Munjoy Hill
Burglary Suspect
Caught Again
Isabel Maria Garcia, 25, of Portland, was
arrested on March 26th at a Gilman Street
address, for outstanding warrants
pertaining to many burglary and theft
charges. She was out on bail for a couple
of Munjoy Hill burglary charges that are
still pending, for crimes that were
committed last fall.
On March 17th, a man came home and
found Garcia in his Woodford Street living
room. She mentioned a name, saying she
was merely looking for that person. Police
say this was the same thing she’d done
when confronted by victims in previous
burglaries. The man who surprised Garcia
took a photograph of her with his cell
phone. Police were able to identify her
from the picture.
There are two residential burglary charges
against her, in addition to charges of
misuse of credit identification, theft,
criminal trespass, and violation of
conditional release. The locations of the
various crimes were: Woodford Street,
Monument Street, Congress Street, and
Forest Avenue.
-Marge Niblock
WECAN Cut,
LearningWorks
Awarded Funds in
'Bizarre' Meeting
In a three-hour City Council meeting on
March 22nd that Mayor Nick Mavodones
and City Councilor Cheryl Leeman both
described as the 'most bizarre' process
they had witnessed in their years in city
government, the Council awarded $50,000
in federal funding to LearningWorks, but
upheld an allocation committee's
recommendation to totally cut funding to
the one-year-old West End Community
Action Network.
The Portland City Council on March 8th
had asked the allocations committee to
reconsider its decision to recommend that
all of the federal funds be allocated to a
small number of local agencies, a short list
which did not include WECAN. However,
Committee Chair Annette Rogers told the
Council at the March 22nd meeting that the
Committee was standing by it's original
recommendations.
WECAN received a $41,000 grant last year
to initiate such programs as health
screenings, swimming lessons for children
at the Reiche pool, and other programs at
the Reiche Community Center. WECAN
also used $10,000 of its funding to pay the
rent for the new location of the West End
Community Policing Center.
The grant to LearningWorks, which ranked
highest among the agencies that had not
been funded, will come at the expense of
the City's Community Policing program.
West End City Councilor David Marshall,
who proposed the shift in funds, said that
the Community Policing funding could be
found in the City's operating budget. The
Community Policing program had
requested about $50,000 more than it
received last year, and so, it will receive
about the same amount that it did last year.
Marshall, who said he is a "huge fan" of
Community Policing, pointed out that 75%
of the $2.6 million federal grant had been
allocated to City-run agencies, while many
small not-profit agencies had their funding
eliminated.
King Middle
School Principal
Named Principal
of the Year
The Maine Principals’ Association has
named Michael McCarthy, principal of
King Middle School in Parkside, as Maine’s
2010 Middle Level Principal of the Year.
McCarthy received the award for his
personal excellence, collaborative
leadership, curriculum, instruction and
assessment.
McCarthy will be honored at the MPA’s
spring conference awards banquet on April
29th. He will also attend the Principals’
Institute to honor the 2010 State Principals
of the Year, scheduled for September 29-
October 2 in
Washington, D.C., and he will be eligible
for consideration as the 2011 National
Middle School Principal of the Year.
McCarthy received a Bachelor of Arts
degree in mathematics from the University
of New Hampshire in 1973, a Master’s
degree in educational administration from
Salem (Massachusetts) State University in
1976 and a Certificate of Advanced
Graduate Study from the University of
Maine in 1987.
Prior to his appointment as principal of
King in 1988, he was principal of Bonny
Eagle Middle School in West Buxton from
1980-88, and assistant principal at
Waterville High School from 1977-80.
From 1973-77, he taught at Roberts Junior
High School in Medford, Massachusetts.
McCarthy has received numerous awards
and honors. In 1996, he was Maine’s
Principal of the Year (then a grades six-12
award). In 1997, he was one of four
finalists for the National Principal of the
Year award, and in 2008 he received the
Maine Public Health Association’s Access
to Health Care Award.
Man Extorts
Drugs from
Northgate
Pharmacy
On March 19th at 7:30 PM, the pharmacist
at the Northgate CVS drugstore on
Washington Avenue received a phone call
from a man demanding drugs. The caller
said he was holding someone hostage and
he threatened to do harm to said person
unless he was given some prescription
medicines that he specified.
The pharmacist was told to deliver the
drugs out the front door of the store. He
did as he was told and met the suspect,
handed the drugs to him, and watched the
suspect leave on foot.
Police were called after the pharmacist
went back into the store.
Taz, one of the department’s K9 team
members, arrived with his handler, Officer
Christian Stickney, but the suspect was not
located.
-Marge Niblock
Portland Chief of
Police Wants State to
Address Mental
Health Crisis
West End Celebrates St.
Patrick's
Day
The traditional St. Patrick's Day
West End March kicked off at noon on
March 17th at State and Gray Street, site
of St. Dominic's Church (Irish Heritage
Center). Marchers proceeded to
Harborview Park, where there was a brief
ceremony honoring West End activist
Eddie Murphy. About fifty people joined
the march, including a group of bagpipers.
The march was followed by a reception at
the Irish Heritage Center where coffee, tea
and Irish soda bread was served
.
Trevorrow Enters East
End Legislative Race
Maine Green Independent Party State Chair
Anna Trevorrow has announced that she
will be a candidate for the Maine State
Legislature from District 120, which
covers Munjoy Hill, Bayside, East Bayside
and Downtown, as far west as State
Street. The seat is currently held by
Democrat Diane Russell, who was elected
in 2008. Trevorrow currently serves on
the Portland Charter Commission. She ran
unsuccessfully for the Portland School
Committee in 2008. She would face
another candidate in a Green Party primary
election in June. Portland cab driver
Charles Bragdon is also a candidate for the
seat. Bragdon ran unsuccessfully for the
Portland City Council's East End seat last
year. He recently changed party enrollment
from Democrat to Green. Trevorrow said
that a primary race would be good for the
party, and that she was hoping to become
the most viable Green Party candidate for
the legislature since John Eder represented
the West End's District 118 from 2002 to
2006. Trevorrow lives on Congress Street
with her partner Anthony Zeli, and works
as a customer service representative for
Norway Savings Bank.
Wild Times on the Hill
Skirmish on
Munjoy Hill
A 1951 Time Magazine
article about a Town
Meeting held on Munjoy
Hill...
Renovation of
Baxter Library
Underway
The $4.5 million renovation and restoration
of the 121-year-old Baxter Library Building
on Congress Street is officially underway,
as developers, architects, local government
officials and guests celebrated the project
with a groundbreaking event on March
11th.
The Baxter Library Building, formerly
known as the Portland Public Library, has
been an architectural landmark in
downtown Portland since 1889. It was
donated to the city by six-term mayor and
philanthropist James Phinney Baxter, and
served as the city’s public library until
1979. The Maine College of Art (MECA)
took over the building in 1983 and used it
for classroom space until 2009.
MECA recently sold the property to
Northland Enterprises, LLC, of Portland,
which is overseeing the complete
renovation of the building. Construction on
the building began in December 2009.
Northland brought in Archetype Architects,
Benchmark Construction and Scott Simon
Architects to work on the project, which is
expected to be complete in August 2010.
Northland will lease the property to The
VIA Group, a national marketing company
currently headquartered on Danforth Street
in the West End.
The project is a Historic Renovation project
that is approved and monitored by the
National Park Service. It is one of the first
commercial uses of the new Maine State
Historic Tax Credit.
The almost 25,000-square-foot building
will be a LEED silver equivalent building
when the work is done. The renovations
include adding all new heating and cooling
systems; installing an elevator; replacing
the majority of windows with new historic
replica windows (or reconstructing and
rehabbing the windows where the original
wood windows still exist); new power,
fiber, and life safety systems; creation of a
mezzanine presentation space; creation of a
new third floor; repointing and cleaning of
historic façade; new landscaping and a
new entrance in the back of the building.
All of the woodwork and library shelving
will be preserved and integrated into the
new design. The marble tile floor in the
basement will be preserved, and the barrel
vaulted ceiling in the rear of the building
will be present at the rear entrance hallway,
as will an antique fireplace.
SauschuckNamed
Ass't Chief of PPD
Chief Craig selects twelve-year
department veteran for top position
Portland Police Chief James Craig
announced on March 16th the selection of
Commander Michael Sauschuck as the
Assistant Chief. The announcement comes
following a nationwide search during
which more than forty candidates were
considered for the position.
Citing Sauschuck's commitment to
community policing and demonstrated
leadership in his role as Commander, Craig
chose to promote the Rangley area native
to the top position. As Assistant Chief,
Sauschuck will be charged with overseeing
criminal investigations and support
services, and working to evaluate
departmental goals and implementing crime
reduction strategies.
Public Meeting to
Discuss Plans for
Former Jordan’s
Meats Site
Developers of the former site of Jordan
Meats on India Street will hold a
neighborhood meeting to discuss plans for
a hotel, restaurant and residential
condominium development at the site.
The meeting will be held at the Public
Market House - Upstairs, 28 Monument
Square onThursday March 18th at 6 PM
The City code requires that property
owners within 500 feet of the proposed
development, and residents on an
“interested parties list” be invited to
participate in a neighborhood meeting. A
sign-in sheet will be circulated and minutes
of the meeting will be taken. Both the sign-
in sheet and minutes will be submitted to
the Portland Planning Board. If you have
any questions, please call Brent Berc at 603-
527-9090.
Two Arrested
in Congress
Street Assault
Two suspects have been arrested in
connection with an assault and robbery on
Congress Street on March 15th.
Police say that Carrie Schlosser, 26, turned
herself in to police on March 16th and was
charged with assault.
Police later arrested Matthew Bradley, also
26, and charged him with aggravated
assault. Schlosser was released, and
Bradley is being held at the Cumberland
County Jail on $2,500 bail.
A couple walking on Congress Street at
about 8PM on March 15th were assaulted
and robbed by Schlosser and Bradley,
according to Portland police.
At approximately 7:49 PM, police were
dispatched to the Rite Aid at 713 Congress
Street for a report of a robbery. On arrival,
police spoke with the male and female
victims, who said that they were walking
on Congress Street in the area of Mellen
Street, when they were approached by a
male and female. The woman was hit by
the female suspect, and when her
companion came to her aid , he was
stabbed by the male suspect. The suspects
fled with the victim’s purse, and the
victims went to the Rite Aid to call for help.
. Both victims were treated and released
from Maine Medical Center.
Driver Takes Out
Six Cars at Becky's
Diner
Kevin Preston, 25, of Portland, was cited
for operating without a license after being
involved in an accident at 8 AM on March
14th, when the car he was operating
crossed the double yellow line on
Commercial Street and hit six unoccupied
cars parked in front of Becky’s Diner.
Preston had to be extracted from the
vehicle, and was taken to Maine Medical
Center, along with two passengers, a male
and a female. None of the three had life-
threatening injuries.
Preston was cited because, although he has
a valid learner’s permit, he was required to
have a licensed (presumably sober) driver
in the car with him. One of his passengers
was drunk,said police, and the other had a
suspended license.
-Marge Niblock
Body of Missing
Woman Found
The body of a woman who disappeared
three months ago was found on March
13th, not far from where she disappeared.
Sarah Rogers, 29, had been missing since
leaving her home in Barrington , Vermont
on December 13th, wearing only shorts, a
tank top and a light jacket.
Her car was found abandoned on I-95 in
Clinton, Maine, in a snowstorm. The car
door was left open with the keys in the
ignition, and Rogers' purse was found
nearby. Footprints were found leading
away from the car and into the southbound
lane of the highway, where they stopped.
Rogers reportedly suffered from bi-polar
disorder and may have been in a manic
state when she left home. Foul play is not
suspected in her death.
Suspect Captured
on Third Attempt
Barre F. Hersi, 22, of Portland, was
arrested by Officer Michael Rand at 11:05
PM on March 15th, after a car chase and
two foot chases covering two sections of
the city.
A little after 10 PM, Officer Christopher
Shinay noticed a car with the registration
sticker scratched off its license plate.
When he tried to pull the car over at
Cumberland Avenue and Locust Street in
East Bayside, the driver refused to stop,
even after the lights on the police car were
activated, and then went through a stop
sign. The car continued through several
streets in the East Bayside neighborhood,
and then, according to police, "the driver
ditched the car and fled" near Kennedy
Park, running toward Fox Street. A canine
unit was called to the scene but the dog
was not successful in tracking the suspect.
Police then went to 167 Woodford Street,
where the car’s owner resides, and about
an hour later, Hersi was found nearby, in
the bushes by the train tracks. When an
officer approached him, he fled, but after
another foot chase, he was caught and
placed under arrest.
Hersi was charged with attempting to elude
an officer, refusing to submit to arrest,
operating after revocation for being a
habitual offender, and violation of
conditional release.
-Marge Niblock
West End
Burglary Suspect
Arrested
On March 10th at six o’clock in the
evening, an employee at 140 Chadwick
Street, which operates as a bed and
breakfast inn, found an intruder in the
office trying to steal petty cash. After a
struggle, during which the cash was
retrieved by the employee, the thief fled.
The description given to police was of a
white male approximately 50 years old, five
feet nine inches tall, 150 pounds, with
grayish-black hair and beard, having an
unkempt appearance, and wearing a red
flannel shirt and jeans.
Police put out an alert to patrol officers
with that description, and at 2:45 PM on
March 11th, Officer Christopher Dyer
stopped Ed Hatfield ,a man who fit the
description, on Park Avenue near Mellen
Street.
Hatfield was arrested because there was a
warrant out for him for violation of
probation, and detectives then charged him
with burglary, aggravated theft, and assault.
-Marge Niblock
WECAN Saved
from Chopping
Block
The West End Community Action Network
has been temporarily spared from having
its funding totally eliminated by the
Community Development Block Grant
Allocation Committee.
The Portland City Council on March 8th
asked the committee to reconsider its
decision to recommend that all of the
federal funds be allocated to a small
number of local agencies, a short list
which did not include WECAN. WECAN
received a $41,000 grant last year to initiate
such programs as health screenings,
swimming lessons for children at the
Reiche pool, and other programs at the
Reiche Community Center. WECAN also
used $10,000 of its funding to pay the rent
for the new location of the West End
Community Policing Center.The City
Council will make a final decision on the
funding on March 22nd.
WEN Begins 10th Year
of Publication
With this issue, the West End NEWS
begins its tenth year of publication. The
first issue of the newspaper was published
on St. Patrick's Day, March 17, 2001. It
was a monthly publication until the fall of
2001, when it started publishing every two
weeks. There have been over 200 issues of
the paper published. It is the oldest locally-
owned and operated, alternative, non-
partisan, bi-weekly, gay-friendly,
progressive, environmentally friendly
newspaper in the city.
League of Young
Voters Re-Ignites
About forty young Portland activists
gathered at the North Star Cafe on March
3rd to 're-ignite' the League's monthly
meetings, which were a staple of the six-
year old organization's early years. The
League has been a force in Portland politics
since 2004, when it was founded by
current Portland State Senator Justin
Alfond (and was known as the League of
Pissed Off Voters). The League mobilizes
young voters through a variety of activities
such as meetings, dinners, parties and
voter registration drives. It endorses
candidates in local races and provides
volunteers to work on their campaigns by
distributing campaign literature and making
campaign phone calls. The League also
publishes a voter guide to educate voters
about candidates and issues.
Alfond attended the March 3rd event, along
with a number of other local public
officials whose political careers were aided
by support from the League, including City
Councilors David Marshall and Kevin
Donoghue, and State Representative Diane
Russell. Several candidates in the
upcoming election were also in attendance,
including legislative candidates Jill Barkley
(Parkside) and Charles Bragdon (East
End). Former Mayor and City Councilor
Ed Suslovic was also in attendance.
After introductions and remarks by Will
Everitt, the League's new director, the
group broke into small groups to discuss
topics such as upcoming elections,
transportation, the Creative Economy, and
environmental issues. The group plans to
continue holding the monthly meetings, and
is planning a 'Re-Emergence' event at the
SPACE Gallery on April 29th.
Doyle Challenges
Alfond for State
Senate Seat
Munjoy Hill resident Peter Doyle has
announced that he is a Republican
candidate for the District 8 State Senate
seat currently held by State Senator Justin
Alfond. District 8 encompasses all of the
Portland peninsula , a number of the Casco
Bay Islands (including Peaks Island, Cliff
Island, and Great Diamond Island), and the
neighborhoods of Stroudwater and
Libbytown, and also includes parts of
Oakdale, Rosemont, and Nasons Corner.
In total, the district is home to about
37,000 people.
Doyle, 45, is a 1986 graduate of the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
He is employed by Aetna Insurance. He ran
for the District 120 seat in the Maine
Legislature in 2008, collecting 20% of the
vote in a three-way race to represent the
East End and downtown Portland. That
race was won by current Representative
Diane Russell.
Burglary Suspect
Caught Again
Isabel Maria Garcia, 25, of Portland, was
arrested on March 26th at a Gilman Street
address, for outstanding warrants
pertaining to many burglary and theft
charges. She was out on bail for a couple
of Munjoy Hill burglary charges that are
still pending, for crimes that were
committed last fall.
On March 17th, a man came home and
found Garcia in his Woodford Street living
room. She mentioned a name, saying she
was merely looking for that person. Police
say this was the same thing she’d done
when confronted by victims in previous
burglaries. The man who surprised Garcia
took a photograph of her with his cell
phone. Police were able to identify her
from the picture.
There are two residential burglary charges
against her, in addition to charges of
misuse of credit identification, theft,
criminal trespass, and violation of
conditional release. The locations of the
various crimes were: Woodford Street,
Monument Street, Congress Street, and
Forest Avenue.
-Marge Niblock
WECAN Cut,
LearningWorks
Awarded Funds in
'Bizarre' Meeting
In a three-hour City Council meeting on
March 22nd that Mayor Nick Mavodones
and City Councilor Cheryl Leeman both
described as the 'most bizarre' process
they had witnessed in their years in city
government, the Council awarded $50,000
in federal funding to LearningWorks, but
upheld an allocation committee's
recommendation to totally cut funding to
the one-year-old West End Community
Action Network.
The Portland City Council on March 8th
had asked the allocations committee to
reconsider its decision to recommend that
all of the federal funds be allocated to a
small number of local agencies, a short list
which did not include WECAN. However,
Committee Chair Annette Rogers told the
Council at the March 22nd meeting that the
Committee was standing by it's original
recommendations.
WECAN received a $41,000 grant last year
to initiate such programs as health
screenings, swimming lessons for children
at the Reiche pool, and other programs at
the Reiche Community Center. WECAN
also used $10,000 of its funding to pay the
rent for the new location of the West End
Community Policing Center.
The grant to LearningWorks, which ranked
highest among the agencies that had not
been funded, will come at the expense of
the City's Community Policing program.
West End City Councilor David Marshall,
who proposed the shift in funds, said that
the Community Policing funding could be
found in the City's operating budget. The
Community Policing program had
requested about $50,000 more than it
received last year, and so, it will receive
about the same amount that it did last year.
Marshall, who said he is a "huge fan" of
Community Policing, pointed out that 75%
of the $2.6 million federal grant had been
allocated to City-run agencies, while many
small not-profit agencies had their funding
eliminated.
King Middle
School Principal
Named Principal
of the Year
The Maine Principals’ Association has
named Michael McCarthy, principal of
King Middle School in Parkside, as Maine’s
2010 Middle Level Principal of the Year.
McCarthy received the award for his
personal excellence, collaborative
leadership, curriculum, instruction and
assessment.
McCarthy will be honored at the MPA’s
spring conference awards banquet on April
29th. He will also attend the Principals’
Institute to honor the 2010 State Principals
of the Year, scheduled for September 29-
October 2 in
Washington, D.C., and he will be eligible
for consideration as the 2011 National
Middle School Principal of the Year.
McCarthy received a Bachelor of Arts
degree in mathematics from the University
of New Hampshire in 1973, a Master’s
degree in educational administration from
Salem (Massachusetts) State University in
1976 and a Certificate of Advanced
Graduate Study from the University of
Maine in 1987.
Prior to his appointment as principal of
King in 1988, he was principal of Bonny
Eagle Middle School in West Buxton from
1980-88, and assistant principal at
Waterville High School from 1977-80.
From 1973-77, he taught at Roberts Junior
High School in Medford, Massachusetts.
McCarthy has received numerous awards
and honors. In 1996, he was Maine’s
Principal of the Year (then a grades six-12
award). In 1997, he was one of four
finalists for the National Principal of the
Year award, and in 2008 he received the
Maine Public Health Association’s Access
to Health Care Award.
Man Extorts
Drugs from
Northgate
Pharmacy
On March 19th at 7:30 PM, the pharmacist
at the Northgate CVS drugstore on
Washington Avenue received a phone call
from a man demanding drugs. The caller
said he was holding someone hostage and
he threatened to do harm to said person
unless he was given some prescription
medicines that he specified.
The pharmacist was told to deliver the
drugs out the front door of the store. He
did as he was told and met the suspect,
handed the drugs to him, and watched the
suspect leave on foot.
Police were called after the pharmacist
went back into the store.
Taz, one of the department’s K9 team
members, arrived with his handler, Officer
Christian Stickney, but the suspect was not
located.
-Marge Niblock
Portland Chief of
Police Wants State to
Address Mental
Health Crisis
West End Celebrates St.
Patrick's
Day
The traditional St. Patrick's Day
West End March kicked off at noon on
March 17th at State and Gray Street, site
of St. Dominic's Church (Irish Heritage
Center). Marchers proceeded to
Harborview Park, where there was a brief
ceremony honoring West End activist
Eddie Murphy. About fifty people joined
the march, including a group of bagpipers.
The march was followed by a reception at
the Irish Heritage Center where coffee, tea
and Irish soda bread was served
.
Trevorrow Enters East
End Legislative Race
Maine Green Independent Party State Chair
Anna Trevorrow has announced that she
will be a candidate for the Maine State
Legislature from District 120, which
covers Munjoy Hill, Bayside, East Bayside
and Downtown, as far west as State
Street. The seat is currently held by
Democrat Diane Russell, who was elected
in 2008. Trevorrow currently serves on
the Portland Charter Commission. She ran
unsuccessfully for the Portland School
Committee in 2008. She would face
another candidate in a Green Party primary
election in June. Portland cab driver
Charles Bragdon is also a candidate for the
seat. Bragdon ran unsuccessfully for the
Portland City Council's East End seat last
year. He recently changed party enrollment
from Democrat to Green. Trevorrow said
that a primary race would be good for the
party, and that she was hoping to become
the most viable Green Party candidate for
the legislature since John Eder represented
the West End's District 118 from 2002 to
2006. Trevorrow lives on Congress Street
with her partner Anthony Zeli, and works
as a customer service representative for
Norway Savings Bank.
Wild Times on the Hill
Skirmish on
Munjoy Hill
A 1951 Time Magazine
article about a Town
Meeting held on Munjoy
Hill...
Renovation of
Baxter Library
Underway
The $4.5 million renovation and restoration
of the 121-year-old Baxter Library Building
on Congress Street is officially underway,
as developers, architects, local government
officials and guests celebrated the project
with a groundbreaking event on March
11th.
The Baxter Library Building, formerly
known as the Portland Public Library, has
been an architectural landmark in
downtown Portland since 1889. It was
donated to the city by six-term mayor and
philanthropist James Phinney Baxter, and
served as the city’s public library until
1979. The Maine College of Art (MECA)
took over the building in 1983 and used it
for classroom space until 2009.
MECA recently sold the property to
Northland Enterprises, LLC, of Portland,
which is overseeing the complete
renovation of the building. Construction on
the building began in December 2009.
Northland brought in Archetype Architects,
Benchmark Construction and Scott Simon
Architects to work on the project, which is
expected to be complete in August 2010.
Northland will lease the property to The
VIA Group, a national marketing company
currently headquartered on Danforth Street
in the West End.
The project is a Historic Renovation project
that is approved and monitored by the
National Park Service. It is one of the first
commercial uses of the new Maine State
Historic Tax Credit.
The almost 25,000-square-foot building
will be a LEED silver equivalent building
when the work is done. The renovations
include adding all new heating and cooling
systems; installing an elevator; replacing
the majority of windows with new historic
replica windows (or reconstructing and
rehabbing the windows where the original
wood windows still exist); new power,
fiber, and life safety systems; creation of a
mezzanine presentation space; creation of a
new third floor; repointing and cleaning of
historic façade; new landscaping and a
new entrance in the back of the building.
All of the woodwork and library shelving
will be preserved and integrated into the
new design. The marble tile floor in the
basement will be preserved, and the barrel
vaulted ceiling in the rear of the building
will be present at the rear entrance hallway,
as will an antique fireplace.
SauschuckNamed
Ass't Chief of PPD
Chief Craig selects twelve-year
department veteran for top position
Portland Police Chief James Craig
announced on March 16th the selection of
Commander Michael Sauschuck as the
Assistant Chief. The announcement comes
following a nationwide search during
which more than forty candidates were
considered for the position.
Citing Sauschuck's commitment to
community policing and demonstrated
leadership in his role as Commander, Craig
chose to promote the Rangley area native
to the top position. As Assistant Chief,
Sauschuck will be charged with overseeing
criminal investigations and support
services, and working to evaluate
departmental goals and implementing crime
reduction strategies.
Public Meeting to
Discuss Plans for
Former Jordan’s
Meats Site
Developers of the former site of Jordan
Meats on India Street will hold a
neighborhood meeting to discuss plans for
a hotel, restaurant and residential
condominium development at the site.
The meeting will be held at the Public
Market House - Upstairs, 28 Monument
Square onThursday March 18th at 6 PM
The City code requires that property
owners within 500 feet of the proposed
development, and residents on an
“interested parties list” be invited to
participate in a neighborhood meeting. A
sign-in sheet will be circulated and minutes
of the meeting will be taken. Both the sign-
in sheet and minutes will be submitted to
the Portland Planning Board. If you have
any questions, please call Brent Berc at 603-
527-9090.
Two Arrested
in Congress
Street Assault
Two suspects have been arrested in
connection with an assault and robbery on
Congress Street on March 15th.
Police say that Carrie Schlosser, 26, turned
herself in to police on March 16th and was
charged with assault.
Police later arrested Matthew Bradley, also
26, and charged him with aggravated
assault. Schlosser was released, and
Bradley is being held at the Cumberland
County Jail on $2,500 bail.
A couple walking on Congress Street at
about 8PM on March 15th were assaulted
and robbed by Schlosser and Bradley,
according to Portland police.
At approximately 7:49 PM, police were
dispatched to the Rite Aid at 713 Congress
Street for a report of a robbery. On arrival,
police spoke with the male and female
victims, who said that they were walking
on Congress Street in the area of Mellen
Street, when they were approached by a
male and female. The woman was hit by
the female suspect, and when her
companion came to her aid , he was
stabbed by the male suspect. The suspects
fled with the victim’s purse, and the
victims went to the Rite Aid to call for help.
. Both victims were treated and released
from Maine Medical Center.
Driver Takes Out
Six Cars at Becky's
Diner
Kevin Preston, 25, of Portland, was cited
for operating without a license after being
involved in an accident at 8 AM on March
14th, when the car he was operating
crossed the double yellow line on
Commercial Street and hit six unoccupied
cars parked in front of Becky’s Diner.
Preston had to be extracted from the
vehicle, and was taken to Maine Medical
Center, along with two passengers, a male
and a female. None of the three had life-
threatening injuries.
Preston was cited because, although he has
a valid learner’s permit, he was required to
have a licensed (presumably sober) driver
in the car with him. One of his passengers
was drunk,said police, and the other had a
suspended license.
-Marge Niblock
Body of Missing
Woman Found
The body of a woman who disappeared
three months ago was found on March
13th, not far from where she disappeared.
Sarah Rogers, 29, had been missing since
leaving her home in Barrington , Vermont
on December 13th, wearing only shorts, a
tank top and a light jacket.
Her car was found abandoned on I-95 in
Clinton, Maine, in a snowstorm. The car
door was left open with the keys in the
ignition, and Rogers' purse was found
nearby. Footprints were found leading
away from the car and into the southbound
lane of the highway, where they stopped.
Rogers reportedly suffered from bi-polar
disorder and may have been in a manic
state when she left home. Foul play is not
suspected in her death.
Suspect Captured
on Third Attempt
Barre F. Hersi, 22, of Portland, was
arrested by Officer Michael Rand at 11:05
PM on March 15th, after a car chase and
two foot chases covering two sections of
the city.
A little after 10 PM, Officer Christopher
Shinay noticed a car with the registration
sticker scratched off its license plate.
When he tried to pull the car over at
Cumberland Avenue and Locust Street in
East Bayside, the driver refused to stop,
even after the lights on the police car were
activated, and then went through a stop
sign. The car continued through several
streets in the East Bayside neighborhood,
and then, according to police, "the driver
ditched the car and fled" near Kennedy
Park, running toward Fox Street. A canine
unit was called to the scene but the dog
was not successful in tracking the suspect.
Police then went to 167 Woodford Street,
where the car’s owner resides, and about
an hour later, Hersi was found nearby, in
the bushes by the train tracks. When an
officer approached him, he fled, but after
another foot chase, he was caught and
placed under arrest.
Hersi was charged with attempting to elude
an officer, refusing to submit to arrest,
operating after revocation for being a
habitual offender, and violation of
conditional release.
-Marge Niblock
West End
Burglary Suspect
Arrested
On March 10th at six o’clock in the
evening, an employee at 140 Chadwick
Street, which operates as a bed and
breakfast inn, found an intruder in the
office trying to steal petty cash. After a
struggle, during which the cash was
retrieved by the employee, the thief fled.
The description given to police was of a
white male approximately 50 years old, five
feet nine inches tall, 150 pounds, with
grayish-black hair and beard, having an
unkempt appearance, and wearing a red
flannel shirt and jeans.
Police put out an alert to patrol officers
with that description, and at 2:45 PM on
March 11th, Officer Christopher Dyer
stopped Ed Hatfield ,a man who fit the
description, on Park Avenue near Mellen
Street.
Hatfield was arrested because there was a
warrant out for him for violation of
probation, and detectives then charged him
with burglary, aggravated theft, and assault.
-Marge Niblock
WECAN Saved
from Chopping
Block
The West End Community Action Network
has been temporarily spared from having
its funding totally eliminated by the
Community Development Block Grant
Allocation Committee.
The Portland City Council on March 8th
asked the committee to reconsider its
decision to recommend that all of the
federal funds be allocated to a small
number of local agencies, a short list
which did not include WECAN. WECAN
received a $41,000 grant last year to initiate
such programs as health screenings,
swimming lessons for children at the
Reiche pool, and other programs at the
Reiche Community Center. WECAN also
used $10,000 of its funding to pay the rent
for the new location of the West End
Community Policing Center.The City
Council will make a final decision on the
funding on March 22nd.
WEN Begins 10th Year
of Publication
With this issue, the West End NEWS
begins its tenth year of publication. The
first issue of the newspaper was published
on St. Patrick's Day, March 17, 2001. It
was a monthly publication until the fall of
2001, when it started publishing every two
weeks. There have been over 200 issues of
the paper published. It is the oldest locally-
owned and operated, alternative, non-
partisan, bi-weekly, gay-friendly,
progressive, environmentally friendly
newspaper in the city.
League of Young
Voters Re-Ignites
About forty young Portland activists
gathered at the North Star Cafe on March
3rd to 're-ignite' the League's monthly
meetings, which were a staple of the six-
year old organization's early years. The
League has been a force in Portland politics
since 2004, when it was founded by
current Portland State Senator Justin
Alfond (and was known as the League of
Pissed Off Voters). The League mobilizes
young voters through a variety of activities
such as meetings, dinners, parties and
voter registration drives. It endorses
candidates in local races and provides
volunteers to work on their campaigns by
distributing campaign literature and making
campaign phone calls. The League also
publishes a voter guide to educate voters
about candidates and issues.
Alfond attended the March 3rd event, along
with a number of other local public
officials whose political careers were aided
by support from the League, including City
Councilors David Marshall and Kevin
Donoghue, and State Representative Diane
Russell. Several candidates in the
upcoming election were also in attendance,
including legislative candidates Jill Barkley
(Parkside) and Charles Bragdon (East
End). Former Mayor and City Councilor
Ed Suslovic was also in attendance.
After introductions and remarks by Will
Everitt, the League's new director, the
group broke into small groups to discuss
topics such as upcoming elections,
transportation, the Creative Economy, and
environmental issues. The group plans to
continue holding the monthly meetings, and
is planning a 'Re-Emergence' event at the
SPACE Gallery on April 29th.
Doyle Challenges
Alfond for State
Senate Seat
Munjoy Hill resident Peter Doyle has
announced that he is a Republican
candidate for the District 8 State Senate
seat currently held by State Senator Justin
Alfond. District 8 encompasses all of the
Portland peninsula , a number of the Casco
Bay Islands (including Peaks Island, Cliff
Island, and Great Diamond Island), and the
neighborhoods of Stroudwater and
Libbytown, and also includes parts of
Oakdale, Rosemont, and Nasons Corner.
In total, the district is home to about
37,000 people.
Doyle, 45, is a 1986 graduate of the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
He is employed by Aetna Insurance. He ran
for the District 120 seat in the Maine
Legislature in 2008, collecting 20% of the
vote in a three-way race to represent the
East End and downtown Portland. That
race was won by current Representative
Diane Russell.
March, 2010
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