February 2009

By Carol McCracken

Richard Lee Campbell, 54, was arrested Tuesday evening on Munjoy Hill and charged with robbery of the café Other! earlier the same day. Campbell entered the café around 12:45 p.m. and instructed the cashier to “empty the register” and then to “get down on the floor” and not to call the police. When Campbell left the café, the employee then went upstairs to the office of Maine Securities Corp. where the owner of Other!, Brad McCurtain was meeting with an employee of that company. McCurtain founded and runs Maine Securities Corp. at 15 Monument Square in downtown Portland. (Across from the Portland Public Library on Congress Street.)

Campbell will make his first court appearance on Friday, February 20th in Courtroom # 1 at 1:00 p.m. It’s an “in-custody” hearing which will advise him of the charges against him.

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By Carol McCracken

Portland has already announced there will be a city-wide parking ban beginning tonight at 10:00 p.m. in anticipation of the severe snow storm that is expected to hit the state tonight. The ban ends tomorrow, Thursday, February 19th at 6:00 a.m. Cars must be removed from their parking spaces by 7:00 a.m.

Residents may begin parking their cars at designated places around the city as early as 5:00 p.m. today. The Cutter Street lots off the Eastern Promenade remain a good altnerative for Hill residents. All other city parking ban rules apply concerning fines, etc.

Please visit www.portlandmaine.gov for more details and to signup for automatic computer notification of parking bans.

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By Carol McCracken

At 12:45 this afternoon, an employee of the café Others! was held up at gun-point by a man in his early 50s, wearing a bulky jacket and hat with ear flaps. He had a bushy mustache with salt and pepper hair. The robber pointed the gun at the employee and said: “Empty your cash register.” Then he told the employee to “get down on the floor and don’t call the cops.” She obeyed.

Brad McCurtain, owner of the Others!, told MHN the sequence of events about 2 hours after the incident happened. McCurtain who has a securities business on the second floor of the building at 15 Monument Square said he’s normally in the café, but had just stepped upstairs to his office about 15 minutes before it happened. McCurtain had just returned from taking his employee home because she was shaken by the incident. But he continued to wait on customers who entered the Others unaware of what had just transpired. McCurtain who has been in business there since 1981, since he was surprised because there has never been any trouble since he’s been there – especially involving a hand-gun. Furthermore, he said the police response was very prompt.

Three years ago McCurtain and his cafe were the focus of an in-depth article published in the “Portland Press Herald.” He has always supported worthy causes, such as “needy local children to farmers in other countries.” ‘An investment banker who founded Maine Securities Corp., Others! is not intended to make lots of money he said in the article. But it’s his “social return on capital.” The name Others! came from the founder of the Salvation Army. “It’s not about me. It’s not about you. It’s about others,” McCurtain also said in the article.

Meanwhile, someone close to the situation said this robbery could be connected to another armed robbery that happened last night at Salon Burke at 550 Congress Street.

(editor’s note: MHN highly recommends the carmalized apple pie and delicious chicken soup (as good as my mother’s) at the Other! – eaten in that order. Highly recommended!

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By Carol McCracken

City Manager Joe Gray has recommended that Captain James Craig be hired as the city’s new Police Chief. Craig will be presented to the city council for confirmation on March 2, 2009. Craig is expected to start his new position on May 4th.

Craig is a twenty-eight year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department. He’s originally from Detroit, Michigan. Craig and his wife and daughter plan to relocate to the Portland area.

As the 18th Police Chief for Portland, Craig will oversee a Police Department comprised of 160 sworn officers and a civilian staff of 53. This announcement marks the end of a six month search for a new Police Chief.

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