FARMINGTON – Though admittedly excited and nervous at the same time, Jill Berry Bowen is taking a big step in her career. She’ll be going from a hospital that has 70 beds to one that has 230 beds and is planning to build a new hospital.

The chief operating officer and vice president of Franklin Memorial Hospital is leaving her Farmington job to become the vice president of patient care services – nursing, pharmacy and the behavioral health program – at Mercy Hospital in Portland. Her last day at Franklin Memorial is Dec. 3.

The Avon woman who grew up in Phillips and Avon and graduated from Mount Abram High School says the move is “a huge step for me. It’s very significant.”

When she graduated from school she was going to be a physical education teacher. But that didn’t happen. Instead, she went into health care. “It sort of found me,” she said.

She has worked at Franklin Memorial Hospital for 11 years.

“It has been a wonderful experience for me,” Berry Bowen said. “I couldn’t have learned from a more wonderful hospital giant, Rick Batt.” But she has 20 years left to work, the registered nurse said, and she wants to further her education.

Shooter pleads to mischief charge

AUBURN – A man who shot at a downtown apartment house in August has pleaded guilty to one count of criminal mischief.

Brett Griffin, 36, of Auburn was released after his appearance in Androscoggin County Superior Court.

He was sentenced to nine months and one day in prison, followed by one year of probation. Justice Ellen Gorman agreed to suspend all but 76 days of the sentence, which is the amount of time that Griffin has already been in custody.

Police say that on Aug. 5 Griffin fired a .22-caliber gun at an apartment door at 66 Shawmut St. No one was in the apartment at the time, and no one was injured.

According to court records, the shooting was related to a drug deal gone bad. Griffin claimed he was simply trying to get the attention of someone who had taken $2,800 from him for crack cocaine, then never delivered the drugs.

Zoning revision falls 2 votes short

AUBURN – A split vote doomed a plan to put more zoning decisions in staff hands.

The zoning change, which would have let small businesses expand uses that don’t match zoning codes, was able to get three yes votes, short of the five needed to pass.

Amendment backer Jim McPhee said he hopes councilors will consider similar changes in the future.

“There are at least three local businesses that we know of that would benefit from something like this,” McPhee said. “And those are just the ones we know of. There could be many others that we’ve never heard of. So, I think this will come up again.”

Lack of surplus could be costly

AUBURN – County commissioners blame a lack of surplus revenues in the 2005 budget on a proposed 15.8 percent increase in the tax levy.

In each of the last several years, surplus funds have been available from previous years that have offset the amounts needed to be raised by taxation. That surplus is not currently available.

“The commission in whole has worked very hard to keep this budget down,” commission Chairman Elmer Berry said Wednesday during a presentation of the draft budget. “The past has finally caught up with us this year.”

In a letter to the Budget Committee, Berry and commissioners Constance Cote and Patience Johnson cited a reduction in revenues for 2005 of $537,385 due in part to a lack of surplus from 2003, as those funds were used to reduce the 2004 budget, and a 53rd week payroll of $73,000.

The proposed budget calls for a 4.78 percent in departmental expenditures with a 19.4 percent decrease in projected revenues and credits. The proposed amount to be raised by taxation is $7.5 million, almost a $1 million increase from the amount raised last year.

The largest proposed increase is $137,161 for the operation of the Androscoggin County Jail.

Other proposed increases include $94,148 for the Sheriff’s Department, $51,427 for the Sheriff’s Department’s Civil Process program, and $203,218 for employee benefits. Some of the sheriff’s expenditures are offset by grants.