MAINE REPORTS...

Maine Reports: DMR gives groundline rule update
Portland Press Herald

ELLSWORTH — A handful of Zone B lobstermen gathered at Ellsworth High School last week for the latest Department of Marine Resources update on sinking rope and whale protection rules. DMR has held similar meetings in each of the state's six other Lobster Management Zones.

Terry Stockwell, the department's director of external affairs, briefed the lobstermen on DMR's latest efforts to reduce the impact of the federal Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan rule requiring lobstermen to use sinking rope groundlines on traps set in state waters.

DMR has suggested a plan to the National Marine Fisheries Service that would trade a reduction in the number of vertical buoy lines on traps set in certain "sliver" areas for the right to use floating rope groundlines on those traps.

The groundline rule was supposed to go into effect on Oct. 8. Last month, NMFS proposed a six-month delay in implementing the requirement, until April 5, 2009.

The Ellsworth American.

ellsworthmaine.com

TRENTON

MDI partnering gets another look after law's changes

In light of recent changes to school consolidation legislation, many on the local school committee are looking to consolidate with Mount Desert Island schools. "I think we're close to making a decision," Trenton School Committee Chairwoman Judy Sproule told selectmen last week.

The Alternative Organization Structure allowed by the new legislation takes away many of the financial obstacles the town previously faced when it considered partnering with the MDI towns, Sproule said. "I feel very strongly that the best educational opportunity is to go with MDI."

The town's other option would be to stay with School Union 92, which is again looking at consolidating without a partner. The union, composed of Trenton, Lamoine, Hancock, Surry, Waltham, Eastbrook, Otis, and Mariaville, just meets the state-mandated 1,200 student minimum for reorganization.

Mount Desert Islander

mdislander.com

WISCASSET

School budget turned down for a second time

For the second time in a row, a majority of Wiscasset voters going to the polls last Tuesday opposed the $9.6 million school budget by a 322-242, which this time was $130,000 more than the amount sought in the previous May 27 vote.

"I don't know where they think the money is going to come from to run the schools," said Gene Stover, school committee chairman, said. "We're down to programs and teachers."

Stover said the programs he was talking about include athletics, co-curricular programs, and special education programs.

The school committee and administrators seemed to feel the last vote came at a bad time after Memorial Day weekend and that voters needed to understand the budget better and realize that $300,000-plus had already been cut. They added the $130,000 cut from the budget for the previous $9.5 million total voters turned down to cover recent fuel increase quotes.

The Lincoln County News

www.mainelincolncountynews.com

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=195425&ac=PHnws

MAINE REPORTS: Loss of owner won't stop Red's Eats
Portland Press Herald

WISCASSET — The recent death of Red's Eats proprietor Al Gagnon was a shock to many people in the community, but family members will continue a longstanding reputation.

"Nothing will change," said Gagnon's daughter, Cindy Collamore. "We're going to run it the way Dad ran it."

Collamore and her sister, Debbie Cronk, plan to continue operation of the eatery that began as a small roadside food stand and has since drawn people from all over the world to sample its fare.

Gagnon, who was 71 when he died at home June 13, bought the food stand located near the Wiscasset end of the Davey Memorial Bridge on Route 1 in 1977. Gagnon's winning smile and personality, together with sound business practices and good food, earned Red's Eats a highly regarded and widely known reputation.

Celebrities such as Paul Newman and Martha Stewart have stopped for a bite at the stand, which has become famous for its lobster rolls and other treats.

-- The Lincoln County News

www.mainelincolncountynews.com

WISCASSET

Town welcomes $25,000 grant by Bush foundation

Wiscasset is one of eight communities that will receive a $25,000 grant from the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. This is the second time Wiscasset has been a winner.

Adult and Community Education Director Pam Moody accepted the award from Barbara Bush and Gov. John Baldacci's wife, Karen Baldacci, at an awards ceremony in Biddeford on June 2.

Moody and Curriculum Director Emily Thompson are enthusiastic about the results of the program this year, and are looking forward to next year's program, which will include a new partnership with the Wiscasset Community Center.

The idea behind Wiscasset's family literacy program is to bring families together to improve reading skills in a setting that is conducive to learning. To that end, volunteers and paid staff provide child care, offer simple evening meals, read with children and adults in groups, follow up with group activities, and give families books and materials to take home with them after each session.

-- Wiscasset Newspaper

http://wiscassetnewspaper.maine.com

ACADIA NATIONAL PARK

Laura Bush visits Mount Desert Island on New England trip

First lady Laura Bush spent time in Acadia National Park on Tuesday as part of a personal trip through New England.

A spokeswoman said the first lady did not plan any public events while she was on Mount Desert Island. After a morning in the park, she and her entourage, including her Secret Service detail, were spotted having lunch in Bar Harbor.

Last August, her daughter Jenna visited the island. She and her husband, Henry Hager, reportedly got engaged while atop Cadillac Mountain watching the sunrise.

-- Mount Desert Islander

http://mdislander.com

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=196796&ac=PHnws

Maine Reports: Climbing areas at Otter Cliffs closed
Portland Press Herald

ACADIA NATIONAL PARK — A rock slide involving boulders larger than some cars has indefinitely closed ocean-side climbing areas at Otter Cliffs.

Park officials must decide where and what kind of anchor to install in order to make the area safe for climbing, Ranger Stuart West said.

When the park's two expert climbers inspected the area last week and removed debris, they found chalk marks -- an indication that someone has already climbed on the new and unstable rock face. The park also received reports last weekend that at least one climber had disregarded the signs.

"This could have been a real tragedy," West said.

Anyone found climbing in the closed area can be fined $100. Climbers in violation will be ticketed, not given a warning, West said.

-- Mount Desert Islander

JONESBORO

Growers' harvest of wild blueberries expected to be good

Maine wild blueberry growers this year can expect to produce as much as 80 million to 100 million pounds -- a near-record yield, one expert says.

The most recent record harvest was 111 million pounds in 2000.

David Yarborough, professor of horticulture and blueberry specialist with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, said the wet fall and good snow cover protected the crops from winter injury.

"Cool temperatures delayed initial berry development, but early moisture and good pollination has resulted in a larger fruit size," he said. "With sun, and if we get sufficient moisture, I expect them to produce a better-than-average crop, approaching 80 to 100 million pounds."

Most growers at the annual summer field day for wild blueberry growers at Blueberry Hill Farm in Jonesboro on Wednesday said they expect an average to slightly above average crop.

Roy Allen of Allen's Blueberries in Ellsworth was more conservative than Yarborough in his prediction.

"It looks like a good-average crop," he said, adding that the 17 to 18 days in July without rain didn't help. Last weekend's rain, he said, provided a much-needed boost.

-- The Ellsworth American

WISCASSET

Third vote a charm for school budget, all other questions

A much-trimmed $9.32 million Wiscasset school budget finally gained acceptance in the third secret ballot vote Tuesday along with all other questions, including a second vote on the parks and recreation department budget.

The school budget narrowly passed by a 315-281 margin. "It's a relief to be able to focus on filling vacancies and getting ready for the next school year," Supuerintendent Jay McIntire said.

The school system had been relying on the previous 2007-08 budget, still in effect until a new budget was passed. The local appropriation is $4.06 million.

The $808,975 parks and recreation budget, including $295,899 to be raised, passed with a 363-229 vote. The question of a new police cruiser passed by a 308-267 margin. Voters agreed to use unexpended funds from the police budget, instead of a new appropriation.

-- The Lincoln County News

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=201564&ac=PHnws

Maine Reports: Downtown fire pulls community together
Portland Press Herald

MOUNT DESERT — An outpouring of community support has sprung out of the ashes and rubble left by the fire that leveled three Main Street buildings, damaged several others in Northeast Harbor and displaced 23 people on July 29.

"The response from the community has been overwhelming. I knew that the community really pulls together in events like this, but it's amazing to see such a tremendous amount of support," Fire Chief Mike Bender said Monday.

The day of the fire, local businesses and residents donated sandwiches, snacks, cookies, water, ice, tents, chairs, manpower and a variety of goods. Donated baseball caps and towels were dunked in cold water and given to firefighters.

During the subsequent demolition of the Wingspread Gallery, the Colonel's Restaurant and Deli, and the Joy Building, friends and neighbors stood by to help salvage valuable items and mementos.

Area organizations were quick to coordinate a large-scale fire relief effort.

The First and the Great Harbor Maritime Museum established a relief fund. Red Cross worked quickly to find housing and jobs for 19 Eastern European students displaced by the blaze. Tom Walsh of Ocean Properties in Bar Harbor offered housing and employment to 10 students. Other students were provided housing in Northeast Harbor so that they could maintain their employment.

The Mount Desert, Southwest Harbor, Trenton, Schoodic, Bar Harbor, and Ellsworth chambers of commerce formed a network to accept donations. Each organization has contacted its member businesses and directed them to the Northeast Harbor Fire Relief Fund and the Neighborhood House for monetary and clothing donations.

The Mount Desert nursery school had its summer fund-raiser last weekend, and has earmarked some of the money it raised for the relief fund.

The combined value of the buildings lost is estimated at well over $1 million, town officials said.

In addition to the three destroyed buildings, the Kimball Boutique sustained heavy smoke and water damage, and an apartment in the back of the Colonel's property has been rendered uninhabitable. Other buildings sustained exterior damage.

-- Mount Desert Islander

BLUE HILL

Heavy rains flood hospital basement, causing shutdown

Blue Hill Memorial Hospital was closed to all but emergency care Monday as crews cleaned up a flooded basement that forced the hospital to evacuate its patients Sunday.

Also closed Monday were all outpatient services in the Sussman Medical Office building on the hospital campus. The hospital reopened at full capacity Tuesday morning.

Heavy rains Sunday afternoon that fell during high tide in Blue Hill Bay, directly across from the hospital, flooded the hospital basement for the first time in its 84-year history.

A combination of extreme high tide and a downpour of more than 4 inches of rain left a small stream at the edge of the hospital with no place to flow, said Tim Garrity, hospital CEO and president. Water crossed the parking lot and entered the basement, he said.

The hospital hired a professional cleaning company to dry the water-soaked floors in the basement, but the bulk of cleanup details were taken on by hospital personnel.

-- The Ellsworth American.

NEWCASTLE

Lightning ignites structure fire, destroys home

Lightning ignited a fast-moving structure fire last Sunday morning, destroying a private residence on Lincoln Lane in Newcastle.

Fire Chief Clayton Huntley said the home was fully engulfed by the time firefighters arrived.

Huntley said it looked like lightning hit the garage and went from one end of the house to the other.

The house was a two-story colonial-style structure that Huntley said must have had three or four bedrooms.

Homeowners Luke and Laura Houghton and their three small children were not home at the time but they lost a family dog in the fire.

-- The Lincoln County News

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=203935&ac=PHnws&pg=1

Maine Reports: 'We are not giving up,' LNG foes vow
Portland Press Herald

ST. ANDREWS, New Brunswick — "We will use every legal and diplomatic means to defend our position," said Charlotte County's member of Parliament, Greg Thompson, the guest speaker at the annual general meeting of Save Passamaquoddy Bay/Canada. The organization is dedicated to opposing the three proposed liquefied natural gas facilities for the Maine side of Passamaquoddy Bay.

"It's a no-go zone," Thompson said.

The Aug. 20 meeting drew a standing-room-only crowd, and others were turned away because of fire safety regulations.

Thompson said the Head Harbour Passage waters are sovereign waters of Canada. "We are not giving up. We will protect our bay," he said.

He reminded listeners that the successful battle by opponents of the Pittson Oil Co.'s plan to build an oil terminal in Eastport took 14 years.

Save Passamaquoddy Bay/Canada is opposed to siting a Quoddy Bay LNG facility at Pleasant Point, a Downeast LNG facility in Robbinston and a Calais LNG facility near Devil's Head in Calais.

All three sites face the St. Andrews area. Opposition is based on the use of Canadian waters that would affect the economy, tourism and the environment of the St. Andrews area.

– The Quoddy Tides

http://www.quoddytides.com

BAR HARBOR

Jackson Lab gets $4.7 million grant to expand R&D

The Jackson Laboratory has been awarded $4.7 million in state funds for technology development.

In a news conference with Gov. John Baldacci recently, officials announced that the laboratory has received a Maine Technology Asset Fund grant from the Maine Technology Institute.

The $4.7 million gift will be used to expand the laboratory's technology capabilities and strengthen its research services offerings, and to make commercialization opportunities for new technologies available to Maine businesses.

The grant will enable the lab to accommodate increased research and development capacity, developing several new inventions and technological innovations.

Today, the institution distributes research resources and scientific services to more than 13,000 investigators in 42 countries.

– Mount Desert Islander

http://mdislander.com

ELLSWORTH

Man in leg brace rescued by crews after kayak flips

Ellsworth firefighters and police and the Maine Warden Service rescued a Hancock man in a leg brace whose kayak flipped in the Union River on Monday.

Mike Hangge, a fire inspector with the Ellsworth Fire Department, said the man had a brace on his leg from recent surgery and did not have any strength in the leg in the water.

The man, Michael Carter, 34, had been fishing, officials reported.

Carter went into the water and got to a rock in the middle of the water, where passers-by spotted him and called for help, Hangge said. Carter was not wearing a lifejacket.

Three firefighters had to go into the water to get the man and carry him out.

– The Ellsworth American

http://ellsworthmaine.com

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=206296&ac=PHnws

Maine Reports: Island schools get consolidation OK
Portland Press Herald

MOUNT DESERT ISLAND – Maine Education Commissioner Susan Gendron has granted formal approval to an alternative organizational structure for Mount Desert Island area schools.

That paves the way for final voter approval of the reorganization plan for island schools under Gov. John Baldacci's push to consolidate Maine's 290 school districts to just 80. The district will include schools in Bar Harbor, Mount Desert, Southwest Harbor, Tremont, Trenton, Cranberry Isles, Swans Island and Frenchboro, as well as Mount Desert Island High School.

Mount Desert Island representatives battled all spring in the Legislature to allow for alternative forms of organization that mirrored those already established under School Union 98 – of which most Mount Desert Island towns were already members. Most notable was the insistence by educators that each town maintain control of its own elementary school.

An initial submission for a school union structure was submitted to Gendron by Mount Desert Island towns last year but was rejected.

– Mount Desert Islander

mdislander.com

LAMOINE

Residents approve local school budget on third attempt

Town residents Tuesday voted to validate a $2.24 million school budget just days before classes begin this week.

The budget includes a three-day-a-week interim principal. Val Perkins, who retired as principal last spring, has agreed to serve as interim principal.

The 364-277 vote Tuesday followed two previous validation votes rejecting the budget. Residents said they wanted deeper cuts to minimize the impact on property taxes. This third budget was approved at a special town meeting Aug. 14. The follow-up vote Tuesday was required by state law.

The impact of the school budget will translate into a 28 percent property tax rate increase, said Stu Marckoon, town administrative assistant. Lamoine was confronted this year with higher property valuations due to expensive waterfront real estate, which triggered a $250,000 reduction in state aid.

– The Ellsworth American

ellsworthmaine.com

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=207581&ac=PHnws

Hanna hits hard in eastern Maine
Portland Press Herald

GOULDSBORO — It wasn't the amount of rain but the furious pace at which it fell that caused so many culvert blockages, road washouts and stretches of newly laid asphalt to heave up last weekend. The damage was courtesy of Tropical Storm Hanna.

"When you have a short duration with a high amount of precipitation, the water can't shed itself into the sewers and drain off as it could in a longer period of time," said Todd Lericos, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Caribou.

Total rainfall varied from less than 1 inch for inland communities to a high of 7.61 inches in Bar Harbor and 5.38 inches in the Prospect Harbor village of Gouldsboro, the weather service reported.

Hardest hit were coastal Hancock and Washington counties. The National Park Service at Acadia recorded 6.18 inches of rain on Mount Desert Island and 7.59 inches in the Schoodic portion of Acadia in Winter Harbor. The park service closed most of Acadia's carriage road system and fire road system early Sunday because of major washouts.

– The Ellsworth American

http://ellsworthmaine.com

WISCASSET

Maker of solar cars unveils possible collaborative project

The much-awaited news of the production of solar panels for solar-assist all-electric cars rolled forward last Friday with the unveiling of the Kronosport taxi, along with the prospect of locating manufacture of the vehicles themselves here.

Company and state officials toured the iPark industrial site, where the panels, as well as the various models, could be made. Models could include a van, police car, garbage collection vehicle and the taxi in which officials and local people had the opportunity to ride in the Muncipal Building vicinity.

The announcement of the joint state, local, nonprofit and private venture included news of a $15,000 Community Development Block Grant for design and installation of solar panels for the canopies of the Kronosport mobiles.

Town Manager Arthur Faucher called the gathering of state, local, company and Chewonki Foundation officials a momentous occasion as the public, private and nonprofit sectors partner for a future economic endeavor that would provide jobs and economic benefit to the midcoast. "What is good for the people of Wiscasset is good for the people of Maine," he said.

– The Lincoln County News

http://www.mainelincolncountynews.com

DRESDEN

Campground reveals key information on tribes' prehistory

A 7,000-year-old campground in Dresden is the most significant prehistoric site ever found in Maine, archaeologists have confirmed. The site shows that American Indians returning north from southern New England after the Ice Age stayed here longer than first believed.

The state is working with property owner Rick Lang on a possible purchase of roughly half of his 26 acres along the Kennebec River. Evidence of encampment has been found across at least 12 acres of the land's surface.

"I'm very excited and fascinated to do research on a time period with a site that is very rare in Maine," said Arthur Spiess, senior archaeologist with the Maine Historic Preservation Commission.

Fire pits show that humans repopulating Maine after the Ice Age may have done so in a different way than previously thought, according to state officials. The site suggests the presence of a large, organized group living there seasonally, rather than smaller groups traveling more quickly northeastward.

"I can think of no site that remotely approaches its importance for the study of this early period of Maine's prehistory," the Maine State Museum's chief archaeologist, Bruce Bourque, wrote the State Planning Office last spring in support of Spiess' request for fundingto buy the site.

– Wiscasset Newspaper

http://wiscassetnewspaper.maine.com

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=210130&ac=PHnws

Maine Reports: Rutting moose wander roads; collisions top 700 a year
Portland Press Herald

WINTER HARBOR — Bull moose are on the rut – their 1,000-pound bodies crashing through the forest, lumbering across roads looking for Ms. Right.

"When they go into the rut, they wander all over the place, then get out on the roads," said Ed Pontbriand, district manager of Acadia National Park on the Schoodic Peninsula. "Then it's the motorists and the moose. The moose usually loses."

The moose mating season, or rut, according to the Maine Department of Transportation, is in full force from late August through October and into November. Maine has about 29,000 moose, the largest moose population in the United States outside of Alaska.

According to the DOT, car-moose collisions have nearly doubled over the past 15 years and now top 700 annually, resulting in several fatalities and about 200 injuries.

– The Ellsworth American.

WALDOBORO

Moose hit, killed near crossing sign; driver keeps going

A Camden man hit a moose just up the road from Bullwinkle's Restaurant on Sept. 23 and kept going.

The moose lay dead in the road next to a moose crossing sign that night until two Waldoboro residents saw it and called the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office, according to Deputy Brent Barter.

Barter said that when the driver was pulled over by police in Camden, it was discovered that the man didn't realize he had killed the moose. No drugs or alcohol were involved.

According to Barter, the driver had sideswiped the moose and the whole passenger side of the Saab sedan was damaged, but the motorist didn't think he had hurt the moose badly.

– The Lincoln County News

MACHIAS

State sets hearing on limiting scallop catch, fishing days

With a 96 percent decline in recorded Maine scallop landings from the top year of 1980 to last year, the Department of Marine Resources plans several changes in the fishery to stem the collapse of the resource.

Last spring, a limited-entry provision was enacted, and now the department proposes to cut the number of scallop fishing days in Maine from 136 to 52, close about a third of the coast to harvesting and limit the daily catch statewide to 200 pounds.

The department will hold a public hearing on the rule-making proposals at 6 p.m. Thursday at the University of Maine at Machias science lecture hall.

The proposals are generating controversy among fishermen around Cobscook Bay, considered to be the last good scallop ground in the state.

Leo Murray of Lubec, chairman of the Cobscook Bay Fishermen's Association, said, "People should take care of their own. We're trying to keep our fishery and to keep people here working. They're trying to make a fishery for the whole state out of our bay, and it can't stand it."

– The Quoddy Tides

ACADIA NATIONAL PARK

Quality of air improves this year over period in '07

From April through September, ozone levels on Mount Desert Island exceeded the federal standard of 75 parts per billion only once.

It happened July 8 at one of the two monitoring sites in Acadia: the station on Cadillac Mountain. Last year, there were five days on which ozone levels exceeded a higher standard of 85 ppb. In 2006, there was only one.

Statewide, there were three days on which ozone levels exceeded the standard, compared to 53 days in 2007.

This year's decrease in the number of unhealthy days is attributed to the drop in the number of hot days, combined with the longer-term decline in emissions that cause ground-level ozone.

Sunlight and high temperatures speed the formation of ground-level ozone; most areas of New England had fewer days this year when temperatures exceeded 90 degrees, and there were more heavy showers and thunderstorms, all of which helps keep ozone levels down.

– Mount Desert Islander

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=214061&ac=PHnws

Maine Reports: Museum files for bankruptcy
Portland Press Herald

CALAIS — The board of trustees of the Downeast Heritage Museum filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy Sept. 29 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Bangor.

The action will allow the museum's assets to be liquidated in order to pay off debts. The board made the decision at a meeting the previous week, after ensuring that all bills were paid except the $600,000 mortgage held by USDA Rural Development.

Assistant City Manager Jim Porter, a member of the board of trustees and a longtime supporter of the heritage museum, said two of the building's three tenants, the state Visitor Information Center and the St. Croix Valley Chamber of Commerce, had not been charged rent.

However, Maine Indian Education, whose headquarters was in the building, "had signed a lease with us, but that lease goes away with Chapter 7. They'll have to deal with the USDA," Porter said. He said the monthly cost of heat, lights and insurance for the building is about $5,000.

The Downeast Heritage Museum cost $6 million to construct and opened in June 2004 for the 400th anniversary celebration of the landing of European traders on nearby St. Croix Island.

The waterfront building contained galleries dedicated to the St. Croix Island expedition as well as to Passamaquoddy culture and to Down East heritage on land and sea.

– The Quoddy Tides

ELLSWORTH

Hearing draws critics of limits on scallop fishery

One by one, fishermen from throughout Hancock County and beyond stepped to the microphone Monday night to oppose sharp restrictions proposed by the Maine Department of Marine Resources for the upcoming scallop harvesting season.

They took issue with proposed rules that would cut the number of fishing days to 52, with fishing only on designated days (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday); impose daily possession limits of 200 pounds of scallop meats, and create six closed areas along the Maine coast.

About 60 scallop harvesters listened as DMR biologist Togue Brawn spoke briefly of the department's plans for "bold action" to restore a scallop fishery that has "declined precipitously" in recent years.

But most of those in the audience argued that scallops come and go in cycles and the fishery likely would restore itself over time. None of them spoke in support of the DMR proposals.

– The Ellsworth American.

BAR HARBOR

House candidates to take questions, debate at event

The Mount Desert Islander will host a debate and forum for candidates running for the Maine House of Representatives in District 35, which includes Bar Harbor, Southwest Harbor and most of Mount Desert.

Democrat Elsie Flemings and Republican Rick Savage will participate. Bar Harbor resident Jill Goldthwait, a former state senator, will moderate.

The debate is scheduled for Oct. 20 at 7 p.m. at the Bar Harbor Town Office. The event is free and open to the public. Attendees will have the chance to submit written questions that will then be asked of each candidate by the moderator.

– Mount Desert Islander

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=215447&ac=PHnws

Maine Reports: Tidal power spurs competition
Portland Press Herald

WISCASSET — On Tuesday, Wiscasset selectmen will have an opportunity to review a tidal energy proposal from Maine-based Ocean Renewable Power Co., the second company to present its tidal power resources for their review.

"As the town of Wiscasset prepares to investigate the possibility of capturing tidal energy from its shores and harbors, there is much to consider," Peter Arnold, Chewonki Foundation sustainability coordinator, said last week.

Wiscasset recently accepted an offer from the Wiscasset foundation to cover costs for preparing a permit for a tidal power pilot project from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, with the intention of giving the town some options.

Otherwise, the town would have to accept the proposal of Natural Currents of New Bedford, Mass., which has filed for a permit. The Chewonki offer amounts to a competing application.

The Ocean Renewal Power Co. could be one of the companies the town will consider as an alternative. CEO Chris Sauer will make a presentation at the selectmen's regular meeting.

– The Lincoln County News

ACADIA NATIONAL PARK

Camera crew arrives to film Scorsese movie

Otter Cliffs was abuzz with activity Tuesday, as a crew of 50 cameramen, caterers, crane operators and others descended on the area in preparation for several days of filming for "Ashecliffe," a new Martin Scorsese movie due out from Paramount Pictures next October.

The lower spur of the Park Loop Road atop Otter Cliffs was blocked off for the filming, which was expected to last into Friday.

The "second unit" shoot does not involve the director or any of the big-name actors who star in the film. Paramount Pictures crews were using a crane and a boat to get shots of a stuntman on the cliffs, as well as scenic shots that will be incorporated into the movie, said executive producer Chris Brigham.

The movie, based on the Dennis Lehane novel "Shutter Island," stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo as two U.S. marshals in 1954 who investigate the disappearance of a murderer from a hospital for the criminally insane. Well-known actors Max Von Sydow, Ben Kingsley and Michelle Williams also star in the film.

– Mount Desert Islander

ELLSWORTH

Mistrial declared in case of trooper charged with OUI

A judge last Friday declared a mistrial in the case of a Massachusetts state trooper who was being tried in Hancock County Superior Court on a charge of operating while under the influence of alcohol.

During the lunch break, a juror overheard a cell phone conversation and realized too late that he had overheard the defendant, Joseph A. Grant. Justice Kevin M. Cuddy said the juror advised him that the incident would affect his ability to be fair and impartial. A new trial will be scheduled within the next several weeks, Cuddy said.

– The Ellsworth American

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=216778&ac=PHnws