Bangor lacking arrival-departure monitors until summer

BANGOR (AP) – It could be summer before new air travel monitors, which have been out of order since January, are replaced at the Bangor International Airport.

The arrival-departure monitors, which are common traveler aids in airports, gave out after being used around the clock for more than 10 years, airport Director Rebecca Hupp said. Passengers were left with no place to check flight times, delays or cancellations near the airport’s eight gates.

Hupp said a replacement system could be in place as early as this summer. The $75,000 cost to replace the monitors is part of a $557,000 project going out to bid. It will also cover new cameras and a new security system at the Bangor airport.

For now, at least one airline is posting paper copies of departure and arrival times on the empty monitor frames. Passengers can also contact the airlines’ automated systems, which are accessible by phone.

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Weekend rally to show support for shipyard

KITTERY (AP) – Union members, politicians and Portsmouth Naval Shipyard workers are expected to turn out Saturday for a five-town, two-state “rolling rally” that will mark the last major public plea to keep the Kittery yard open before a new closure list comes out.

The rallies are organized by the Seacoast Shipyard Association, which formed in 1964 to fight a base-closure proposal from then-Defense Secretary Robert McNamara. Since then, the group has helped to prevent three possible closures.

Now, shipyard supporters are looking ahead to May 16, the deadline for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to submit a list of recommended base closures to the Base Realignment and Closure Commission.

If the Portsmouth shipyard is on the list, its roughly 4,800 employees will live under the threat of closure until at least early September, when the nine-member commission sends its base-closure recommendations to President Bush.

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No violations found as 1,800 aliens pass through check point

BANGOR (AP) – Nearly 1,800 aliens from 41 countries passed through a checkpoint along Interstate 95 north of Old Town, and officials say they found no immigration violations during the nine-day operation.

The checkpoint was held April 3-12, with agents working about 20 hours a day. By far, Canadians accounted for the majority of the 1,788 aliens, with others coming from the United Kingdom, Philippines and other nations.

Matt Zetts, deputy chief patrol agent for the U.S. Border Patrol in Houlton, said officers didn’t uncover any immigration violations during the recent operation, although past ones have turned up illegal drugs and other violations.

The border patrol runs checkpoints several times a year. Zetts said that overall, reaction from the public has been positive.