Archive for ‘News’

  • Naples WWII vet recalls Pearl Harbor attack, VE Day

    In December 1941, “the holiday spirit was very quiet. The country was aware of the war. Everyone was concerned about young men going to fight, enemy invasion, and the German submarines on the coast.”  — World War II veteran Larry Balboni By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer NAPLES — Larry Balboni had just exited a […]

  • Casco garage fire closes Route 11, spares home

    By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer CASCO — Less than two weeks after his garage burned to the ground, the former chief of the Casco Fire Department said he has nothing but high praise for the area fire departments. Norman Judkins is thankful, too, that the weather played a part in the garage fire not […]

  • Public input on Main Street design sought

    Main Street is heading toward a new look, but what should that new look be? You can have a say whether you like some of the new features or not or offer up some other ideas. To kick off the final design phase for Bridgton’s downtown project, a public meeting will be held on Wednesday, […]

  • Open ‘Store” to more shoppers?

    By Wayne E. Rivet Staff Writer A sign outside “The Store” says, “Your unwanted items are valuable to someone.” The store at Bridgton’s Transfer Station brings in about $25,000 a year, and Selectman Robert McHatton wonders if that figure could climb if more out-of-towners were to shop there. Currently, a sign is posted at the […]

  • Bridgton asked to take over part of community forest land

    By Wayne E. Rivet Staff Writer When Loon Echo Land Trust acquired 1,488 acres — now known as the Perley Mills Community Forest — it initially wanted to gift 938 acres to Denmark and 550 acres to Bridgton. Bridgton, however, declined ownership. So, Loon Echo gifted the entire piece to Denmark, and Denmark paid yearly […]

  • Interim hiring: End to town manager musical chairs

    By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer NAPLES — It’s been a while since the town manager seat had someone sitting in it. The seat has been empty since September. This Monday, the seating arrangement at the Naples Board of Selectmen meeting was different — different and temporary. The newly-contracted Interim Town Manager Mitch Berkowitz was […]

  • Gone: Town not liable for missing cemetery stone

    By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer NAPLES — Apparently, a ground marker stone in the Naples Town Cemetery is gone. And, the family approached the town, through a letter to the local selectmen, requesting that the town replace it. “It was ground marker stone from a family that has been generations in this community,” according […]

  • Naples town land might get price reduction

    By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer NAPLES — The number of land sales in the Town of Naples is down slightly. The market is not bad, but it has not improved much since the previous years’ recorded property sales. Three large town-owned parcels officially went up for sale about a year ago; one lot off […]

  • Q&A with local author Corinne Martin on new book, ‘Letters from the Love Room’

    Corinne Martin of Harrison has written a book about grieving and loss — Letters from the Love Room, Mapping the landscape of loss — is now out, from Made for Wonder Publishing of Issaquah, Wash. The book will be available at Bridgton Books and at Longfellow Books in Portland. Former BN staff writer Michael T. […]

  • Brainstorming session points to possible Bridgton Memorial site uses

    By Wayne E. Rivet Staff Writer What is the best possible use of the 4.6-acre Bridgton Memorial School site? And, would that developmental plan be acceptable in the eyes of SAD 61? Those two questions drove a recent informal brainstorming session amongst town officials and interested groups. For several years now, conversations between SAD 61 […]