(This looks wicked fun. — KM)
Snow Bowl toboggan chute iced and ready – Bangor Daily News.
Information and a schedule of events may be found at the Web site http://www.camdensnowbowl.com/.
Here’s a link to another story about the event and the schedule.
http://knox.villagesoup.com/news/story/camden-opens-chute-for-20th-annual-toboggan-run/304392
Though he had seen the streets of Bosnia and Iraq as a soldier, the devastation in Haiti was unlike anything Adam Cote of Portland had ever encountered.
“I had seen the pictures, but to get that 90-degree perspective from pictures doesn’t really prepare you,” Cote said. “It was really staggering. The amount of damage, from a structural perspective, was similar to pictures you see of Berlin after World War II.”
Cote was in Haiti for more than a week with Global Relief Technologies to collect data on amputees who need artificial limbs and on the structural integrity of buildings in the wake of the earthquake.
“I’ve never seen so many casualties,” he said. “I’ve never seen so many overflowing hospitals.”
Click on the link for the rest of today’s story by Justin Ellis of the Portland Press Herald.
When Mike Breggia saw three kids push a homeless man into Portland Harbor on a recent Saturday, he didn’t let an 8-foot-tall razor wire fence stand in the way of saving the man’s life.
Click on the link for the rest of this column by Bill Nemitz of the Portland Press Herald.
Posted in Maine
Tagged Bill Nemitz, Custom House Wharf, homeless, Mainers, Mike Breggia, Portland Harbor, rescue, teens
Tagged aid, donation, earthquake, Haiti, Haitian, relief, Valentine's Day, YouTube
Tagged aid, church, earthquake, Haiti, Haitians, hygiene kits, relief
Posted in Maine
Tagged budget cuts, Health and Human Services Committee, human services, John Baldacci
Maine group advances
in the Navy competition
as it attempts to bring
the USS JFK as a museum
Two Maine groups have passed the first test in its effort to bring the decommissioned aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy to Portland Harbor as a museum.
Three groups submitted initial applications, according to the Navy, and two advanced to the second phase of the process.
One is Maine-based JFK for ME, which has formed a nonprofit organization called the USS John F. Kennedy Museum to pursue the carrier. The identity and location of the second group are unknown, and the Navy is not releasing any information, citing the competitive process.
The initial application, about 25 pages long, addressed the Navy’s questions and concerns, said Dana Slipp, one of the Maine group’s founders. It included a letter of support from the city of Portland, drafted after a 9-0 City Council vote.
“They know we understand the complexity and enormity of bringing a ship like this to Portland,” Slipp said.
The group has until next February to complete its proposal, which will have to include many more details, including a business plan that addresses marketing, income sources, museum plans, waterfront facilities and environmental considerations.
Click on the link for the rest of today’s story by Matt Wickenheiser of the Portland Press Herald.
(It is good news that this project will create up to 1,700 jobs. I am concerned, however, that the 18-month project will take 24 months. Bridge construction seems to take much longer than planned and usually can cost much more that first budgeted. It is the nature of things. — KM)
Design unveiled for new Veterans Bridge | Portland Press Herald.
CALAIS, Maine — Dr. Robert Chagrasulis, a trauma surgeon in Calais, was in the first wave of international health clinicians to make their way to the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince after the devastating earthquake of Jan. 12.
In a recent telephone interview, Chagrasulis recalled the five days he spent with a clinical team treating dazed survivors of the quake at an open-air clinic on a soccer field in the ruined city.
“We set up under some trees,” he said. Survivors came in droves, seeking help for untreated fractures, festering infections, respiratory complaints, and aches and pains related to injuries they had suffered in the collapse of the city. Many people also had psychological symptoms — fear, grief, sleeplessness.
Click this link to the rest of today’s story by Meg Haskell of the Bangor Daily News.
Posted in Economy, Food and Drink, Maine
Tagged food bank, food pantry, Good Sheperd Food Bank, Hunger in America 2010, hunger-relief, hungry, soup kitchen
Even on a gloriously beautiful day out, the coffeehouse can be crowded.
Go to Coffeehouse Observer for more coffeehouse observations.
Posted in Coffeehouse Observer
A day without coffee is like a day without … well, without coffee. You might as well stay in bed.
Go to Coffeehouse Observer for more coffeehouse observations.
Letters From Away 