March 2010

By Carol McCracken (Post # 426)

Over the weekend a fire broke out at the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad. The fire broke out at the bow house – a plywood structure used to store railroad steam engines when they are not in use – at 4 am on Saturday. The railroad is located at 58 Fore Street at Portland Yacht Services.

The bow house was built about 20 years ago by volunteers for the railroad. Plans for the building are available on the Internet. It currently houses locomotive # 7 which is dismanteled because of work being done to its boilers. No serious damage was done to the steam engine.

“The fire started on the water and east end of the building. There is no electricity there either. “It’s pretty strange. Arson has not been ruled out,” said Phin Sprague, Jr. whose family owns the historic Portland Complex. “This time of year we get lots of transients looking for a place to spend a cold night as Saturday night was. Perhaps it was just an accident,” he said.

Captain Keith Gautreau of the Portland Fire Department said he expects to file his investigative report within the next several weeks.

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By Carol McCracken (Post # 425)

Veterans of the War in Iraq made their cases for this country to get off oil dependence quickly and put this country on the road to energy independence. It’s especially important in the state of Maine where so much of every budget is allocated to home heating oil costs – and the state has incredibly strong natural resources unlike so many other states in the country. This was the message delivered by the panel of Iraq veterans at the USM campus center just after noon today.

One of the three veterans on the panel was Mike Breen, a US Army Captain who served in Afghanistan. “We were always outnumbered by the enemy. They never seemed to run out of weapons,” he said. “We are supplying both sides of the war. We buy so much oil from the Middle East and that money all goes back into the war in the form of weapons.” (See Breen in above photo on the right. Beside him is Andrew Campbell.)

Long-time city councilor Cheryl Leeman who attended the panel discussion said she set-up the curbside recycling program years ago. “It took three years to get it done,” Leeman said. “It’s a personal commitment which is cumulative over time.” Breen responded that it’s not about self-deprivation and it’s not about sacrifice. It’s about a new direction. Breen is in law school in Connecticut.

Before resuming the bus trip north, the veterans were to meet with the editorial board of the “Portland Press Herald” late this afternoon.

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Genet Gebrewahd and other protestors outside the Front Room last night.

Last night a group of protestors targeted the Front Room on the Hill for the seventh time. The protest occurred during dinnertime – starting shortly after 6:30 pm. The protest organized by the Regional Opportunities Center of Maine took place quietly outside. Meanwhile, diners inside the packed and noisy restaurant appeared oblivious to the protestors.

In early January, “ROC” filed a lawsuit against the Front Room in the US District Court here in Portland. Generally, the lawsuit calls for improved business practices by Chef Harding Smith who has been accused of: “violating ‘tip sharing” laws’, failing to inform employees of the tip credit, failing to compensate employees for all hours worked; failing to pay hours worked beyond forty at the overtime rate, taking a tip credit against wages for non tipped work, failing to provide statutory breaks from work and by failing to withhold taxes,” according to the complaint filed on January 6th.

Spokesperson for the protest last night was Genet Gebrewahd. She emphasized that this protest was not a boycott, but simply an attempt to get Chef Smith to practice better business practices on behalf of his employees. It’s expected that the matter will go to court by the end of this year if Chef Smith continues to refuse to meet with the ROC.

Chef Smith has maintained his innocence on the charges since the start.

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By Carol McCracken (Post # 423)

Greater Portland Landmarks is looking for docent volunteers to staff the Portland Observatory this season – the seasons runs from May 28th until October 11th. Evening training sessions will be offered in April and May.

It’s a wonderful opportunity to learn about the Observatory and about Portland itself. Please reply to the Manager of Education by April 8th.

Please call (207) 774-5516 x 104 and visit jpollick@portlandlandmarks.org.

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