January 2009

By Carol McCracken

Aiwin was waiting patiently – oh so patiently – with his recently adopted family – Betty and Howard Heller in the waiting room of the Casco Bay Ferry Terminal building. Aiwin is only 7 months old and the Hellers are 50 plus. They adopted him from a family in southern Maine about a month ago. “He stole my heart immediately. I couldn’t leave him behind,” said Howard. Aiwin is Celtic for good guy.

Aiwin weighs 50 lbs already and is probably close to being full grown. He has a full coat of soft apricot hair. Even at this tender age, he’s so intelligent and so loving that any adoptive family would be proud to include him in its family tree. Oh, MHNO forgot to mention that Aiwin is a Standard Poodle. He and his devoted family were awaiting the arrival of Diana Logan, CPDT, Pet Connection – at the Casco Bay Ferry Terminal building waiting room.

“Owners can bring out the best in their dogs through positive reinforcement training,” said Diana. “Whether you have a new puppy or an adult dog with problem behaviors or just in need of some fine-tuning, training can enhance your relationship.” After spending time with the Hellers finding out what behaviors they wanted to change, Diana proceeded to explain to them and them demonstrate for them how they were going to accomplish that.

Soon, she had the Hellers “in the ring” – communicating with Aiawin in a new way that changed his behavior to meet their current needs. It also laid the ground work for future behavior training. Results were immediately visible to all. Eye contact – not intimidating commands to obey – between dog and owner is key to the relationship that changes behavior. “Aiwin is a good student as well as a good guy,” praised Diana at the conclusion of his lesson.

An old dog CAN learn new tricks as Diana demonstrated with her 8 year old Standard Poodle, Dory. After five minutes of working with Dory, she retrieved the February/March issue of the “Island Times” from its stand at the Terminal waiting room. A feat she’d never attempted before and at which she was successful. For good measure, Dory picked up several copies of the monthly in her mouth and brought them to Diana. Dory was well rewarded for her work. Sweet Dory lives in North Yarmouth, with Diana Logan. Diana has been in the pet training business for 8 years and has a wide background of experience indicated on her web page.

For more information, please contact Diana Logan at www.petconnectionmaine.com or at home at 829-3187. Her cell phone number is 252-9352. It could be the beginning of a new and wonderful relationship between you and your dog.

A source close to the situation said yesterday that the newest addition to the bevy of newspapers available to Portland readers, the “Portland Daily Sun” may publish its first issue next week. It would be free to the public and publish between Tuesday and Saturday. MHN reported the story on January 10 herein. (The source was seen at the infamous Hilltop Coffee Shop on the Hill. Editorial offices are on St. Lawrence Street).

On the other hand, a spokesperson for the the blow-by-blow description of the purchase of the Blethen Maine Newspapers by Maine Media announced yesterday that he still believes that the sale will take place. One of the papers involved in the saleof this Maine chain of newspapers is the “Portland Press Herald;” a lead investor for the acquisition with newspaper experience has been found. The daily “Portland Press Herald” goes for .75. The sale could be announced within 30 days.

Okay, you can stop the drum roll now!

Portland has announced there will be a yellow zone parking ban starting tonight, 1/29, at 10:00 a.m. to end at 6:00 a.m. tomorrow am., 1/30/.

This zone encompasses the downtown business district of Portland. The rules of a city-wide parking ban apply here as well.

Parking can begin as early as 5:00 p.m. tonight and cars must be removed from city lots by 7:00 a.m. tomorrow.

Please call the parking ban hotline – 879-0300 – for more information. You can sign up for parking ban information at www.portlandmaine.gov

By Carol McCracken

A group of forward-thinking Peaks Island residents is exploring the feasibility of bringing wind power to the Island sometime in the future. To that end, Peaks Environmental Action Team (PEAT) is preparing a report to be presented to the Peaks Island Council on February 11th, said Sam Saltonstall, a member of the group. PEAT is made-up of residents of Peaks Island.

George Baker, economics professor at the Harvard Business School and wind energy consultant for the Island Institute, Rockland, described the process of the development of a wind turbine project happening on Vinalhaven. Known as the Fox Island Wind Turbine Project, it will be located on a 75-acre hilltop on Vinalhaven. But, Peaks Island could face challenges that Vinalhaven did not; such as inadequate wind and lack of funding. However, PEAT members decided to go ahead and explore the possibility more fully.

Peaks Island has long been interested in environmentally friendly projects – dating back to the 80s when the Star Foundation did some preliminary research – all of which has been lost. More recently, however, the Island has focused on weatherization of homes and other energy saving methods because of the escalating price of heating oil.

“We don’t know whether the Island will accept wind power. We’ll just have to see,” said Saltonstall in a telephone conversation.