Maine Catholics raise $424,000 for Haiti

Maine Catholics raise $424,000 for Haiti

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Maine singer’s Valentine’s video to benefit Haiti

Maine singer’s Valentine’s video to benefit Haiti

Church congregation assembles hygiene kits for Haitians

Church congregation assembles hygiene kits for Haitians

Cemetery vandals paint swastikas

Jewish community reacts

in anger to the desecration

of headstones in Mount Carmel

PORTLAND — The discovery of swastikas spray-painted on four headstones in a Jewish cemetery this week has revolted the region’s Jewish community.

Emily Chaleff, executive director of the Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine, issued a statement Wednesday saying the alliance hopes the vandals are found and punished.

“It is hard to express in strong enough terms the disgust of the Jewish community at such an act of desecration,” Chaleff said. “The cemetery is hallowed ground and the sanctity of that space has been violated by a universal symbol of hate and intolerance, a symbol of particular loathing to the Jewish community.”

Almost a year ago, a swastika was spray-painted in black on a message board outside Temple Shaarey Tphiloh in Portland.

Click on the link to read the rest of today’s story by Dennis Hoey of the Portland Press Herald.

Acadia budget increase tops $300,000

ACADIA NATIONAL PARK, Maine — Acadia’s budget for 2010 is increasing by more than $300,000 from last year, according to a park official.

Deputy Superintendent Len Bobinchock said Wednesday that Acadia’s budget for the 2010 fiscal year, which runs from Oct. 1, 2009, through Sept. 30, 2010, is $8,269,000.

“It’s very good news,” Bobinchock said. “We’ll be in a better position. Not every park gets a base increase like we did this year.”

Included in the park budget is $497,000 that is to be used for the park’s base expenses, which include salaries, operational costs such as utility bills and seasonal employees, according to Bobinchock.

Click on the link for the rest of today’s story by Bill Trotter of the Bangor Daily News.

Panel votes to reject most human service budget cuts | Portland Press Herald

 Panel votes to reject most human service budget cuts | Portland Press Herald.

Decommissioned aircraft carrier Portland bound?

Maine group advances

in the Navy competition

as it attempts to bring

the USS JFK as a museum

 Two Maine groups have passed the first test in its effort to bring the decommissioned aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy to Portland Harbor as a museum.

Three groups submitted initial applications, according to the Navy, and two advanced to the second phase of the process.

One is Maine-based JFK for ME, which has formed a nonprofit organization called the USS John F. Kennedy Museum to pursue the carrier. The identity and location of the second group are unknown, and the Navy is not releasing any information, citing the competitive process.

The initial application, about 25 pages long, addressed the Navy’s questions and concerns, said Dana Slipp, one of the Maine group’s founders. It included a letter of support from the city of Portland, drafted after a 9-0 City Council vote.

“They know we understand the complexity and enormity of bringing a ship like this to Portland,” Slipp said.

The group has until next February to complete its proposal, which will have to include many more details, including a business plan that addresses marketing, income sources, museum plans, waterfront facilities and environmental considerations.

Click on the link for the rest of today’s story by Matt Wickenheiser of the Portland Press Herald.

Design unveiled for new Veterans Bridge | Portland Press Herald

(It is good news that this project will create up to 1,700 jobs. I am concerned, however, that the 18-month project will take 24 months. Bridge construction seems to take much longer than planned and usually can cost much more that first budgeted. It is the nature of things. — KM)

Design unveiled for new Veterans Bridge | Portland Press Herald.