A toned-down graffiti ordinance proposal?
Here’s an idea: Raise America’s taxes
Wabanaki Arts Festival at Bowdoin hosted by Native American students
See Opinion on page 4
See Nicholas Kristof’s column on page 5
See the Events Calendar, page 13
FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2011 Mint condition: Elise Loschiavo's eden line of bath and body products will be featured tomorrow at the first-ever Big Thaw art, craft and vintage sale at Mayo Street Arts. (COURTESY PHOTO)
VOL. 3 NO. 52
PORTLAND, ME
PORTLAND’S DAILY NEWSPAPER
699-5801
FREE
Debut craft fair buoys Internet retailers BY MATT DODGE THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN
When Elise Loschiavo started making natural bath and body products as gifts for friends and family four years ago, she followed her inclination to use organic ingredients. “Paying attention to the ingredients we put in our bodies is important to me. I’ve
always tried to go most natural route possible, so when I realized you could make the stuff yourself, it was kind of a revelation,” she said. Loschiavo’s preference quickly became the industry standard as the Portland marketing professional experimented with ingredients and tried to elevate her craft in her spare time.
“It’s not hard to make a lip balm, but it’s hard to make a good lip balm,” she said. “It takes several years to get the formulas down and make a quality product. It’s like cooking — except you are cooking lotion, not soup.” A contact at the Regency Hotel’s see FAIR page 9
Senate stalls plan to ease party status in Maine Green Party backs less stringent caucus rules BY DAVID CARKHUFF THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN
In what is today’s Monument Square, this Civil War-era image shows, on the left hand side of the square, the brick theatre building that once stood directly on the corner of Preble Street and Congress Street where John Wilkes Booth, assassin of President Abraham Lincoln, performed “Hamlet.” The building was called Deering Hall, Portland Theatre or Music Hall and later it was known as the Nickel Theatre. (COURTESY PHOTO)
John Wilkes Booth played here As Civil War broke out, future presidential assassin took a bow BY DAVID CARKHUFF THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN
Booth
A century and a half ago, when a telegraph message brought the news that the Confederacy had fired upon Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, igniting the Civil War, a handsome, young actor was performing “Hamlet” in Portland. His name: John Wilkes Booth. Herb Adams, former state legislator and a Portland lecturer and historian, shared the connections between Portland and the man who, four years later on April 14, 1865, would
assassinate President Abraham Lincoln. Adams said the assassination that doomed the Booth family name to eternal infamy ended a career that intersected with Portland in the early 1860s. “Booth took away more than a memory of Portland, I think,” Adams wrote. “When he was ridden down and shot by the U.S. cavalry almost four years later to the very day, in Booth’s wallet they found pictures of six pretty young women — one of them was the daughter of the theatre manager back see CIVIL WAR page 6
A proposal that would make it easier for political parties to maintain their legal status is stuck in the Maine Legislature, much to the chagrin of the Green Party, a supporter of the legislation. In 2010, Anna Trevorrow served as chair of the state Green Party, making her the point person for convening caucuses, or party meetings. “We held caucuses in every county, but there were a couple of areas where it was a struggle for us,” Trevorrow recalled. Trevorrow Now, Trevorrow, secretary of the state Green Party and chair of the party’s Portland committee, is joining other Greens in support of legislation that would reduce the requirement that parties caucus in every county of Maine every two years. “This requirement has been around for a long time, the Green Party has been meeting this requirement every year, but what it means for the Green Party, is there’s such see CAUCUS page 15