July

Ben Conant of Paris, seen in January 2022 at the Paris Cape Historical Society’s Porter House on High Street in Paris, was a founding member and driving force of Paris Cape Historical Society and lifelong curator. Conant died Monday at his home at the age of 82. Nicole Carter/Advertiser Democrat

Paris Police Chief Michael Dailey has resigned, effective July 1, after nearly two months on administrative leave following a May 6 incident in Paris during which 11 officers shot at a suspect who is accused of stealing two different police vehicles in South Paris.

According to his separation agreement, the town will be paying Dailey eight weeks of wages totaling $11,033.60, as well as accrued and unused vacation time with a value of $9,654.40, for a total $20,688 payout.

The Paris Select Board approved changing the town office hours to have a longer day Wednesday and a half-day on Friday.

The hours will be 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday. The office will be closed for a 30-minute lunch break from 12:30-1 p.m., every day except for Friday, when the office will close early.

For Kenton Knowles, an eight-year-old kid from Otisfield, in the last few weeks his love of running has turned into a whirlwind that has sent him from Maine to Texas. For half of his life, Kenton has participated in the Panther Track Club. This week he finds himself competing at the 2024 USA Track & Field National Junior Olympic Track & Field Championships, which takes place for July 22-28.

August

A West Paris Water District pump station has been repaired and chlorination of the water has begun in hopes of lifting the months-long boil order in August, according to water district superintendent Bill Gardner.

A brand new flow meter was also installed. This week, a company will be cleaning out the water district’s reservoir tank of debris and bacteria and excess water will be pumped off of the roof, followed by more chlorination of the water. West Paris has been under a boil water order since April and E. coli was recently found in the water.

Waldo County Sheriff Office’s Detective Zane Loper is returning home to be Oxford County’s next county administrator starting Aug. 19.

Oxford County Commissioners approved Loper’s salary of $104,470.11 per year during a regular meeting July 23. He will have a six-month probation period.

The Mitchell Institute has announced that three recent Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School grads have been named Mitchell Scholars and each awarded a $10,000 scholarship to assist them through their college careers.

Cindy Choi of South Paris, Patrick Wilkinson of Otisfield, and Jaxton Stain of Harrison all say they were inspired to apply after meeting with Viking Class of 200 graduate and CEO of the Mitchell Institute, Jared Cash of Norway.

In August, Three Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School graduates have been named Mitchell Scholars, an honor that comes with a $10,000 scholarship. From Left: Cindy Choi of South Paris; Patrick Wilkinson of Otisfield; and Jaxton Stain of Harrison. Supplied photo

Mike Ward, the former chief at the Oxford Police Department, is set to become Paris’ new police chief in September.

Ward retired as Oxford’s chief in 2022 and has been working at Polly’s Variety and serving as president of the Helping Hands food pantry, which operates out of the store. However, he couldn’t resist the allure of jumping back into his chosen career when he saw the opening in Paris.

“I guess it’s in your blood,” Ward said.

This summer the Oxford Historical Society is embarking on a renaissance of sorts. Last November, Oxford voters approved transferring ownership of the Kay House Museum from the town to Oxford Historical Society.

With the historical society now in a position to manage the property without the bureaucracy of town oversight, its board of directors are forging ahead with much needed maintenance projects and new programs to benefit the community — from its youngest students of history to its most senior witnesses to it.

September

After two public hearings and much discussion, the Norway Planning Board has approved a 17-unit cooperative housing development planned for 33-35 Whitman Street.

Board Chair Dennis Gray ran through the different performance standards listed in Norway’s subdivision ordinance, making sure the project plans comply, during the board’s Aug. 22 meeting.

School board directors approved a third proposed budget for Maine School Administrative District 17’s 2024-25 fiscal year, for $50.43 million, following two previous budgets being voted down by the district’s sending towns.

This spending package eliminates another $360,150 for the school year already underway, for a total overall reduction of close to $1,18 million from the original budget.

Maine School Administrative District 17 and Oxford Hills law enforcement agencies are taking seriously an unsubstantiated video threat of violence purportedly made against an Oxford school.

While scrolling on TikTok on Friday, an Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School student told her parents she saw a video that contained a threat against the school, although it did not specify which Oxford school was targeted.

The Maine Department of Transportation discussed initial plans for installing a traffic signal at the intersection of Route 26 and Oxford Street in Oxford during the regular meeting of the Paris Select Board on Monday. Town Manager Natalie Andrews asked if the traffic signal would increase the volume of vehicles at the intersection.

“In my history at DOT, I haven’t seen a traffic light increase traffic,” Brian Keezer, project manager with Maine DOT, said. “We don’t think that it’s going to start bringing people to that intersection or to Oxford Street.”

October

The Norway-Paris Solid Waste Inc. board of directors has issued a public notice citing enforcement of its code of conduct in response to verbal abuse by customers.

The transfer station and recycling center, at 39 Brown St. in Norway, “has a code of conduct that has been repeatedly ignored and therefore has resulted in its staff being verbally abused daily while just trying to do their jobs,” the notice reads.

Wes Nugteren leads Oxford Elementary School students from the school gardens at Roberts Farm to catch the bus and return to their classroom in Oxford last October. Nugteren is a program management specialist with Health Oxford Hills, a position funded by the New Balance Foundation. He leads outdoor education for third and fourth grades at the farm preserve Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays using tools from Fit Kit, a program developed by New Balance and Boston Children’s Hospital that focuses on teaching kids balance of five health topics: exercise, nutrition, stress, sedentary activities and sleep. Saroya Wronski’s third grade class spent the day hiking – combining exercise with mindfulness – and learning about different foods grown in the gardens. “It’s an opportunity for them to try new things. It’s more fun for them to try something new growing in the garden because they picked it, rather than at home on a plate,” Mr. Wes explained. Cherry tomatoes were a hit while celery paired with ranch dressing not so much; the taste and fragrance of fresh dill produced several surprised expressions. Nicole Carter / Advertiser Democrat

Selectmen for Paris and West Paris voted unanimously Friday to authorize their legal team to sue Maine School Administrative District 17 over the closing of Agnes Gray Elementary School.

The Select Board votes came during a meeting and forum at the Paris Fire Station following presentations from attorneys Carl Woock of Augusta firm Steve Smith Trial Lawyers and Kristin Collins of Preti Flaherty of Portland.

Both lawyers contend that SAD 17 violated Maine law when Superintendent Heather Manchester closed Agnes Gray Elementary School in West Paris last February due to unsafe conditions, which were outlined in an inspection report prepared by Portland firm LaVallee Brensinger Architects.

Paris Hill-based realtor Holly Bancroft Brown has confirmed that the historic Gingerbread House property on Main Street in Norway is under contract, with the closing set to happen before the end of the year.

The Gingerbread House’s future involves long-term and short-term residential as well as community use.

The Oxford County Jail is set to open by the middle of December after being closed for renovations since March, according to Jail Administrator Major Dana Dillingham.

Once open, the jail will have 47 beds available, but will house a few less people in order to provide some “wiggle room” for new arrests.

November

According to information provided by town clerks, more than a third of registered voters around Oxford Hills had requested absentee ballots ahead of Tuesday’s presidential election. And 95% of those who received them returned them via mail or drop-off to their municipal office by last Thursday’s deadline.

Turnout was strong for the two-thirds who exercised their right to vote during Election Day Tuesday. At Buckfield’s Municipal Center, the line waiting to vote at times spilled out the front door onto the steps around 9 a.m.

Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School students earn community service hours Nov. 5 by volunteering to run a survey on school construction issues for Maine School Administrative District 17. Pictured at the polls in Norway are, from left, seniors Adelaide Harthorne and Lidia Melanson, freshman Alice Abbott and junior Tegan Hodgkin. Nicole Carter/Advertiser Democrat

The latest — and final for this year — phase of Pigeon Hill Schoolhouse’s ongoing rehabilitation was completed last week. It took just a couple of days for Norway-based contractor Paramount Construction to shore up the school’s old roof sheathing with plywood and installed historically accurate cedar shakes roofing.

With the clock ticking toward year-end expiration for American Rescue Plan Act funds, Harrison’s Select Board has authorized Town Manager Cass Newell to commit to a handful of safety and civic expenditures, with final decisions on one to be made by Dec. 12. Eight projects were up for consideration and the board determined to move forward on four of them during its meeting Nov. 14.

At the top of its priority list, the board favored the installation of flashing crosswalk alerts on Main Street — one at Crystal Lake Park and one at the other end of the village in the vicinity of the Long Lake public boat launch. Each section will have a warning light to alert drivers they are approaching pedestrian crossings as well as flashing lights when people are using the crosswalks.

December

Directors of Maine School Administrative District 17 accepted a donation of a classroom yurt, with an additional gift to include with it a fine alert system and security cameras, from Western Foothills Land Trust.

The value of the yurt, decking and ramp access, and installation of power and heat will be approximately $77,000. The safety and security equipment and installation cost will be $30,700.

Kylan Durowe, 2, of Norway was the first on Santa’s lap Dec. 6 at the Norway Fire Station to share Christmas wishes. A.M. Sheehan/Advertiser Democrat

During its Dec. 4 meeting, the Maine School Administrative District 17’s elementary construction committee voted unanimously to support an elementary school consolidation project, ending Oxford Hills’ long tradition of sending preK-sixth grade students to community-based schools.

The local decision comes more than two years after Agnes Gray Elementary School in West Paris and Oxford Hills Middle were both placed on Maine Department of Education’s priority list for school replacement. The DOE has indicated it is not likely to fund a school for fewer than 100 students; replacing Agnes Gray at an estimated cost of $25 million would have to be locally funded.

The Paris Select Board approved sending a letter to the SAD 17 school district Board of Directors requesting a response to concerns related to the closing of Agnes Gray Elementary School in West Paris.

The concerns are the same raised in a joint legal complaint with West Paris contending that the closing of the school was illegal.