Your Source For Local News Thursday, April 17, 2014 75 cents

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Katahdin Region News

See AOS page 18

See GNP page 18

See THERMOGEN page 18

Millinocket Town Council Chairman Richard Angotti, Jr. presents a resolve to departing Mil-linocket Police Sgt. Aaron Brooker during last week’s council meeting. Brooker left the Mil-linocket Police Department last week after 19 years of service to accept a police position in Bangor. (Photo by Avern Danforth)

By Brian Brown MILLINOCKET—Officials from Cate Street Capital detailed their new technology plans for Thermogen Industries and of-fered an updated timetable on when construction will begin on the advanced biofuel manufactur-ing facility to be constructed on the Great Northern Paper campus in Millinocket when they met with the Millinocket Town Coun-cil last week. The special presentation during Thursday’s council meeting also contained an update on when the towns of East Millinocket and Millinocket can expect to receive their delinquent 2013-14 munici-pal taxes owed by Great Northern Paper with officials of the mill’s parent company promising to pay the outstanding tax bills when the company closes on its $25 mil-lion loan for Thermogen from the Finance Authority of Maine. Responding to a question about the municipal taxes posed by Millinocket Town Councilor Mi-chael Madore, Cate Street Capi-tal’s Director of Government and Community Relations Alexandra Ritchie told the council the com-pany expects to have the financial closing of its FAME loan com-pleted around the end of May, at which time it will pay the delin-quent taxes that total nearly $3 million between the two towns although Great Northern Paper will receive a reimbursement of a portion of the amount it pays Mil-linocket as part of the Tax Incre-ment Financing agreement. “Great Northern Paper acknowl-edges there are outstanding tax bills in Millinocket and East Mil-linocket. Great Northern Paper acknowledges that paying the taxes is a condition of the FAME loan,” said Ritchie. “We are cog-

nizant of the issue, and we will fulfill that requirement at a finan-cial close of the loan.” Ritchie said Cate Street Capital will meet with the FAME Board of Directors Thursday as part of its regular monthly meeting to seek an amendment of the $25 million loan approval for Ther-mogen based on the technology change for the facility. Provided the approval is granted this week, there would then be a 30-day window for public comment put-ting the loan on track for a finan-cial close around the end of next month. Dammon Frecker, Thermogen’s project manager, said the compa-ny must file applications with the Maine Department of Environ-mental Protection and the town of Millinocket for amended per-mits for the project because of the technology change from a micro-wave process to a steam-thermal one to make the advanced biofuel pellets. He said the company believes it’s a “relatively straightforward process to modify existing ap-provals” and hopes those permits would be approved by June put-ting Thermogen on track for con-struction to start in either June or July with the start of commercial operations in the summer of 2015 based on a 12-month construction timeframe. During his presentation, Frecker briefed the council and Milli-nocket residents on the technolo-gy change Thermogen has imple-mented in the project. “We believe it’s the responsible thing for a company looking to develop a business in a commu-nity to keep residents up to date and ask for input,” said Frecker. He said the steam thermal pro-cess the company’s plans cur-

Cate Street execs talk Thermogen changes, construction timetable

By Shelley Farrington MEDWAY – After discussing its options, the Medway Board of Selectmen agreed to give five foreclosed property owners a 30 day extension to pay up or lose their properties to the town. In a unanimous decision, board members agreed that the property owners at 1541 Medway Road, 52 Jones Road, 933 Medway Road, 945 Medway Road and 953 Medway Road must pay the three overdue tax years (2011-2013) plus an estimate of the 2014 taxes in full by the end of business on May 16 to retain ownership.

Any property not paid will revert to the town and be put out to bid. The five foreclosures are the most in one year that any board member can remember. Adminis-trative Assistant Kathy Lee, who has worked for the town for 18 years, said it is the most she has ever had to deal with. Board members said they did not want to take people’s property but must also follow the law. Lee informed board members a few days after the decision last Thurs-day that all property owners had been notified of the extension and their responsibilities.

Medway foreclosures get additional 30 days

By Shelley Farrington EAST MILLINOCKET, MED-WAY and WOODVILLE – After some discussion and a renewed commitment from members of the East Millinocket and Medway school boards to continue to work together, the termination plan for AOS 66 was approved. Superintendent Quenten Clark said the plan would now be for-warded to DOE Commissioner Jim Rier for approval. Once ap-proved, Clark said the question will be put to voters in all three member towns at their respective annual town meetings. A vote in

any community to end the AOS will effectively dissolve it and the school units will revert back to the structure they were prior to forming the AOS – namely a school union, except the state no longer recognizes school unions. Clark said the school districts would essentially be municipal districts like they have been oper-ating and the boards can agree to continue to work together as be-fore. Several board members ex-pressed an interest in continuing a cooperative relationship so it was agreed that a document would be drawn up formalizing the rela-tionship for the boards to sign. The dissolution of the AOS means there will no longer be AOS employees so the employ-ment status of Clark and the other three employees – Mary DeSantis, accounts payable clerk/

special services secretary; Debra Coon, payroll clerk/HR and Lorie Peabody, business manager will need to be addressed. Clarks said the schools will still need a superintendent and he expected it would be him as the board renewed his contract in December for another year, and the needs of the superintendent’s office would be the same He said the individual boards would have to work out contracts with the other employees. He reminded members that they had offered a year’s extension to Peabody at a recent meeting although she had yet to sign and return her new contract; he pre-sumed she was going to. “This agreement presumes that you will keep the same arrange-ment with the office and super-

Board votes to dissolve AOS 66

By Brian Brown KATAHDIN REGION—The In-ternal Revenue Service has filed tax liens against Great Northern Paper totaling $2.49 million for nonpayment of corporate income taxes from two years ago; a de-velopment that comes amidst the company continuing to negotiate a revenue sharing agreement with Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners that is deemed essential to restarting the idled East Mil-linocket mill and days before its parent company is slated to go before the Finance Authority of Maine to reaffirm its $25 million loan for its planned biofuel manu-facturing facility in Millinocket. The liens were filed last week at the Penobscot County Registry of

Deeds for $1.43 million against GNP West Inc., which is the com-pany’s Millinocket operation, and for $1.05 million against GNP East Inc., which is the company’s East Millinocket facility. The liens are related to corporate income taxes owed for fiscal year 2012. Alexandra Ritchie, director of government and community rela-tions for Cate Street Capital, the parent company of Great North-ern Paper, said the company ac-knowledges the IRS liens for un-paid taxes. “Great Northern Paper is ac-tively working with the IRS to clarify and resolve this tax issue,” she said. Ritchie said she does not be-

lieve the current financial status of Great Northern Paper, which also owes property taxes to Milli-nocket and East Millinocket, will have any impact on the $25 mil-lion FAME loan being sought for Thermogen’s Millinocket facility. The FAME board of directors is slated to consider the company’s request during its regular month-ly meeting Thursday morning in Augusta. FAME’s directors ap-proved the $25 million loan for Thermogen back in November, but the company must go back before the authority because of revisions to the project, including changes to the technology and cost. “Thermogen Industries is a

Tax liens filed against GNP; company continues revenue sharing discussions

Katahdin Region News Page 18 Lincoln News Thursday, April 17, 2014

THERMOGEN Cont. From Page 17

AOS Cont. From Page 17

rently calls for will manufacture an advanced biofuel pellet very similar to the torrefied wood that would have been made using mi-crowave technology. Frecker said the pellets are a clean, renewable substitute for coal that will deliver significant emissions reductions for coal-fired furnaces. He said the pellets burn and behave like coal in fur-naces so mechanical changes are not required for boilers to use the product. Like torrefied wood, the biofuel pellets are not susceptible to wa-ter making them ideal for trans-port and have more energy per unit. Frecker said the main reason for the switch to steam thermal tech-nology is it will allow Thermogen to operate at three times the ca-pacity as it initially planned and employ twice as many people at start-up. “We’re still enthusiastic about the microwave technology. We think it has great potential in the future,” he said. “The steam ther-mal process is a well-demonstrat-ed technology that we have a lot of confidence employing in our first production facility.” Ritchie said with the steam ther-mal process it will take the com-pany 12 months to accomplish the job creation and production that it would have taken 36 months with the microwave technology. Frecker said the technology change will alter the project’s footprint on the mill campus. He said the microwave production equipment was slated to be locat-ed on the northeast portion of the mill grounds, but with the capac-ity increase to 300,000 tons per year more production equipment is needed. He said the equipment will now be housed in existing buildings on the south end of the campus moving it away from residential properties to the north. “We think that has advantages

of mitigating sound and visual impacts of the site,” said Freck-er, who added the biomass will be conveyed to the production equipment from the wood yard and the pellets will be directly loaded to railcars for transport. “We believe we have designed the plant to minimize the impacts on the environment and commu-nity,” he said. Frecker said the technology change will slightly increase the planned wastewater discharge of the facility. He said it will in-crease about three or four gallons per minute and compared the dis-charge to the flow of an ordinary garden hose noting overall it will represent one half of 1 percent of capacity of the town’s wastewater treatment plant. Frecker said the facility will draw process water from Fergu-son Lake using existing intake structures , but the amount will be less than one tenth of 1 percent of the water from the lake used by the mill. He said the biofuel manufac-turing plant will have emissions about 10 percent of that from an active paper mill, and the facility will have higher emissions con-trols than originally intended. According to Frecker, there will also be control measures in place to prevent off-site dust and odor. He added there will be compli-ance with state noise standards even though there is no municipal ordinance, and the site entrance will be directly off Route 11 min-imizing truck traffic through the community. Frecker said Thermogen will have no adverse impact on the community, and noted the com-pany is excited to move forward with plans for the larger facility, which will create about 90 jobs during the year-long construction process with 55 people to be hired when the plant is operational.

“We think this is a good use for the complex,” he said. “We’re ex-cited about doing a larger project than initially planned and rejuve-nating the mill area with a bigger project.” During council comments on the presentation, Madore expressed skepticism about the company’s intentions to move forward. “I don’t believe anything until I see it. I haven’t seen much of anything as of late,” he said. “It’s been three years. We’ve heard so many start times. I think there is a definite air of frustration.” Councilor Jimmy Busque said Thermogen is a “worthwhile project” and stated he is “excited about rebuilding our industrial area.” He asked about the com-pany’s plans to seek co-location of other manufacturing facilities for the mill campus, and Ritchie indicated that is still the intent. “We want to consider any and all opportunities,” she said. “We’re willing to talk to anyone, but we feel we need the Thermogen proj-ect to break ground and get un-derway.” Councilor Gilda Stratton ex-pressed concerns about the com-pany’s plans for other buildings on the mill campus particularly the administration building, which she said needs to be preserved. Ritchie said the administration building, located off Katahdin Avenue, is “beautiful and func-tional” while representing an opportunity for another business down the road. “It’s a building that aside from its aesthetic value has value for the repurposing of the mill,” she said. Councilor Bryant Davis said he is anxious to see the company rebuild the mill site after demol-ishing a number of existing build-ings. “You tore down a historic site,” he said, “I hope you build one in its place.”

Bethany KittrickBy Brian Brown MILLINOCKET—A 24-year old woman was arrested on an outstanding warrant and issued a summons for possessing hash-ish after Millinocket police were called to a family fight at a Was-sau Street apartment building last week. Bethany Kittrick was transport-ed to the Penobscot County Jail in Bangor after being taken into custody Thursday morning on a warrant for unpaid fines. She was also issued a summons to appear June 4 in Millinocket District Court for possessing a useable amount of marijuana/hashish. Kittrick’s arrest came after De-tective Jerry Cox of the Milli-

nocket Police Department was dispatched to the Wassau Street apartment around 11:05 a.m. for a reported family fight, according to information in Cox’s incident report provided by Millinocket Deputy Police Chief Janet The-riault. The incident was a verbal alter-cation with no physical assault in-volving Kittrick and her mother, and prior to Cox arriving at the scene Kittrick’s mother had left the residence. Once at the apartment Cox found Kittrick there with her in-fant child. He recognized Kittrick as having an active arrest war-rant, and while at the residence Cox observed a drug pipe in plain view inside the apartment. Kittrick subsequently acknowl-edged that the pipe contained hashish, which is a cannabis drug commonly known as hash. Following her arrest on the un-paid warrant, Kittrick was taken to the county jail and has subse-quently been released from cus-tody. Cox was assisted at the scene by Theriault and Millinocket Police Chief Steve Kenyon.

Woman arrested on warrant, summonsed for drug posses-sion after family altercation

Millinocket man accused of violating protection order

By Brian Brown MILLINOCKET—A 38-year old Millinocket man was arrested Sunday evening after he was al-legedly found by police at a Mil-linocket residence in the presence of former domestic partner who had an active protection order against him. Ralph Sprague III was taken into custody by Sgt. Gary Lakeman of the Millinocket Police Depart-ment following the incident that was reported shortly before 5:30 p.m. Sprague was arrested on one count of violation of a protection order and was transported to the

Penobscot County Jail in Bangor. According to information from Lakeman’s incident report pro-vided by Deputy Chief Janet The-riault of the Millinocket Police Department, Lakeman received an anonymous call stating that Sprague was at an Oxford Street residence where a female, whom has a protection from abuse order against Sprague, was located. Sprague initially made contact outside the residence with its oc-cupant, who was a friend of the victim. He allegedly then made his way inside the residence af-ter learning his former domestic partner was inside. When Lakeman arrived at the location, he observed Sprague in the living room of the house. He had allegedly engaged in a verbal exchange with the victim, and was placed under arrest for vio-lating the protection from abuse order, which barred Sprague from having any direct or indirect con-tact with the protected party. Sprague was subsequently trans-ported to the county jail by Of-ficer Steve Perreault of the Mil-linocket Police Department. He remained behind bars as of Monday afternoon.

Ralph Sprague III

KVHC ROSE FUCH’S

intendent after this (dissolution) happens,” Clark said. “After July 1 you’ll be three separate munici-pal school units.” Medway Board Member George McLaughlin expressed concern that how the boards would work together moving forward was not outlined in the dissolution agree-ment. He said he wanted to see something in writing confirming that relationship. East Millinocket Board Chair Dan Byron said he just assumed the board’s would continue as before because they have tuition contracts and a superintendent contract that takes them to 2016. He said he wouldn’t be opposed to drawing up a formal agree-ment. Medway Board Chair Greg Stan-ley said the agreement could be similar to the cooperative agree-ment the boards used to have with Millinocket. He said a sample of that agreement must be in Clark’s

office so “we don’t have to rein-vent the wheel.” Other board members agreed

and voted to accept the termina-tion plan with the promise of for-malizing their continued coopera-tion.

Katahdin Region News Thursday, April 17, 2014 Lincoln News Page 19

By Brian Brown MILLINOCKET—A member of the Millinocket Town Council has admitted to giving inaccurate tes-timony during a legislative hear-ing last month on a proposed bill to limit consent for land transfers to the federal government. Town Councilor Jimmy Busque testified March 25 in front of the Maine Legislature’s Judiciary Committee on LD 1828, “An Act to Limit Consent Regarding Land Transfers to the Federal Govern-ment,” sponsored by Sen. Doug-las Thomas, R-Ripley. Speaking during last week’s meeting of the Millinocket Town Council, Busque acknowledged publically that at the hearing he gave testimony that was not accu-rate regarding the town’s stance on the measure, which sought to amend state law to acquire legis-lative approval for the transfer of tracts of land larger than a speci-fied size to the federal govern-ment. According to the prepared state-ment read by Busque during the council meeting, he testified that a resolve passed by the council nearly three years ago opposing a national park was extended to reflect the proposed legislation when the council did not take such an action. “The Millinocket Town Council resolve 18-2011 was adopted by

PELLETIERS RESTURANT

the Millinocket Town Council on July 28, 2011 opposing the North-ern Maine National Park, and I took it upon myself to add an ad-ditional line to reflect the 2014 LD 1828. However, this modifi-cation to the 2011 resolve was not formally authorized by the Town Council. “The Town Council has re-mained opposed to any national park in the area and certainly LD 1828 is in keeping with those con-tinued sentiments. Regrettably, I made the change and recognize that I was wrong in presenting the amended resolve to the Judiciary Committee.” Busque stated that notified the Judiciary Committee about the “error.” As of late last week, the legislative record for public hear-ing testimony on LD 1828 pub-lished on the Maine Legislature’s website did not reflect testimony from Busque. No other councilors spoke about the issue, and Busque offered no other comment during the meet-ing beyond the statement. LD 1828 received a major-ity ought not to pass designation from the Judiciary Committee, and last week the measure was declared dead when both the Maine House of Representatives and Senate voted to accept the committee’s majority report.

Councilor Busque admits to giving inaccurate testimony during legislative hearing

GNP Cont. From Page 17

stand-alone entity and business from Great Northern Paper,” said Ritchie. “While Great Northern Paper has outstanding debts, they are completely separate from Thermogen. It is acknowledged that the Great Northern Paper property tax payments due are a condition to Thermogen’s use of the FAME loan guarantee, and a condition that will be satisfied. While great synergies will exist between GNP and Thermogen’s operations, with potential great enhancements to both, Thermo-gen’s success is not at all depen-dent upon GNP.” Bill Norbert, government affairs and communications manager for FAME, said the authority’s board has required Thermogen update the directors of the changes to the project. He anticipates the board will vote during Thursday’s meet-ing on whether to affirm its guar-antee of the $25 million loan. Norbert said one of the condi-tions of the original loan approval was the payment of municipal taxes owed to the communities of East Millinocket and Millinocket as acknowledged by Ritchie. He said that condition would likely remain part of the reaffirmed loan while FAME’s board will need to consider how the recently filed IRS liens against Great Northern Paper will impact Thermogen’s application. “We’re trying to figure that out,”

said Norbert. “It’s news to us so we’re digesting it. By the meeting Thursday we will have a stance.” Meanwhile Great Northern Pa-per continues to engage in discus-sions with Brookfield for a reve-nue sharing agreement that would allow the mill to receive windfall revenue from the sale of electric-ity during periods when the facil-ity is not producing paper. The agreement, which is facili-tated by the passage of LD 1792 by the Maine Legislature that was signed into law earlier this month by Gov. Paul LePage, is viewed as essential to restarting the East Millinocket facility and putting more than 200 employees back to work. Ritchie said the company has received an answer to a counter-proposal it sent to Brookfield two weeks ago, but she said the response from the Toronto-based company was “fundamentally the same proposal and position” it has had since talks began on the agreement. “While Great Northern Paper hopes to reach a resolution soon, the delay is negatively impacting GNP’s overall restart plan,” she said. “It is critical that Brookfield participates in order for the effort to be successful.”According to Smith-Galvin, Brookfield has requested infor-mation from Cate Street “that would allow us to assess their in-

terest in or ability to take the offer we have made them,” but Brook-field has yet to receive a response. “We have offered to forgive the approximately $2.5 million Great Northern Paper owes us for unpaid power so that they can redirect those funds to help open the mill and maintain the favorably priced contract,” said Smith-Galvin. “To do so, we have asked Cate Street to provide us with basic financial information, like audited financial statements, a schedule of capital needed to reopen, and current sources of funding; all standard financial in-formation that any supplier would require to ascertain the credit worthiness of a counterparty.” Smith-Galvin said the proposal to forgive $2.5 million is the “only offer currently being dis-cussed by the two parties,” and stated Brookfield is “perplexed by Cate Street’s apparent refusal to provide the requested informa-tion” needed to move forward. “Brookfield has a long history with these mills, and we have made this offer in the hope that the mill workers can go back to work for a company capable of sustaining its business over the long term,” she said. “It is the same hope we had when we maintained the mills over a two-year period while Maine found a new buyer then sold it to Cate Street for $1.”

K & M

VECTOR MEDIA BROOKFIELD SIREN

Katahdin Region News Page 20 Lincoln News Thursday, April 17, 2014

By Brian Brown MILLINOCKET—In an effort to increase the amount of recyclable materials collected at the munici-pal transfer station thereby reduc-ing the cost of waste disposal, the town of Millinocket will examine a proposal by Pine Tree Waste/Casella Inc. to implement a Zero-Sort Recycling program in the community. Councilors expressed interest in the program but admitted there are a lot of questions that need to be answered following a proposal during last week’s council meet-ing by Casella’s Assistant Gen-eral Manager Jim Dunning. He explained the Zero-Sort program is a form of “resource optimization” that aims to take materials out of the waste stream. Dunning said recyclable mate-rials are grouped together in a single container and do not need to be sorted prior to disposal as they must be with conventional recycling. “It’s a single bin program that takes the guesswork out of recy-cling,” said Dunning, who added the Zero-Sort program accepts a wider range of materials, such as all plastics and glass rather than specific types. He also said la-bels and caps do not need to be removed prior to disposal. “It’s all about simplicity and making people realize how easy it is to recycle,” he said. “When people realize how easy it is to recycle, more people start recy-cling.” According to Dunning, materials to be recycled through the Zero-Sort program could be brought to the transfer station in clear plastic bags or loose to be disposed. “You toss it and go,” he said.

rons quality

“You don’t have to sort materi-als. You take the headaches away. You take more stuff, and you find you’re recycling more stuff.” Dunning said increasing recy-cling will save the town money by reducing the amount of trash it sends to the Penobscot Energy Recovery Company. He said Ca-sella has implemented Zero-Sort Recycling programs in communi-ties ranging in size from Alton to Bangor, and he estimated it could extract between 20 to 25 percent of recyclable materials from Mil-linocket’s current waste stream. That could translate into sig-nificant savings for Millinocket based on an $80 per ton tipping fee at PERC plus transportation costs. “You’re doing something that is good for the environment plus saving your community money by reducing tipping fees,” said Dunning. He said Casella would charge Millinocket a transportation fee for hauling the recyclable materi-als to its facility, where advanced technology is used to sort the items. The recyclables are then sold by Casella to other compa-nies to be repurposed into new products. “The trucking fee is the only cost to the town, and that is more than offset by the savings,” said Dun-ning. “About 99 percent of the time, the community comes out ahead.” Members of the council ex-pressed interest in the program and asked for more information to consider. “We need to start looking at cuts in the budget,” said Councilor John Raymond. “This is some-thing we might be able to make

some cuts and make some mon-ey.” But councilors agreed there are issues that would need to be re-solved before moving forward. “I’m not saying I’m not intrigued by the situation,” said Councilor Michael Madore. “I’d need a lot more information.” One issue councilors said needs to be addressed is the impact the Zero-Sort Recycling program would have on local commercial trash haulers. Dunning said there would be no impact on the businesses because the program would be more of an operational change at the transfer station. Councilors agreed that discus-sions on the logistics of the pro-gram should include Casella, the town’s public works department and the commercial haulers. Another issue raised by the council is what kind of impact in-creased recycling would have on the town’s disposal contract with PERC. Councilor Jimmy Busque said in the past the town has been fined by PERC for not meeting trash quotas set forth in the disposal contract, but Dunning said that would not be an issue because Casella’s agreement allows for trash removed through the recy-cling program to be eliminated from the calculation for under disposal. “There will not be any finan-cial penalties for doing the right thing,” said Dunning. Council Chairman Richard An-gotti, Jr. asked Dunning to devel-op more information on options that would be available to Milli-nocket for further exploration of Zero-Sort Recycling.

Town to concider to Zero-Sort Recycling

CALVARY TEMPLE

By Brian Brown EAST MILLINOCKET—A pair of individuals sought by police for outstanding warrants were taken into custody last week by the East Millinocket Police De-partment. Douglas Deloge, 43, was arrest-ed Saturday morning one day af-ter 22-year old Justin Perry turned himself in to police, according to Sgt. Kevin Giberson of the East

Millinocket Police Department. Deloge was apprehended on an outstanding warrant for failure to appear on unpaid restitution when he was spotted in the parking lot of a Medway business around 9 a.m. by East Millinocket Police Chief Cameron McDunnah. Giberson said Deloge was un-able to make bail following his arrest and was transported to the Penobscot County Jail in Bangor

On Friday, Perry, who was wanted on a warrant for failure to appear, turned himself in to East Millinocket Police Officer Rich-ard York, according to Giberson. He said Perry paid the warrant amount and was released without being transported to jail. Perry will be issued a court date to ap-pear before a judge on the origi-nal charge.

East Millinocket police apprehend pair of men with outstanding warrants

By Shelley Farrington EAST MILLINOCKET – Keep-ing to their word of wanting to dispose of tax acquired properties as soon as possible, the East Mil-linocket Board of Selectmen dis-patched three properties through their bid process last Monday. After receiving only two bids on the property located at 6 Union St., selectmen awarded it to Roland Verrier of Benedicta for $6,000. With just one bid to consider the board awarded the property on 3 Main St. for $2,000 to David J. Luyster of Matthews, NC. The third property at 16 Spring St. received only one bid and it was awarded again to Ver-rier at $5,000. With the backdrop of foreclosed property, citizen Leroy Michaud asked if anyone from Cate Street, owners of Great Northern Paper, had contacted selectmen to open communication or discuss when they were going to pay their $657,000 tax bill. Board Chair-man Gary MacLeod said as far as he knew the neither the town office nor the board had been contacted by the company for anything. Michaud asked if anyone really believed that Cate Street was go-ing to pay those taxes. Selectman Mark Marston said the payment of taxes was a con-dition of any agreement with Brookfield Power to reopen the mill as well as a commitment to employment levels of at least 215 workers. Marston said he heard “through the grapevine” that the taxes would be paid in a couple of months. Michaud disagreed with Marston saying that there really wasn’t any incentive for Brookfield to just “share” it’s profits with Cate Street “why would they?” Michaud went onto say that he doesn’t think the town is ever go-ing to see the tax money its owed. Selectman Clint Linscott asked Michaud what he’d like to see the board do differently. He said the board is trying to work to protect the 215 jobs associated with the mill while still maintaining ser-vices and the school. He said the payment of taxes is not only con-nected to the power agreement with Brookfield but also with the FAME loan Cate Street needs

for it’s Thermogen plant in Mil-linocket. “I agree with what you’re say-ing,” Linscott told Michaud, “but I don’t know what else we can do.” Michaud said he’s read a lot about equity firms like Cate Street and all they are only interested in is making money and leaving. He said he didn’t think anyone in that company cared about the jobs or the region but he didn’t know what more the board could do. He is afraid that Cate Street is just going to “stick it to the little guy,” and be gone. Marston said he’s often asked why he keeps going to Augusta and testifying and working for a compromise with Brookfield and Cate Street. He said it’s because the mill is the town’s largest em-ployer and “it’s the only game in town now,” so he feels he has no choice but continue to fight and believe that Cate Street will fulfill it’s promises. Citizen Phillipe Page said he hoped the board had a plan in place to keep Cate Street from “taking a wrecking ball to the East Millinocket mill like they did in Millinocket.” MacLeod said the board was watching the situation closely and keeping all it’s options open. The board agreed to set the an-nual town meeting for June 3.

Board sells three properties, still waiting for tax money

MCPHAIL REALTY

Katahdin Region News Thursday, April 17, 2014 Lincoln News Page 21

IN HOME CARE

RIVER DRIVERS

CHRIS CLUKEY

By Brian Brown EAST MILLINOCKET—A 48-year old man from Canada was arrested Saturday evening in East Millinocket for allegedly operat-ing under the influence. Grant Hitchcock, who resides in the province of New Brunswick, was found to have a blood alcohol content 1.5 times Maine’s legal limit after his vehicle was stopped around 9 p.m. by East Millinock-et Police Officer Brad Fitzgerald, according to Sgt. Kevin Giberson of the East Millinocket Police Department. Giberson said Fitzgerald was on routine patrol on Main Street when he observed a defect on

Hitchcock’s vehicle. Fitzgerald initiated a vehicle stop, and when he approached the automobile he smelled an odor of alcohol com-ing from the driver. Giberson said Hitchcock failed field sobriety tests at the scene and was transported to the East Millinocket Police Department, where a breathalyzer test deter-mined Hitchcock had a blood al-cohol content of 0.12. Hitchcock was arrested and sub-sequently released on bail from the police station. He was issued a summons to appear June 4 in Millinocket Dis-trict Court to answer to the oper-ating under the influence charge.

By Brian Brown MILLINOCKET—A man who has spent nearly two decades serving and protecting Millinock-et residents was recognized last week by town leaders days before leaving the police force to join the Bangor Police Department. Millinocket Police Sgt. Aaron Brooker received a resolve from the Millinocket Town Council during its meeting Thursday af-ternoon. Councilors unanimously approved the resolve after laud-ing Brooker for his 19-year career with the town’s police department that began in 1995 and concluded at the end of last week. Brooker worked as a reserve of-ficer, animal control officer and dispatch officer before becoming a full-time patrol officer with the department in 1998. He earned promotions to detective in 2002 and sergeant in 2004 and was the force’s senior member at the time of his departure. The resolve stated Brooker “served the public with integrity and diligently sought to provide quality services to all patrons of

the town of Millinocket for the past 19 years” and thanked him for “his years of dedicated ser-vice and assistance to the citizens of the town of Millinocket.” The council resolve also wished Brooker well on his job in Bangor as he “decided to advance his pro-fessional career in public safety.” Prior to approving the resolve, members of the council took turns speaking about Brooker and thanking the veteran officer for his service. Councilor Michael Madore noted how the council passes a number of resolves honoring de-parting employees but said the one for Brooker was “especially poignant” adding how he has been a “stabilizing force” within the police department. “He’s someone I’ve been able to consult with and someone I respect,” said Madore. “I admire what any police officer does for this community while we’re all safely tucked in bed. Aaron has done a great job for this commu-nity. It’s going to be their gain and our loss.”

Councilor Jimmy Busque thanked Brooker for his years of service to the town and said his departure is a loss for Millinock-et. “He’s been an asset for the com-munity,” he said. “It’s definitely a loss for Millinocket and a gain for Bangor.” Councilor John Raymond called Brooker an “officer we can de-pend on” while Councilor Rich-ard Theriault said it is “sad to see a young professional leave the community.” Councilor Gilda Stratton ex-pressed regret that Brooker was departing the force. “I’m sorry he’s leaving, but I wish him the best,” she said. Council Chairman Richard An-gotti, Jr. said the city of Bangor is getting a quality police officer. “You do your job well,” he said. “Bangor is going to have a fine officer working for them.” Following a 7-0 vote by the council to approve the measure, Angotti presented the resolve to Brooker while the large crowd in attendance gave the departing of-ficer a round of applause.

Councilors honor departing officer for his 19 years of service to community

Canadian man nabbed for East Millinocket OUI

STANLEYS

By Brian Brown HOULTON—The man who spent 13 years as Millinocket’s town manager has resigned from the same position in Houlton just 18 months after taking the job. The immediate resignation of Eu-gene Conlogue was accepted Mon-day night by the Houlton Town Council. Conlogue became town manager of the Aroostook County community in October 2012 after previously working for Millinocket since 1999. In his resignation letter to Houl-ton councilors dated Monday, Con-logue stated it was a dream come true to serve as manager of his hometown.

But his letter stated that during a recent meeting with the chairman and vice chairman of the Houl-ton Town Council where they ex-pressed dissatisfaction with his job performance it became clear to Conlogue that he did not have the confidence of the council to con-tinue as town manager. Conlogue was replaced as Houl-ton’s town manager by the com-munity’s police chief, Butch As-selin, who will serve on an interim basis until a permanent successor is found. During his 13 years in Millinock-et, Conlogue oversaw the commu-nity during times of uncertainty surrounding its largest employer

and taxpayer, Great Northern Pa-per. His tenure was marked by challenges caused by the stoppage of paper production at the mill, and Conlogue was forced to deal with personnel reductions and revenue loss at the municipal level as well as the loss of retail businesses and population in the community. As town manager he also over-saw growth of the recreational trail system in the region, including the development of the area multi-use trail, and he was also an integral force in the opposition to a national park in the northern Maine woods. Prior to becoming Millinocket’s town manager, Conlogue worked in the same capacity for the towns of Gouldsboro, Fort Fairfield and Washburn. A resident of Presque Isle, he holds a master’s degree in public administration and a bach-elor’s degree in secondary educa-tion.

Former Millinocket manager Conlogue resigns from Houlton post after 18 months

LAPIERRE

Katahdin Region News Page 22 Lincoln News Thursday, April 17, 2014

MILLINOCKET – While surfing the internet looking for informa-tion on events, services and shops in the Katahdin region, resident Sue Bouchard said she realized two things; there are some pretty great websites on things going on in the region; information on the region is very scattered and there isn’t one all-inclusive website for people to access. Thus the idea for her newest business venture – Millinocket Connections.com was born. “The purpose and goal of Mil-linocket Connections is to serve area residents, day visitors, tour-ists and individuals that may have an interest in our communities,” Bouchard said in a press release. “By providing easy access to our resources and information in a single venue the Katahdin region

will increase it’s visibility and promote tourism and our scenic natural resources.” To help promote the area, Bouchard said the website also offers a free area directory, calen-dar and classified service. In addi-tion, additional premium services for marketing, advertising and data entry are offered. Bouchard said the website also includes a blog on a variety of topics and a page providing print-able information about the region s well as a monthly newsletter. “We plan to offer the Commu-nity Connections websites to in-terested communities who are interested in the same service,” Bouchard said, “for more infor-mation contact our website at www.millinocketconnections.com or call us at 207-723-5435.

New website connects people

Crandall’s Hardware Store in East Millinocket recentlyextended a helping hand to raise money for a reading program at the town library. Crandall’s raised $255 for the Read to Me Director Allie Currie thanks Crandall’s Hardware employee Mike LaPorte for the stores efforts in collecting money for the children’s reading program. Every Friday 3 -4 p.m. includes a story, a snack and a fun craft. (Contributed photo)

By Shelley Farrington MEDWAY – Medway Select-men met with WSYY radio sta-tion owner James Talbott to dis-cuss his interest in purchasing 11 acres of ministerial land for the purpose of constructing a radio tower. The initial agreement drawn up by the town’s attorney was re-turned to the town by Talbott re-questing several changes. Some of the changes were agreed upon and some will take more discus-sion but board members cau-tioned Talbott that the ultimate approval of any contract will have to come by residents who vote to accept or reject it. With an asking price of $500 per acre, Talbott’s request that the town pay closing costs as well as a survey of the lot eats away at any profit for the town and select-men said they were not going to “give away” the land. “If you can find another piece of property that’s 10 acres on a tarred road for $5,000 then you probably should take it,” said Board Chairman Rob Farrington. Talbott said he, in fact, had looked at another piece of land owned by a private landowner and he was waiting for the FAA to look it over to see if it would be acceptable for what he wants.

If so, he may purchase that land instead. Talbott said he objects to the open checkbook part of the agree-ment because he has been taken advantage of before in similar situations. He said because he’s from California and people think he has money they tend to “in-flate” costs. Selectman Bruce Jones said he was offended that Talbott would think Medway would “inflate” any costs as Tal-bott was suggesting. He said maybe that is how they do busi-ness in California but that wasn’t how the Medway Board did it. Other board members agreed and after some discussion, everyone agreed that Talbott would pay the closing costs and the survey cost if he could pick the attorney and surveyor so he could negotiate a cost and maintain control or it. Selectmen agreed to talk about the clause that requires Talbott to complete construction within two years of his purchase of the land. Talbott said he’s not purchasing the land to sit on it, he intends to building the tower but can’t pre-dict how long it will take as the federal government is involved and he must satisfy FCC and FAA requirements. He added that for all he knew some environmental group might pop up and create

obstacles. “I’m not going to buy land that I’m not going to do anything with,” Talbott said, “If I exer-cise my option then I’m going to build.” Selectman Barry Davis said the clause was in there because citizens had demanded it after the town had been burned by people buying land and not do-ing anything with it. If Talbott couldn’t agree to that then maybe he shouldn’t by the land, he said. Farrington said he understood Talbott’s concerns with delays by the federal government and didn’t think the board would be strict in enforcing the two years if there was action on the land and Talbott was obviously working to get the needed permits. He said he would be willing to change it to three years. Both selectmen and Talbott said they would review the corrected agreement and talk again. Selectmen approved the fol-lowing recreation department summer employment recommen-dations given by Assistant Recre-ation Director Jody Nelson: Tay-lor McLaughlin, arts and crafts; Ryan Thompson, maintenance; Derrick Tanous, lifeguard; Der-rick Stanley, lifeguard and Zach-ary Stanley, lifeguard.

Changes in land sale for radio tower sought

CRANDALL’S

Thursday, April 17Recreation Department annual Easter Egg Hunt, grades pre-school to 4, April 17, 4 p.m. at Granite Street Gym. Weather per-mitting the hunt will take place outside, all children should bring a container for candy.

*****CrossKey Ministries Bible Study every Thursday night at 6 p.m. at 153 Main Street, East Millinocket. Bring your favorite translation of the Bible as we study in a relaxed atmosphere together. All welcome.

***** Millinocket Memorial Library’s Preschool story time 11 a.m. FMI call 723-7020.

*****Friday, April 18

Department of Motor Vehicles mobil unit will be at the American Legion Hall in Millinocket, 970 Central Street from 9 a.m. - 1p.m. and 2p.m., to 3:30 p.m. Please remember: Bring two (2) forms of ID with you.

*****Millinocket Elks Lodge 1521 is inviting members and guests every Friday night in the couple lounge from 8:30 p.m. There will be a smoker at the lodge on April 18th for paid up members only until 10 pm, then guests will be allowed tojoin in on the fun of Karaoke. Every Friday after the 18th guests will be allowed to join in so bring your best singing voices and have a blast! FMI Bobbie Allen PR chairperson @ 207-731-5716 or Rhonda Madore on Facebook

photo in the collection showing two of these horse-drawn engines along with all the volunteer fire-fighters. In the center is a motor-ized fire truck. Linda Neal stopped by the museum and donated a 1981 post card with an aerial view of the GNP’s Millinocket mill. This is a view I hadn’t seen before. The back of the card states is was” printed on Nekoosa opaque cov-er/vellum finish, white, basis,65, 11/81.” Linda also in an interest-ing Fuller Furniture, Inc. family club plan book. Many of you are familiar with the time when you could buy such a coupon book and then later use the enclosed coupons when purchasing mer-chandise at that business. Fuller’s was located at 256 Penobscot Avenue and sold “fine gifts, fur-niture, and clothing.” There is no date on this coupon book, but it still contains one $1.00 coupon and two $.25 coupons. Coupons were no good if detached from the book prior to use, were good indefinitely and the book must be presented at time of use. Each book was worth $10.00. *** Now $5.00, 2014 calendars still available at the museum, Pangburn’s IGA, Levasseur’s True Value, Millinocket Insur-ance and Young House. Mail or-ders add $3.00 SH to the address below.Contact the Millinocket Histori-cal Society at P. O. Box 11, on the web at www.millinockethistori-calsociety.org or on Facebook.

As we at the Millinocket Histori-cal Society look forward to spring and the continued progress at the soon-to-be new location for the museum, the current location continues to be buzzing with ac-tivity. There are some new addi-tions to the collection. Recently, Tom Picard brought in some fire department items and talked some about the Millinocket Fire Department and the Pioneer Hose Company. Two circa 1950’s helmets and what he described as a rubber bunker coat are now on display. One black helmet has the Millinocket Fire Department insignia on the front. The second has no insignia but has the name “Dick” written on it. The coat is black and very heavy. Tom also brought in a fire alarm box from the acid plant at GNP. Millinocket’s fire department was created by a special town meeting held in May, 190. Called Pioneer Hose Company No. 1, it was an all volunteer department with William Heebner in charge. Fred Gates served as chief from 1902 to 1936. The department fire horn blasted away several times daily (8AM, 8PM and for the occasion of “no school” and “riot calls.” The GNP horn also blew at scheduled times during the day. The “riot call” was used to signal for men needed to fight a forest fire. During the year of 1901 and 1913, the fire department used horse-drawn fire engines. The museum has a great panoramic

*****Saturday, April 19

St. Martins of Tours Catholic Church 4 p.m. vigil 19 Colby St.,

*****Sunday, April 20

Easter Dinner will be served for the public on Sunday, April 20 at the VFW Post in Stacyville from 12:00 noon until 2:00 p.m. or until gone. Everyone is welcome. Donations will be accepted at the door. For more information call 207-365-4832.

*****Services every Sunday at Cross-Key Ministries. Sunday Service at 10 a.m. at 153 Main St., East Millinocket. Non-denominational, contemporary worship. All wel-come.

*****St. Martin of Tours 8 a.m. Mass, 19 Colby St., Millinocket

*****St. Peter’s Catholic Church 9:30 Mass. 58 Colby St., East Milli-nocket

*****Every Sunday services at Cross-Key Ministries, 10 a.m., at 153 Main St., Rte 157 East Millinock-et, non-denominational, contem-porary worship, all welcome

*****Faith Baptist Church 244 Mas-sachussets Avenue, Millinocket. Sunday School ages 3-adult 9:30 a.m., Sunday worship 10:30 a.m., and 6 p.m.

*****Tri Town Baptist Church 8 Cone Street, East Millinocket Sunday School 10 a.m., Sunday Worship

11 a.m., and 6:30 p.m.*****

St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church 40 Highland Ave Millinocket. Regu-lar Worship 9 a.m.

*****Tuesday, April 22

A/A East Millinocket Dawn of A New Day open discussion group will meet every Tuesday morning at 7:00 a.m. at the First Congrega-tional Church on 11 Maple St. Use side handicap accessible entrance.

*****Al Anon Family Group will meet every Tuesday at 7 p.m. in an up-stairs room at I Care Ministries, 45 Spring St., Millinocket. All family and friends of alcoholics are wel-come. FMI call at 723-9282.

*****Bingo at Francis E. Elliot VFW Post 4154 at 40 Oxford Street, Millinocket, every Tuesday, at 6:30 p.m. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. FMI call 723-8442 or 447-1231.

*****East Branch country music jam 6 p.m - 9 p.m., at the East Branch Sno-Rovers in East Millinocket. FMI 746-9348

Wednesday, April 23Tri-Town Baptist Church prayer/bible study, 6:30 p.m., at the Church in East Millinocket. FMI call the Church at 746-2211

*****Katahdin Area Rotary Club meets at Noon in the Millinocket Region-al Hospital multi-purpose room.

*****Free blood pressure checks every Wednesday at the East Millinocket Municipal Building from 1-3 p.m.

Odds and Ends From The MUSEUM

By Trudy Wyman, Curator, Millinocket Historical Society Museum

Thursday, April 17, 2014 Lincoln News page 23

Municipal Meetings Coming Events

Eastern Area Agency on Aging’s nutri-tion program delivers noontime meals through Meals on Wheels to those who qualify and serves at Community Cafés where all are welcome. For a reservation or more information, call (207)723-2045 or (800) 432-7812. Cost is $4.00. Donations welcome.

Thurs, April 17th: Pepper steak, mashed potato, green beans, dinner roll, pineapple cake.

Mon, April 21st: CLOSED, Patriot’s Day.

Tues, April 22nd: Spaghetti and meat sauce, caesar salad, italian bread, pear crisp.

Wed, April 23rd: Baked stuffed haddock, newburg sauce, baked sweet potato, peas, dinner roll, root beer float cake.

MillinocketStearns Assisted Living Building

Reservations: 723-2045

**MILLINOCKET** April 25 - Council meeting 4 p.m. in the Charles Sanders Council Chambers.

**MEDWAY** April 21— Medway Board of Selectmen, 6:30 p.m., town office.

**EAST MILLINOCKET** April 21- Board of Selectmen Meeting 4:00 in Municipal building.

MILLINOCKET—St. Martin’s Church of Millinocket and St. Pe-ter’s Church of East Millinocket will celebrate jointly Divine Mer-cy Sunday with a special obser-vance held on Sunday, April 27, a 3 p.m. at the St. Martin’s worship site. A supper will follow. The observance will include spe-cial devotions to the Divine Mer-cy as outlined in the now famous

diary of St. Faustina Kowalska, a Polish nun and visionary who had a special devotion to the Divine Mercy. On the same day as the local observance of Divine Mercy Sunday, the canonization of Pope John Paul will take place at the Vatican in Rome. It was Pope John Paul who actively promoted

Observance planned for Divine Mercy

VECTOR MEDIA BROOKFIELD

the devotion to the Divine Mercy and on April 30, 2000 canonized St. Faustina Kowalska. St. Martin’s and St. Peter’s wor-ship sites, which make up Christ The Divine Parish, have been celebrating Divine Mercy Sunday for more than a decade, alternat-ing the service between the two sites.

D & M SALES

Katahdin Region News Page 24 Lincoln News Thursday, April 17, 2014

KNEADING PEACE

LENNIES SUPERETTE

D & D PAVING

EAST MILLINOCKET – On Sunday, April 20, the Northern Lights Youth Choir will perform an inspiring concert at Katahdin Christian Academy in East Mil-linocket. The choir’s 2014 program, “We Won’t Be Shaken,” incorporates a variety of traditional and con-temporary Christian Music, mixed with compelling drama. Instrumental accompaniment includes piano, guitar, bass guitar and percussion. It is our prayer that through this pre-sentation of music and drama, hearts will not only be encour-aged, but also challenged to daily place their trust in the God who makes all things possible. The concert begins at 6:30 pm in the auditorium of the former Opal Myrick School building at 6 Beech Street. Admission to the concert is free. An offering will be taken to benefit the academy. NLYC is an interdenomina-tional group of teens from nu-merous churches in the north-ern Maine area. NLYC includes junior through senior high age youth. The touring choir is composed of approximately 50 people with 43 youth and seven adult advisors. The NLYC was formed by a

Northern Lights Youth Choir performing at KCA

NICATOUS

HAN MALVIN

By Brian Brown MILLINOCKET—Tax returns were the minds of scores of Americans this week with Tues-day’s filing deadline, but locally the Millinocket Police Depart-ment is altering residents to be mindful about possible scam telephone callers purporting to be the Internal Revenue Service. Detective Jerry Cox of the Mil-linocket Police Department said there have been reports about residents receiving suspicious phone calls from a Washington, D.C. telephone number. Cox said the calls have come from a male subject with a “dis-tinct, strong accent” claiming to be from the IRS. He said the caller claims there is a problem with the individual’s tax return and asks him or her to call 202-280-7395 as soon as possible. According to Cox, an internet search for the telephone number people are asked to call shows it is linked to an IRS telephone scam. He added the suspicious tele-phone calls are coming from

another telephone number with a 202 exchange, but police have been unable to reach anyone when calling it. Cox encouraged anyone who receives a suspicious telephone call to perform an internet search on the number to see if it is linked to a known scam. The recent incident marks the second time in less than a month that Millinocket police have received reports of a telephone scam involving the IRS. Last month a Millinocket resi-dent received a call from a male subject purporting to be with the IRS. He told the recipient of the call that there was a warrant for her arrest, and an IRS agent would soon be arriving at her residence to arrest her. The telephone number asso-ciated with the March incident was also linked to the Washing-ton, D.C. area. Anyone with information about possible scam attempts can con-tact the Millinocket Police De-partment at 723-9731.

Millinocket Police caution residents about telephone tax return scam attempts By Brian Brown

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud is seek-ing to secure federal funding to pay for the establishment of a cold case taskforce in the state of Maine to investigate unsolved homicides. Michaud announced Monday he is working with Maine Attor-ney General Janet Mills to get a federal grant allocation to support the cold case squad, which would be dedicated to investigating and solving the more than 100 un-solved homicides in the Pine Tree State. The effort for federal funding comes on the heels of legisla-tion submitted this year in the Maine Legislature by State Rep. Stephen Stanley, D-Medway, to create a cold case taskforce in the state. Stanley’s bill, LD 1734, has gained preliminary approval from the Maine House of Representa-tives and Senate, and it is current-ly waiting at the Appropriations Table to determine if they is mon-ey available in the state budget to fund the taskforce. Last week the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Institute of

Justice announced it was accept-ing grant applications for a new program that would make avail-able up to $300,000 in federal money for a number of activi-ties that would support the cold case unit, including DNA and forensic biology; forensic crime scene analysis and anthropol-ogy; fingerprinting; shoeprint and tire tread examination; review of questions documents; trace evi-dence; and forensic toxicology. The grant money could also pay for the unit’s staff. In a press release, Michaud ad-vocated for the creation of a cold case homicide unit in Maine, not-ing that Stanley’s legislation was spurred by the unsolved mur-der of East Millinocket teenager Joyce McLain in 1980. “The establishment of a cold case unit is something I’m proud to support, and obviously the case that inspired this legislation hits close to home for me,” said Mi-chaud. “I’ve spoken with the Attorney General, and we believe this is a unique grant opportunity. If the state of Maine submits an appli-

cation, I will do everything in my power to advocate for this fund-ing. No one who is murdered or missing deserves to be forgotten by the passage of time, bringing closure to cases is important for surviving family members, and it’s how our justice system is meant to operate. I’m optimistic that securing this funding would allow us to undertake this impor-tant work.” The fiscal note attached to Stan-ley’s bill listed appropriations and allocations of more than $510,000 during fiscal year 2015 to create the task force, including the cost for two state police de-tectives and one forensic chemist plus related costs. The taskforce would also require subsequent appropriations and allocations of approximately $430,000 and $441,000 in fiscal years 2016 and 2017 respectively. The bill proposes using exist-ing money in the highway fund to pay for approximately 35 percent of the taskforce’s cost each year thereby reducing the amount of money that must be appropriated from the state’s general fund.

Michaud seeking federal funding to support proposed cold case taskforce

group of Christian teens in the greater Presque Isle area in 1974. Under the direction of Rev. David Ross, the choir pre-sented a musical program each year through 1990. After a brief

hiatus, the choir resumed their music/drama ministry in 1993. In 1997 the choir came under and is currently under the direc-tion of Mrs. Bonnee McLaugh-lin.

Katahdin Region School News/Sports Thursday, April 4, 2014 Lincoln News Page 25

The East Millinocket/Medway Pee Wee Cheerleaders placed first in their division during last month’s state competition at the Cross Insurance Center Team members are: front row, left to right, Macy Dishon, Nakissa Burleigh, Olivia Whitehouse, Audrey Danforth, Deser-ee Austin, Heidi Jandreau, Madyson Brown, Madison Wallace, Hannah Tower. Back row, left to right, Abbi Perreault, Addison Danforth, Kaylee Perreault, Payton Spearin, Emma Green, Madison McDunnah. Not pictured are coaches Angel Danforth and Leslie Wallace

The Scotts Company of Medway recently presented Mickey Mouse Greenhouses to the first-grade classes at Opal Myrick Elementary School. Barbara Crocker (far left) and Lisa McLaughlin (far right) presented the greenhouses to students Dakota McLaughlin, Natalee Borrello, Shyanne Morrison and Everett Montgomery.

By Brian Brown EAST MILLINOCKET—With one week remaining until the start of the regular season, the Schenck baseball team is encountering low participation numbers on the dia-mond this spring. Schenck Athletic Director John Montgomery said the school’s baseball program currently has only 10 players leaving coach Justin Page with just one player beyond the nine required to field a team. Montgomery said the 10-player roster is less than ideal, but the low numbers do not have an im-pact on the school’s plans to field a baseball team in 2014. “We’re going forward with it,” he said, while adding all the cur-rent players on the roster are com-mitted to the program. “We have a good, solid group of 10 players who are dedicated,” said Montgomery. “We’re not worried about that, but you can’t project injuries or illness.” Michael Burnham, assistant executive director of the Maine Principals’ Association, which is the governing body of interscho-lastic athletics in the state, said National Federation of State High

School Association rules mandate baseball teams start a game with at least nine players, but a game may continue with eight players in the event of injury, illness or disqualification during a contest. Montgomery said the initial signup numbers for baseball were in the teens, but multiple players opted not to join the program this spring for various reasons. He added participation numbers are strong for the softball and ten-nis programs. Schenck baseball and soft-ball teams are slated to open the 2014 regular season Wednes-day, weather permitting, at home against Penobscot Valley while the school’s boys and girls ten-nis teams are scheduled to begin play April 26 against Deer Isle-Stonington. Montgomery said there are no weather-related changes to the spring sports schedules thus far, but there will be an upcoming revision to the softball schedule because Penquis is not fielding a team this season. Montgomery is working on finding a replacement school to fill Penquis’ spot on the Lady Wolverines’ schedule.

Schenck baseball facing low numbers for season

APPALACIAN TRAIL

KFCU CATCH THE WAVE

HAN CORNIELO

Katahdin Region Sports Page 26 Lincoln News Thursday, December 20, 2013

EAST MILLINOCKET—As warmer temps arrive and snow banks shrink, area people are be-ginning to engage in the annual rite of spring cleaning. This often serves as an occasion to get rid of unwanted furniture, kitchen ware and other house-hold items. Rather than consign-ing these items to the dump, St. Peter’s Lawn Party Committee of East Millinocket is urging area people to set aside these items for the coming lawn party auction. The committee hopes an early

start on the collection process will guarantee this year’s auction is as successful as last year’s. Auction 2013 raised a significant amount of money on behalf of the church. Commencing now donated items may be brought to St. Peter’s Church office, Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., for on and off site storage, or interested persons may call the office during business hours at 746-3333 to ar-range pick up of donated items. The lawn party will be held this year on August 7 on church grounds.

Donations sought for St. Peter’s Lawn Party auction

By Shelley Farrington EAST MILLINOCKET – After signing a certificate of appoint-ment promoting police officer Kevin Giberson to sergeant, and hiring three more reserve officers; Charles “Glenn” Graef, John M. Walsh and Seth C. Burnes, the East Millinocket board of Select-men approved the proposed 2014-2015 police department budget. Chief Cameron McDunnah said the appointment of the new re-serves, Graef and Walsh of the Lincoln Police Department and Burnes just laid off from the EMPD, will enable the police de-partment to provide the coverage citizens in both East Millinocket and Medway expect. McDunnah further explained that the addition of the three “blue pins” – officers who have completed their training at the Maine Criminal Justice Academy, brings the total blue pin reserves for the department to “seven or eight.” Blue pin officers can work as many hours as they want, how-ever “green pin” officers – those who have not complete their

training at the MCJA can only work 1040 hours per year. With the majority of blue pin reserves, McDunnah has the flex-ibility in his schedule to provide adequate coverage. The recent cut of two full-time officers enabled McDunnah to turn a budget that was 13.5 per-cent lower than last year or a re-duction of $30,755 to $196,280. In addition the Medway police contract was also approved at $110,000 per year. McDunnah has met with the Medway Board of Selectmen to explain the full-time staff reduc-tions and how he will use the re-serve officers to maintain the cov-erage promised in the contract. The contract is renewed each year at the same cost unless one of the towns requests a change. Selectmen agreed to add the bud-get line “animal control” to the police budget as the animal con-trol responsibilities have been the police department’s for the last several years. State law mandates

East board approves police, admin budgetsthat the town must have an animal control officer and the budget will be $800 which is what the Penob-scot Valley Humane Society, lo-cated in Lincoln, charges to take any animals that might be picked up. Administrative Assistant Shirley Tapley went over the proposed 2014-2015 Administration budget that was approved at $224,032, an increase of $8,237 or 3.8 percent. Both Tapley and Town Treasur-er Bev MacLeod said the board needed to think about replacing the copier in the town office. It is a capital expense and not part of the proposed budget but Ma-cLeod and Tapley explained that it is old and they’ve been told that it will be very difficult to find parts if it needs repair. Selectman Clint Linscott said he’d like to see some kind of lease and lease to purchase proposal for consideration. Selectmen also approved the cemetery budget at $10,400 a 1.6 percent reduction over last year. The assessing budget was ap-proved at $4,5

EXTRA

EAST MILLINOCKET—As warmer temps arrive and snow banks shrink, area people are be-ginning to engage in the annual rite of spring cleaning. This often serves as an occasion to get rid of unwanted furniture, kitchen ware and other house-hold items. Rather than consign-ing these items to the dump, St. Peter’s Lawn Party Committee of East Millinocket is urging area people to set aside these items for the coming lawn party auction. The committee hopes an early

start on the collection process will guarantee this year’s auction is as successful as last year’s. Auction 2013 raised a significant amount of money on behalf of the church. Commencing now donated items may be brought to St. Peter’s Church office, Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., for on and off site storage, or interested persons may call the office during business hours at 746-3333 to ar-range pick up of donated items. The lawn party will be held this year on August 7 on church grounds.

Donations sought for St. Peter’s Lawn Party auction

Katahdin Region Sports Thursday, December 5, 2013 Lincoln News Page 27

Katahdin Region Sports Page 28 Lincoln News Thursday, October 24, 2013

EXTRA

Katahdin Region Sports Thursday, June 13, 2013 Lincoln News Page 29