WHERE WE THROW ALL THE STUFF WE DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH.
Co-owner of Vena’s Fizz House Steven Corman speaks in favor of raising the minimum wage… Casco Bay High School’s Derek Pierce named Maine’s Principal of the Year… Jason Shedlock hired as Special Assistant to the Mayor… Troy Moon helps to return the Solar Belly trash can to Clark Street Park… Pingree slams Sweden for proposing to ban Maine lobster… Interfaith Washing of the Feet ceremony held at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception… Hafid Lalaoui is leaving Portland to return home to Marrakesh, Morocco… Ethan Strimling driving a scooter down Congress St sans helmet… Paul’s Market sold to Portland Flea-For-All and many worry about the future of the only downtown market of its kind… Eddie Murphy remembered on St. Patrick’s Day… Peter Mills assures everyone that he is only a temporary resident of the West End… Emily Figdor is running for chair of the Portland Democrats… Jon Hinck fails to turn in signatures and won’t be on the ballot for State Senate… Chellie Pingree “determined to solve problem” of urchin and sea cucumber inspections… Rosanne Graef invites knitters and crocheters to join her Thursday mornings at the Book Nook to create scarfs, hats and gloves for those in need… Mark Wakefield nominated at the Green Party caucus to be an election clerk… Anonymous reader hopes to read local coverage of West End Mayor Ethan Strimling… Donors helps save Good Cause Thrift Shop from closing, proceeds from the store will benefit the McAuley Residence for single mothers… Christine McHale is Figgy’s first customer of the season… Bramhall Square gets electricity… Vinny O’Malley named interim director of Irish Heritage Center… Skyline Farm Carriage Museum celebrates Portland’s era of the horse with photographs of still existing West End carriage houses… Jenny Anastasoff spotted bargain hunting at Good Cause… After 20 years, Jack O’Brien announces that he will retire as Cumberland County Register of Probate… The S&P updates their outlook for Portland from “stable” to “positive,” let the bonding begin…
Jump Into the Dumpster – Where We Throw All the Stuff We Don’t Know What To Do With
Fort Gorges set to receive some much needed safety improvements with some help from the Army Corps of Engineers… Yale grad Anna Kellar faces former State Rep Herb Adams in the Dem primary for Parkside’s State House seat… Worker cooperative Farm Truck Juice opens on Brackett St… Maine Historical Society celebrates Henry Wadsworth Longfellow‘s 209th birthday… Jed Rathband flashes a peace sign to the Google car and is forever googlized… Bernie Sanders‘ “Backwoods Headquarters” opens in Piscataquis County… Charlie Mitchell of Bayside Bowl named Bowling Proprietor of the Year for 2015… City Council creates a historic district at 58 Fore Street… School Board member Pious Ali explores a City Council run… Four Democrats join the hunt for Justin Alfond’s Senate seat that is open because of term limits… Side x Side and the library exhibit handmade animal books by local first graders in the Children’s Room… Solar powered trash compactor removed from Clark Street Park and never replaced… WMPG celebrates Fat Tuesday with a Cajun Cook-off… Nancy Dorrans volunteers at Loon Mountain as a ski coach for New England Disabled Sports… Team Thibodeau member Eamonn Dundon supports Chris Christie… Hula hoopers spotted on a cold February afternoon in Congress Square… Chellie Pingree wants to exempt sea urchins and sea cucumbers from federal inspections… Rachel Horton White leaves position as Director of the Parkside Neighborhood Center to be an intuitive consultant… Luke deNatale swing dances at the Mechanics Hall… Max from Houlton is the new field director for the Maine Senate Democratic Campaign Committee… Optimal Self Gym celebrates its two-year anniversary… Spencer Thibodeau announces safety improvements for street crossings on Brackett and Clark coming soon…
Daily Dumpster: Where We Throw All the Stuff We Don’t Know What To Do With
Long-time Portland firefighter David Jackson to be the next Fire Chief… Portland Trails celebrate 25th anniversary with cupcakes in Monument Square… Bangor Savings gives its workers a raise, the bank’s minimum wage is now $13 per hour… US Senate votes to say that climate change not caused by humans… Holly Seeliger spots a bald eagle soaring over the West End… Long-time Wolfeboro, NH, parks and recreation director, Ethan Hipple, hired as the new Director of Recreation… Friends of the Eastern Prom sell off chunks of Fort Allen park’s wrought iron fence to cover the cost of replacement… Maine People’s Alliance delivers enough signatures to put a minimum wage raise on the 2016 state ballot… All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr is Longfellow Books‘ number one bestseller in 2015… Spencer Thibodeau and Belinda Ray join in roasting former councilors Dave Marshall and Kevin Donoghue… Tony Buxton apologies for the 2007 “Greens Cause Chaos” signs… METRO boasts over 1.5 million riders, the most ridership in almost thirty years… Maine Greens announce that unenrolled voters are welcome to vote in their party primary… Holly Seeliger is selected by the Young Elected Officials Network to attend a clean energy conference in Denver, uses FundRazr to cover expenses… Ruby McMahon-King, the ‘best dog in the world,’ celebrates her 14th birthday… Bicycle Coalition of Maine reports first pedestrian fatality of the New Year occurs in Farmington on January 1st…
Kevin Donoghue joins the Public Transit Advisory Committee at the Department of Transportation… Publisher Tony Zeli visits Jamaica’s West End… Brendan Evans of Strange Maine says Nintendo 64 is hot this holiday season… Veteran board member Marnie Morrione is appointed school board chair for 2016… Nearly 1,000 attend a rally in support of refugees in Monument Square… St. Patrick’s church is demolished to make room for a Jewish community center… Hundreds of King students march for climate action… Stolen hard cider truck crashes into a Limerick barn, Sandy Amborn swears it wasn’t her… Candlelight vigil held for Colorado Springs in Monument Square… Jacqui Deveneau goes down in history as one of the last customers in the old Joe’s Smoke Shop…
Local game inventors are now selling their PBL Robots card game in stores as far away as California and North Dakota… Needle drop-off boxes at Peppermint, Deering Oaks and York Street parks have only collected 1 or 2 needles per week, and the one in Deering Oaks was broken into… Crystal Cron named new chair of Portland Greens… Deering High senior Ibrahim Shkara and Telling Room Executive Director Heather Davis accept award from Michelle Obama at the White House for an after school literary program… Department of Public Services gets its named changed back to Department of Public Works… Portland Area Youth Soccer enters playoffs ranked 16 out of 19 teams and goes on to win Girls State Championship… Rob Korobkin lives up to his promise to have fun if he didn’t win the election, and is spotted enjoying Viva and the Reinforcements at the Razzle Dazzle Ball… Diane Russell puts out the call, Preble Street is 195 turkeys short and needs your donation… Spencer Thibodeau tries to attend his first WENA meeting as Councilor-elect, but shows up on the wrong day… Bubba’s Sulky Lounge named 7th best dive bar in America by The Daily Meal blog… Clean water and clean air advocate Ivy Frignoca hired to be the next Casco Baykeeper… WMPG goes off air for most of the day for tower repairs… Bracket Street Vet has received reports of coyotes living around the Western Cemetery… York becomes first town in Maine to completely ban single-use plastic shopping bags… Maine Farm and Sea Cooperative turns in proposal to provide 30% local food for the UMaine food services contract… Portland Schools add 1-hour delay option to storm day procedures… Chellie Pingree helps local craft brewers fight the merger of Anheuser-Busch and Miller… Portland School District wants everyone to know they have NOT endorsed Question 2…
West End named Best Neighborhood by the Buy Local Indie Biz Awards… Bay Ferries Ltd named new operator for ferry service between Portland and Nova Scotia… Rob Korobkin publishes a mail piece advertising support from all the City’s elected Greens… Wells Lyons secures the purple sea monkey vote as evidenced at the Reiche 5k benefit run… Spencer Thibodeau promises donuts to his army of volunteers… Vinny O’Malley says Pizza Villa has the best fish chowder… Hidden Ladder Collective come across an Asher Platts campaign sign in California while on tour promoting PBL Robots card game… Doug Clop and about 75 supporters deliver 70,000 signatures to put statewide ranked choice voting on the November 2016 ballot…El Rayo will reopen on Free Street… Portland Food Co-op celebrates its one-year anniversary… Seanachie Nights returns with Tales of the Supernatural at Bull Feeney’s… DHHS announces first positive flu case of the season was detected by Mid Coast Hospital… OOB catches up to Portland with their own community skate park on Ball Park Way… Rachel Talbot Ross announces she will resign as City’s head of multi cultural affairs… Michele Markowitz Arcand hosts the 10-year celebration of open mic at Dogfish… Apothecary by Design is the only Portland-based company to win the Governor’s Award for Business Excellence… House Speaker Mark Eves endorses Mike Brennan for mayor… Harlan Baker and Wells Staley-Mays endorse Tom MacMillan for mayor… Jay Norris announces that the Munjoy Hill Observer will be taking a break from publication… Fire Chief Jerome LaMoria resigns… Dan Knudsen sings of monsters and mayhem at Dogfish Open Mic… City begins search for a 45-foot to 60-foot well-rounded behemoth to make the perfect Holiday tree…Drew Joy is hired as Executive Director for the Southern Maine Workers’ Center… An organic juice bar is moving to the West End… Ben Chipman celebrates National Taco Day and eats a 2 lb. taco in less than 60 minutes to win free tacos for a year… An ice-coffee toting stick figure is a big hit at the Crooked Mile Rosemont… Maine Marathon bumps Sundays on the Boulevard… Washboard Eco Laundry closes its doors because landlord refuses to resign lease… At first mayoral debate Mike Brennan admits it’s been a bumpy road, Ethan Strimling says he was a troubled youth, and Tom MacMillan says he was a homeless youth…
19 goats with their own goat herder are looking for a home in Portland… Living Wage committee kick-offs the local Yes on 1 campaign near the St. John Valley McDonalds… Five comics perform at a FUNraiser for Legalize Maine at the Gold Room… Planning Board Chair Stuart ‘Tuck’ O’Brien chosen to head City’s planning division… Reggie Osborne DJs tracks from the 50s on and Ed King turns out to be a veritable dancing machine at the “Dance Party for Everyone” in Congress Square Park… WENA creates a Facebook Page to replace their aging Facebook Group… SoPo joins PTLD and institutes a 5 cent fee on plastic bags… Chellie Pingree introduces Milk Freedom legislation to allow farmers to sell raw milk directly to consumers… Hillary Clinton holds rally at King Middle School… Former Mass fire chief Art Howe hired to run the City’s new Housing Safety Office… John Eder snaps a shot of spectators encouraging bricklayers at Congress Square… Moe Blanchard gets some good pics of the 6th West End Reunion held at the Maine Irish Heritage Center… Liz Trice sets up tables in Bramhall Square and brave workers check them out despite the jackhammer… Lynne Cullen cancels the September Seanachie Nights (Celtic for storyteller) because of a scheduling conflict at Bull Feeney’s, but they’ll be back Oct 19… That’s My Dump author Patrick Banks celebrates his birthday at the Griffin Club… City officials, Fire Department and Police join in remembrance at the 9/11 memorial at Fort Allen Park to mark the 14th anniversary of the terrorist attacks… WENA takes their meeting outside the Reiche Book Nook to enjoy a beautiful late summer evening… One Longfellow Square announces that they are Portland’s new home for comedy… Chellie Pingree and Donald Sussman are getting a divorce… Dave Marshall announces his support for Rob Korobkin for District 2 City Council… Flatbread presents Pizza for the Prom, from 5-9 pm on Sep 8 a percentage of profits goes to support the Eastern Prom… Paige Button starts duty as City Park Ranger, a position created this year to assist park users and enforce City ordinances… Stephen King earns the National Medal for the Arts Citation from the White House… Crooked Mile staff share tips to buy homeless man shoes… Books-A-Million book drive collects over 1000 new books for Portland schools… Maine storyteller and author Deb Freedman has been invited to speak at Oxford University in the UK… Chris Vail is off the ballot for mayor by only 4 signatures… Ocean Avenue Elementary PTO welcomes back students with a “Watermelon Welcome” that includes a watermelon sculpture contest…
Thanks for the Old Thumper and a great night of music with Viva and The Reinforcements at the Dogfish Bar & Grille… Maine’s Majority PAC is liquidating its entire remaining inventory of 61% stickers and t-shirts… Margaritas says bye-bye to the Old Port location… West End School Board rep Holly Seeliger qualifies for reeleciton on the November ballot… Devin and Dominic of Tall Horse make worst promo video ever… Portland’s Future vows to battle Soul of Portland over local initiative Question 2… Harlan Baker reports that the iconic statue of Saint Patrick has been removed from the former St. Patrick’s Church on Congress St to make way for a new Jewish community center… Crash Berry invites the folks that work for the senior senator from Maine to attend the world premiere of sex, drugs and blueberries at the Camden Opera House on Sept. 26… Local Bill Finley will become just the 4th Mainer to umpire at the Little League World Series… School Board appoints former art teacher Kathleen Bouchard as interim principal of King Middle School… Ethan Strimling tosses his hat into the Mayoral campaign ring… Chellie Pingree helps researchers survey for ticks at Crescent Beach State Park… SoPo Mayor Linda Cohen seeks to adopt plastic bag fee like the one originated by Councilor Dave Marshall… Ted Fleischaker starts new free newspaper in Portland, Up Downtown… Jenny Anastasoff is concerned that there are no women running for mayor… Search continues for the next Casco Baykeeper to act as advocate for improving and protecting the bay… Jonah Fertig supports Rob Korobkin for City Council… Spencer Thibodeau gains endorsement from Councilor Ed Suslovic… Peter Monro plans to be a fully competent uni-cyclist by his 71st birthday… Avery Yale Kamila is working with other moms on a citywide ban on non-organic pesticides… Kevin Butterfield declares Rosanne Graef’s “Re” article worthy of mass circulation… Asher Platts wants to know if Portland activists are doing anything around Hiroshima… Brits visit Portland, confused that courgette is called zucchini… Metro announces Sunday bus service for all routes beginning August 16… Surfrider Foundation, working to protect oceans, waves, and beaches, turns 31… Activist Brian Leonard hosts Know Your Rights BBQ and Pool Party… Leonardo’s Pizza will donate 10 cents for every pizza sold in August to the Opportunity Alliance… Gregory Nisbet pleads not guilty to manslaughter in Noyes Street Fire case…
Carol McGorrill hosts Peloton Labs annual member BBQ… Famed drumstick maker and Sanford native Everett ‘Vic’ Firth dies at 85… SoPo’s Taco Trio will open second location on Forest Ave… Jenny Anastasoff takes her brother to Videoport for one last visit… Portland ranks #14 in the U.S. for law graduates looking to launch their career… Council denies New England Cannabis Farmers Market an event permit for Deering Oaks Park… Customers learn the hard way that there is no crying at Marcy’s Diner… Small Business Development Center moves offices to 55 Exeter Street on USM campus… Green Party leader Tom MacMillan announces bid for Mayor… Videoport announces that they will close their doors in late August after 28 years… Maine Beer Bus makes a stop at City Hall… John Eder is upset that the City cut down several trees between Monument Square and Free Street… Jeanne Crocker, currently the district’s director of school management, to be interim superintendent of schools… Sierra Club Maine endorses this November’s Clean Elections referendum… New Hampshire native Casey Gilbert appointed Portland Downtown District‘s Executive Director… West End bike cop David Argitis hit by car while on bike duty, is at home recovering from injuries… MPA celebrates payday lender Ace Cash Express‘s announcement that it will close its stores and leave Maine… At the last minute, Tall Horse takes over Ruski’s for the night… Ethan Strimling is driving across the country… Eric Blumrich skips ahead of the line to see Bernie Sanders at a packed Civic Center… Mayor gives a mini key-to-the-city to Acting City Manager Mike Sauschuck… Kevin Ready named as a parking constable in an emergency decision by City Council… Sandy Amborn is back in town… Burt Shavitz, co-founder of Burt’s Bees, passes from an illness at the age of 80… Turkey spotted cruising the West End near Danforth St… Councilor Ed Suslovic makes a bid for Mayor… Incoming City Manager Jon Jennings selects former Rec and Facilities Director Anita LaChance to serve as his Deputy… David LaCasse installs Book Nook signs on the ramps at Reiche… Soul of Portland claims they have enough signatures to put their referendum to protect scenic views on the November ballot… Rumor has it that Dave Marshall will move to Bowdoinham and become a farmer…
After three years Superintendent Emmanuel Caulk is moving to Kentucky… Seth Levy does bike-powered move from Bayside to the West End… African American Community Health Fair held at Deering High sponsored by City and Green Memorial AME Zion Church and Williams Temple Church… Deering Oaks Ravine is now open from 9 to 5 all summer long… Progressive foundation Maine Initiatives relaunches with a series of community conversations called Maine Insights… Kittens beware! Fox spotted in the West End near the Fore River… Search for the next Casco Baykeeper officially opens… 2015 Buy Local directories are being delivered… Portland School Department officially marches in the 2015 Pride Parade… The second printing of the Historical Atlas of Maine is available at Longfellow Books… Kids will be happy to know that Portland Schools’ will be offering educational programing all summer… West End Councilor Dave Marshall may be deciding vote on Deering Center rezoning… City Council votes unanimously to approve a medical marijuana festival in Deering Oaks on Aug. 9th… Deering Center neighbors say they aren’t urban and don’t want urban developments… Delivery Man and Paper Boy hit the Old Port Fest in the WEN Cargo Bike on loan from Fred Robie… Casco Bay High teacher Mark Ford wins a thousand bucks from the First Amendment Challenge for leading students in creating their own soapboxes… Startup Weekend Women’s Edition hits the Farmers Market with surveys about buying local…Casco Bay High celebrates 10th anniversary. ..Jon P. Jennings, currently the assistant city manager for South Portland, will be Portland’s next City Manager… Liz Trice wants to host a Bramhall Square charrette… Spencer Thibodeau promises to attend WENA meetings even after elected… Clark Street Park needs new picnic tables… Public Safety Committee supports creating a housing safety office in response to Noyes St fire… Munjoy Hill’s Hilltop Superette goes online… Maine geologist Robert Marvinney says ‘San Andreas’ earthquake not possible in Maine… Jason Cianchette, future brother-in-law of WEN Editor, wins Top Gun entrepreneurial award… Signature collection for a state $12 minimum wage referendum kicks-off at Arabica Coffee… Mayor Mike Brennan announces he will seek reelection… Herb Adams shares the history of the Rum Riot at City Hall to mark the 160th anniversary of the tragic event… City Council postpones budget vote again, until June 24th, when state budget will be known… First Parish Unitarian Universalist hosts a living wage forum with small business owners, the two owners against the living wage were no-shows… McDonalds starts their summer long 60-second breakfast guarantee from 7 am to 9am weekdays, mmm… Portland Tenants Union hold press conference to call for a Housing Safety Dept…
