NORWAY — The town will continue to remove snow and ice on portions of state roads for the Maine Department of Transportation this winter and be paid $13,047.50 for its effort.

The town is in its second year of a 20-year contract to do snow plowing and ice control on a portion of Route 26 from the Oxford town line to the Paris town line, a total of 2.22 miles for a payment of $4,717.50

NORWAY — Selectmen may make a decision Thursday on whether it will take the historic Opera House by eminent domain, unless they hear from its owner, Barry Mazzaglia.

"We made a formal offer with guidance from the appraisal. We haven't heard back from him," Town Manager David Holt said Friday. The offer was made about a week ago.

Chuck Blaquiere photo

Chuck Blaquiere photo

The driver of this Ford van, Lisa Brochu, 34, of Paris, was reportedly hurt when she swerved to avoid a deer on Route 119 on Thursday night, and the van left the highway and rolled over. Paris police said Brochu was headed toward Paris when the accident occurred at about 9:30 p.m. Information about Brochu's injuries was not available Friday.

OXFORD — The Oxford Hills School District Board of Directors will be asked to cut an additional $231,000 from its budget Monday night.

The money will come from a variety of sources including maintenance, support staff and the contingency fund.

The Budget Committee approved the cuts last week to meet a $743,371 curtailment of state aid for this current fiscal year.

"This is phase two of the curtailment," Assistant Superintendent Rick Colpitts said Friday. Phase 1 of the budget cuts took place last spring when $512,287 was cut.

PARIS — For the past five months, Daniel Conrod of Lewiston has sat down to a simple breakfast at the Cob Adder military base in Iraq.

On Friday, however, he seemed almost overwhelmed as he and his wife, Catherine, received a seven-course feast at King's Hill Inn. Janice Davis, who runs the bed and breakfast with her husband, Glenn, shuttled between the dining room and kitchen, keeping the table stocked with coffee and homemade waffles, doughnuts and lemon squares.

"I think this is the biggest breakfast I've eaten in months," Daniel said.

OXFORD — Keiser Industries Inc., a modular building manufacturer, has been purchased by R.J. Finlay & Co. LLC, a national real estate firm.

The purchase will not affect the 100-plus jobs at the 20-year-old company on Route 121, R.J. Finlay Co. Communications Director David Lazar said.

Keiser Homes President David Cuttler praised the move as one that will allow more growth for the company in an economically depressed time.

GREENWOOD — A land management standards ordinance will go before voters at a special town meeting next week.

The meeting is scheduled to take place at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18, at the town hall. Residents will decide whether to adopt the ordinance, which was designed to allow orderly development, appropriate land use, and conserve natural resources. The ordinance would replace a current document, less than a page in length, that focuses on lot sizes and building heights.

FRYEBURG — A police officer fired earlier this year for inappropriate text messaging , speeding and issuing false summonses, among other things, is seeking reimbursement for wages that were not paid while he was on administrative leave.

Ian Tait, who was an officer with the Fryeburg Police Department from January 2004 until his termination was upheld by the Board of Selectmen on April 24, has filed a civil suit charging the town with failure to pay wages and failure to provide health insurance.

Never mind what's in the forecast. The crew at Sunday River is so confident about their skiing conditions, they are keeping their slopes open every day.

Starting Saturday, the Newry resort will stay open seven days a week. That announcement comes on the heels of the official opening Oct. 14, the earliest in a decade.

PARIS — Attendance rates in the Oxford Hills School District have remained strong despite continuing outbreaks of flu-like symptoms among students and staff, an official said Thursday.

"So far, the attendance is OK," district head nurse Ann Johnson said. The attendance rate was above 85 percent, she said, although lately she was seeing more students and staff getting sick.

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention requires school districts to notify it if the absentee rate is above 15 percent.

BETHEL — Hundreds of one-of-a-kind items will go on sale Friday, Nov. 27, during the town's Local Craft and Wares Fair from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at The Bethel Inn Conference Center, off Main Street behind Northeast Bank.

Forty crafters and others will gather at the center to provide Christmas shoppers with an opportunity to buy local, said Robin Zinchuk, executive director of the Bethel Chamber of Commerce.

BETHEL — Station Place road and drivers using it to access the Bethel Chamber of Commerce and Casablanca Cinema, could soon see a new, safer traffic pattern.

At Monday night's board meeting, selectmen had no objections to reversing the traffic flow, Town Manager James Doar said.

PARIS — An attorney is questioning the town's policy of not recognizing Town Farm Road as a town way, reviving a longstanding debate about its status.

Selectmen unanimously voted Monday to have town attorney Geoffrey Hole speak about the issue with Dana Hanley, who is representing the Town Farm Road Association. Hanley is contending that the road was not properly discontinued in 1933 or 1967.

The road is off Parsons Road near the Oxford town line.

PARIS — The Snow Hoppers snowmobile club is asking for help from the town to replace a 22-year-old bridge.

The 212-foot wood and steel suspension bridge spans the Little Androscoggin River near the town gravel pits and is part of snowmobile and ATV trail systems. A sign on the bridge says that it was built by the club in 1987.

PARIS — The principal of Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School encouraged attendees of a public Veterans Day ceremony  to take more time to thank members of the military.

"All of our lives have been touched by a veteran or an active military member," said Ted Moccia, the guest speaker at the annual ceremony held at the school.

NORWAY — The Gingerbread Task Force has reached its goal of raising $100,000, the amount it will take to stop the demolition of the historic building on Main Street.

The surprise announcement was made Tuesday to several dozen people gathered at the Norway Memorial Library to hear about the plans to save the historic house and to brainstorm about what its future may hold.

"The donor is willing to make up all the money it will take to move, up to $100,000," Norway Downtown President Andrea Burns said. "We're there."

SUMNER — Selectman Mark Silber said he will be looking into getting grant money to put a new roof on the Municipal Building.

According to the board, the 20-year-old shingles are in bad condition and are warping and coming off with heavy snows.

A program administered by the Maine Public Utilities Commission is offering grants where improvements in energy efficiency are needed. Added insulation with a new roof would make the town office more energy efficient.

BETHEL — SAD 44 medical personnel, along with other qualified people, finished administering the H1N1 flu vaccine to students Monday.

Superintendent David Murphy said all children whose parents gave permission were able to be vaccinated. He said 62 percent of children in grades kindergarten to five received the vaccine, and 45 percent of those in grades six to 12.

BETHEL — Oxford County Sheriff Wayne Gallant will meet with selectmen and the Budget Committee on Nov. 23 to share a formal proposal for police coverage for the town.

Selectmen are trying to determine whether it is in the town's best interest to continue operating a police department, or to disband it and contract with the county, Town Manager James Doar said.

"There was a lot of discussion over whether or not, but ultimately, it boiled down to the selectmen wanting to at least hear something formal from the sheriff," Doar said Tuesday.

SWEDEN — A 41-year-old man is free on bail after being charged in connection with a standoff at his home last month.

Timothy Kelly of Waterford Road was arrested Saturday morning and charged with aggravated assault and terrorizing. Capt. Ernest Martin, administrator of the Oxford County Jail, said Tuesday that Kelly was released on a $50,000 surety on Saturday afternoon.

WOODSTOCK — The Planning Board unanimously ruled Tuesday that an application for a proposed wind farm on Spruce Mountain is complete.

A public hearing on the proposal has been scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Town Office on Tuesday.

Andy Novey, project director for Patriot Renewables LLC of Quincy, Mass., said the company had identified 11 potential sites for wind turbines on the mountain. He said the wind farm would consist of either 2-megawatt turbines at nine sites or 1.5-megawatt turbines at 10 or 11 sites.

I'm happy to say I have my Christmas shopping well under way. I'm sure as some of you folks read that opening sentence there will be some groaning. And some might even think I'm an organized person, but I can assure you that I am not.

The reality is that I get paid monthly so I now have just two paychecks between now and Christmas. If there is any hope of budgeting those last two paychecks to include bill paying and Christmas shopping, I'd better get on the ball.

PARIS — When Ted Moccia speaks to the veterans and other participants of the Veterans Day ceremony at the Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School on Wednesday, it will not be as a veteran but as a citizen and educator who honors the service of men and women in the military.

"I believe everyone's life is affected by a veteran," said Moccia, who serves as principal of the high school and whose stepfather was an Army veteran, and whose mother lived her later years in the veterans home in Paris.

Leslie H. Dixon/Sun Journal