Archive for ‘News’

  • Recovery Center a lifeline during holidays

    By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer “Silent Night” is a beautiful song. But, for somebody in recovery, spending time isolated away from others, especially during the holidays, can be anything but a beautiful experience. It takes strength and determination — or sheer desperation — to reach out and ask for help. The staff at Lakes […]

  • Town, organizers learn from Bluesfest 2019

    By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer NAPLES — In 2019, the Maine Blues Festival saw a drastic drop in attendance from the usual 5,000 people to 4,000, with some venues refusing to participate in the festival. During a lengthy and sometimes passionate discussion with Kevin Kimball, one of the founders of Maine Bluesfest, the Naples […]

  • Frozen water led workers to rotting floor joists at Bluesfest building

    By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer NAPLES — It was discovered that there was more damage than appeared to be on the surface when plumbing work was being done inside one of the brick buildings on the Naples Village Green. The structure was once the town hall. For the past three years, it has been […]

  • Naples talks about getting fair with personal property taxes

    By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer NAPLES — It was a hot-button issue a few years ago in both Casco and Naples when a business that was frequently awarded bids for town work was actually in arrears on its personal property taxes. That was resolved.  Once again, the Naples selectmen were mentioning the names of […]

  • Casco to rename town hall

    By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer CASCO — It was one of the surprises during this summer’s retirement party for former Casco Town Manager Dave Morton. The Casco Town Hall will be named after him. By early 2020, the town hall building will be rededicated as the David P. Morton Town Office. Currently, Casco Selectman […]

  • Positive response to BPD coverage in Harrison; could deal open door to more shared opportunities?

    By Wayne E. Rivet Staff Writer Although there is more data to review, contract language to be revised and a few more questions likely to be posed, the idea of the Bridgton Police Department providing service to neighboring Harrison picked up positive steam Tuesday. Gathered around the table, officials from both towns along with BPD […]

  • Planners table action on ‘fill’ matter

    By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer CASCO — The paperwork, the civil engineering plan, arrived too late to be reviewed. So, the Casco Planning Board had no choice but to table an amended site plan that deals with a fill violation. The property at 200 Roosevelt Trail, which is owned by Wayne Ward, has been […]

  • Senior housing project could land here

    By Wayne E. Rivet Staff Writer Lon Walters sees Bridgton as an ideal location for a senior housing project. The one stumbling block — land to build it on. Two years ago, the owner of Woodland Senior Living thought he had a site nailed down, but it fell through. Just recently, Walters had a site […]

  • Planners waive buffer, parking for Crooked River School project

    By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer CASCO — Nine months ago, the residents of the towns belonging to School Administrative District (SAD) #61 voted in favor of renovating the Crooked River School at the cost of $9 million. There is still some voting to be done since the site plan application for renovating the school […]

  • Enjoy a laugh with Scrooge

    By Wayne E. Rivet Staff Writer Like Charles Dickens, Will Rhys of Bridgton believes laughter is good for everyone. “We need to laugh,” the longtime actor said. Rhys hopes to draw more than a few chuckles while also putting area residents into the holiday spirit this Saturday night with his one-man presentation of “A Christmas […]