B. Clenott
Esther Clenott took office in January 1992 and is in her third term, which will expire December 31, 2004. Commissioner Clenott serves as Chairperson for the year 2005. clenott@cumberlandcounty.org

 

 

Commissioner Richard J. Feeney
Richard J. Feeney was sworn in as County Commissioner on February 28, 2000. Mr. Feeney was re-elected to represent District 2 in November, 2000. His 1st full term expires December 31, 2004. Commissioner Feeney served as Chairperson for the year 2004. rfeeney@cumberlandcounty.org

 

Commissioner Alfred L. Austin
Sworn into office on Monday, February 28th to represent District 3. Commissioner Austin fills the vacant position of Gary Plummer. His term will end December 2008.

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1st Annual Legislative Breakfast

Sebago Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce (SLRCC) invites its Chamber members and any other business owners to meet with their Legislators to network and ask questions regarding current issues before the Legislature on Tuesday, May 10th at Charlie Beiggs, Roosevelt Trail, Windham from 7 a.m. - 9 a.m.

Beginning at 7 there will be a Networking & Breakfast, 7:30 Questions and Answers. Members - $10, Non-Members - $15.

SLRCC serves its Chamber Members in Casco, Gray, Naples, Raymond, Sebago Lake, Standish and Windham. Seating is limited.

FMI call the SLRCC office at 892-8265, Lakes Region Weekly office at 892-1166.

Governor Announces Volunteers of the Year

AUGUSTA - Monday Governor Baldacci, the Maine Commission for Community Service (MCCS) and the Maine Volunteer Connection (MVC) announced the winners of the 2005 Annual Governor's Service Awards at the State House Hall of Flags.

One of the winners was Kevin Foster of Cumberland as Youth Volunteer of the Year - for volunteering with multiple programs in his community including the Bigs and Littles Program, a youth mentoring project; Special Olympics; and the Cumberland Fire Department. He also mentors disabled students at his high school and organizes fundraisers for local charities.

Breakfast with Kucinich

The Maine College Democrats will host breakfast with Congressman Dennis Kucinich on May 7 at 9:30 a.m. at Thorne Hall, Daggett Lounge, Bowdoin College, Brunswick ME.

The Bowdoin College Democrats Progressive Lecture Series presents Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH). The former Presidential Candidate will be speaking at Bowdoin on the shortfalls of President Bush's plans for Privatizing Social Security and will present sensible, alternative solutions to correct the current problems with the system. A continental breakfast will be provided. For more information please visit www.bowdoincollegedemocrats.com or e-mail democrat@bowdoin.edu to RSVP.

Mr. Kucinich was born into poverty on October 8th , 1946 in Cleveland, Ohio. His family moved twenty-one times in search of affordable housing and at one point he lived in the backseat of a car. He worked his way up and in 1970 he received a BA from Case Western Reserve University and followed it up three years later with an MA at the same institution.

He served as a city councilman a few years before he was elected mayor of Cleveland at only thirty-one years of age. He was the youngest person in the nation to lead a major US city. Later he served as a member of the Ohio Senate and until 1996 when he was elected United States Congressman for Ohio's 10th Congressional District, and he has been reelected every two years since. Mr. Kucinich brought his views national when he decided to run for President in 2004.

Pineland YMCA Council invites participation

The Pineland YMCA Council will hold its second meeting on Tuesday, May 10 at 6 p.m. at the Pineland Y. All Pineland Y members are invited to join this "Friends of the Y" group to learn more about the Pineland Y, and provide your thoughts and comments about the Pineland Y's future growth. We ask our first round members to please bring at least two friends so we can perhaps triple the membership in our Friends of the Y group.

At the May meeting, the agenda includes a welcome, introductions, and announcements. We will then convene into three groups:

A Strategic Planning group - To start looking at critical near term and long term issues that drive the Pineland Y's long term growth.

A Programs group - To talk about programming needs for all ages and interests.

A Q&A group - To provide background information about the Pineland Y and answer questions you might have about our operations and organization.
We hope you will be able to come and share your thoughts with us. Refreshments will be served.

For more information contact: David Van Wie at 926-3568, or Phil DiRusso at 688-2255.