Relief Is Only 1.5 Hours Away

From the Associated Press Wire Service:

TOWNSHIP 22 - Relief has arrived for motorists traveling along Route 9 in eastern Maine.

Beginning Friday, drivers will have a pit stop along the hour-and-a-half drive from Calais to Brewer. New year-round public restroom facilities will give drivers a break in Township 22, adjacent to the Airline Snack Bar and Lounge.

There were plenty of snickers and jokes when state Sen. Kevin Raye introduced legislation for the facility.

But he said the lack of public restrooms along the route was no laughing matter and caused a hardship for many Mainers, especially for Washington County residents traveling to Bangor for medical treatments.


I would think the town would want to name their town before they started throwing up pit stops, but maybe that’s just me. Also, did the Airline Snack Bar and Lounge not have public restrooms?

In any case, enjoy Township 22; I look forward to pictures of the ribbon cutting ceremony…

What does it take to be a celebrity in Maine?

Apparently, not much.

From the Morning Sentinel:

WATERVILLE -- Waterville's own singer, songwriter and producer Jeremy Greene will really hit the big time Monday as he stars in "Living Lohan," a reality show on the E! Network featuring actor Lindsay Lohan's

family.

Well that’s a pretty big break! To come from a small town and work your way towards staring in a nationally televised reality television show. But wait… there’s more…

The show, which will appear on Time Warner Cable's Channel 60 in Waterville, starts at 10:30 p.m. and will feature Greene in three episodes out of eight over a period of several weeks, according to Christel Wheeler of E!'s public relations.

Wait, appearances in 3 episodes? He is considered one of the stars of the show for having his mug in frame for 3 episodes? Is this seriously the best we can come up with for profiling local talent? A guy who will be in 3 episodes of a show that clearly will NOT get renewed.

To Jeremy’s defense, the rest of the article goes on to tout some of his successes. I simply found humor in the fact the Morning Sentinel would dub Jeremy a star for being on a trashy reality television show.

Either The Girls at Colby Are Letting Themselves Go, Or...

From the Morning Sentinel:

WATERVILLE — Colby College campus has had a new visitor at large, recently, and he isn’t paying tuition.

The uninvited guest is a medium-sized, charcoal-gray pig, presumed to be male, that has been on the loose on campus for more than a week.

“It’s currently a free-range pig. I spotted it a couple of days ago, grazing on grass on the girls’ softball field, when I drove past on my bicycle. It’s about the size of an English Springer Spaniel,” said Colby director of communications Steve Collins, Wednesday.The pig is believed to be a Vietnamese Potbelly, he said.

The pig was last under human control when Colby students, who were not identified, had taken the pet pig to a campus cookout, where it slipped its leash, Collins said.

According to Collins, some of Colby’s grounds crew had collaborated with the animal control officer in Waterville, to set up traps on campus, in an attempt catch the free-roaming hog.

Waterville police Sgt. Joseph Shepherd said the pig has been on the loose at Colby for more than a week.
Colby’s assistant grounds supervisor Peter MacDonald confirmed that attempts to catch the elusive pig by Wednesday, had failed.

“We tried to catch it a couple of ways, like physically chasing after him and using a net to throw over him. That didn’t work," MacDonald said. "He is very friendly, but as soon as you think about moving, he shoots right away. We actually had him eating out of our hands.”

I guess all you can say is, "You know you've gone to school in Maine for to long when you bring a live pig to your cookout."

Oh Yeah, We Meant to Call You… You May Want to Move

I usually save good police log entries for the Hall of Fame found on the right side column of this site, but this one was deserved its own post.

From Thursday’s Morning Sentinel Police Log:

IN WINSLOW, Wednesday at 9:40 a.m., a caller from Dallaire Street called the police inquiring about the safety of their home when the dam is breached.

For those of you not from the area, the Fort Halifax Dam in Winslow is a 100-year-old hydroelectric facility on the Sebasticook River. This summer they will be removing a piece of the dam.

I can see a neighbors concern, but honestly, don’t you think someone would contact you if your house would be in jeopardy? An earlier Morning Sentinel story highlights the process and what people can expect… “FPL Energy made the change, Wiley said, to slow the removal process, so that the lake would drain more slowly, thus making any significant erosion or slumping of river banks far less likely.”

I worry about people sometimes... especially when they ask questions like this. Just check out the map, they are over 200 feet away from the water!