SAD 15 directors fired the district’s director of finance and operations following a short executive meeting with their attorney Wednesday night.

By 10-0 vote, the board terminated Brian McDonnell’s employment, effective immediately.

Superintendent Victoria Burns was directed to issue a certificate of dismissal to McDonnell, attaching a copy of the board’s written findings and conclusions.

McDonnell was placed on paid leave by Burns on Sept. 25.

Auburn:

Migrant worker sues over policy

A local Mexican man is suing Tambrands Inc., claiming a company policy requiring employees to have a high school diploma or GED certificate discriminates against Hispanics.

Jose Rodriguez of Lewiston began working on the production line at Tambrands in 1990. He got the temporary job at the Auburn plant through an employment agency.

During his first two years on the job, he claims in his lawsuit, his salary was increased from $7 to $8 an hour and he never received any verbal or written criticisms on his job performance.

Greene:

Town to honor

first firefighter

GREENE – A 22-year-old man pulling a trailer with a pump and hose behind a Buick was Greene’s first fire department. Soon, that man, Alden Peterson, will be honored for that and other achievements 56 years later when the new fire station is dedicated.

That will happen on Nov. 23. Peterson, 78, will be cited for more than five decades of public service to the Fire Department and to the town.

After Peterson hooked the trailer to his mid-1940s Buick and put out a fire at a farm in 1947, the forerunner of the Greene Volunteer Fire Department was born. Peterson and a few others fought fires with the Buick and the trailer for the next eight years.

Wilton:

Treatment plant repair under budget

WILTON – Two major pieces of equipment have been replaced at the town’s Waste Treatment Plant in nearly half the time projected, said the plant superintendent. Preliminary figures show that the project is about 10 percent under budget.

Plant Superintendent Russ Mathers said two rotating biological contractors were installed in 8.25 days rather than the 15 days that had been estimated.

The project was to replace old equipment with two new 22-foot shafts and media, a plastic material where microorganisms are housed to treat wastewater. Preliminary calculations, Mathers said, show that the project cost about $15,000 less than the $150,000 projected.

Each of the shafts weighs 3.5 tons, he said, and full of the plastic media and microorganisms, it weighs about 10 tons. Once the plastic is installed on the shafts, the wheel is about 10-feet in diameter.

Lewiston: Progress made on downtown projects

Five condominiums arrived on Maple Street. Down the road, work continued on new townhouse apartments, outer shells complete. Closer to Kennedy Park, interior rehab work above Speaker’s Variety was nearly finished.

Downtown housing projects are coming right along.

Excavation began in June along Maple and Knox streets to make way for 16 new apartments, built by Community Concepts. Units are at various stages, said Wayne Petersen of the P.M. MacKAY Group, the general contractor.

The porch columns are up, the windows in. Buildings on the right side of the road, looking up the hill, have three-bedroom townhouses. On the left side, there’s a mix of three and four bedrooms. A one-story building along Knox Street has two handicap-accessible units and a community laundry room.

The first building will be done by the first of the year, Petersen said.

Auburn:

School bus driver back on job

An Auburn school bus driver is back at work after officials looked into an allegation that he refused to allow a Somali middle school student on the bus.

Citing confidential personnel issues, school administrators refused to comment on the results of the investigation. Business Manager Jude Cyr said only that the driver has not been fired and “appropriate action has been taken.”

Abdiaziz Ali, father of the 13-year-old boy, has said the driver would not allow his son to go home on the school bus one day last month because the boy is Somali.

Neil Shankman, attorney for the Ali family, said “The school system acknowledges it screwed up, an employee acted improperly.”

Wilton:

Town to consider sex offender policy

Selectmen have asked Town Manager Peter Nielsen to work with Police Chief James Parker on developing a policy regarding sex offender posting.

The decision came during Tuesday night’s board meeting when citizens presented a petition signed by 680 residents asking the Wilton Police Department to be more stringent about such postings.

Wilton’s police force currently notifies people they think will be affected by a predator.

But Kaaren Wadsworth, as a member of a family affected by sexual assault, wants them to do more.

“What are they doing that’s so good they deserve a second chance,” she asked. “Victims don’t get second chances.”

Parker cited a registered sex offender who was convicted more than a decade ago and has moved into the area and changed his life. “I don’t think I ought to throw it out in the public and drag it out,” Parker said of that offender. “If he does make a mistake, he’ll pay for it.”

Minot:

Motocross track gets time to comply

MINOT – The Planning Board’s recommendation that Hemond Moto-X Park be given until July to show it can come into compliance with the town’s noise ordinance didn’t sit well with some of the track’s neighbors.

“It’s too bad you people are allowing this to go on. It’s going to be embarrassing to this town,” said Center Minot Hill Road resident Richard Thayer.

The Planning Board Tuesday night made its recommendation, which selectmen had requested, following Gregory Cunningham’s presentation of Donald and Serae Hemond’s plans.

Cunningham handed board members a letter from Scott Bodwell, engineer for Resource Systems Engineering, which suggested that previous sound studies used a “pausing technique” to record sound levels that would not accurately represent continuous motocross activity for a minute. The pausing technique was used to eliminate traffic noise on Route 119.

Lewiston:

Three charged

in drug arrest

Police arrested three men at Maine Turnpike Exit 13 night and charged the trio with bringing crack cocaine into the city.

Officers stopped the car the men were riding in after receiving a tip that they had recently purchased crack cocaine in Massachusetts.

Police and drug agents who searched the Chevrolet Prizm said they found crack rocks hidden in various locations inside the car.

The three men were searched, handcuffed and loaded into cruisers, charge with drug trafficking and importation of crack.

Woodstock:

Fire station eyed for activity center

WOODSTOCK – The Recreation Committee got the go-ahead from selectmen Tuesday to begin converting the town’s old fire station on Railroad Street into a community recreation and activity center.

Recreation Committee Chairman John Fitzmorris presented a breakdown of the costs, which would total approximately $24,000.

“This is only a rough estimate and it’s possible that it will be lower after we get exact quotes on some of the materials. The figures in our plan are only estimates because we’re waiting to hear from several companies with exact quotes on the heating system, chimney, plumbing, electric and septic,” said Fitzmorris, “When those figures are in, we will have a more accurate total.”

Oxford:

SAD 17 addressing fourth-grade gaps

High school students in SAD 17 were much closer to the state average on test scores than fourth-graders in last year’s Maine Educational Assessment testing.

“It looks like our kids do worse in the fourth grade and by the 11th grade they catch up,” SAD 17 board member Mike Brown noted during a report on the 2002-03 scores by Curriculum Director Kathy Elkins.

Elkins confirmed Brown’s observation, and said the district has been busy revising fourth-grade curriculums to meet the challenge.

“They are not overly stellar scores,” Elkins said. When compared with three-year averages, however, the scores for fourth-, eighth- and 11th-graders are essentially the same, she added.

Lewiston:

Meeting to get towns talking

Leaders from Androscoggin County cities and towns took a plan for more cooperation back home with them .

Over dinner in the Lewiston Multi-Purpose Center elected leaders from seven communities and the county talked about ways to work together and combine services.

Then, with copies of a resolution pledging more cooperation, they walked across the street to the Central Maine Civic Center and attended a Lewiston Maineiacs hockey game.

Jim Bennett, Lewiston city administrator, said the meeting was designed to get the towns talking about ways to pool their efforts.

“There’s a chance that we could save some money here,” Bennett said.

Lewiston: Commission backs harassment claim

A woman who claims she was sexually harassed while working at a local restaurant as a waitress and bartender has found a key supporter in her case against the restaurant’s owner.

An investigator for the Maine Human Rights Commission has found reasonable grounds to believe that Stephanie Dustin was subjected to severe and persistent sexual harassment by Kenneth Daigle, the owner of Little Joe’s Restaurant.

“The frequency of Mr. Daigle’s propositions, the physical assaults upon private parts of her body, would have caused a reasonable woman under similar circumstances to feel compelled to leave employment,” wrote Paul Pierce, the chief investigator for the rights commission, in a report released Tuesday.

Daigle denied all of Dustin’s allegations and he accused her of trying to make quick money at his expense.

“I did absolutely nothing wrong,” Daigle said when reached at his restaurant. “I’m actually the victim here.”

Livermore Falls: Selectmen rescind trailer permit

After an hour in executive session with attorney Paul Mills, selectmen voted to rescind their Oct. 6 vote regarding the Judd property on Route 17.

That action revoked a permit for the Judds that would have allowed them to replace a trailer that had burned.

The board gave no reason for the reversal of the previous action, only that they were acting on the advice of attorney.

Bates Mill deal discussed

LEWISTON – Jim Bennett’s Bates Mill exit strategy could cost as much as $59.2 million over the next seven years, the city administrator told councilors.

That’s how much existing contracts and agreements with developer Tom Platz will cost the city if nothing changes. Any plan to get the city out of those contracts can’t help but save money, Bennett said.

“That is the amount we are obligated to spend right now, for the next few years,” Bennett said. “But if we can negotiate a deal to even save $1 million of that, that’s a better deal.”

Bennett continues making his case for the city to disentangle itself from the Bates Mill Enterprise Complex. The final deal could be made public by the council’s next meeting on Nov. 18, he said.

Tax bills likely to increase

MINOT – Selectmen set the 2003 Minot property tax rate at 16.5 mills.

The rate is down from last year’s 23.3 mills. That doesn’t mean taxes are going down.

Rather, the new rate reflects a recently completed townwide property revaluation. While the rate is down, valuations rose significantly. Very likely, taxes will be higher.

Selectman Eda Tripp pointed out that in March’s town meeting voters approved a large increase in spending. County tax was up more than $17,000, and $180,000 more was raised for schools.

The town side of the budget was up $71,000, compared with the previous year.

“For anyone who is upset with their tax bill, I offer a personal invitation to them to attend next March town meeting,” said Selectman Dean Campbell.

Principal leaving Harrison Elementary

HARRISON – Two years ago, Walter Wallace became the leader of a school with problems.

Low reading, writing and math test scores had earned Harrison Elementary a spot on the state’s “priority list” for failing to meet standards.

Now the once-failing school is regarded as one of the best in the SAD 17 system. And many people credit Wallace with the change.

Wallace has taken another job. He’s leaving Harrison to head an elementary school in Brunswick.

“That’s disappointing news for us,” said SAD 17 Superintendent Mark Eastman, who oversees Oxford-area schools. “It’s great news for Brunswick. He’s just been a gem.”

Contract set for sludge removal

FARMINGTON – Selectmen voted to enter into a five-year contract for sludge removal from the town’s sewage treatment plant.

The bid was awarded to New England Organics for $44,300 a year. After the first year, the contract price is subject to increases based on the consumer price index.

The board accepted Wastewater Treatment Plant Superintendent Steve Moore’s recommendation to go with the company. The company transports the bio-solids, also known as sludge to Unity, according to Moore’s memo to selectmen.

They have the option of land spreading on “our sites,” Moore said, or composting at Hawk Ridge Compost Facility.

Although the company’s price is $5 a yard more for land spreading, Moore stated, the cost of composting will offset it.

Lewiston:

Apartment building sold to city

LEWISTON – The city will buy a 23-unit Canal Street apartment building to make way for part of the lower Lisbon Street redevelopment.

Councilors inked a deal to purchase the apartment building at 480-482 Canal St. from owner Ray Frechette Jr. for $735,000 plus another $108,000 in heating and relocation expenses and incentives to help current tenants move.

Frechette called the deal traumatic. The building has been in his family for 30 years and he would prefer not to sell.

“But the threat of eminent domain is very real, and I don’t want to go through that,” Frechette said. “I don’t want to sell it, but you do what you have to do when you don’t have a choice.”

Frechette said he currently has 18 tenants.

The apartment building would come down as part of the next phase for a parking lot.

Lewiston:

Crash victim in critical condition

A 54-year-old Lewiston man struck by car on Russell Street Saturday remained in critical condition at Central Maine Medical Center Wednesday night.

Police said Daniel Michaud suffered fractures, cuts and internal injures when he was hit while walking from his Main Street home to a friend’s house on Russell Street. The crash occurred just after dark.

Police this week said they still do not know why Michaud was in the path of the car, driven by Lisa Evans, 31, of Lewiston.

No charges are pending against Evans.