From Portland Diocese

PORTLAND – The Diocese of Portland announced major updates to the pandemic protocols currently in place at all 141 Catholic churches in Maine.

As of Monday, masks were no longer required for any person at any time, inside or outside the churches.

Capacity limits, advance registration, and the gathering of contact tracing information for those attending Masses are eliminated.

Pew seating arrangements to establish six or more feet of distance between each person/family are eliminated. Those attending Masses are welcome to sit where they are comfortable. All pews will be available for seating.

The distribution of Holy Communion to the homebound is restored.

Indoor choir practices can be held without distancing.

For those not yet comfortable with a return to Mass, many churches will provide spaces in other areas, like parish halls, for additional, spread out seating during Masses. The extensive livestreaming schedule at Maine parishes will also remain in place. Moving forward, adjustments to the schedule will be made in the “Parishes and Mass Times” section of www.portlanddiocese.org. The obligation to attend Mass will continue to be dispensed for the foreseeable future.

“The strict adherence to state and diocesan guidelines has led to the successful operation of our churches since last June. I am so grateful for the many staff, volunteers, and parishioners who sacrificed and followed the protocols to ensure that Maine Catholics were able to participate in Mass and receive the Eucharist over the last year,” said Bishop Robert Deeley. “The Catholic Church always works to guide those it encounters to live in harmony and peace. We hope that by continuing to offer a variety of ways to participate in Mass and through updating these protocols, all will feel welcomed to grow in their faith together in Christ.”

Seniors Not Acting Their Age

By Ron Chase

I was scheduled to lead a late-April Penobscot Paddle & Chowder Society whitewater trip, but water levels were low throughout most of the state.  However, my research of U.S. Geological Survey online gauge readings indicated the eastern coastal watershed was still at normal spring volumes.  Apparently almost no one believed me as only Mark and Asa Berry signed up for a paddle on the West Branch of the Union River in Hancock County.   This was a multi-generational excursion as fourteen year old Asa is 59 years my junior which makes him young enough to be…well, never mind.

The sector we chose begins at Great Pond and flows for about eleven miles south to Amherst.  The Union used to be a popular club trip, probably because there is a fair amount of flat water; not so much in recent years.  Rated Class III/IV by the Appalachian Mountain Club Maine River Guide, I think it overstates the difficulty.  With the exception of two rapids and two pitches, the whitewater is easier. 

My river level prediction was confirmed when the three of us met at the takeout just upstream from the Tannery Road Bridge in Amherst.  Located adjacent to the final rapid, it was obvious we had sufficient volume since the steep twisting descent appeared to be a handful.  

Launching on Great Pond, we encountered easy rapids when leaving the outlet followed by an expanse of flat water.  The excitement began with a continuum of Class II/III whitewater cluttered with several fallen trees.  After negotiating a sweeping left turn, we enjoyed a rollicking ride down Hell’s Gate Falls.

Calm water led us to a tricky five-foot ledge drop obstructed on the right by an accumulation of debris.  After careful examination everyone successfully took the plunge far left.  More flat water continued to a similar pitch but this time we tumbled down from right to center. 

From US EPA

SCARBOROUGH – A group of related companies have agreed to perform wetland restoration and pay a fine as a result of illegally filling wetlands in Scarborough.

In a recent settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice, Maietta Enterprises, Inc., Maietta Construction, Inc., and M7 Land Co. LLC will perform approximately $850,000 worth of wetland restoration and mitigation and pay a $25,00 penalty under a proposed Consent Decree.

The consent decree is the result of EPA and DOJ allegations that the companies illegally filled wetlands on a 22-acre site in Scarborough in violation of the federal Clean Water Act (CWA). 

Starting in the 1960s, the companies continuously used the site as a material staging and reprocessing area for Maietta Construction Inc.’s earthwork operations. Maietta Construction filled approximately 10 wetland acres falling under the jurisdiction of the CWA on the site.  Prior to disturbance, these wetlands were mainly forested freshwater wetlands with a mixture of coniferous and hardwood trees and were adjacent to an unnamed tributary to the Spurwink River, a navigable waterway that runs through the Rachael Carson National Wildlife Refuge.

 Freshwater wetlands, such as those impacted by the unpermitted filling, are vital to protecting the integrity of our nation’s waters and help to protect the health and safety of people and their communities by providing a natural filtration system for pollution before it gets into our rivers, lakes and ponds, and by preventing flooding after storms.  Wetlands also provide valuable wildlife habitat, offering breeding and feeding grounds for a broad array of fish, birds and other wildlife. Converting large areas of natural wetlands to other uses can profoundly alter natural flood mitigation properties and undermine the pollutant-filtering abilities of wetlands while reducing important habitat. 

By Nathan Tsukroff

LEWISTON – Mission Working Dogs was on a fundraising mission last Friday night at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee, with more than eight dogs and handlers greeting hockey fans at the entrance.

About a year ago, just as the COVID-19 pandemic began, Christy Gardner of Lewiston founded Mission Working Dogs to train service dogs to help people in the community with disabilities.

A therapy dog provides psychological or physiological therapy to individuals other than their handler, while “a service dog is trained to help mitigate the individual disabilities of one person. So, if you were missing a leg, or you were blind, or you were diabetic, that dog is trained specifically for you,” she said. “And they can all be trained differently, because everybody’s disability may be different.”   

Gardner was Serving as a Sergeant in the United States Army Military Police in Asia in 2006 when she was severely injured. She survived with a double-leg amputation, a spinal cord injury, and a traumatic brain injury, which eventually led her to accept her golden retriever service dog named Moxie in 2010.

 Now retired at age 13, Moxie “gave me my life back, my independence,” Gardner said. Having a service dog “gave my family peace of mind to know that if I have a seizure anywhere, she’s trained to call 911. She’s also trained to go out and get specific neighbors if I need help.” Moxie was, “basically, another person that can take care of me!”

From BCM

 PORTLAND – The Bicycle Coalition of Maine planned to honor and celebrate Global Road Safety Week with a full slate of events—both virtual and in-person—from May 17-23.

“Road safety for pedestrians and people on bikes is at the heart of our mission,” says BCM Executive Director Jean Sideris. “We invite people all across Maine and of all skill levels to attend a ride, learn more, raise awareness, and join the movement for safer streets.”

Global Road Safety Week (GRSW) kicked off on Monday, with a temporary infrastructure installation—part of the BCM’s “Imagine People Here” program—in front of the non-profit’s offices at 38 Diamond Street in Portland.

Tuesday saw a series of free urban-riding classes in Bangor, Orono, and Portland aimed at getting inexperienced riders more comfortable with biking in traffic. Five of these small group rides are scheduled for Tuesday, with two additional classes in Portland on Thursday, May 20.

Wednesday was an even busier day, beginning with a virtual Wednesday Webinar that discussed bias and victim-blaming in crash reporting and the real-life repercussions of this language.

Wednesday also saw the International Ride of Silence, a slow ride held annually on the third Wednesday of May to honor vulnerable road users who have been injured or killed by traffic violence while bicycling. The BCM is the statewide coordinator for the Ride of Silence and host of the Portland ride, and is supporting additional rides hosted by local groups in Augusta, Lewiston, Rockland, Saco, and Yarmouth.

From UMaine

FALMOUTH – Universi­ty of Maine Cooperative Extension and University of Vermont Extension will offer a weekly four-part business management class for maple syrup producers online from 7–8:30 p.m. on Tuesdays from June 8–29.

“Is My Maple Busi­ness Profitable? Finances for Maple Producers” is designed to provide finan­cial management education for maple business owners and the skills to understand their operational cost of production and profitabil­ity.

The fee is $20 and class size is limited to 25 participants.

Register and find more information on the event webpage at http:// bitly.ws/dpNT.

For more information or to request a reasonable accommodation, contact Becky Gray, 207.781.6099; rebecca.gray@maine.edu.

UMaine Extension helps support, sustain and grow the food-based econ­omy. It is the only entity in our state that touches every aspect of the Maine Food System, where pol­icy, research, production, processing, commerce, nu­trition, and food security and safety are integral and interrelated.

The University of Maine, founded in Orono in 1865, is the state’s land grant, sea grant and space grant university. UMaine has a statewide mission of teaching, research and eco­nomic development, and community service.

From MaineHealth

PORTLAND – MaineHealth announced recently that it is shifting its strategy for vaccinating its communities against COVID-19 in an effort to focus on the younger adults and adolescents who make up the bulk of the unvaccinated population in its service area.

With the expected approval from the federal government last week of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for use in adolescents ages 12 -15, MaineHealth is opened its registration system for people in that age group. MaineHealth is also working with school districts across its service area to set up in-school vaccination clinics, the first of which will be held in Oxford County next week.

With much of the population aged 60 and over now vaccinated, the demand for access at mass vaccination clinics has started to wane as younger adults seek options that fit within busy schedules. As a result, by May 20, MaineHealth will phase out operations at its mass vaccination clinic at the former Scarborough Downs harness racing track in Scarborough, shifting that effort to its existing vaccination site in Westbrook. The status of the health system’s two other mass vaccination clinics in Sanford and Brunswick continues to be evaluated based on volume and community need, though no decisions have been made as to exactly when those operations might no longer be required.

“We’ve reached a point in the vaccination effort where we need to adjust to meet people where they are,” said Joan Boomsma, chief medical officer of MaineHealth. “That means redeploying our resources to meet the needs of this younger population in different ways.”

To date, MaineHealth has administered approximately 350,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines at sites in Belfast, Boothbay Harbor, Brunswick, Farmington, Norway, Rockland, Sanford, Scarborough, Westbrook, and North Conway, N.H. MaineHealth Care at Home is also administering vaccinations to its home health care patients across its service area.

Under the pandemic

By Nathan Tsukroff

AUBURN –Welcome to the Maine Home Show . . . the first trade in Maine since the COVID-19 pandemic began more than a year ago.

With just four weeks to bring the show together after the State of Maine gave permission for expanded indoor gatherings in March, Travis Dow booked space in the Norway Savings Bank arena to create a pandemic version of the home show that Mainers have enjoyed for so many years.

The Maine Home Show finally opened its doors the second weekend of April, with around 50 exhibitors.

The show took place on one of the two ice rinks at the arena. This rink had been shut down at the end of the hockey season, while the other rink hosted play throughout the weekend. Exhibitors were able to set up on the concrete base of the arena, rather than on a covering over the ice.

This was the ninth annual Maine Home Show, after being forced to skip last year due to the pandemic.

The show was hosted at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston the first eight years, shifting to the Norway Savings Bank Arena this spring after the Colisee told Dow it was extending hockey play and wouldn’t be able to host the show.

  Dow has already booked the Norway Savings Bank Arena for next year’s show on March 19 and 20, 2022, and said it provides room for him to expand the show as needed.

He worked with the staff at the Arena for this year to be sure pandemic guidelines were followed. “We developed a plan on how to lay the event out and structure it in such a way that it kept people safe,” he said.

From Portland HH

PORTLAND – The annual ICE BAR parties at Portland Harbor Hotel in Portland, have drawn enthusiastic crowds and raised thousands of dollars for local non-profits for several years.

This year, due to government restrictions and safety concerns, the annual celebration and fundraiser will move online.

 “We couldn’t bear the thought of not making our annual donation to a local charity,” explains David Hart, CEO of Buffalo-based Hart Hotels. “This year, for obvious reasons, we’re not able to host our annual Fire & Ice event at our hotel. However, that will not stop us from coming together to celebrate as a community and supporting this important work.”  

 Everyone is invited to donate and enter to win a luxury getaway.

 For more information and to enter to win visit http://bitly.ws/d36Q.

The grand prize winner will enjoy three nights at the luxurious Portland Harbor Hotel in the heart of the Old Port District. The hotel is within walking distance of historic sites, museums, sightseeing tours, boutique shops, and popular restaurants. Dine in the garden courtyard or have cocktail hour by the firepit. The winner can enjoy breakfast and dinner at the restaurant, BlueFin North Atlantic Seafood, as well as complimentary admission to some top attractions. 

The second prize winner will receive a two night stay at the Portland Harbor Hotel and breakfast and dinner for two at Bluefin. The winner will also enjoy a bottle of champagne and a box of artisan chocolates at check-in.

 All proceeds from entries will benefit Full Plates, Full Potential, a coalition of community leaders, stakeholders and advocates working to end child hunger in Maine. Started in 2014 by John Woods and Justin Alfond, the organization was born out of the work of the Maine Legislature’s Task force to end Student Hunger. Through that work, it was realized that Maine desperately needed a statewide organization focused solely on maximizing participation in federal child nutrition programs.

 Platinum sponsors of  ICE BAR include Cross Insurance, Distinctive Tile and Design, Harmon’s Floral Company, and Old Port Advisors.

Gold sponsors include Annie K Designs and Opus Consulting.

Tucked in the heart of Portland’s historic Old Port district a block from the waterfront, the Portland Harbor Hotel is known for its distinctive design and exemplary service. A case in point is the doorman who meets and greets guests as they arrive and offers thoughtful insights on exploring Portland.

Portland’s only AAA Four Diamond Hotel, the property, with 101 rooms and 16 suites, recently underwent an extensive renovation. Highlights include navy, khaki, and white nautical décor, custom-made Thomas Moser furniture, hardwood floors, individual pantries on each floor offering Starbucks touch-screen machines, a gracious lobby with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Portland’s Fore Street, and original artwork by Maine artists.

The BlueFin North Atlantic Seafood restaurant located within the hotel offers a varied menu of locally-caught seafood and seasonal dishes.