When Mike Maberry went to Elm Street School in Mechanic Falls he said the Pledge of Allegiance every day.

It was an expected part of his day, and it meant something special to him.

As a freshman at Poland Regional High School, Maberry last year found that he no longer had an opportunity to say the pledge. So he got involved.

Now a sophomore, Maberry will soon get the opportunity to pay tribute to the U.S. flag in a public forum, along with any other students and teachers who want to join him.

An arduous and democratic process initiated and carried through by students to provide a protocol for saying the Pledge of Allegiance has come to an end. The student plan received its final endorsement from the school committee.

“I feel very relieved,” said Maberry. “And I feel very thankful for the opportunities that Poland has given me.”

Auburn:Olympian speakson winter sports

To many young teenagers, winter sports aren’t all that appealing.

The weather is cold and wet. Practices are tough. It can be difficult to find the time to fit in another activity between school and home.

But recently, as Olympian Julie Parisien regaled an Auburn Middle School audience with stories of her life as a downhill skier, a few hundred Auburn teens were ready to give winter sports a try.

“A lot of kids know about it but they don’t want to do it,” said 13-year-old Sam Armstrong, a middle school eighth-grader and an avid skier. “I think it’s going to get a lot more kids motivated and going out to try new stuff.”

Parisien is the spokeswoman for WinterKids, a Portland-based nonprofit that is working to increase children’s physical activity in winter.

Farmington:Arts grants give$99,000 to agencies

The National Endowment for the Arts has awarded grants to the Alice James Poetry Cooperative in Farmington.

The $24,000 award to the poetry cooperative will support the publication and promotion of poetry titles selected from three annual competitions.

Bates College in Lewiston also received a grant of $20,000. It will allow summer dance festival troupes to stay in town for the duration of the festival to participate in workshops and attend community events.

The NEA has awarded a total of $99,000 to six Maine agencies in its latest round of funding.

The other grants are:

• $10,000 to support the 40th anniversary season of the Bowdoin Summer Music Festival in Brunswick and the commissioning of new works;

• $25,000 to support a three-tiered approach for the development of new work at the Portland Stage Company;

• $10,000 to support the Bangor Symphony Orchestra’s production of “Back to the River – a Penobscot River Tour;”

• $10,000 to support a production of Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” at the Penobscot Theatre Company in Bangor.

Auburn:Hope lives on forschool expansion

Auburn will keep its choices open when it comes to Lake Street Elementary School.

The Auburn School Committee agreed to keep the options it holds on four Lake Street neighborhood properties, a move offers a glimmer of hope to residents who want the current Lake Street school to expand.

But minutes later, members voted unanimously to look at purchasing three parcels of land that sit blocks away, a decision that lets Auburn officials seriously plan an entirely new neighborhood school.

“We are exploring other options. We will continue to do that,” said Superintendent Barbara Eretzian.

Minot:Planning boardseeks revisions

The Planning Board voted to recommend to selectmen that the town adopt revisions to the road ordinance to allow a subdivision developer to secure building permits before the subdivision’s road has been accepted by the town.

The Planning Board is asking selectmen to put the revised ordinance up for voter approval at March’s town meeting.

The revisions would allow a developer who has built the road up to final grade, fully prepared for paving, to be issued building permits for lots provided the developer gives the town a performance guarantee to ensure the road’s proper completion.

The conditions and amount of a certified check or performance bond should at least be equal to the cost of completing the road plus one year of maintenance and snow plowing for the street, with the condition that the road be completed within two years of the date of the bond.

Roads developed under this scenario would still be required to go to the annual town meeting for approval.

The intent of the revised ordinance is to remove a barrier to developers, who now must have a road built and approved at the March town meeting before any building permits are issued. It would still protect the town’s interest in having a properly constructed road completed in a timely fashion.

Durham:Changes outlined,concerns voiced

About 100 people braved subzero temperatures to attend a public hearing on proposed land use ordinance changes.

Although a majority just listened, some builders and developers voiced concerns about a limitation on permits issued for family members who are involved in the building business. Another questioned why there was no provision for previously approved subdivision owners that would allow them to get more than one permit.

Comprehensive Plan Committee Chairman Mike Fitzpatrick chaired the meeting that was jointly hosted by his panel and the Ordinance Writing Committee. They have been working on revisions since an earlier proposal was turned down last August.

Among the ordinance changes turned down last year was a provision that would have “grandfathered” existing subdivisions. Taking that vote into consideration, the Ordinance Committee opted not to include it in the new ordinance, a committee spokesman said.

However, one resident, who complained about the absence of that exception, said he thought it was turned down because it was grouped with another unrelated issue in one article.

Fitzpatrick said this was not the case; it was in an article dealing with only ordinances.

The goal of both committees has been “to keep the rural character of the town,” something residents indicated they want, and to ensure that it’s “not overbuilt,” Fitzpatrick noted.