Portland Daily Sun, Wednesday, April 25, 2012

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The creative monopoly See David Brooks, page 5

Sticky finger stories See Natalie Ladd, page 6

VOL. 4 NO. 59

PORTLAND, ME

PORTLAND’S DAILY NEWSPAPER

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City’s ’13 budget banks on welfare solution of legislature, not governor Public can weigh in tonight on draft — Page 9

Slippery slope? Residents disagree with commercial use for historic church — Page 8

Cutler part of ‘No Labels’ event See Events Calendar, page 14

Walter Hettenbach, 3, plays outside the Williston West Church on Thomas Street in the West End Tuesday. Hettenback is part of Children’s Nursery School, which has used the church parish hall since 1975. Now, with the recent sale of the church to a developer, the school will be moving to State Street Church, according to organizers. The last day for the school in its current site is at the end of June; start-up at the new location will happen in September. The city’s planning board is reviewing plans for the former church. Current plans call for the use of the sanctuary as a community hall as part of a future conditional use and site plan review and conversion of the Parish Hall to two to three dwellings. (DAVID CARKHUFF PHOTO)

Page 2 — THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Stylishly hide a gun (NY Times) — Woolrich, a 182-year-old clothing company, describes its new chino pants as an elegant and sturdy fashion statement, with a clean profile and fabric that provides comfort and flexibility. And they are great for hiding a handgun.

The company has added a second pocket behind the traditional front pocket for a weapon. Or, for those who prefer to pack their gun in a holster, it can be tucked inside the stretchable waistband. The back pockets are also designed to help hide accessories, like a knife and a flashlight.

The chinos, which cost $65, are not for commandos, but rather, the company says, for the fashion-aware gun owner. And Woolrich has competition. Several clothing companies are following suit, building businesses around the sharp rise in people with permits to carry concealed weapons.

Their ranks swelled to around seven million last year from five million in 2008, partly because of changes to state laws on concealed handguns.

Shawn Thompson, 35, who works at an auto dealership in eastern Kentucky, bought two shirts last month from the Woolrich Elite Concealed Carry line.

Both, he wrote on his blog, are a step up from more rugged gear.

Carriers of concealed guns say the new options are a departure from the law enforcement and military look, known as “tactical,” long favored by gun owners.

The latest styles, by contrast, are called “concealed carry” or “covert fashion.”

“What we’ve tried to do is create a collection of garments that allows the end user to have stylish lifestyle apparel but have features in the garment that enable them to carry a weapon and draw the weapon quickly,” said David Hagler, a vice president at 5.11 Tactical, who was lured from Nike to work at 5.11, one of the biggest makers of clothing for soldiers and police officers.

The company’s growing concealed-carry line includes a lightweight waterresistant vest coming this fall — the sort of vest that is standard and trendy at any mainstream outdoor shop but has strategic pockets for guns. It also includes a stealth compartment in front so the wearer can appear to be warming his hands while actually gripping a pistol in a waistband holster.

Other companies are rushing to meet the demand for concealed-carry clothing.

Under Armour, best known for its sports and action gear, will be adding a jacket and a plaid shirt with Velcro pockets for easy gun access.

SAYWHAT...

“

It’s not a gun control problem; it’s a cultural control problem.”

—Bob Barr

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Engineer arrested in BP oil spill case HOUSTON (NY Times) — Federal prosecutors announced on Tuesday that they have filed the first criminal charges related to the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, accusing a former company engineer of destroying evidence by deleting text messages documenting the amount of oil that was leaking from the stricken well.

Federal authorities arrested the engineer, Kurt Mix of Katy, Tex., who was charged with two counts of obstruction of justice in a complaint filed in the Eastern District of Louisiana and unsealed on Tuesday. Officials suggested that there may be more prosecutions related to the

April 20, 2010, explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. The accident killed 11 workers and spilled millions of barrels of oil into the ocean over a period of months.

The long-term effects of the spill on the environment are still being assessed.

BP, the London-based oil giant that owned the well, has already reached a multibillion-dollar settlement with lawyers representing individuals and businesses for economic losses and medical claims. But criminal prosecution is a slap to the company, which has tried to portray itself as doing everything it could to make amends for the tragedy. If criminal

Construction company admits fraud scheme (NY Times) — The giant construction company that worked on the Sept. 11 Memorial and Citi Field projects has admitted to a massive fraud scheme and agreed to pay $50 million in fines and restitution in a deal to avoid criminal charges for overbilling on scores of public and private projects, according to federal court documents unsealed on Tuesday.

The company, which changed its name from Bovis Lend Lease to Lend Lease after a fatal fire during its demolition of the Deutsche Bank building, will not be prosecuted criminally as a result of the agreement with federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, who say it is the

largest construction fraud settlement ever in New York City. The man who led the company until the investigation was disclosed in 2009 and was one of the most prominent construction executives in the city, pleaded guilty to fraud charges on Tuesday in United States District Court in Brooklyn.

At the heart of the overbilling scheme is a practice that investigators contend – and that many construction executives concede — is widespread, so much so that it has a name: eight plus two. It is the practice of paying labor foremen for two hours of overtime that they do not work each day as an incentive to stay on a construction project.

charges are eventually brought against the company itself, they carry the possibility of suspension or exclusion from government contracts.

According to an affidavit filed with the criminal complaint, Mix, a drilling and completions project engineer for BP, was involved in efforts to monitor and stop the oil leaking from the well following the accident.

In October 2010, despite notices from BP that he had to retain all information concerning the well, Mix deleted a string of more than 200 text messages with a BP supervisor, the complaint said.

Former Edwards aide testifies about effort to hide affair GREENSBORO, N.C. (NY Times) — The star prosecution witness in the corruption trial of former Senator John Edwards on Tuesday testified about elaborate efforts by Edwards to try to conceal an extramarital affair from his family, his campaign staff and report In his second day on the stand, the witness, Andrew Young, a former campaign staff member, said that he and Edwards had brainstormed about who might provide the necessary money to support Rielle Hunter, Edwards’ mistress, after Edwards’ wife learned of the affair and demanded that Hunter be dismissed from her job as a campaign videographer.

Young said he and Edwards knew they would have to come up with a lot of money — and for an extended period of time — given Hunter’s fondness for expensive items.

“This was going to be a long-term problem, and Miss Hunter had good taste,” Young said.

At one point during the cover-up, Young said Edwards had instructed him to seek financial aid from his best friend, the late Fred Baron, a lawyer and multimillionaire supporter, and another of his close friends, a musician who played in the Dave Matthews Band.

Resignation of police chief in Martin case is rejected SANFORD, Fla. — Several hours after the city manager publicly announced that he had reached an agreement with Chief Bill R. Lee Jr. to resign over the Sanford Police Department’s handling of the Trayvon Martin shooting case, the City Commission voted late Monday afternoon to reject Chief Lee’s resignation.

Mayor Jeff Triplett was among a 3-to-2 majority of commissioners to vote “no confidence” in Chief Lee last month, prompting him to temporarily step aside. But during a special meeting Monday to consider Chief Lee’s future, Triplett was clearly torn amid a spirited debate punctuated with applause and standing ovations from backers of the chief in the audience.

In the end, Triplett voted in favor of Chief Lee’s remaining in the department, once again as part of a 3-to-2 majority. He said he wanted to review the reports of an independent investigation about the Police Department’s handling of the case before making a decision.

“I am not ready to have him come back and run the Police Department,” Triplett said. “But I am not ready for this, either.”

According to a copy of the agreement, Chief Lee acknowledged no wrongdoing. In the three-page document, he explained that he was resigning at the suggestion of the city manager, Norton N. Bonaparte Jr., “solely to allow the city to move beyond recent events.”

The agreement said Chief Lee would

receive several lump-sum payments on May 4, including one equal to 98 and one-quarter days of pay and one for 217 hours of accrued leave. Bonaparte said in a brief interview Monday night that the agreement would have been worth $54,000 to Chief Lee. Chief Lee stepped aside on March 22, after just 10 months in the job, amid local protests and a national uproar that raised questions about why the Sanford police did not immediately arrest George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, for shooting and killing Martin on Feb. 26.

Martin, an unarmed black 17-year-old, had been walking through a gated development where Zimmerman, 28 and Hispanic, lived and where Martin was staying as a guest.

THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Wednesday, April 25, 2012— Page 3

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Amid bribery scandal, Wal-Mart says it is tightening internal controls

BY ANDREW MARTIN THE NEW YORK TIMES

Allegations of widespread bribery at Wal-Mart’s Mexican subsidiary continued to reverberate on Tuesday, with the company beginning a campaign to limit the damage as its shares declined further.

In a statement, Wal-Mart said it had beefed up its internal controls to make sure it was complying with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits American companies from engaging in bribery and other illicit acts overseas. A new top-level compliance position will be responsible for ensuring that the company is abiding by the law and will oversee five regional compliance directors based in international markets.

In Mexico, the retailer said it had bolstered its

practices and training to ensure better compliance.

“We are taking a deep look at our policies and procedures in every country in which we operate,” said David Tovar, Wal-Mart’s vice president for corporate communications.

The Times reported on Sunday that Wal-Mart’s own investigators had found evidence that Wal-Mart de Mexico had paid millions of dollars in bribes as part of an effort to advance its ambitious expansion plans.

When executives at Wal-Mart’s Arkansas headquarters were told of the findings, they shut down the investigation, The Times found. On Tuesday, Mr. Tovar said, “We believe it’s also important to keep a few things in context: the allegations in the New York Times story about the decisions made in Bentonville are more than six years old.” In addition, he noted that Wal-Mart started its own

investigation six months ago and was cooperating with law enforcement authorities.

Shares of Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, fell another 3 percent on Tuesday, after a 5 percent decline on Monday, closing at $57.77.

In a related matter on Tuesday, one of the executives identified in the Times article as a driving force behind the bribery in Mexico, Eduardo Castro-Wright, announced that he had resigned from the board of MetLife, on which he had served since 2008.

“Over the past weekend, I notified you of recent events that will require my immediate and personal attention,” he said in his letter of resignation, adding later, “I now must focus my energy in spending personal time with my family and in protecting my good name and business reputation.”

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– COURTS AND COPS –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Friend of fatal stabbing victim charged with murder in Old Orchard DAILY SUN STAFF REPORTS Michael Swenson, 44, has been charged with murder in connection with a fatal stabbing of a friend in Old Orchard Beach, police reported.

Swenson was taken into custody at his mother’s house in Scarborough without incident, according to the Maine Department of Public Safety.

State and Old Orchard Beach Police Tuesday afternoon charged the Old Orchard Beach man in connection with the stabbing death of a friend Friday night. SwensonHe is charged with murder and has been taken to the York County Jail. Swenson is expected to make his first appearance in York County Superior Court either today or Thursday, depending on the availability of a

judge, police said.

Swenson, who lives in a lean-to along railroad tracks in Old Orchard Beach, has worked in construction for several years and was a friend of Roger White, police said. Swenson met up with White, 51, at The Whaler, a local bar, on Friday night, police said. White’s body was discovered outside, near the bar, on Saturday morning. An autopsy on White’s body by Maine’s Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Margaret Greenwald, showed that White died of stab wounds to the neck and chest, police said.

“They met up at the bar, they have known each other for years,” said spokesman Steve McCausland with the Maine Department of Public Safety.

Any other details surrounding what might have motivated the stabbing will come out with the formal court paperwork, McCausland said.

It’s the third homicide of the year in the state, McCausland said.

— David Carkhuff

PPD: Cash register swiped Police arrested Dierdra Hoffman, 45, for robbery after she allegedly targeted two different businesses in a Forest Avenue plaza.

At 9 a.m. on Tuesday, a woman came into Maine Video Systems at 495 Forest Ave. and demanded money from an employee, police recalled. The woman said she had a weapon, but her request was refused.

After repeating the demand for money a second time, the employee said, “We have no money here,” and the woman left.

The suspect went into Greenlight

Studios, which is in the same shopping plaza. She approached the clerk in that establishment, stating she needed money from the register., but the clerk refused and went into another room with a customer who was in the store at that time. The clerk was calling the police, but while in the process, the suspect stole the cash register and left the store, according to police spokesman Lt. Gary Rogers.

Police arrived and did a search of the area, being directed to 11 Forest Park, Apartment 3, Rogers said. At that location, they arrested Hoffman, and the cash register was recovered, along with most of the money, police said.

— Marge Niblock

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Honest graft Some good news and some bad news. First, the good news. Our Representatives in Washington have enjoyed a 207 percent salary increase between 1984 and 2009, rising from $72,600 to $150,347 adjusted for inflation (to $174,000 in nominal terms).

Now the bad news. The wealth of the average American family has declined slightly during that same period.

Now some more good news.

According to a Dec. 27 article in the Washington Post, “Growing Wealth Widens Distance Between Lawmakers and Constituents,” the median worth of a member of the House has risen 2.5 times between 1984 and 2009, rising to $725,000, adjusted for inflation.

Actually not everyone regards this as good news. Mr. Peter Schweizer of the Hoover InstituGuest tion takes a severely bad-news Columnist view in his 2011 book titled, “Throw Them All Out.” The subtitle is even more brutal: “How Politicians and Their Friends Get Rich Off Insider Stock Tips, Land Deals, and Cronyism That Would Send The Rest Of Us To Jail.” His book examines the prevalence of honest graft in our nation’s capital. This is not to be confused with the dishonest graft that resulted in Rep. “Duke” Cunningham, a California Republican, receiving a hundred-month sabbatical in federal prison. Duke sold his vote on a $2.4 million defense appropriation.

Dishonest graft is highly illegal and if you get caught you suffer fines and imprisonment.

Stick to honest graft and you can hope to retire rich and free. If you aspire to a political career with this happy outcome I advise you to go to your computer and Google thus: “Plunkitt of Tammany Hall.

A Series of Very Plain Talks on Very Practical Politics, Delivered by Ex-senator George Washington Plunkitt, the Tammany Philosopher, from His Rostrum — the New York County Court House Bootblack Stand.”

Plunkitt explains it this way: “My party’s in power in the city and it’s goin’ to undertake a lot of public improvements. Well, I’m tipped off, say, that they’re goin’ to lay down a new park at a certain place. I go to that place and I buy up all the land I can in the neighborhood. Then the board of this or that makes the plan public, and there’s a rush to buy up my land, which nobody cared particular for before.”

“Ain’t it perfectly honest to charge a good price and

John Frary

–––––

see FRARY page 5

Portland’s FREE DAILY Newspaper Mark Guerringue, Publisher David Carkhuff, Editor Craig Lyons, Reporter Natalie Ladd, Business Development Joanne Alfiero, Sales Representative Contributing Writers: Timothy Gillis, Marge Niblock, Christian Milneil, Bob Higgins, Karen Vachon, Cliff Gallant, James Howard Kunstler, Telly Halkias Founding Editor Curtis Robinson THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN is published Tuesday through Saturday by Portland News Club, LLC. Mark Guerringue, Adam Hirshan, Curtis Robinson Founders Offices: 477 Congress Street, Suite 1105, Portland ME 04101 (207) 699-5806 Website: www.portlanddailysun.me E-mail: news@portlanddailysun.me For advertising contact: (207) 699-5806 or ads@portlanddailysun.me Classifieds: (207) 699-5807 or classifieds@portlanddailysun.me

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–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– COLUMN ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Round up the usual scapegoats BUDAPEST — How do you know if a real storm is brewing — or if you’re just reacting to a few passing clouds?

That’s a question that many Hungarians and people keeping an eye on the country are asking these days. Iren Kollanyi, 61, is one of them.

She has lived here her entire life, through decades of Communism, the adjustment to a whole new system and Hungary’s admission into the European Union in 2004.

But the last two years have been among the most peculiar.

A conservative party won twothirds of the seats in Parliament and something akin to legislative carte blanche, which it has used in ways that may spell trouble.

At the same time, a party far to its right has become a foul-tempered, foul-mouthed player in the country’s affairs.

And to Kollanyi’s ears and those of many other Hungarians, there’s an authoritarian, nationalistic tenor to things, along with strains of anti-Semitism and antipathy to other minorities.

“It’s not good,” said Kollanyi, who is Jewish, when I spoke with her last weekend. “It’s not even a little good.”

Pay attention to Hungary. It may not have any great economic heft, and it’s home to only about 10 million people with a tropism toward beer and a talent

Frank Bruni ––––– The New York Times for brooding. But it could turn out to be a test case of the E.U.’s imperiled sway in these days of debt and austerity. Brussels and Budapest have clashed already over the Hungarian government’s attempts at tighter control of the news media, the judiciary and the central bank.

Hungary could also be a window into just how potently economic anxiety fans the flames of bigotry.

E.U. membership hasn’t brought Hungarians the broad prosperity they had hoped for; the country has had severe budgetary woes of late. And the far-right party I mentioned, Jobbik, has converted these disappointments into questions about the country’s orientation to the West and, for good measure, about its supposed coddling of Jews, gays and Roma: Hungary’s trusty trinity of scapegoats.

This month Jobbik introduced a bill that refers to homosexuality as a perversion and bans its promotion in language so vague, opponents say, that two men or two women holding hands

in public could theoretically be imprisoned.

That bill is almost certainly going nowhere. Jobbik has only 46 of the 386 seats in Parliament and most Hungarians don’t support the party, which is better at noise than change. It has, for instance, been agitating for the ouster of Robert Alfoldi, the director of the National Theater, whom Jobbik supporters publicly deride for his presumed homosexuality.

But in an interview on Saturday, Alfoldi noted that “they have not managed to have me removed.”

“There has been no censorship whatsoever,” he added. For now, Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his ruling party, Fidesz, are letting Alfoldi be.

Julia Lakatos, a political analyst with an independent think tank here, said that Fidesz’s repressive, power-consolidating image in the international media isn’t quite matched by reality. When Brussels balks, Orban blinks.

“At the end of the day, he’s a European politician,” she said.

But one danger is that Jobbik, with the third-highest number of seats in Parliament, could continue to rise and tug him in its direction.

I met with one of Jobbik’s members of Parliament, Marton Gyongyosi, who studied in Western see BRUNI page 5

THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Wednesday, April 25, 2012— Page 5

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– OPINION ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

The creative monopoly As a young man, Peter Thiel competed to get into Stanford. Then he competed to get into Stanford Law School. Then he competed to become a clerk for a federal judge. Thiel won all those competitions. But then he competed to get a Supreme Court clerkship.

Thiel lost that one. So instead of being a clerk, he went out and founded PayPal. Then he became an early investor in Facebook and many other celebrated technology firms. Somebody later asked him. “So, aren’t you glad you didn’t get that Supreme Court clerkship?”

The question got Thiel thinking. His thoughts are now incorporated into a course he is teaching in the Stanford Computer Science Department. (A student named Blake Masters posted outstanding notes online, and Thiel has confirmed their accuracy.)

One of his core points is that we tend to confuse capitalism with competition. We tend to think that whoever competes best comes out ahead. In the race to be more competitive, we sometimes confuse what is hard with what is valuable. The intensity of competition becomes a proxy for value.

In fact, Thiel argues, we often shouldn’t seek to be really good competitors. We should seek to be really good monopolists. Instead of being slightly better than everybody else in a crowded and established field, it’s often more valuable to create a new

David Brooks ––––– The New York Times market and totally dominate it. The profit margins are much bigger, and the value to society is often bigger, too.

Now to be clear: When Thiel is talking about a “monopoly,” he isn’t talking about the illegal eliminate-your-rivals kind. He’s talking about doing something so creative that you establish a distinct market, niche and identity.

You’ve established a creative monopoly and everybody has to come to you if they want that service, at least for a time.

His lecture points to a provocative possibility: that the competitive spirit capitalism engenders can sometimes inhibit the creativity it requires.

Think about the traits that creative people possess. Creative people don’t follow the crowds; they seek out the blank spots on the map. Creative people wander through faraway and forgotten traditions and then integrate marginal perspectives back to the mainstream. Instead of being fastest around the tracks everybody knows, creative people move adaptively through wildernesses nobody knows.

Now think about the competitive

environment that confronts the most fortunate people today and how it undermines those mind-sets.

First, students have to jump through ever-more demanding, preassigned academic hoops. Instead of developing a passion for one subject, they’re rewarded for becoming professional students, getting great grades across all subjects, regardless of their intrinsic interests. Instead of wandering across strange domains, they have to prudentially apportion their time, making productive use of each hour.

Then they move into a ranking system in which the most competitive college, program and employment opportunity is deemed to be the best.

There is a status funnel pointing to the most competitive colleges and banks and companies, regardless of their appropriateness.

Then they move into businesses in which the main point is to beat the competition, in which the competitive juices take control and gradually obliterate other goals. I see this in politics all the time. Candidates enter politics wanting to be authentic and change things. But once the candidates enter the campaign, they stop focusing on how to be change-agents. They and their staff spend all their time focusing on beating the other guy. They hone the skills of one-upsmanship. They get engulfed in a tit-for-tat competition to win the news cycle. Instead of being new and authentic, they become arti-

ficial mirror opposites of their opponents. Instead of providing the value voters want — change — they become canned tacticians, hoping to eke out a slight win over the other side.

Competition has trumped value-creation. In this and other ways, the competitive arena undermines innovation.

You know somebody has been sucked into the competitive myopia when they start using sports or war metaphors.

Sports and war are competitive enterprises. If somebody hits three home runs against you in the top of the inning, your job is to go hit four home runs in the bottom of the inning.

But business, politics, intellectual life and most other realms are not like that. In most realms, if somebody hits three home runs against you in one inning, you have the option of picking up your equipment and inventing a different game. You don’t have to compete; you can invent.

We live in a culture that nurtures competitive skills. And they are necessary: discipline, rigor and reliability.

But it’s probably a good idea to try to supplement them with the skills of the creative monopolist: alertness, independence and the ability to reclaim forgotten traditions.

Everybody worries about American competitiveness. That may be the wrong problem. The future of the country will probably be determined by how well Americans can succeed at being monopolists.

‘It’s honest graft and I’m lookin’ for it every day in the year’ FRARY from page 4

make a profit on my investment and foresight? Of course it is. Well that’s honest graft. ... It’s just like lookin’ ahead in Wall Street ... It’s honest graft and I’m lookin’ for it every day in the year ... I’ve got a good lot of it, too.”

“If my worst enemy was given the job of writin’ my epitaph when I’m gone he couldn’t do more than write. ‘George Washington Plunkitt. He seen his opportunities and hetook ‘em.’”

Schweizer’s book is full of examples of the honest graft that explains the prosperity of so many of our representatives. In its pages you can learn how a high school wrestling coach ends up with a fortune of eleven millions dollars. That would be Denny Hastert, retired GOP speaker and it involves property and earmarks. You can also discover how in 2008 Nancy Pelosi and her husband enjoyed a 50 percent profit in two days on a purchase of millions of dollars of an Initial Public Offering of Visa stock. Now Nancy is a beautifully coifed and botoxed woman of refined charm, but do you suppose she got to the

head of the line on “the IPO of the year” on charm alone? No you don’t, do you? Schweitzer gives us the details. He also fills us in on the busy stock trades of congressmen involved in health care reform, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., conspicuous among them.

It pleases me to report that Maine’s congressional delegation does not appear in the book. Senator Collins reports a paltry $350,000 of net worth, 97th in rank among the senators. She made no financial transactions at all in 2010, leaving her modest investments untouched. If the woman seen her opportunities she didn’t take ‘em.

Mike Michaud’s net worth of $275,000 is larger than most fork-lift jockeys can acquire, but there’s nothing fishy about his report that I can see. His largest investments are in two East Millinocket Homes and something called M&M Partnership, evaluated at $100,000 in each case. He made only three modest investments in 2010.

Before her marriage to billionaire hedge funder Donald Sussman placed her in the ranks of the rapacious One-Percenters, Chellie Pingree claimed a net worth of $1,000,000 for her Nebo Lodge in North

Haven. People who get riled by the very word “corporation” might note that Nebo Lodge is incorporated.

Husband Sussman is also alive to the tax advantages accruing to corporations, which is why his corporate jet and home on Munjoy Hill in Portland are corporate, not personal, possessions.

Senator Snowe reports 39 assets totaling $29,270,000. Apart from the value ascribed to her husband’s firm, Education Management, these assets are mostly in various types of funds not subject to opportunistic manipulation. What’s interesting is the senator’s investments assets in tax-free investments, a total of $15,250,000 altogether. I conclude that she is sincere about wanting to increase taxes on the rich and sincere about wishing to minimize the costs to herself of such an increase.

(Professor John Frary of Farmington is a former candidate for the U.S. Congress and retired history professor, a board member of Maine Taxpayers United and an associate editor of the International Military Encyclopedia, and can be reached at: jfrary8070@aol. com.)

A party has become a foul-tempered, foul-mouthed player in the country’s affairs BRUNI from page 4

Europe, provides an erudite voice for his party and has a measured manner.

Still, he sneeringly referred to the belief of successive Hungarian governments that “the most important thing is to join the glorious West,” which he called “arrogant about basically everything.”

Jobbik has advocated closer ties to Iran, which Gyongyosi recently described as “an extremely peaceful country” in an interview with a Jewish publica-

tion. The publication also questioned the seriousness with which he takes the Holocaust.

He told me: “No normal person can ever question the existence of the Holocaust.” But, he added, the Holocaust isn’t “exceptional and above all sufferings” and genocides, and is perceived that way only because Jews talk about it more, not less, as time passes.

“What the people know about is what gets the most attention,” he said. “Why do people buy Head & Shoulders shampoo? Well, that’s because that’s the most advertised.”

On the coffee table between us were copies of The Economist and Time. But over on his desk, less conspicuously displayed, was the Jobbik magazine, a recent issue of which had an article extolling the party’s effort to stop Budapest’s gay pride parade, the kind of degenerate event that’s too blithely tolerated in other E.U. countries, the article maintained.

“Deviant West, Normal East,” was the headline.

The cover story mentioned historical accounts of Jews using Christian blood in rites. “Whether this is true or not,” the story said, is unknown.

Page 6 — THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Wednesday, April 25, 2012

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Sticky fingers in restaurants People steal stuff from restaurants all the time, and surprisingly enough, not just the people who work there. It’s true that restaurant employees have been known to behave poorly or retaliate for a number of reasons by eating and drinking as if they were Robin Hood storming the castle, but a great deal of outright theft comes externally, from restaurant patrons themselves.

Perhaps people who steal stuff think the selfgrinding, lucite salt and pepper shakers with the sea salt and tri-colored peppercorn are included in the cost of their 15 percent tip, or maybe it’s some kind of shameless game, with the thief boasting a full blown condiment collection in the privacy of their home pantry. Unlike hotels that offer guests a plethora of sample size toiletries not-so-secretly bundled into the cost of the room, restaurants lose money, and often credibility, when people walk out with more than just their own doggie bag. Yes, you read correctly, as the emphasis is on “their own” doggie bag. Revoltingly, I’ve seen people take forgotten leftovers belonging to complete strangers boldly off a table that had yet to be cleared.

Depending upon the sporting season, people especially enjoy stealing empty pint glasses with Patriots, Red Sox and Bruins’ logos, dirty silverware, cloth napkins (I recently waited on a table of refined women from which all four napkins disappeared.

I hope the subtle forest green linen matches the trim on the coffee cups and saucers on the snootiest lady’s bridge table at the weekly game), wicker bread baskets and the little individually wrapped butter patties, massive handfuls of mints on the way out, the bowl the mints were displayed in, votive

candles in the glass holders from the Dollar Store, fancy soap in the restroom, framed art off the walls, knickknacks placed on shelves, and literally anything that isn’t nailed ––––– down.

What It’s An especially difficult heist to put a positive PR spin on was Like when a regular customer asked if we moved her London Fog raincoat and favorite silk Coach scarf off the coat rack because it appeared her possessions were replaced with a smelly, wrinkled, plastic yellow poncho. Profuse apologies and posted signs noting the establishment was not responsible for lost or stolen goods didn’t do much to appease her, and the perception of a well run and welcoming eatery in which to hang one’s hat became suspect.

Restaurant theft isn’t always sinister. Somebody I used to know loved to tell the story of his Nana, who lived on the north shore of Boston most of her life, and always looked forward to family outings at the Hilltop Steak House, on route one north in Saugus.

In its prime, the Hilltop Steak House would have a line out the door, winding past the herd of life size fiberglass grazing bulls, and reaching well into the parking lot.

Nana would wait patiently until it was time to follow the hostess through the enormous dining area, from one room to the next. As she passed an empty table here and there, she would stealthily reach over, pluck a steak knife from its rightful place, and toss it into her bottomless carpetbag. This went on for years and upon her death, all of her children and grandchildren received a complete set of steak knives, with service for eight, to remember her by. As a child of the Great Depression, Nana also hoarded stacked cans of white albacore tuna packed

Natalie Ladd

in oil and mountainous piles of toilet paper.

While still blatantly wrong and costly, Nana’s steak knife-snitching-ways seem much more innocent then the stuck-up napkin nabbers, and like absolute child’s play compared to the people who mess with bartender and server tips.

Everyone in the business has a story about the guy who graciously threw down a stack of bills after a great meal, only to have half of them picked up by his wife or girlfriend when he goes to the bathroom. I’ve seen secretaries scratch out, lower, and falsely initial credit card tips, and have overheard people say, “Oh, don’t leave that much, they make a fortune.” This kind of theft isn’t for material gain or simple sport, it’s just mean spirited and petty.

So, the next time you’re tempted to put the entire teak wood tea bag caddy in your backpack, remember this: We recognize faces. We remember what people eat, drink, and where they like to sit. We know if a salt and pepper grinder was neatly put in place before you were seated, and we will surely know if it’s gone, along with that extra five dollar bill, when you leave.

The Low Down: So prevalent is thievery in the restaurant business that “cow-napping” at the Hilltop took place several years after Nana’s death, making national news. Apparently, someone with a T-bone of a vendetta to pick pilfered one or two of the fiberglass bovines, supplying Letterman, Leno, and local high school kids with enough comedic material to feed an army to this day.

(Natalie Ladd is a columnist for the Portland Daily Sun. She has over 30 continuous years of corporate and fine-dining experience in all front-of-the-house management, hourly and under-the-table positions.

She can be reached at natalie@portlanddailysun. me.)

Plantiffs in labor mural lawsuit pursue court appeal in Boston’s First Circuit The plaintiffs in a lawsuit seeking to compel Gov. Paul LePage to restore a labor history mural to the walls of the Maine Department of Labor have decided to pursue an appeal of the U.S. District Court’s decision granting the state’s motion for summary judgment, a press release from the plaintiffs reported yesterday.

The notice of appeal was filed at the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston on April 18.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs, Jeffrey Neil Young of McTeague Higbee and Jonathan Beal, argue that U.S. District Judge Woodcock erred in the conclusion he drew that the labor mural was government speech

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rather than the artist’s Judy Taylor’s speech.

At the end of March 2011, Governor LePage ordered the mural depicting Maine’s labor history removed from the Department of Labor’s walls. Woodcock sided with the LePage administration.

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THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Wednesday, April 25, 2012— Page 7

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The Forefront at Thompson’s Point awaits May 1 planning workshop DAILY SUN STAFF REPORTS On Tuesday, May 1, the city’s planning board will hold a workshop on The Forefront at Thompson’s Point, a proposed $100 million two-phase development by as Thompson Point Development Company.

The first phase includes an event center, concert facility, hotel, sports medicine and fitness facility, 732-car parking garage, restaurant, 120,000-squarefoot complex of office buildings and 718 surface parking spaces, according to the planning board agenda.

The second phase includes four additional buildings spanning about 200,000 square feet.

Mayor Michael Brennan said, generally speaking, the project has support, although several levels of review await the developers.

“It is a big project, it has a number of different aspects that need to be reviewed by the planning board as well as the city council, but generally speaking, there is support,” he said.

Two part owners of the Maine Red Claws minorleague basketball franchise, Red Claws chairman William Ryan Jr. and Red Claws president Jon Jennings, formally unveiled plans nearly a year ago to build the $100 million development on Thompson’s Point, a 30-acre site next to the Portland Transportation Center and Amtrak station.

Jon Jennings, a principal in the project, has said that public benefit from the development would include walking trails, bike trails, water access for canoeing and kayaking and a new facility for the Red Claws that could easily be converted into concert and trade show space and a venue for tournaments and other sporting events.

The proposal is subject to both city and state landuse review for stormwater, shoreland zoning and traffic movement, the planning board noted.

Company: Barber Foods acquisition to result in a final round of layoffs A final phase of the AdvancePierre acquisition of Barber Foods will include a last round of layoffs, totaling 79 associates, president David Barber announced.

The last phase of integration of Barber Foods into AdvancePierre Foods at the company’s Portland facilities “will maximize production capacity and ensure the long-term viability of the St John Street plant producing the Barber brand,” he said in a press release.

The packaging process has been improved, and a number of technological advancements will streamline plant and corporate operations, Barber said.

Associates who are laid off will receive 60 days’ notice, one week of severance for every year of service and outplacement and other support services, Barber said.

The plant will continue production of Barber stuffed chicken breasts, stuffed chicken roulades (Barber Carvers), and chicken tenderloins, and will continue employing more than 300 Portland area residents, he said.

Barber’s father, Gus Barber, founded the company in 1955. Its acquisition by AdvancePierre was announced last spring.

Assistant director Bromage to take the helm at Maine Historical Society Stephen Bromage will become the new executive director of the Maine Historical Society, trustees announced yesterday. The change is effective June 1.

After 16 years at the helm, Executive Director Richard D’Abate is retiring to pursue outside interests. Trustees noted plans to create The Richard D’Abate Endowment Fund for Scholarship and Special Programs in his honor.

Assistant Director of the Society since 2006, Bro-

mage was chosen after a “lengthy and rigorous national search,” the board reported.

“He’s the very best choice,” said Katherine Pope, president of the board. “He has played a vital and integral role in the success and growth of MHS over the last 10 years. We have ambitious goals, and Steve has the vision and creativity to lead MHS into the future.”

Bromage has planned and implemented all public programs at MHS, increasing numbers and diversity through better communications and partnerships with Bromage many Maine cultural organizations. He has been instrumental in the success of Maine Memory Network — the Society’s statewide, online collaborative museum — raising more than $3 million in grants and designing new, innovative programs, according to a Society press release.

Foundation awards grants to fund cancer research, education, support Cancer Community Center and Portland hospitals Mercy and Maine Medical have won Maine Cancer Foundation grants.

Foundation executive director Tara Hill announced the recipients of $137,000 in grants this week. Maine Cancer Foundation, a nonprofit organization, is best known for its signature fundraising events including the “Tri for a Cure” women’s triathlon, “Mary’s Walk,” the “Pink Tulip Project” and “Cure Cancer for ME” luncheon.

Maine Cancer Foundation provides grant funding for cancer research, education and patient support services across Maine three times a year, distributing over $1.1 million annually to organizations.

The recent disbursement includes $20,000 for Pen Bay Medical Center, which will be used to establish a new cancer research center offering clinical trials to patients in Knox, Waldo and Lincoln counties, the foundation reported.

“While 80 percent of our grants go directly to cancer research, Maine desperately needs financial support for patient services.” said Hill. “Places like Camp Sunshine or Pine Tree Hospice do vital work to improve the quality of life for terminal patients and their families.”

This latest round of grant recipients include organizations state-wide, such as Be The Match, Camp Sunshine, Cancer Community Center, CancerCare of Maine, the Dean Snell Cancer Foundation, Hospice of Southern Maine, the Jackson Laboratory, Lake Region Senior Service, Mainegeneral Medical Center, Maine Medical Center, MaineHealth, Mercy Hospital,

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Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer, Pen Bay Medical Center, Penquis, Pine Tree Hospice, the Ronald McDonald House of Portland and Webber Hospital.

New mining permitting process assailed, hailed after bill signing A new mining oversight law was lauded and criticized after it was signed into law by Gov. Paul LePage yesterday.

Environment Maine strongly criticized the mining bill, LD 1853, signed into law yesterdday

by Gov. LePage, saying the bill weakens groundwater standards for mining operations; clean-up requirements for mining operations; and standards intended to hold mining companies, not taxpayers, accountable for cleanup costs.

The governor’s office said the law was a needed update.

LD 1853, “An Act To Improve Environmental Oversight and Streamline Permitting for Metallic Mineral Mining in Maine, seeks to improve environmental oversight and make the permitting process for mining activity in Maine more efficient through a consolidated permitting process, LePage said.

The bill was sponsored by Rep. John Martin, D-Eagle Lake, said the bill will boost the economic outlook in the region.

“This new law will create hundreds of good paying jobs for the people of Aroostook County,” Martin said. “Maine’s outdated mining laws needed to be updated to reflect new advances in mining technology that help strike the right balance between protecting the environment, safer mining, and economic development. We will continue to work with the environmental community to ensure that our natural resources are not jeopardized.”

OccupyMaine plans rally today to draw attention to student debt Demonstrations “and creative actions” are planned in Portland’s Monument Square today at 5 p.m. to mark “1TDay,” the day U.S. student debt reaches $1 trillion.

OccupyMaine said today’s demonstration “will draw attention to Wall Street’s predatory student loan market and the long-term financial and social effects of students and families with insurmountable student debt.”

Actions in Portland and more than 10 other cities nationwide will include people wearing total student loan debt numbers, giving “debtstimonials,” “making bubbles, like Wall Street does,” and other actions to raise awareness of the student loan debt crisis that amounts to a generation of debt, organizers said.

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Page 8 — THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Residents disagree with commercial use for historic church

BY CRAIG LYONS THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN

If it were housing being planned for the redevelopment of the Williston West Church, the proposal might be less controversial to residents on Portland’s West End. The city’s Planning Board last night solicited input from residents about the proposed redevelopment — including both residential and commercial components — and heard from many West End residents who are concerned that changing the zoning for the redevelopment might compromise the character of the neighborhood.

The board heard from a company — 32 Thomas Street, LLC — that is seeking to have the former Williston West Church and Parish Hall rezoned to accommodate office space, a function hall and a few dwellings.

In order for the proposal to come to fruition, the board would need to approval a zoning change for the Williston West Church property. The church is currently in a zone that allows for residential use and not mixed use.

The major piece of the plan that drew the neighborhood’s ire was the idea of creating a commercial business in the middle of the residential neighborhood.

“The rezoning will ruin the West End,” said Thomas Street resident Diane Worthington.

The project for the church redevelopment is being proposed by Frank Monsour, an Australian businessman, so

he can use it as the home base for the headquarters of his company, Majella Global Technologies.

Monsour said the business would in essence fund the restoration of the Williston West Church since the company would pay a much higher rent to 32 Thomas Street, LLC. He said that having a business located in the building and paying rent is the only way to make the renovations financially possible.

The plans for the building would only create usable space in the former parish house, according to a description of the plans, and would have offices on the first floor and residential units on the second and third floors.

The proposal initially would include a function hall in the main church building, though the plan has been put on hold.

“That’s a fragile neighborhood,” said Anne Pringle, president of the Western Promenade Neighborhood Association. She said the WPNA and many of the area’s residents are committed to preserving the neighborhood’s residential character.

Pringle said the neighborhood association has fought for many years to keep offices and commercial ventures out of the West End’s residential zone.

Carroll Street resident Orlando Delogu said that he’s delighted that Monsour would want to relocate his company to Portland but Thomas Street isn’t the best place for him. He said why settle in a residential neighborhood when there’s plenty of com-

residential West End. Remmel said there’s an option to use the former church strictly for housing since there’s a demand for residences in the West End. During the meeting, Remmel said, someone mentioned tour buses that go through the West End to look at the historic neighborhood.

He said he doesn’t think tours buses will stop to look at an office building.

But not all the West End’s residents oppose the project.

The former Williston-West Church (above) and the former Immanuel Baptist Church joined under the new name, Willis- “I do not see our neighborton-Immanuel United Church, on High Street. (DAVID CARKHUFF hood as fragile,” said Thomas PHOTO) Street resident John Whipple.

Whipple said he doesn’t see mercial space in the downtown area? how Monsour’s plan to put 14 offices Delogu said Williston West doesn’t into the Williston West building is need to be saved by a commercial vengoing to have a huge impact on the ture and that using it strictly for resineighborhood. dential space would suffice. He said it Spring Street resident Peter Mercan be saved without the city altering rill said he doesn’t see a significant the zoning regulations to allow for impact on the neighborhood since the commercial ventures. commercial-side of the Williston West “It can be done,” he said. “It should redevelopment would only account for be done.” about 20 percent of the building’s total Charles Remmel presented the space. board with a petition — which was Hilary Bassett, executive director signed by 135 residents — to express of Greater Portland Landmarks, said opposition to the project. she wanted to thank Monsour for his Remmel said all the people who investment in Portland and willingsigned the petition have followed the ness to restore one of the city’s historic project closely and are well-informed buildings. She said with some fine with the matter. He said the residents tuning, the redevelopment could be are troubled with the proposal that a win-win situation for Monsour, the would “leap frog” businesses and comcity and the West End residents. mercial ventures into the primarily

Brick by brick David Shaw with Portland Public Services runs an excavator at the corner of High and Congress streets Tuesday during sidewalk replacement.

During the month of April, city crews will be replacing bricks for sidewalks along Congress Street from Park Street to High Street, between the hours of 7 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., the city noted.

(DAVID CARKHUFF PHOTO)

THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Wednesday, April 25, 2012— Page 9

City budget takes cues from legislature, not LePage the state to local property taxpayers is

BY DAVID CARKHUFF THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN a local choice,” LePage said in a statement in response to the coalition’s Tonight, the public can comment on reaction to his line-item vetoes. next year’s proposed $207 million city Maine Rep. Ben Chipman, I-Portbudget, but one of the biggest jumps land, said he is confident legislators in spending — for general assistance can work out a response to the goveremergency welfare aid — is tied up in nor’s concerns. a complicated back-and-forth of line“The city and the towns are still going item vetoes and legislative wrangling. to get their reimbursement at the 85 The city’s finance committee is meetpercent rate. ... The line-item veto will ing at 5:30 p.m. for public comment only impact things for next year. It is and a vote of recommendation. The city something that can be addressed when budget for fiscal year 2013 (this July we come back in May,” Chipman said.

1 to June 30, 2013) will be reviewed, “Everyone that was involved is negoas will the city’s five-year capital tiating,” Chipman added. improvement plan and the Portland But Chipman signaled that he Public Schools’ $94.9 million budget. doesn’t see much more room for reducCity Manager Mark Rees acknowltion to general assistance. edged surging demand for general “I think we’ve gone as far as we assistance, a state-subsidized program should go,” he said. that provides money for those unable Brennan said the governor’s referto afford basic necessities such as shelence to a “local choice” about how to ter, food and medicine.

“Allocations for general assistance In this file photo, Jim Holmes with Lock, Stock and Barrel locksmiths repairs a door at the day room of fund general assistance ignored the are projected to increase significantly Oxford Street Shelter. The city’s budget for general assistance funding is up as city shelters find themselves fact it’s a state mandate.

“I was baffled by the governor’s comby more than 20 percent or $1.4 mil- at capacity. (DAVID CARKHUFF FILE PHOTO) ments. Maybe what he’s saying is local lion for the coming year,” Rees wrote in ment from 90 percent to 85 percent. The governor communities have a choice of cutting his proposed budget. “This trend is the had sought a reduction to 50 percent.

The legislative other parts of their budget and not raising property result of a number of factors including the continued proposal, which is part of next year’s state suppletaxes,” Brennan said. sluggish economy, increasing demand on the city’s mental budget and still on the table, is guiding Port“For the governor to say that’s our local choice, it homeless shelter, which is over capacity, and a rising land’s FY 2013 budget, Brennan said. would be our local choice if they weren’t mandating number of individuals and families seeking asylum “My understanding is that language and that that we operate the program,” he said. in the U.S.” compromise still exists,” Brennan said.

Brennan said the city is “continuing to support the For Mayor Michael Brennan, the limits of the “At this point we’re budgeting roughly a $225,000 compromise that the legislature arrived at.” state’s line-item veto — used for the first time in loss of revenue in the general assistance program In the event legislators made the kind of “strucstate history by Gov. Paul LePage — meant a less based on the reduction from 90 percent to 85 percent tural changes” endorsed by the governor but not drastic reduction in the city budget. LePage applied in reimbursement,” he said. allowed in a line-item veto — for example, if they a line-item veto to the part of the state budget that The Mayors’ Coalition on Jobs and Economic established a 50 percent reimbursement rate to directs general assistance funding to both individuDevelopment, to which Brennan belongs, criticized communities — “we would be forced to go back and als and to communities such as Portland. Brennan the governor’s line-item veto, saying, “If the veto make dramatic changes to the budget, that’s where said efforts to stem the rise in general assistance stands, the state will fail to meet its obligations to we would lose $2.2 million,” Brennan said. funding ignore realities on the ground. share in the cost of providing general assistance, as “If we got a $2.2 million reduction in state reve“We’re doing everything we can to find housing for required by state law.” nue, we would either have to cut our funding somepeople, and there are circumstances beyond our conThe governor said communities have the option to where else in the city budget or increase property trol that people don’t have jobs, don’t have income reduce their own general assistance programs. taxes,” he said. and don’t have housing,” Brennan said in a recent “The mayors’ assertion that the proposed welfare The legislative Appropriations Committee is curinterview. changes will shift millions of dollars in costs from rently meeting to work out a proposal.

The city is spending $2.6 million of local property tax money, including administrative costs, as part of a $6.5 million general assistance budget this year, Brennan said. The lion’s share of that budget, about $4 million, comes from the state, he said. This level of reimbursement from the state has been at the center of a power struggle in Augusta, where LePage has urged legislators to whittle down the state’s share of reimbursement to communities. Legislators balked, the governor wielded his line-item veto pen, and legislators declined to seek an override.

Yesterday, when LePage signed this year’s general fund budget, which appropriates state funding through June 30, the governor signaled that he remains committed to “systemic changes that are needed to put Maine on better financial ground.”

“While Maine now has a balanced budget through June, we must look ahead and address the fiscal challenges we face for 2013,” LePage said in a statement. “As members of the Appropriations Committee begin working toward common ground to resolve the shortfall, I encourage an open dialogue, which acknowledges the need for structural changes within government.”

LePage cited Census data showing that 12 percent of Maine residents earn incomes below the federal poverty level while one in three Mainers receive welfare.

IN A HURRY? The Maine Legislature will reconvene on May 15, GET A VOUCHER after Republican legislators polled internally indiTHAT WILL GUARANTEE WWW.DONFOSHAYS.COM cated they didn’t want to reconvene to vote to overTHE SAME GREAT DEAL ride line-item vetoes issued by the governor. One of UNTIL MAY 12TH! LePage’s line-item vetoes was toward the 2013 genYOU MUST GET A VOUCHER eral assistance budget.

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by Lynn Johnston

By Holiday Mathis SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). You know enough to continue a project on your own, and yet you do what only the truly savvy would do: ask for more opinions and information. The more you learn the better your work will be.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21).

You don’t usually need a lot of outside motivation, but occasionally it makes all the difference. This is one of those occasions. You’ll do your best when you’re with someone who inspires you.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19).

Even though your to-do list is approximately a zillion items long, you’re able to approach things with a jovial, funloving mood. It takes a high level of emotional intelligence to maintain this stellar attitude.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). You like getting feedback because you know it helps you improve in ways you couldn’t have seen on your own. Being able to accept feedback and use it constructively gives you an advantage over your competition.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). You’ll be near someone you admire, and you’ll take notes, probably without realizing it.

You’ll learn from this person’s mannerisms and approach to life, but mostly you’ll absorb the general essence of this person.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (April 25).

Enjoy all the fawning and presents you get today! Through the next six weeks, you’ll be recognized for your unique qualities and truly novel approach to relationships. You’ll bring zesty energy to your work and be noticed and promoted for this. Improvements in your health and fitness happen through June and July. Aries and Libra people adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 15, 20, 5, 16 and 32.

by Paul Gilligan

ARIES (March 21-April 19). Living large is a frame of mind, as well as a matter of economics. Adventures aren’t cheap, but you’ll continue on because you have a feeling that in the end, the experience will be worth the cost.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20). You are creative, and your whims will bring magic into your world. So dare to take a flight of fancy. You’ll wind up in a fascinating place because you went off on this tangent.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21). Let people know how you really feel. Be specific. Expressing yourself in euphemistic terms won’t communicate what you need from others. Exactness gets your needs met.

CANCER (June 22-July 22). What you believe about life may be true, and it may not be true. Either way, those beliefs are essential to your daily actions, habits, behaviors and attitudes. Decide which beliefs are getting in your way.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). You don’t always feel the need to take full credit for the marvelous outcomes you create.

Sometimes you even give others more credit than they deserve in order to raise morale. This will be one of those times.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). You’re slightly concerned about getting your work done in a timely manner, and friendly distractions abound. Don’t let your worries get the best of you or make you edgy. All will unfold perfectly when you relax.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). You’ll have a vivid vision of what your life should be, taking into account your desires and inclinations. This may be the idealized version, but it’s certainly something to shoot for.

by Jan Eliot

HOROSCOPE

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Fill in the grid so that every row, every column, and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 thru 9.

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Page 10 — THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Wednesday, April 25, 2012

1 6 10 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 22 24 25 26 29 30 31 33 37 39 41 42

ACROSS Foot-long measuring stick Incite; egg on Patty __ Give one’s two cents’ worth Strong desire Swear Strong fastening rods Appear Give up land __ to; leaves in the custody of Pumpkin color Gun cartridges Began Hairpiece San __ Padres Pacino & Gore Singer Bobby __ up; absorbs Small plateau Happen again Largest single digit Veranda

44 Hem in & assail 46 Actor Jason __ 47 __ with; made it through 49 Deleted, as on a videotape 51 Four-star naval officer 54 __ up; goof 55 __ shower; prewedding party 56 Blow it in a school bee 60 Cook in the oven 61 Washerful of laundry 63 Spooky 64 __ house; realtor’s event 65 A single time 66 Canary homes 67 SAT, for one 68 Tall grass shoot 69 Freshwater fish

1

DOWN Caftan

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 21 23 25 26 27 28 29 32 34 35

Chance __; find by luck Uplifting tune Catch Took up again Zest Crude metals Years lived Reduce to a lower rank Coconut cookie Social occasion Skiers’ inn Rough woolen coat fabric Smudge Tattered cloths Site of nasal congestion Pat down soil Margarine Khrushchev’s nation: abbr.

Chopped finely Refuse to obey Feels sick Leg joint

36 38 40 43 45 48 50 51

Bit of canary food Traffic collision Becomes dizzy Dance at a bar mitzvah Cut into three pieces Paleness Come into view Monastery head

52 Curtain 53 Farrell & Tyson 54 One-__; not reciprocal 56 Police spray 57 Consequently 58 In __ of; as a substitute for 59 In case 62 Smallest bill

Yesterday’s Answer

THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Wednesday, April 25, 2012— Page 11

––––––– ALMANAC ––––––– Today is Wednesday, April 25, the 116th day of 2012. There are 250 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History: On April 25, 1862, during the Civil War, a Union fleet commanded by Flag Officer David G. Farragut captured the city of New Orleans.

On this date: In 1507, a world map produced by German cartographer Martin Waldseemueller contained the first recorded use of the term “America,” in honor of Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci (vehs-POO’-chee).

In 1792, highwayman Nicolas Jacques Pelletier became the first person under French law to be executed by the guillotine.

In 1859, ground was broken for the Suez Canal.

In 1898, the United States formally declared war on Spain.

In 1901, New York Gov. Benjamin Barker Odell Jr. signed an automobile registration bill which imposed a 15 mph speed limit on highways.

In 1915, during World War I, Allied soldiers invaded the Gallipoli (guh-LIHP’-uh-lee) Peninsula in an unsuccessful attempt to take the Ottoman Empire out of the war.

In 1944, the United Negro College Fund was founded.

In 1945, during World War II, U.S. and Soviet forces linked up on the Elbe (EL’-beh) River, a meeting that dramatized the collapse of Nazi Germany’s defenses. Delegates from some 50 countries met in San Francisco to organize the United Nations.

In 1959, the St. Lawrence Seaway opened to shipping.

In 1972, Polaroid Corp. introduced its SX-70 folding camera, which ejected self-developing photographs. Actor George Sanders was found dead in his hotel room near Barcelona, Spain; he was 65.

In 1983, Soviet leader Yuri V. Andropov (ahnDROH’-pawf) invited Samantha Smith to visit his country after receiving a letter from the Manchester, Maine, schoolgirl.

In 1992, Islamic forces in Afghanistan took control of most of the capital of Kabul following the collapse of the Communist government.

One year ago: President Bashar Assad of Syria sent the military into the southern city of Daraa, where an anti-government uprising had begun the previous month.

Today’s Birthdays: Movie director-writer Paul Mazursky is 82. Actor Al Pacino is 72. Ballroom dance judge Len Goodman (TV: “Dancing with the Stars”) is 68. Rock musician Stu Cook (Creedence Clearwater Revival) is 67. Singer Bjorn Ulvaeus (ABBA) is 67. Actress Talia Shire is 66. Actor Jeffrey DeMunn is 65. Rock musician Michael Brown (The Left Banke) is 63. Rock musician Steve Ferrone (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers) is 62. Country singer-songwriter Rob Crosby is 58. Actor Hank Azaria is 48. Rock singer Andy Bell (Erasure) is 48. Rock musician Eric Avery is 47. Country musician Rory Feek is 47. TV personality Jane Clayson is 45. Actress Renee Zellweger is 43. Actress Gina Torres is 43. Actor Jason Lee is 42. Actor Jason Wiles is 42. Actress Emily Bergl is 37. Actress Marguerite Moreau is 35. Singer Jacob Underwood is 32. Actress Sara Paxton is 24. Actress Allisyn Ashley Arm is 16.

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Movie: ›› “The Pacifier” (2005) Vin Diesel.

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27

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28

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31

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CSI: Crime Scene Investigation The death of a ballistics expert.

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MPBN life thrive in dead zone.

11

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38

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Rachel Maddow Show The Last Word

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Piers Morgan Tonight

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American Greed

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41

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The O’Reilly Factor (N) Hannity (N)

Greta Van Susteren

The O’Reilly Factor

43

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Law & Order

Law & Order “Legacy”

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44

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Wife Swap Å

Wife Swap Å

46

TLC

Obsession Obsession Toddlers & Tiaras

Toddlers & Tiaras (N)

Toddlers & Tiaras

47

AMC Movie: ››› “North Country” (2005, Drama) Charlize Theron. Å

48

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Kitchen

Property Brothers

Hunters

49

TRAV Secrets

Secrets

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Man v Fd

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55

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56

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57

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DAILY CROSSWORD

BY WAYNE ROBERT WILLIAMS

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Movie: ›› “Enough” “Little Lord F.”

45 Classic Nabokov novel 48 Fixes, as fights 50 Count calories 52 Ryan of no-hitters 53 Part 4 of quote 55 Con’s counterpart 56 Occurrence of note 57 Ancient German 59 Sheriff Andy Taylor’s kid 61 Treasury Dept. component 62 End of quote 68 Tanker’s cargo 69 Thrashes 70 Hey, that hurts!

71 Turndown vote 72 Last part of a sonnet 73 Old-fashioned preposition

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40 Small suitcase 41 Three little words 42 High-flown speech 43 African nation 46 “The Hundred Secret Senses” author 47 Syn.’s opposite 49 Barstool drop-off

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Play a flute Takes off, as a hat Cairo’s river Days of old Neon or chlorine Strike Follower of Attila Sept. follower Personal question?

Yesterday’s Answer

THE

Page 12 — THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Wednesday, April 25, 2012

CLASSIFIEDS CLASSIFIEDS • CALL 699-5807

For Sale

DOLLAR-A-DAY CLASSIFIEDS: Ads must be 15 words or less and run a minimum of 5 consecutive days. Ads that run less than 5 days or nonconsecutive days are $2 per day. Ads over 15 words add 10¢ per word per day. PREMIUMS: First word caps no charge. Additional caps 10¢ per word per day. Centered bold heading: 9 pt. caps 40¢ per line, per day (2 lines maximum) TYPOS: Check your ad the first day of publication. Sorry, we will not issue credit after an ad has run once.

DEADLINES: noon, one business day prior to the day of publication. PAYMENT: All private party ads must be pre-paid. We accept checks, Visa and Mastercard credit cards and, of course, cash. There is a $10 minimum order for credit cards. CORRESPONDENCE: To place your ad call our offices 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 699-5807; or send a check or money order with ad copy to The Conway Daily Sun, P.O. Box 1940, North Conway, NH 03860. OTHER RATES: For information about classified display ads please call 699-5807.

BRAND new mattress set- (Full$175), (queen- $180), (king$390). Call 207-591-4927.

Announcement

Autos

Autos

For Rent

MAY 5th Sport Cards Show 9-4pm, free admission, 284 danforth St, Portland. Dealers contact Ed Rubin (207)541-5013.

1989 CARVER YACHTS MARINER 329/FE 30 foot: Good condition, less then 500 hours on engines. 260 horsepower. Full size refrigerator, range, TV/VCR, fully equipped, sleeps six. Must be seen to be appreciated at Breakwater, Spring Point Marina in South Portland. Pictures available upon request. Valued at $25,000. Owner will accept best offer. Call 603-449-2140, 603-723-8722.

BUYING all unwanted metals. $800 for large loads. Cars, trucks, heavy equipment. Free removal. (207)776-3051.

ROOM for rent upper Sawyer St. South Portland, ME.. $130/wk. 6 month minimum.

(207)233-6056.

Autos PORTLAND2004 Dodge Durango SLT. 8 passenger.

Must see. $4000/obo.

(207)878-3879, leave message.

2007 Black Envoy Denali, 107k miles, needs new engine. Very well maintained. $9000.

(603)662-2997.

A-TEAM Auto Recyclers paying cash.

(207)615-6092.

PROFESSIONAL DIRECTORY

ST

BUYING Junk vehicles, paying cash.

Contact Joe (207)712-6910.

Rossrecyclenremoval@gmail.com

Cash for autos and trucks, some metals.

Call Steve (207)523-9475.

WINDHAM- 1 bedroom, utilities plus cable included. Yard parking, partial rent for some work.

(207)892-7150.

For Sale BAZOOKA Navigator 26" double suspension folding bike, silver with gel seat, retails for $600, used 3 times, asking $300/obo, 723-4032.

PROFESSIONAL DIRECTORY

R O U D WAT E R

Automotive Repair Foreign & Domestic

D & M AUTO REPAIR “We want the privilege of serving you”

MAJOR & MINOR REPAIRS Auto Electronic Diagnosis

Cooling Systems • Brakes • Exhaust Check Shocks • Struts • Tune-ups Engine State Inspection • Timing Belts Lights Valve Jobs • Engine Work Interstate Batteries • Towing Available

DICK STEWART • MIKE CHARRON • 767-0092 1217 Congress St., Portland, ME 04102

PORTLAND AUTO RADIATOR Established 1948

FULL AUTOMOTIVE SERVICES The Best Place in Town to Take a Leak

A/C SERVICE Book your appointment before the season for your best savings!

1129 Forest Ave., Portland • 207-797-3606

Free HIGHEST cash price paid for your scrap box trailers, school busses, heavy equipment and cars. (207)393-7318.

disposal.

Help Wanted DRIVERS CDL-A: Your current 10-20 have you down? Why not Get home, get paid, 2012 tractors/ trailers to boot?

888-219-8040.

We haul anything to the dump. Basement, attic, garage cleanouts.

Insured www.thedumpguy.com (207)450-5858.

PA-PA DAN’S MOWING No, you won’t get a pizza... But you’ll get a nicely mowed yard!

Brighten, Stevens, Allen Ave. areas. Formerly with Lucas Tree. Most yards $35.

(207)878-6514.

SPRING is here! DB Lawncare will manage your property for the lowest price! (207)274-0761.

WWW.IPODFIXIT.COM

Motorcycles 2000 Harley Davidson Ultra Classic, metallic green and black, new factory re-build Harley Davidson motor, looks and runs great, many extras, $7800 call Paul in Berlin at 603-752-5519, 603-915-0792 leave message.

Fixing all Apple products! iPads, iPhones, Smartphones, Game Systems, LCD-TV's. Not listed?

Just ask! 603-752-9838.

Wanted To Buy I pay cash today for broken and unwanted Notebooks, Netbooks, and Macbooks. Highest prices (207)233-5381.

Yard Sale

Recreation Vehicles

www.stroudwaterauto.com for special offers and discount coupons 656 Stroudwater St. Westbrook • 854-0415

A-TEAM

DUMP GUY

2011 Keystone Bullet bunkhouse, model 286QBS, just like new, used twice, $19,900/obro.

(603)662-2997.

AUTO

TIRE

Services Complete (207)615-6092.

SOUTH Portland 4th Saturday coin show- Buying and sellingAmerican Legion Post 35, 413 Broadway, 8-2pm.

(802)266-8179, free admission.

Help Wanted

joevokey@gmail.com

COMPUTERS The Bradley Foundation $78.75/with tax included!

Includes 17” LCD Monitor

You must qualify.

Call today for information

591-5237 Westbrook

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPAL REOPENED Edward Fenn School, SAU #20, Gorham, New Hampshire The Edward Fenn Elementary School, a Kindergarten through Grade Five School in Gorham, New Hampshire, is seeking a highly qualified passionate educator to join their staff as the Building Principal on July 1, 2012. The school, which is located in the heart of the White Mountains, has a current enrollment of 194 students.

The successful candidate will have: • administrative certification from the State of New Hampshire, or the ability to become certified in the State of New Hampshire.

• A minimum of 3-5 years of elementary classroom experience.

• A passion for education and the ability to lead, inspire, and challenge a team of dedicated, well-qualified, and enthusiastic teachers.

• Demonstrative evidence of community based involvement within the learning environment.

• Excellent oral and written communication and interpersonal skills.

Responsibilities will include but are not limited to: • Analyzing, sharing, and using school and achievement data to develop and implement the school improvement plan.

• Working with teachers, parents, students to ensure appropriate programming for all students.

• Identifying and supporting staff training needs.

• Attending evening and weekend student activities, parent and other meetings as required.

For consideration as a candidate for this position, please submit a letter of interest, resume, NH certifications, administrative degrees, and three current letters of recommendation to Superintendent Paul Bousquet by May 18, 2012 Mr. Paul Bousquet, Superintendent of Schools School Administrative Unit # 20 123 Main Street, Gorham, NH 03581 Email: paul.bousquet@sau20.org Phone: (603)466-3632 x5 • Fax: (603)466-3870 Applications are due by May 18, 2012 SAU # 20 IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

SHOP THESE LOCAL BUSINESSES To advertise in our professional directory talk to your ad rep or contact

207-699-5801 or ads@portlanddailysun.me joevokey@gmail.com

THE

THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Wednesday, April 25, 2012— Page 13

CLASSIFIEDS PROFESSIONAL DIRECTORY

PROFESSIONAL DIRECTORY

PROFESSIONAL DIRECTORY

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ANNIE’S MAILBOX Dear Annie: My sister owns seven cats, three dogs, two turtles and a lizard. They are overrunning her house. There are random bits of garbage all over the floor, along with used dishes -- both human and pet. When the dogs do their business in the house, she lets it stay there for hours while she gets other work done. The last time I was there, I wiped some food off of the wall, and she said I was being rude.

Two months ago, one of her dogs died. A week later, she bought a new one for $750. I happen to know she now has less than $100 in her bank account. And I worry she might lose her job. Her co-workers have complained that her clothing is sloppy and covered in dog hair.

I’ve told her many times that she has too many pets. She replies that it’s not my business and storms off. I suggested she give me one of her dogs or cats, and she told me she would simply buy more. I believe her.

How can I make her see the light? -- Concerned Sister Dear Concerned: To some extent, your sister is right: This isn’t your business. A messy home and dog-haired clothing may not be your preference, but they aren’t necessarily a health risk. She is depleting her bank balance in order to purchase animals, but then, some people do that with shoes.

There can be a fine line between eccentric behavior that is within acceptable boundaries and behavior that indicates mental illness. We don’t think your sister has crossed that line, but she bears watching. So stop criticizing her choices, but keep an eye on whether her appearance and the condition of her house substantially deteriorate, whether she goes into debt and whether the animals are well treated. And let her know you will be a sympathetic shoulder if she ever needs help managing.

Dear Annie: Our neighbor, “Harvey,” is a homosexual and frequently has various men stay at his house overnight --

sometimes more than one at a time.

Here’s the problem: We have an 11-year-old son, and though Harvey is nice to him and a good neighbor to us, should we keep our son from any association with Harvey?

My husband doesn’t seem to think there’s any problem, but one can never be too safe when it comes to protecting your children. -- Sleepless in Seattle Dear Seattle: Harvey should be treated no differently than any adult neighbor who has frequent overnight guests, male or female, presumably for intimate purposes. You wouldn’t want his casual promiscuity (if that’s what it is) to be something your son emulates in his own life, but we assume you would discuss such things with your child as a normal part of transmitting your values and morals. It has nothing to do with Harvey’s sexual orientation, nor does it make him a greater risk to your son’s welfare. And if your real worry is whether association with Harvey will make your son gay, the answer is no.

Dear Annie: This is for “Not a Mommy,” the woman who doesn’t care to hold someone’s infant.

I, too, am not fond of babies (except for my grandchildren), but I have found myself in the same awkward situation when an employee brings her baby to visit the office. Two tips that work for me: Never go alone into the room where the baby is on display. And don’t put yourself in the front tier. Touch the baby so the parent doesn’t think you are a complete ogre, but when asked, “Don’t you want to hold him?” reply, “Oh, let So-and-So. I can see that she’s dying to.” Then quietly make your exit. -- Chris from Maine Dear Chris: Good advice for the baby-averse. Thanks.

Dear Readers: Today is Administrative Professionals Day. If you have assistants who make your job easier, let them know how much they are appreciated.

Annie’s Mailbox is written by Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar, longtime editors of the Ann Landers column. Please e-mail your questions to: anniesmailbox@comcast.net, or write to: Annie’s Mailbox, c/o Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254.

Prickly City

by Scott Stantis

New Beginner Classes Every Week For information call Raymond Reid (207) 518-9375 www.taichichihstudio.com *Featured in AARP Magazine

Page 14 — THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Wednesday, April 25, 2012

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– EVENTS CALENDAR–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Wednesday, April 25 ‘Tale of Captain Ephraim Jones’ 1765 voyage’ noon. “Tale of Captain Ephraim Jones’ 1765 voyage on the 90-foot Schooner Mary, which left from Falmouth and sailed to Bermuda and the Turks Island and back. He kept a detailed ship’s log upon which Dr. P.M. Outwin’s talk is based. The program will include a slide presentation, and lots of fabulous photos.” The Maine Charitable Mechanic Association has about 300 members. Members have the use of the historic library on Congress Street and may attend events including readings by local and national authors and travel lectures presented by producers of films from around the world. The library welcomes new members. If interested, contact Pat Larrabee at 773-8396. www. mainecharitablemechanicassociation.com

‘Keep your money and identity safe’ noon to 1 p.m. “Keep It Safe, Keep your money and identity safe. Join us to learn how to protect your bank account from scams.” Portland Public Library. Money Smart Week at Portland Public Library is a national event of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and American Library Association. Locally, CA$H Greater Portland and its partners help individuals and their families find ways to make the most of their money throughout the year. CA$H Coalition members include: AARP Tax-Aide, Annie E. Casey Foundation, Casey Family Services, Goodwill Industries of Northern New England, Internal Revenue Service, KeyBank, Pine Tree Legal Assistance, Portland Housing Authority, United Way of Greater Portland, and Women, Work and Community. For more information, visit www.cashgp.org.

UMaine Law School: ‘The Crisis of Trust’ 3 p.m. The University of Maine School of Law’s 2012 Governance & Ethics Symposium: “The Crisis of Trust in Public and Private Sector Institutions” at the Law School. Nearly 140 people have signed up to attend the symposium, and another 40 are on a waiting list in case of cancellations.

Attendees include attorneys, lawmakers, chief executive officers and others. Panelists at the symposium will be John Branson, a Portland attorney who has represented Occupy Maine; Rep. Emily Cain, D-Orono; David Flanagan, president and CEO of Preservation Management, former CEO of Central Maine Power; Robert A.G. Monks, a governance expert and author; and Peter Mills, executive director of the Maine Turnpike Authority, and a former longtime state senator. The annual Governance & Ethics Symposium series was established in 2009 by the University of Maine School of Law. Co-chairs are Dean Peter Pitegoff of the Law School; Dan Boxer, adjunct professor of Governance & Business Ethics; and Tom Dunne, retired partner with Accenture. University of Maine School of Law, 246 Deering Ave. http://mainelaw.maine.edu

Schools’ Spring Art Show 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. The Portland Public Schools’ Spring Art Show will be held at Portland City Hall from April 26 through May 10. Artwork created by students in kindergarten through grade 12 will be displayed during City Hall’s regular hours. An opening reception with cookies and punch will take place on April 26 from 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Your Money in the Media 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. “Your Money in the Media. Some fun and valuable ways to keep up with the right news at the right time. Come hear Stefan Willimann, founder of Maine News Simply and Gren Blackall, director of marketing at Gorham Savings Bank discuss how to approach staying informed in our cluttered media with the right news at the right time.

Free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served.” Falmouth Memorial Library

‘Hedda Gabler’ at USM 5 p.m. “Hedda Gabler,” by Henrik Ibsen, directed by William Steele, University of Southern Maine Department of Theatre. April 26-28 at 7:30 p.m.; April 29 at 5 p.m.; special discount show at 5 p.m. on April 25, all seats $5; tickets $15, $8 for students, $11 seniors and USM employees and alumni. www.usm.maine.edu/theatre

Fort Allen Park Rehabilitation 7 p.m. The Historic Preservation Board has rescheduled the final public hearing on the Fort Allen Park Rehabilitation Project in Room 209 at City Hall. “The original meeting, scheduled for April 18, was changed due to a lack of a quorum for this date. A revised concept plan will soon be posted on our website, easternpromenade.org, and presented at the April 25 hearing. The new plan considers comments from the public, community groups, the Historic Preservation Board, City of Portland Planning Department and Friends of the Eastern Promenade’s Board of Directors.

Friends of the Eastern Promenade is sponsoring the Fort Allen Park Rehabilitation Project, working with landscape designers Martha Lyon and Regina Leonard, the Historic Preservation Board and staff from the City of Portland. The final hearing is the culmination of design development and

Eliot Cutler, former candidate for governor, speaks about the Clean Air Act during rally for the 40th anniversary of the law in Monument Square in November 2010. Cutler is now involved in Americans Elect, an online effort to place a bipartisan presidential ticket on 2012 ballots in all states. On Friday, No Labels will host a discussion with Independent U.S. Senate candidate Angus King and Cutler on “How to Fix a Broken Congress.” (DAVID CARKHUFF FILE PHOTO) public process, providing opportunity for feedback from throughout the community. The Historic Preservation Board has held three public workshops offering preliminary guidance on the design of the park and receiving public input.

In addition, Friends of the Eastern Promenade sponsored a March 8 public meeting on the project, which was attended by about 75 people. The Parks Commission also reviewed the project at its March meeting.”

Thursday, April 26 Count Every Dollar noon to 1 p.m. “Count Every Dollar, How do your spending habits impact your financial goals? Join us to look at how the money you spend today will impact your financial goals.” Portland Public Library. Money Smart Week at Portland Public Library is a national event of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and American Library Association. Locally, CA$H Greater Portland and its partners help individuals and their families find ways to make the most of their money throughout the year. CA$H Coalition members include: AARP Tax-Aide, Annie E. Casey Foundation, Casey Family Services, Goodwill Industries of Northern New England, Internal Revenue Service, KeyBank, Pine Tree Legal Assistance, Portland Housing Authority, United Way of Greater Portland, and Women, Work and Community. For more information, visit www.cashgp.org.

Cash Mob at Tommy’s Park in Portland 5:30 p.m. Tommy’s Park. Cash Mob in Portland. “Join gr8PortlandME and Cash Mob Portland Maine in our efforts to support our local business community with monthly ‘Cash Mobbing’ events. Everyone is invited to Portland Maine Cash Mobs! Each ‘Mobber’ is asked to bring $20 to spend at the chosen business and also encouraged to join in the ‘after mob’ at a local watering hole. Details of the businesses to be ‘cash mobbed’ and ‘after mobbed’ will be revealed at the meeting time and place, as well as simultaneously on the Cash Mob Portland Maine Facebook page and on Twitter @cmportlandme.” www.facebook. com/CashMobPortlandMaine

Brighton Avenue-Deering Avenue-Falmouth Street study meeting by the city of Portland, PACTS 6 p.m. Portland District 2 City Councilor David Marshall and District 3 City Councilor Ed Suslovic, the city of Portland and the Portland Area Comprehensive Transportation System will host a second public meeting for the Brighton AvenueDeering Avenue-Falmouth Street Intersection Study. The study, funded by a PACTS grant and local match, is analyzing the complex six-legged intersection near the University of Southern Maine campus and evaluating different configurations to better meet traffic, bicycle, pedestrian, transit access and safety needs. “As part of its recent campus expan-

sion, USM contributed $250,000 to make improvements to the intersection for motor vehicles, bicyclists, pedestrians, and transit users as well as to improve the quality of the streetscape. Currently wide expanses of pavement make pedestrian crossings difficult and unsafe. Bicycle lanes are discontinuous, and high volumes of traffic along a principal arterial, Route 25, create significant congestion and long signal delays. The feedback from this meeting will help determine the outcome for the study and what improvements to fund.” 6 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., Open House, Light Refreshments; 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Public Meeting, USM Wishcamper Center, Room 102, Bedford Street, Portland.

‘The Problem of Money’ author 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Jane Honeck, author of “The Problem of Money” will be a guest speaker at the Falmouth Memorial Library as part of the Falmouth Memorial Library’s Money Smart Week. This event is co-hosted by the Friends of the Falmouth Memorial Library and Gorham Savings Bank. This event is free and open to the public. Snacks and refreshments will be served. Pre-registration is suggested. Contact 781-2351.

Little Black Dress Event for Goodwill 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Goodwill Industries of Northern New England will hold its first Little Black Dress Event — It Works! at the Portland Club (156 State St., Portland). “It is an evening that celebrates everyone’s favorite little black dress, while raising funds to support Goodwill’s Workforce Solutions programs that help people in Maine get back to work.

The event will feature heavy hors d’oeuvres, a cash bar, live music from The Wetsuits and exciting live auction items and raffle prizes throughout the event. Goodwill will also feature a boutique store, where guests will have the opportunity to pick up affordable vintage jewelry, shawls and other accessories.” Tickets for the event are $40 each or two for $75 and are available online at www.goodwillnne.org or by calling 774-6323.

Gibson Fay-LeBlanc reading, book party 7 p.m. Join Portland writer and former Telling Room director Gibson Fay-LeBlanc for a reading and book party at SPACE Gallery. His first book of poems, “Death of a Ventriloquist,” won the Vassar Miller Prize and, in love songs and prayers, short histories and tragic tales, tracks the consequences of speaking in a voice other than one’s own. In a starred review, Publishers Weekly calls the book “a debut that rings out long after Fay-LeBlanc’s lips stop moving,” and the Irish poet Eamon Grennan notes, “What drives the poems in this wonderfully animated debut…is the patent honesty of the poet’s voice.” Gibson has had poems in magazines including Guernica, The New Republic, and Tin House, is the Poetry Editor at Maine magazine, and teaches workshops at The Telling Room and throughout Maine. FMI: gibsonfayleblanc.com. see next page

THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Wednesday, April 25, 2012— Page 15

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– EVENTS CALENDAR––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– from preceding page

‘A Life In The Theater’ 7:30 p.m. David Mamet’s homage to show business at Freeport Factory Stage: “A Life In The Theater.” “This production features two of Portland’s most important and talented actors: Will Rhys and Dustin Tucker, and is directed

by PSC Affiliate Artist, Sally Wood. Rhys and Tucker play two actors: Rhys, a sage professional with years of shows under his belt, and Tucker a promising upstart who endures counseling, life lessons and endless opinions from his elder. The relationship between the two men is ultimately transformative, and will leave audiences swept up by their experiences both on and off stage. This play is peppered with plenty of salty language, and is intended for adult audiences.” Performances are April 19-May 5, Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m. Thursday performances are Pay-What-You-Can. (Pay-what-you-can performances are intended to be a community benefit for those who really want to see good plays, but simply can’t afford to do so) Ticket prices for all other performances are $19 general admission and $15 students/seniors. Special group pricing is available. Five-Pass Subscriptions can be purchased at $15/pass general and $12/pass student/senior.

Friday, April 27 Active Caring: Life Stories of Helping in a Challenging Environment 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The New England Consortium on Life Stories will host Active Caring: Life Stories of Helping in a Challenging Environment, at the University of Southern Maine’s Portland campus. Sponsored by the University of Southern Maine’s School of Education and Human Development and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, the conference- the first of its kind for the consortium- focuses on active caring, often described as the choice to help, in some way, in the face of violence or oppression. Conference workshops and presentations will demonstrate that stories of active caring may influence our day-to-day interactions and inspire larger, more heroic acts. One such home-grown illustration of active caring is Maine’s own Moral Courage Project. A collaboration between the Auburn School District students and the greater Auburn/Lewiston community, the Moral Courage Project is a cross-curricular, community-wide initiative that encourages students to investigate stories of active caring close to home. Students actively engage with storytellers in the community, and educators throughout the district incorporate multimedia, essays, and interviews focused on active caring into their curriculum.

Students, faculty, and community members involved in the Moral Courage Project will discuss their experiences in a conference workshop Friday morning in the USM Wishcamper Center at 9:20 a.m.

Free Credit Report Day 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Free Credit Report Day. “Your credit history: bill payments, credit card, and loan debt, can impact your ability to make future purchases, qualify for employment, utilities and housing. Join us to review your free credit report, and find out how to build good credit. Once you have your credit report, learn how you can multiply your savings with a Maine Family Development Account.

Call 871-1700, ext. 725 to schedule an appointment. Walkins welcome upon availability.” For more information, visit www.cashgp.org.

No Labels discussion with Angus King, Eliot Cutler 5:30 p.m. “At the University of New England’s Portland Campus, No Labels, the grassroots movement of more than half a million Republicans, Democrats and independents dedicated to making government work again, will host a panel on ways to fix gridlock and hyper-partisanship in Congress. No Labels is building on momentum for its No Budget, No Pay Act and other reform proposals from its 12-point Make Congress Work! action plan. The No Budget, No Pay Act would withhold congressional pay if members of Congress fail to pass spending bills and the budget on time. ... No Labels is a group of Republicans, Democrats and independents who want our government to work again. ... To learn more about No Labels, please visit NoLabels.org.”

Kennebunk Democratic Candidates Night 7 p.m. Democratic Candidates Night at Kennebunk Town Hall Auditorium with master of ceremonies Chris Babbidge.

The format: Each of the Democratic U.S. Senate candidates will get five minutes to talk to the audience. Then the four will be asked to answer the same questions. Doors open at 6, the event starts at 7 p.m. Refreshments will be served.

For more information, call Diane Denk, 604-0838. Social hour at 6 p.m. and meeting begins at 7 p.m. Kennebunk & Kennebunkport Democratic Town Committees. www.kennebunkkennebunkportdems.org

‘Abundance’ in Buxton 7:30 p.m. Saco River Grange Hall, Buxton, will stage “Abundance.” Friday, April 27, Saturday, April 28 and May, 3, 4, 5, 7:30 p.m., Sunday, April 29, 2:30 p.m. matinee. Tickets $18 Adults, $16 Students and seniors; Thursday, May 3 is paywhat-you-can. “‘Abundance’ is the story of two mail-order brides who meet while waiting for their husbands to pick them up at the stagecoach station of a small town in the Wyoming Territory in the 1860s. Bess (Jennifer Porter) is a timid romantic, while Macon (Sally Wood) is high spirited and thrilled about the prospects of a new life in the West.

Bess soon finds that her husband-to-be, Michael, has been killed and will be replaced by his brother, Jack (Dana Packard) a mean-spirited brute with a penchant for gambling.”

‘A Life In The Theater’ 7:30 p.m. David Mamet’s homage to show business at Freeport Factory Stage: “A Life In The Theater.” “This production features two of Portland’s most important and talented actors: Will Rhys and Dustin Tucker, and is directed

by PSC Affiliate Artist, Sally Wood. Rhys and Tucker play two actors: Rhys, a sage professional with years of shows under his belt, and Tucker a promising upstart who endures counseling, life lessons and endless opinions from his elder. The relationship between the two men is ultimately transformative, and will leave audiences swept up by their experiences both on and off stage.

This play is peppered with plenty of salty language, and is intended for adult audiences.” Performances are April 19-May 5, Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m. Thursday performances are Pay-What-YouCan. (Pay-what-you-can performances are intended to be a community benefit for those who really want to see good plays, but simply can’t afford to do so) Ticket prices for all other performances are $19 general admission and $15 students/seniors. Special group pricing is available.

Five-Pass Subscriptions can be purchased at $15/pass general and $12/pass student/senior.

‘The Pirates of Penzance’ 8 p.m. Lyric Music Theater in South Portland presents the comic operetta, the classic: “The Pirates of Penzance.”

“Gilbert and Sullivan at their finest! Young Frederic joins a band of tender-hearted pirates, indentured until his 21st birthday. Alas, discovering he is a leap-year baby, this could take longer than expected.” Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m.; Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Through Saturday, May 5, at 8 p.m. www.lyricmusictheater.org/portland-theater-shows. aspx#pirates

Saturday, April 28 Feathers over Freeport 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feathers over Freeport is an annual birdwatching weekend and festival for all ages and abilities.

Activities include live bird programs, hawk watching, osprey watching, the latest in digiscoping, bird walks & talks, a puffin program, and children’s activities. Held 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 28 at Bradbury Mt. State Park and on Sunday, April 29 at Wolfe’s Neck Woods State Park. All events included in park admission: $1. ages 5-11; free for under 5 and over 64; all others $3. Saturday evening Puffin Program at Freeport Community Library is free and open to all: Everything About Puffins with Susan Schubel of Audubon’s Project Puffin. www.maine.gov/feathersoverfreeport

Healthy Kid’s Day at the Portland YMCA 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Portland YMCA is hosting Healthy Kid’s Day on April 28. “This community-wide event, celebrated at YMCAs throughout the country, is filled with chances to explore some of the best local and healthy choices for recreation, foods, and personal care.” Bring swimsuits for the pool, clothes for messy art projects, and sneakers to investigate the YMCA and area opportunities!For more information, please call 874.1111, or visit www.cumberlandcountyymca.org.

Poetry Month Celebration with Lady Zen noon to 1 p.m. A Poetry Month Celebration with Lady Zen will be held on Saturday, April 28 from noon to 1 p.m. in the Rines Auditorium to wrap up the Poetry Month festivities at the Portland Public Library.

Winners of the Poetry Competition will be announced followed by a talk and performance by local poet, Lady Zen. Portland-based Lady Zen is a Jazz Funk Poet who has performed all over the country. She will be presenting a piece called Collaborations and will talk before hand about her process of writing and creating poetry.

Pink Tulip Party to benefit cancer foundation 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. At the Friends of the Eastern Promenade’s Pink Tulip Project garden at the top of Cutter Street. “Our balmy spring has coaxed the tulips into popping up early this year! Since the fickle flowers won’t wait for us, the Pink Tulip Party has been moved up to Saturday, April 28 from 1 to 3 p.m. at the home of Rob and Robin Whitten, 23 St. Lawrence St. in Portland. The event will held in the Whittens’ spectacular garden, graced by hundreds of colorful tulips as well as a variety of other spring flowers. Bring your neighbors and friends! A minimum donation of $10 is suggested. All proceeds benefit the Pink Tulip Project, which raises funds for the Women’s Cancer Fund at the Maine Cancer Foundation. Founded in 2006 by Robin Whitten, a breast cancer survivor, the Pink Tulip Project has raised over $200,000 to date. More than 30,000 Pink Tulip Project bulbs will bloom this year, creating awareness and support for those who have been affected by cancer.”

Benefit potluck dinner for Brentwood garden 6 p.m. At Central Square Baptist Church, Deering Center, Portland, all ages are welcome. Benefit potluck dinner, Neighborhood Music Jam with Slate, and local auction.

Cost: $10 adult, $5 children 13 and under, $25 a family.

Community Sponsor: The Deering Center Neighborhood Association. Tickets on sale in advance at Jet Video and at the door.

The Freedom Gala 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. A fun evening of music at The Portland Company with a live and silent auction to benefit LOVE146 a nonprofit organization that works to abolish the exploitation and sex trafficking of children through prevention and after-care. Performances by hip-hop artist Bobby Bishop and actor Dennis St. Pierre; Special Keynote Speaker, Rob Morris, president and co-founder of LOVE146. The Portland Company, 58 Fore St., Portland. www.FREEDOMME.com rtlandlibrary.com

‘The Vagina Monologues’ 7 p.m. “The Vagina Monologues” with proceeds to benefit SACC, Safe Voices and Women of Haiti. Other women in this year’s cast include: Tracy Draper, Christine Doucette, Sara Flowers, Alexis Handy, Claire Hebert, Sara Karam, Casey Knight , Joanne Labrie, Giselle Scherle, Ami Seamon, Melissa Stevens, Madeline Strange, Hope Tracy, Isabelle Troadec, and Danielle Wadsworth. V-Day aUbUrn’s home is the First Universalist Church of Auburn, 169 Pleasant St. (across from Dairy Joy). Tickets are priced on a sliding scale $5-10; pay as you are able. Parking; accessible. FMI 7830461 or www.auburnuu.org. Adult language, under 16 must be acompanied by an adult.

‘The Pirates of Penzance’ 8 p.m. Lyric Music Theater in South Portland presents the comic operetta, the classic: “The Pirates of Penzance.”

“Gilbert and Sullivan at their finest! Young Frederic joins a band of tender-hearted pirates, indentured until his 21st birthday. Alas, discovering he is a leap-year baby, this could take longer than expected.” Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m.; Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Through Saturday, May 5, at 8 p.m. www.lyricmusictheater.org/portland-theater-shows. aspx#pirates

Page 16 — THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Wednesday, April 25, 2012