Published in the American Journal
Tara Rich is home. Rich, a Gorham resident and staff sergeant in the 265th Combat Communications Squadron of the Maine Air National Guard, arrived at the Portland International Jetport Monday evening after a long trip from Kuwait.
Rich, 28, was greeted by her mother Patricia, her sister Stacey Rich-Abbott, Stacey’s husband Dan Abbott and Stacey and Dan’s daughter Samantha Abbott. Family members and friends of 12 of Rich’s fellow squadron members greeted their loved ones Monday as well, on two flights into Portland.
Thirteen members of the South Portland-based squadron remain in Kuwait but hope to be home soon.
The unit was sent to Kuwait in February for a 90-day tour. When war broke out, the National Guard extended Rich’s active duty, along with everyone else in the squadron, for a year.
The delayed return was slowed further by mechanical problems on the aircraft leaving Kuwait, Rich-Abbott said. The group was originally supposed to be home Friday, then Saturday, then Sunday. The family, in fact, had planned a welcome-home party Sunday, but she wasn’t there. “We’ll just have a heck of a Fourth party,” Rich- Abbott said.
Rich had e-mailed her sister to say that the Air Force plane they were leaving Kuwait on had mechanical problems, so it turned around after takeoff and the group was forced to stay put until commercial flights could be arranged.
And though the delay was annoying, the group ended up in better conditions: The Air Force plane didn’t have any blankets, and people were sleeping on the floor, Rich-Abbott said.
The commercial flights worked out. As word passed through the waiting crowd that the first plane was on the ground, Rich’s niece Samantha said, “That’s not good enough. They have to be on the ground.”
As she came into view in the terminal, the family’s excitement built even higher. They had been in touch with Rich from time to time, through e-mail and an occasional phone call. It actually helped that the squadron was involved in communications, the family said.
And then Rich was through the door, wrapped up first in a hug from her mom, then her sister and then the rest of the family.
Rich-Abbott said it was good that Rich’s dachshund Zoe wasn’t there, because the dog is quite excitable and might not have been easy to handle in the airport waiting area, jammed with excited people.
Rich’s mother had a printout of an e-mail message in her purse listing Rich’s food requests, though she hadn’t made any specific meal requests for her arrival night.
On the list were haddock, chop suey, cabbage and broccoli. “I’m sure she’ll be wanting a big seafood fest,” Rich-Abbott said.
In a quiet moment before heading off to baggage claim, Rich looked a bit overwhelmed by all the attention and the crowd of well-wishers. “It’s really good to be home,” Rich said.
She’ll have about a month off after a debriefing session today. The first order of business? “A shower would be good,” Rich said.
Showing posts with label AmericanJournal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AmericanJournal. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 25, 2003
Wednesday, June 11, 2003
State healthcare plan moves forward
Published in the Current and the American Journal
The governor’s healthcare plan is now out of committee and looks likely to pass the full Legislature later this week.
It is a plan the head of Maine Medical Center says is worth a shot, while the head of the Greater Portland Chambers of Commerce says the insurance piece of it is unworkable.
“I believe that the governor’s initiative is admirable, bold, courageous, necessary,” said Vincent Conti, president and CEO of Maine Medical Center, the state’s largest hospital.
The governor’s overall plan, called “Dirigo Health,” is in two parts: controlling health care costs through regulation and an insurance plan, confusingly called “Dirigo Health Insurance,” which would create a subsidized pool to being insuring some of the 180,000 Mainers who now do not have health insurance.
Following intensive work and deal-making between lawmakers, healthcare providers, insurance companies and businesses, a deal worked out Monday night tweaks the insurance portion of the plan to save what some believe may be the more important part: healthcare cost containment.
In particular, the deal includes a safety net in case the insurance plan doesn’t work: After three years, the state will have to report on whether numbers of uninsured people are dropping and whether insurance premiums are going down because people are using their insurance to go to the doctor before they get critically ill. If the plan isn’t working, the state will have to propose major revisions that will work.
Conti of Maine Medical Center has his doubts about the insurance piece of the plan, but is supporting the governor’s package because of its broader reform goals. He said the health care system in Maine, “if not in crisis now, is pretty much heading toward a train wreck.”
With an aging population in Maine needing more healthcare, demand is growing, at the same time advances in medical technology are making health care more expensive, Conti said.
The governor’s plan would ask hospitals to hold down their per-patient costs and would improve the existing healthcare planning system in the state, removing political pressures from decisions on where new facilities will be built. Decisions would be based on which facilities could offer the best clinical outcomes because of proven expertise.
The state would augment an existing database now run by the Maine Health Management Coalition, compiling statistics on healthcare costs and treatment
outcomes, to give the public more information about how much modern medicine costs.
The second part, the health insurance plan, is intended to fix the healthcare payment system, in which 180,000 Mainers do not have health insurance. Because they lack coverage, they tend to wait until they are very ill and then go to what Conti calls “the single most expensive place in the universe” to get healthcare: the emergency room.
They can’t pay their bills, and the money must come from somewhere else. This cost-shifting is made worse because Medicaid and Medicare payments pay just 80 percent of the actual cost of care provided to their patients.
All of the unpaid money must be made up from the only remaining source: privately insured people and their insurance companies.
That drives up the cost of healthcare bills to private insurers, which in turn ups premiums for insurance coverage. Fewer people can afford insurance, and so more become uninsured, raising the specter of a vicious spiral in which, eventually, nobody will be able to afford health insurance.
Dirigo Health Insurance would be a state-assembled pool of uninsured people who would have access to – and some state funding to pay for – a state-designed health insurance plan provided by the private insurance company that bids the lowest in a state-run auction.
The plan has come under criticism because it would require employers and employees to purchase health insurance at or close to market rates, which are too high for many to bear.
Godfrey Wood, president and CEO of the Greater Portland Chambers of Commerce, has proposed moving forward with the healthcare system reform piece of the plan right away, and working through the summer to fine-tune the insurance segment.
Wood said more than half of the funding for the governor’s plan would come from individuals and employers, who are not now paying anything toward health insurance premiums, leaving workers and families uninsured.
He said “very few” businesses would sign onto the Dirigo Health Insurance plan because it wouldn’t be much cheaper than existing health insurance.
“It’s a very rich plan at a very inexpensive price,” projections he does not think are realistic. “Individuals can’t afford it now. Businesses can’t afford it,” Wood said.
The governor’s healthcare plan is now out of committee and looks likely to pass the full Legislature later this week.
It is a plan the head of Maine Medical Center says is worth a shot, while the head of the Greater Portland Chambers of Commerce says the insurance piece of it is unworkable.
“I believe that the governor’s initiative is admirable, bold, courageous, necessary,” said Vincent Conti, president and CEO of Maine Medical Center, the state’s largest hospital.
The governor’s overall plan, called “Dirigo Health,” is in two parts: controlling health care costs through regulation and an insurance plan, confusingly called “Dirigo Health Insurance,” which would create a subsidized pool to being insuring some of the 180,000 Mainers who now do not have health insurance.
Following intensive work and deal-making between lawmakers, healthcare providers, insurance companies and businesses, a deal worked out Monday night tweaks the insurance portion of the plan to save what some believe may be the more important part: healthcare cost containment.
In particular, the deal includes a safety net in case the insurance plan doesn’t work: After three years, the state will have to report on whether numbers of uninsured people are dropping and whether insurance premiums are going down because people are using their insurance to go to the doctor before they get critically ill. If the plan isn’t working, the state will have to propose major revisions that will work.
Conti of Maine Medical Center has his doubts about the insurance piece of the plan, but is supporting the governor’s package because of its broader reform goals. He said the health care system in Maine, “if not in crisis now, is pretty much heading toward a train wreck.”
With an aging population in Maine needing more healthcare, demand is growing, at the same time advances in medical technology are making health care more expensive, Conti said.
The governor’s plan would ask hospitals to hold down their per-patient costs and would improve the existing healthcare planning system in the state, removing political pressures from decisions on where new facilities will be built. Decisions would be based on which facilities could offer the best clinical outcomes because of proven expertise.
The state would augment an existing database now run by the Maine Health Management Coalition, compiling statistics on healthcare costs and treatment
outcomes, to give the public more information about how much modern medicine costs.
The second part, the health insurance plan, is intended to fix the healthcare payment system, in which 180,000 Mainers do not have health insurance. Because they lack coverage, they tend to wait until they are very ill and then go to what Conti calls “the single most expensive place in the universe” to get healthcare: the emergency room.
They can’t pay their bills, and the money must come from somewhere else. This cost-shifting is made worse because Medicaid and Medicare payments pay just 80 percent of the actual cost of care provided to their patients.
All of the unpaid money must be made up from the only remaining source: privately insured people and their insurance companies.
That drives up the cost of healthcare bills to private insurers, which in turn ups premiums for insurance coverage. Fewer people can afford insurance, and so more become uninsured, raising the specter of a vicious spiral in which, eventually, nobody will be able to afford health insurance.
Dirigo Health Insurance would be a state-assembled pool of uninsured people who would have access to – and some state funding to pay for – a state-designed health insurance plan provided by the private insurance company that bids the lowest in a state-run auction.
The plan has come under criticism because it would require employers and employees to purchase health insurance at or close to market rates, which are too high for many to bear.
Godfrey Wood, president and CEO of the Greater Portland Chambers of Commerce, has proposed moving forward with the healthcare system reform piece of the plan right away, and working through the summer to fine-tune the insurance segment.
Wood said more than half of the funding for the governor’s plan would come from individuals and employers, who are not now paying anything toward health insurance premiums, leaving workers and families uninsured.
He said “very few” businesses would sign onto the Dirigo Health Insurance plan because it wouldn’t be much cheaper than existing health insurance.
“It’s a very rich plan at a very inexpensive price,” projections he does not think are realistic. “Individuals can’t afford it now. Businesses can’t afford it,” Wood said.
Wednesday, May 28, 2003
Survey says fees at fort, prosecute parents
Published in the Current and the American Journal
A survey conducted by a Portland market research firm owned by a Cape Elizabeth woman shows that Mainers overwhelmingly support a $5 annual admission fee at Fort Williams, as well as prosecution of parents who “knowingly allow their minor children” to host parties with alcohol.
The survey, conducted by Critical Insights, owned by Cape resident MaryEllen FitzGerald, is part of a semi-annual statewide poll the company undertakes with two purposes. The first is to allow companies to purchase small numbers of questions in a statewide poll without commissioning an entire survey alone. Those questions, and their answers, are shared only with the clients.
The second purpose is to ask people a series of “general interest” questions over time that shows trends in opinion throughout the state. Those questions are created by the company’s staff, and results are made public to promote the firm, FitzGerald said.
She herself comes up with some of the questions, and for the past few years has added a question about parental responsibility for underage parties with alcohol. The question asks if parents who know about such parties should be prosecuted.
A “yes” answer to the question has gotten overwhelming support every time, and in the latest survey was supported by 82 percent of respondents.
FitzGerald said she added the question in response to “the ongoing conversation” in Cape Elizabeth about parents and teenage parties. Cape Police Capt. Brent Sinclair agreed with the survey’s respondents. “Absolutely they should” be prosecuted. When Cape police have enough evidence, “we do issue them a citation.”
Two percent of the survey respondents didn’t give an answer to the question. As for the 16 percent of survey respondents who said parents should not be prosecuted, Sinclair said, “those are the 16 percent of kids we’re dealing with.”
He warned that whether parents know about what their property is used for is immaterial, if a person gets drunk and gets in an accident on the way home. “In the bigger picture, it’s a huge liability for the parents,” Sinclair said.
This year, for the first time, FitzGerald also added a question about a Fort Williams admission charge, using the model proposed by Town Councilor Mary Ann Lynch of a $5 annual fee per vehicle.
The question included a preliminary statement by the questioner, to set a context for the question. The exact wording was: “With the current state budget shortfall, towns across the state are looking for ways to lessen the impact of the budget cuts on their communities. You may have heard that the town of Cape Elizabeth was considering charging a once-a-year fee of $5 for admittance to Fort Williams Park. Taxpayers in the town contribute $30 per household through their taxes to the maintenance of the park, where all visitors (including tour buses) are currently admitted for free of charge. Do you support or oppose charging a once-a-year fee of $5 per vehicle for a pass giving unlimited access to Fort Williams?”
Seventy-four percent of respondents agreed, with people living in Southern Maine supporting it less than people in other areas of the state.
Lynch said she had seen the survey and liked what she saw. “It confirmed my anecdotal gut feeling,” she said.
And though the survey was not just of Cape residents, she said it showed that “people outside of Cape Elizabeth recognize that it’s a resource that needs to be cherished – by paying for it.”
Also in the survey were questions about statewide and national issues.
Nearly half of all Mainers think unemployment and the economy are the two most important issues for the state, and look to Gov. John Baldacci for leadership to solve those problems.
Mainers are split on a casino, with a statistical dead-heat in the response to a question asking whether the respondent supports or opposes “the idea of building a casino in Maine.” When the question was asked again with language close to what is proposed to be on the ballot in November, support climbed to 57 percent.
The survey also included a question on a proposal co-sponsored by Rep. Larry Bliss, D-South Portland, to decrease the voting age to 17. Most people did not agree, with 77 percent opposing it and only 20 percent favoring it Three percent of respondents either did not know or refused to answer.
A survey conducted by a Portland market research firm owned by a Cape Elizabeth woman shows that Mainers overwhelmingly support a $5 annual admission fee at Fort Williams, as well as prosecution of parents who “knowingly allow their minor children” to host parties with alcohol.
The survey, conducted by Critical Insights, owned by Cape resident MaryEllen FitzGerald, is part of a semi-annual statewide poll the company undertakes with two purposes. The first is to allow companies to purchase small numbers of questions in a statewide poll without commissioning an entire survey alone. Those questions, and their answers, are shared only with the clients.
The second purpose is to ask people a series of “general interest” questions over time that shows trends in opinion throughout the state. Those questions are created by the company’s staff, and results are made public to promote the firm, FitzGerald said.
She herself comes up with some of the questions, and for the past few years has added a question about parental responsibility for underage parties with alcohol. The question asks if parents who know about such parties should be prosecuted.
A “yes” answer to the question has gotten overwhelming support every time, and in the latest survey was supported by 82 percent of respondents.
FitzGerald said she added the question in response to “the ongoing conversation” in Cape Elizabeth about parents and teenage parties. Cape Police Capt. Brent Sinclair agreed with the survey’s respondents. “Absolutely they should” be prosecuted. When Cape police have enough evidence, “we do issue them a citation.”
Two percent of the survey respondents didn’t give an answer to the question. As for the 16 percent of survey respondents who said parents should not be prosecuted, Sinclair said, “those are the 16 percent of kids we’re dealing with.”
He warned that whether parents know about what their property is used for is immaterial, if a person gets drunk and gets in an accident on the way home. “In the bigger picture, it’s a huge liability for the parents,” Sinclair said.
This year, for the first time, FitzGerald also added a question about a Fort Williams admission charge, using the model proposed by Town Councilor Mary Ann Lynch of a $5 annual fee per vehicle.
The question included a preliminary statement by the questioner, to set a context for the question. The exact wording was: “With the current state budget shortfall, towns across the state are looking for ways to lessen the impact of the budget cuts on their communities. You may have heard that the town of Cape Elizabeth was considering charging a once-a-year fee of $5 for admittance to Fort Williams Park. Taxpayers in the town contribute $30 per household through their taxes to the maintenance of the park, where all visitors (including tour buses) are currently admitted for free of charge. Do you support or oppose charging a once-a-year fee of $5 per vehicle for a pass giving unlimited access to Fort Williams?”
Seventy-four percent of respondents agreed, with people living in Southern Maine supporting it less than people in other areas of the state.
Lynch said she had seen the survey and liked what she saw. “It confirmed my anecdotal gut feeling,” she said.
And though the survey was not just of Cape residents, she said it showed that “people outside of Cape Elizabeth recognize that it’s a resource that needs to be cherished – by paying for it.”
Also in the survey were questions about statewide and national issues.
Nearly half of all Mainers think unemployment and the economy are the two most important issues for the state, and look to Gov. John Baldacci for leadership to solve those problems.
Mainers are split on a casino, with a statistical dead-heat in the response to a question asking whether the respondent supports or opposes “the idea of building a casino in Maine.” When the question was asked again with language close to what is proposed to be on the ballot in November, support climbed to 57 percent.
The survey also included a question on a proposal co-sponsored by Rep. Larry Bliss, D-South Portland, to decrease the voting age to 17. Most people did not agree, with 77 percent opposing it and only 20 percent favoring it Three percent of respondents either did not know or refused to answer.
Wednesday, May 14, 2003
Bank robber nabbed at Super 8
Published in the Current and the American Journal
A man who allegedly robbed a Portland bank Saturday was arrested Monday at the Super 8 Motel on Larrabee Road in Westbrook. Steven Conway, 34, who gave police an address in Cape Elizabeth, was scheduled for arraignment Tuesday on a charge of armed robbery.
Portland Police Deputy Chief Bill Ridge expects the state charge to be dropped and a federal bank robbery charge to be filed against Conway.
“Robbing a bank is at the same time a state crime and a federal crime,” Ridge said. The federal charge “has far more severe penalties.”
On Saturday just after noon, a man walked into the Key Bank branch at 400 Forest Ave., Portland, “displayed a firearm and demanded money,” Ridge said.
An undisclosed amount was loaded into two paper bags, and the man left. As he walked down a nearby street, a dye packet concealed in one bag exploded, marking the stolen bills. The man left that bag, and police were able to recover “a large amount” of cash from the street, Ridge said.
“He eluded the police at that point,” Ridge said. Nothing more was heard until Portland police got a call at 8 a.m. Monday morning from a desk clerk at the Super 8 Motel on Larrabee Road. That person had money in the cash register “that appeared to be tainted with red dye,” Ridge said. The clerk said the man who had passed the money was still in his room.
Portland and Westbrook police responded, as well as the FBI. Just after 11 a.m., the clerk called the room to ask for the occupants to pay for another night or to leave.
“Mr. Conway and a woman who was with him” came out of the room. Conway had some red-tainted bills on him, Ridge said. The woman was questioned and released as a witness who was not involved in the crime.
A man who allegedly robbed a Portland bank Saturday was arrested Monday at the Super 8 Motel on Larrabee Road in Westbrook. Steven Conway, 34, who gave police an address in Cape Elizabeth, was scheduled for arraignment Tuesday on a charge of armed robbery.
Portland Police Deputy Chief Bill Ridge expects the state charge to be dropped and a federal bank robbery charge to be filed against Conway.
“Robbing a bank is at the same time a state crime and a federal crime,” Ridge said. The federal charge “has far more severe penalties.”
On Saturday just after noon, a man walked into the Key Bank branch at 400 Forest Ave., Portland, “displayed a firearm and demanded money,” Ridge said.
An undisclosed amount was loaded into two paper bags, and the man left. As he walked down a nearby street, a dye packet concealed in one bag exploded, marking the stolen bills. The man left that bag, and police were able to recover “a large amount” of cash from the street, Ridge said.
“He eluded the police at that point,” Ridge said. Nothing more was heard until Portland police got a call at 8 a.m. Monday morning from a desk clerk at the Super 8 Motel on Larrabee Road. That person had money in the cash register “that appeared to be tainted with red dye,” Ridge said. The clerk said the man who had passed the money was still in his room.
Portland and Westbrook police responded, as well as the FBI. Just after 11 a.m., the clerk called the room to ask for the occupants to pay for another night or to leave.
“Mr. Conway and a woman who was with him” came out of the room. Conway had some red-tainted bills on him, Ridge said. The woman was questioned and released as a witness who was not involved in the crime.
Wednesday, April 23, 2003
Column: Live in Maine? Pay me
Published in the Current and the American Journal
I’m 29 years old, I hold a master’s degree, and I live in Maine. The state should pay me to stay here.
In November 2001, the State Planning Office issued its “30 and 1000” report, saying that the two keys to improving and stabilizing Maine’s economy, income level and state tax revenue are having 30 percent of adults over age 25 with a four-year degree, and spending $1,000 per worker on research and development into new products and possibilities.
Evan Richert, who was director of the SPO when that report came out, spoke in Cape Elizabeth recently and continued his push toward that goal.
In terms of the 30 percent goal, he said about 23 or 24 percent of adults in Maine now have four-year degrees, up from 19 percent in 2001.
As for research and development money, it can be hard to come by in a state with a big budget crunch. The Maine Technology Institute, which provides seed money for R&D, is losing 10 percent of its funding under Gov. John Baldacci’s proposed spending for 2004-2005.
There is a lot of talk, but little action yet, about spending a few million to retool the state’s technical colleges into community colleges, and the UMaine system is also looking for money to spend on R&D, even as its budget belt tightens.
But there is an easy way to move closer to the “30” benchmark: Help the Mainers who already have four-year degrees.
We’re already looking to other states for opportunities, especially those of us who are young. It’s cheaper to live in other states, and incomes are higher too.
Why should we stay in Maine, and why should people move here from elsewhere, when the cost of living is substantially similar, wages are much lower and there are fewer good jobs?
I would like to feel that the state recognizes my presence here as contributing to its economic well-being both now and in the future. Right now, I feel unappreciated by the state that is my home.
The simple solution is money, but how do you allocate it fairly?
One way would be through the state income tax. The state and individuals already use the income tax to exchange money. If I paid too much, the state gives it back; if I didn’t, I write the state a check.
Maine should add a box to the income tax form: “Check here if you are over the age of 25 and have a four-year degree.” Checking that box would permit a taxpayer to add, say, $500 to the standard deduction amount. For single filers, that would bump the amount of money exempt from taxes up from $7,550 to $8,050.
Married filers would go up from $6,775 to $7,275 per person. If the state wanted to, it could require a photocopy of a college transcript be filed with the return – most of us have one somewhere, and I’d find it if it meant money in my pocket.
The tax rate on taxable earnings after the first $16,950 is 8.5 percent. By offering an increase in the standard deduction, the state would be losing in tax revenue 8.5 percent of that $500, per person with a degree, or $42.50 a head.
If one-fourth of the 1,275,000 people in Maine have a degree, there are just under 320,000 of us. It’s a rough estimate, but that would cost $13.6 million in lost revenue for the state. That’s far less than the $43 million being allocated for R&D, and less than the $50 million to assist students in paying for higher education. It would be about 1 percent of what the state now collect in income tax – just over $1 billion – and less than 0.2 percent of what the state spends.
That $42.50 wouldn’t hurt the state budget much, or permit me to buy a lot, but it would say Maine’s government was thinking about me and valued my presence here. If Maine is trying to up the number of folks with college degrees, it should look at keeping what it has as a starting point.
I’m 29 years old, I hold a master’s degree, and I live in Maine. The state should pay me to stay here.
In November 2001, the State Planning Office issued its “30 and 1000” report, saying that the two keys to improving and stabilizing Maine’s economy, income level and state tax revenue are having 30 percent of adults over age 25 with a four-year degree, and spending $1,000 per worker on research and development into new products and possibilities.
Evan Richert, who was director of the SPO when that report came out, spoke in Cape Elizabeth recently and continued his push toward that goal.
In terms of the 30 percent goal, he said about 23 or 24 percent of adults in Maine now have four-year degrees, up from 19 percent in 2001.
As for research and development money, it can be hard to come by in a state with a big budget crunch. The Maine Technology Institute, which provides seed money for R&D, is losing 10 percent of its funding under Gov. John Baldacci’s proposed spending for 2004-2005.
There is a lot of talk, but little action yet, about spending a few million to retool the state’s technical colleges into community colleges, and the UMaine system is also looking for money to spend on R&D, even as its budget belt tightens.
But there is an easy way to move closer to the “30” benchmark: Help the Mainers who already have four-year degrees.
We’re already looking to other states for opportunities, especially those of us who are young. It’s cheaper to live in other states, and incomes are higher too.
Why should we stay in Maine, and why should people move here from elsewhere, when the cost of living is substantially similar, wages are much lower and there are fewer good jobs?
I would like to feel that the state recognizes my presence here as contributing to its economic well-being both now and in the future. Right now, I feel unappreciated by the state that is my home.
The simple solution is money, but how do you allocate it fairly?
One way would be through the state income tax. The state and individuals already use the income tax to exchange money. If I paid too much, the state gives it back; if I didn’t, I write the state a check.
Maine should add a box to the income tax form: “Check here if you are over the age of 25 and have a four-year degree.” Checking that box would permit a taxpayer to add, say, $500 to the standard deduction amount. For single filers, that would bump the amount of money exempt from taxes up from $7,550 to $8,050.
Married filers would go up from $6,775 to $7,275 per person. If the state wanted to, it could require a photocopy of a college transcript be filed with the return – most of us have one somewhere, and I’d find it if it meant money in my pocket.
The tax rate on taxable earnings after the first $16,950 is 8.5 percent. By offering an increase in the standard deduction, the state would be losing in tax revenue 8.5 percent of that $500, per person with a degree, or $42.50 a head.
If one-fourth of the 1,275,000 people in Maine have a degree, there are just under 320,000 of us. It’s a rough estimate, but that would cost $13.6 million in lost revenue for the state. That’s far less than the $43 million being allocated for R&D, and less than the $50 million to assist students in paying for higher education. It would be about 1 percent of what the state now collect in income tax – just over $1 billion – and less than 0.2 percent of what the state spends.
That $42.50 wouldn’t hurt the state budget much, or permit me to buy a lot, but it would say Maine’s government was thinking about me and valued my presence here. If Maine is trying to up the number of folks with college degrees, it should look at keeping what it has as a starting point.
Wednesday, April 9, 2003
Truck spills fuel in S.P.
Published in the American Journal
A tanker truck carrying 8,000 gallons of fuel flipped over early Monday morning, spilling jet fuel into the street and into storm drains leading to the Fore River and Casco Bay.
The truck overturned right outside the South Portland Central Fire Station at the corner of Broadway and Route 77, and closed the Casco Bay Bridge for hours, delaying traffic heading from Portland to South Portland.
Jon Woodard of the state Department of Environmental Protection said the truck was carrying 8,000 gallons. “All of it was released from the truck,” he said. Some was contained on the street and some went into storm drains leading to the water.
“We have collected a lot of it,” Woodard said. The DEP and Clean Harbors, a South Portland-based environmental company handling the cleanup, are using booms to contain the jet fuel that flowed into the water.
Woodard said the state Department of Marine Resources is sampling the water in the Fore River and Portland harbor to make sure no fuel escaped. He said there have been a few small sheens reported in both of those areas, but does not believe any significant amount escaped containment.
A spokesman for Clean Harbors said the amount of the spill was “sizeable.” The company said it would not have a good handle on how long the cleanup will take before the American Journal’s deadline.
It will take at least until Wednesday afternoon, according to the South Portland Police Department. A cruiser has been assigned to block the right-turn lane coming off the bridge onto Broadway through Wednesday afternoon. That will allow cleanup workers to use the road as they collect contaminated dirt from the area around the spill.
Woodard said the level of environmental damage remained to be seen. He said the plants “are not really out yet,” and may not suffer much damage, while marine animals and shellfish have different levels of sensitivity to contaminants.
A tanker truck carrying 8,000 gallons of fuel flipped over early Monday morning, spilling jet fuel into the street and into storm drains leading to the Fore River and Casco Bay.
The truck overturned right outside the South Portland Central Fire Station at the corner of Broadway and Route 77, and closed the Casco Bay Bridge for hours, delaying traffic heading from Portland to South Portland.
Jon Woodard of the state Department of Environmental Protection said the truck was carrying 8,000 gallons. “All of it was released from the truck,” he said. Some was contained on the street and some went into storm drains leading to the water.
“We have collected a lot of it,” Woodard said. The DEP and Clean Harbors, a South Portland-based environmental company handling the cleanup, are using booms to contain the jet fuel that flowed into the water.
Woodard said the state Department of Marine Resources is sampling the water in the Fore River and Portland harbor to make sure no fuel escaped. He said there have been a few small sheens reported in both of those areas, but does not believe any significant amount escaped containment.
A spokesman for Clean Harbors said the amount of the spill was “sizeable.” The company said it would not have a good handle on how long the cleanup will take before the American Journal’s deadline.
It will take at least until Wednesday afternoon, according to the South Portland Police Department. A cruiser has been assigned to block the right-turn lane coming off the bridge onto Broadway through Wednesday afternoon. That will allow cleanup workers to use the road as they collect contaminated dirt from the area around the spill.
Woodard said the level of environmental damage remained to be seen. He said the plants “are not really out yet,” and may not suffer much damage, while marine animals and shellfish have different levels of sensitivity to contaminants.
PWD not interested in lease plan
Published in the Current and the American Journal
A legislative bill that caused a big stir in Standish now appears unlikely to have any real impact on the town’s tax rolls.
Rep. Janet McLaughlin, D-Cape Elizabeth, proposed a bill that would allow water and sewer districts, including the Portland Water District, to raise ready cash under a lease-and-lease-back arrangement. Under the proposal,
district-owned buildings and equipment would be leased to a private entity, which could then take depreciation of the assets off their taxes.
Standish residents and officials were excited that the town might be a beneficiary of private control of the district’s assets, worth as much as $50 million, because they would no longer be tax exempt as they are now under PWD ownership.
Not only is the bill now tabled pending the input of the Legislature’s finance committee, but it could be revamped to excise any portions that would result in the transfer of ownership of any PWD equipment or buildings, leaving Standish’s hands empty of any new taxes.
Rep. Larry Bliss, D-South Portland, who heads the Legislature’s utilities committee, said last week that state law would require the state to pay half of the tax liability for any private property it exempts from tax. Under the proposal, the state would have granted that exemption.
A letter circulated to Standish town councilors suggested that PWD property is now worth $50 million. At Standish’s $20.48 per thousand tax rate, half of its potential property tax is $512,000, which the state would have to reimburse under the proposal.
That would be unlikely to pass in this tight budget season, Bliss said.
And the district is not interested anyway. PWD trustee chairman Howard Littlefield of Cape Elizabeth said there was nothing in the proposal the district would be likely to use.
The lease-and-lease-back arrangement was designed to provide ready cash to districts, paid by investors, who would take depreciation tax deductions on the district’s assets over time.
The tax-exempt district does not now receive any credit for depreciation. The bill would not allow the lease or sale of water rights, and transactions would be unlikely to include much real estate, because land does not depreciate.
A legislative bill that caused a big stir in Standish now appears unlikely to have any real impact on the town’s tax rolls.
Rep. Janet McLaughlin, D-Cape Elizabeth, proposed a bill that would allow water and sewer districts, including the Portland Water District, to raise ready cash under a lease-and-lease-back arrangement. Under the proposal,
district-owned buildings and equipment would be leased to a private entity, which could then take depreciation of the assets off their taxes.
Standish residents and officials were excited that the town might be a beneficiary of private control of the district’s assets, worth as much as $50 million, because they would no longer be tax exempt as they are now under PWD ownership.
Not only is the bill now tabled pending the input of the Legislature’s finance committee, but it could be revamped to excise any portions that would result in the transfer of ownership of any PWD equipment or buildings, leaving Standish’s hands empty of any new taxes.
Rep. Larry Bliss, D-South Portland, who heads the Legislature’s utilities committee, said last week that state law would require the state to pay half of the tax liability for any private property it exempts from tax. Under the proposal, the state would have granted that exemption.
A letter circulated to Standish town councilors suggested that PWD property is now worth $50 million. At Standish’s $20.48 per thousand tax rate, half of its potential property tax is $512,000, which the state would have to reimburse under the proposal.
That would be unlikely to pass in this tight budget season, Bliss said.
And the district is not interested anyway. PWD trustee chairman Howard Littlefield of Cape Elizabeth said there was nothing in the proposal the district would be likely to use.
The lease-and-lease-back arrangement was designed to provide ready cash to districts, paid by investors, who would take depreciation tax deductions on the district’s assets over time.
The tax-exempt district does not now receive any credit for depreciation. The bill would not allow the lease or sale of water rights, and transactions would be unlikely to include much real estate, because land does not depreciate.
Biode puts high-tech twist on measuring thickness
Published in the Current and the American Journal
What Biode Inc. has to sell is only slightly larger than a postage stamp, and the company hopes to reach as diverse a range of buyers. Their solid-state digital viscometer, built to measure the thickness of liquids from motor oil to shampoo, is in the testing phase and has generated interest from prospective buyers including the U.S. Navy and Procter and Gamble.
Biode’s office hides in the back of a building on Larrabee Road in Westbrook. Chief Technology Officer Kerem Durdag of Scarborough said the company was founded in 1986 to do research and development on ways to detect contaminants in liquids.
In the mid-1990s, the company chose to focus on commercializing one of the products it had developed, the viscometer. Most viscometers are mechanical instruments requiring very precise environmental conditions for proper measurements, Durdag said.
“The viscometry market is very mature,” he said. The successful companies in the sector have been around for 60 years or more, making the same type of equipment now as then.
They have a broad market base, though, one that is attractive to Biode.
“Anything that is gooey, (someone) will measure viscosity on it,” Durdag said. The usual method in industry today involves taking a sample of a fluid, like shampoo, somewhere in the manufacturing process, taking it to a lab for testing, and reading the results some time later to make adjustments in the process.
Real-time viscosity measurements are not possible most of the time because of the equipment required to take the measurements, Durdag said. Biode’s digital viscometer has no moving parts, which prevents it from “gumming up,” he said.
Biode’s device can fit in a pipe to give real-time data feeds, or can be used on a tabletop to handle samples from vials or test tubes. Connected to a standard PC laptop using a commercially available data-acquisition card and software, the viscometer can start reading data immediately and requires no power source.
Instead, it is what is called a “surface acoustic wave device,” which operates by vibrating on an atomic level, Durdag said. When the measuring surface is exposed to a fluid, the vibration changes as a result of “viscous damping,” allowing the device to measure how easy it is to shake the fluid around.
Biode has approached companies that are traditionally early adopters of technology, as well as large operations that might want in-stream process measurements.
Among the interested clients are Procter and Gamble’s shampoo manufacturing, beer companies that want to know how their malt syrup is doing, and the U.S. Navy.
“They like to do oil sampling on their ships at very frequent intervals,” Durdag said. Mechanical devices can’t work on ships because they require a level surface to base their readings on. So the Navy, at great expense, flies helicopters between ships and land-based laboratories carrying jars of oil to be tested.
The Navy is now testing Biode’s device, which would allow real-time readings even aboard ship, and may phase it in over time, Durdag said.
The company has taken advantage of a number of state business-assistance programs in the four years since it started work to bring the viscometer to market.
One of the most important services was the patent program at the UMaine School of Law in Portland, Durdag said. It allows companies to get access to patent attorneys at reasonable charges to protect their intellectual property rights.
“Maine tends to be fairly risk-averse to tech, when it comes to startups,” Durdag said. That makes it hard to get money, but the Maine Technology Institute has grants for this type of activity, and the Maine Seed Capital Tax Program is also useful, giving investors in qualifying companies 40 percent of their money back in tax credits. Maine Investment Exchange and the Small Enterprise Growth Fund also have played large roles in helping Biode raise the money it needed to continue development.
Part of the problem in the private sector was that Maine investors are used to short business cycles, more in line with agricultural or marine businesses, in which increased investment leads to higher yield almost immediately. Technology is slower, which can make it harder to find money, Durdag said.
Durdag was, however, able to turn to other state companies as component suppliers. The circuit boards are from Enercon Technologies in Gray and Knox Semiconductor in Rockland. “We’re leveraging a good amount of Maine stuff here,” Durdag said.
Maine companies may also be good buyers for it, he said. When the device goes on the market in the summer, the company plans to approach paper companies to see if they want to use it in their manufacturing process. Durdag is already working on a test at the UMaine paper mill test center in Orono.
“We’re crazy enough to think wecan do it,” Durdag said.
What Biode Inc. has to sell is only slightly larger than a postage stamp, and the company hopes to reach as diverse a range of buyers. Their solid-state digital viscometer, built to measure the thickness of liquids from motor oil to shampoo, is in the testing phase and has generated interest from prospective buyers including the U.S. Navy and Procter and Gamble.
Biode’s office hides in the back of a building on Larrabee Road in Westbrook. Chief Technology Officer Kerem Durdag of Scarborough said the company was founded in 1986 to do research and development on ways to detect contaminants in liquids.
In the mid-1990s, the company chose to focus on commercializing one of the products it had developed, the viscometer. Most viscometers are mechanical instruments requiring very precise environmental conditions for proper measurements, Durdag said.
“The viscometry market is very mature,” he said. The successful companies in the sector have been around for 60 years or more, making the same type of equipment now as then.
They have a broad market base, though, one that is attractive to Biode.
“Anything that is gooey, (someone) will measure viscosity on it,” Durdag said. The usual method in industry today involves taking a sample of a fluid, like shampoo, somewhere in the manufacturing process, taking it to a lab for testing, and reading the results some time later to make adjustments in the process.
Real-time viscosity measurements are not possible most of the time because of the equipment required to take the measurements, Durdag said. Biode’s digital viscometer has no moving parts, which prevents it from “gumming up,” he said.
Biode’s device can fit in a pipe to give real-time data feeds, or can be used on a tabletop to handle samples from vials or test tubes. Connected to a standard PC laptop using a commercially available data-acquisition card and software, the viscometer can start reading data immediately and requires no power source.
Instead, it is what is called a “surface acoustic wave device,” which operates by vibrating on an atomic level, Durdag said. When the measuring surface is exposed to a fluid, the vibration changes as a result of “viscous damping,” allowing the device to measure how easy it is to shake the fluid around.
Biode has approached companies that are traditionally early adopters of technology, as well as large operations that might want in-stream process measurements.
Among the interested clients are Procter and Gamble’s shampoo manufacturing, beer companies that want to know how their malt syrup is doing, and the U.S. Navy.
“They like to do oil sampling on their ships at very frequent intervals,” Durdag said. Mechanical devices can’t work on ships because they require a level surface to base their readings on. So the Navy, at great expense, flies helicopters between ships and land-based laboratories carrying jars of oil to be tested.
The Navy is now testing Biode’s device, which would allow real-time readings even aboard ship, and may phase it in over time, Durdag said.
The company has taken advantage of a number of state business-assistance programs in the four years since it started work to bring the viscometer to market.
One of the most important services was the patent program at the UMaine School of Law in Portland, Durdag said. It allows companies to get access to patent attorneys at reasonable charges to protect their intellectual property rights.
“Maine tends to be fairly risk-averse to tech, when it comes to startups,” Durdag said. That makes it hard to get money, but the Maine Technology Institute has grants for this type of activity, and the Maine Seed Capital Tax Program is also useful, giving investors in qualifying companies 40 percent of their money back in tax credits. Maine Investment Exchange and the Small Enterprise Growth Fund also have played large roles in helping Biode raise the money it needed to continue development.
Part of the problem in the private sector was that Maine investors are used to short business cycles, more in line with agricultural or marine businesses, in which increased investment leads to higher yield almost immediately. Technology is slower, which can make it harder to find money, Durdag said.
Durdag was, however, able to turn to other state companies as component suppliers. The circuit boards are from Enercon Technologies in Gray and Knox Semiconductor in Rockland. “We’re leveraging a good amount of Maine stuff here,” Durdag said.
Maine companies may also be good buyers for it, he said. When the device goes on the market in the summer, the company plans to approach paper companies to see if they want to use it in their manufacturing process. Durdag is already working on a test at the UMaine paper mill test center in Orono.
“We’re crazy enough to think wecan do it,” Durdag said.
Thursday, April 3, 2003
Unum fires CEO after stock slide
Published in the Current, the American Journal, and the Lakes Region Suburban Weekly
Facing as many as 13 class-action securities fraud lawsuits, profit restatements, downgrades from investment rating firms and a crisis of employee morale, UnumProvident fired long-time chairman and CEO Harold Chandler and replaced him March 27 with interim president and CEO Thomas Watjen, Chandler’s right-hand man.
Layoffs and organizational restructuring are not on the table, said the company’s spokeswoman in Portland, Linnea Olsen. “We need everyone that’s here,” she said. UnumProvident, which sells disability insurance, is headquartered in Chattanooga, Tenn.
The board’s firing of Chandler “is not something that was caused by any one event,” Olsen said. Instead, it was “the cumulative effect of many things.”
Among those were a $29.1 million restated reduction in earnings for 2000, 2001 and 2002, the result of a Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry into its investment disclosures. And in the past three weeks, several investment-rating firms, including Standard and Poor’s and Moody’s, have downgraded UnumProvident stock, citing concerns the company is over invested in high-risk companies.
The company recently sold $500 million worth of these below-investment-grade bonds specifically to placate rating agencies, Olsen said.
But the company still believes in its business plan and will continue to implement it quickly, Watjen told analysts in a Monday conference call briefing.
A crisis of confidence and leadership led to Chandler’s ouster, Olsen said. He will get $8.5 million in severance pay, roughly four times his annual pay in 2000, and $8.5 million in pension benefits.
Chandler joined Provident as its CEO in 1993, and presided over the merger with the Portland-based Unum in 1999, after which he remained CEO of the combined company. One analyst said in the conference call that she was glad that Watjen would stay on “to provide continuity,” while another expressed surprise that one architect of the company’s plan would be fired and the other would take his place.
Watjen said he would keep the plan moving, but would have a different leadership style from Chandler, who he said was less decisive, less inclusive and less communicative than Watjen will be. He said his new style would become evident very shortly, and pointed to the increased disclosures in the company’s annual report, filed with the SEC Monday, as an example of more communications.
He said company employees were notified of the management change over the weekend and would be involved in further company-wide discussions
in the coming days, to allow them to understand what happened.
In the coming months, UnumProvident will be “out in the marketplace” seeking to raise as much as $1.5 billion, according to a November 2002 filing with the SEC. Olsen said the company would be looking for between $500 million and $1 billion, while Watjen told analysts Monday that the figure would be between $750 million and $1 billion.
The money is not earmarked for spending but instead will be used as capital on hand to offset concerns held by investment analysts, Olsen said.
“We will continue to have investment losses,” she said. Rating agencies are therefore looking for additional capital on hand to cushion those losses, she said.
Some of the capital will come from internal processes, such as regrouping some old individual disability policies into group policies, and there may be further sales of below-investment-grade bonds, she said.
Also, inter-company loans from the insurance subsidiaries to the holding company will be repaid, giving the subsidiaries more ready cash, Olsen said.
She expects there will be a combination of stock sales and convertible bonds. “We will not be issuing straight debt,” Olsen said.
Initial indications from investment banks lead her to believe the company will raise the money it needs, she said.
The company also faces 13 class-action lawsuits alleging the company committed securities fraud by failing to truthfully disclose financial performance information to shareholders and prospective shareholders.
Olsen discounted the lawsuits, saying, “it’s an annoyance.” She said many of them were filed by law firms that specialize in stock-price collapses. The last group of suits was filed after the price dropped 62 percent, bottoming out below $6 per share.
“None of those classes have been certified,” Olsen said. Without a judge’s certification that a broad class of people was harmed, the suits cannot proceed.
The company also was fined $1 million by Georgia’s insurance commissioner for violations of that state’s insurance code during the merger of Unum and Provident in 1999.
“It was a slap on the wrist,” Olsen said.
The company’s search for a new, permanent CEO will begin shortly, and interim CEO Watjen will be considered for the position, Olsen said. “We have a real sense of urgency about this,” she added.
Facing as many as 13 class-action securities fraud lawsuits, profit restatements, downgrades from investment rating firms and a crisis of employee morale, UnumProvident fired long-time chairman and CEO Harold Chandler and replaced him March 27 with interim president and CEO Thomas Watjen, Chandler’s right-hand man.
Layoffs and organizational restructuring are not on the table, said the company’s spokeswoman in Portland, Linnea Olsen. “We need everyone that’s here,” she said. UnumProvident, which sells disability insurance, is headquartered in Chattanooga, Tenn.
The board’s firing of Chandler “is not something that was caused by any one event,” Olsen said. Instead, it was “the cumulative effect of many things.”
Among those were a $29.1 million restated reduction in earnings for 2000, 2001 and 2002, the result of a Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry into its investment disclosures. And in the past three weeks, several investment-rating firms, including Standard and Poor’s and Moody’s, have downgraded UnumProvident stock, citing concerns the company is over invested in high-risk companies.
The company recently sold $500 million worth of these below-investment-grade bonds specifically to placate rating agencies, Olsen said.
But the company still believes in its business plan and will continue to implement it quickly, Watjen told analysts in a Monday conference call briefing.
A crisis of confidence and leadership led to Chandler’s ouster, Olsen said. He will get $8.5 million in severance pay, roughly four times his annual pay in 2000, and $8.5 million in pension benefits.
Chandler joined Provident as its CEO in 1993, and presided over the merger with the Portland-based Unum in 1999, after which he remained CEO of the combined company. One analyst said in the conference call that she was glad that Watjen would stay on “to provide continuity,” while another expressed surprise that one architect of the company’s plan would be fired and the other would take his place.
Watjen said he would keep the plan moving, but would have a different leadership style from Chandler, who he said was less decisive, less inclusive and less communicative than Watjen will be. He said his new style would become evident very shortly, and pointed to the increased disclosures in the company’s annual report, filed with the SEC Monday, as an example of more communications.
He said company employees were notified of the management change over the weekend and would be involved in further company-wide discussions
in the coming days, to allow them to understand what happened.
In the coming months, UnumProvident will be “out in the marketplace” seeking to raise as much as $1.5 billion, according to a November 2002 filing with the SEC. Olsen said the company would be looking for between $500 million and $1 billion, while Watjen told analysts Monday that the figure would be between $750 million and $1 billion.
The money is not earmarked for spending but instead will be used as capital on hand to offset concerns held by investment analysts, Olsen said.
“We will continue to have investment losses,” she said. Rating agencies are therefore looking for additional capital on hand to cushion those losses, she said.
Some of the capital will come from internal processes, such as regrouping some old individual disability policies into group policies, and there may be further sales of below-investment-grade bonds, she said.
Also, inter-company loans from the insurance subsidiaries to the holding company will be repaid, giving the subsidiaries more ready cash, Olsen said.
She expects there will be a combination of stock sales and convertible bonds. “We will not be issuing straight debt,” Olsen said.
Initial indications from investment banks lead her to believe the company will raise the money it needs, she said.
The company also faces 13 class-action lawsuits alleging the company committed securities fraud by failing to truthfully disclose financial performance information to shareholders and prospective shareholders.
Olsen discounted the lawsuits, saying, “it’s an annoyance.” She said many of them were filed by law firms that specialize in stock-price collapses. The last group of suits was filed after the price dropped 62 percent, bottoming out below $6 per share.
“None of those classes have been certified,” Olsen said. Without a judge’s certification that a broad class of people was harmed, the suits cannot proceed.
The company also was fined $1 million by Georgia’s insurance commissioner for violations of that state’s insurance code during the merger of Unum and Provident in 1999.
“It was a slap on the wrist,” Olsen said.
The company’s search for a new, permanent CEO will begin shortly, and interim CEO Watjen will be considered for the position, Olsen said. “We have a real sense of urgency about this,” she added.
Wednesday, April 2, 2003
Transit service faces cuts
Published in the Current and the American Journal
A state cut in transportation funds for Medicaid patients could force several of the state’s social service transportation companies to close and would result in “dramatic cuts” to Cumberland County’s Regional Transportation Program.
A $600,000 cut in state funds proposed by Gov. John Baldacci would result in a further $1.2 million loss in matching federal funds, according to Jon McNulty, RTP’s executive director.
That loss would be spread across the state’s social service transportation agencies, but would be “a devastating blow” to all involved, he said.
“In some areas, they would simply go out of business,” McNulty said. That would leave people without a way to get to dialysis treatments, child care or work.
If the cuts – up to 60 percent of RTP’s funding – go through, RTP would need to lay off some of its 48 drivers. The agency now runs 260,000 trips per year, logging 3 million passenger-miles for 4,500 clients, McNulty said.
Though RTP wouldn’t close its doors, there would be reductions.
“We would have to make some dramatic cuts,” McNulty said.
In particular, the agency wouldn’t be able to afford volunteers, who pay for their own vehicles but are reimbursed 30 cents per mile. “Volunteers are very inexpensive by comparison” to maintenance of the agency’s own vehicles, McNulty said.
“We’ll survive,” he said. Primarily that is because of other programs RTP has in partnership with the city of Portland, and an arrangement in which the state Department of Transportation provides RTP’s vehicles.
McNulty questioned the wisdom of cutting spending that brings in additional federal funding to the state, and said there are “administrative ways” state officials could restore some of the loss, despite the approval of the state budget last week.
A state cut in transportation funds for Medicaid patients could force several of the state’s social service transportation companies to close and would result in “dramatic cuts” to Cumberland County’s Regional Transportation Program.
A $600,000 cut in state funds proposed by Gov. John Baldacci would result in a further $1.2 million loss in matching federal funds, according to Jon McNulty, RTP’s executive director.
That loss would be spread across the state’s social service transportation agencies, but would be “a devastating blow” to all involved, he said.
“In some areas, they would simply go out of business,” McNulty said. That would leave people without a way to get to dialysis treatments, child care or work.
If the cuts – up to 60 percent of RTP’s funding – go through, RTP would need to lay off some of its 48 drivers. The agency now runs 260,000 trips per year, logging 3 million passenger-miles for 4,500 clients, McNulty said.
Though RTP wouldn’t close its doors, there would be reductions.
“We would have to make some dramatic cuts,” McNulty said.
In particular, the agency wouldn’t be able to afford volunteers, who pay for their own vehicles but are reimbursed 30 cents per mile. “Volunteers are very inexpensive by comparison” to maintenance of the agency’s own vehicles, McNulty said.
“We’ll survive,” he said. Primarily that is because of other programs RTP has in partnership with the city of Portland, and an arrangement in which the state Department of Transportation provides RTP’s vehicles.
McNulty questioned the wisdom of cutting spending that brings in additional federal funding to the state, and said there are “administrative ways” state officials could restore some of the loss, despite the approval of the state budget last week.
Unum fires CEO after stock slide
Published in the Current and the American Journal
Facing as many as 13 class-action securities fraud lawsuits, profit restatements, downgrades from investment rating firms and a crisis of employee morale, UnumProvident fired long-time chairman and CEO Harold Chandler and replaced him March 27 with interim president and CEO Thomas Watjen, Chandler’s right-hand man.
Layoffs and organizational restructuring are not on the table, said the company’s spokeswoman in Portland, Linnea Olsen. “We need everyone that’s here,” she said. UnumProvident, which sells disability insurance, is headquartered in Chattanooga, Tenn.
The board’s firing of Chandler “is not something that was caused by any one event,” Olsen said. Instead, it was “the cumulative effect of many things.”
Among those were a $29.1 million restated reduction in earnings for 2000, 2001 and 2002, the result of a Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry into the company’s investment disclosures.
And in the past three weeks, several investment-rating firms, including Standard and Poor’s and Moody’s, have downgraded UnumProvident stock, citing concerns the company is over-invested in high-risk companies.
The company recently sold $500 million worth of these below-investment-grade bonds specifically to placate rating agencies, Olsen said.
But the company still believes in its business plan and will continue to implement it quickly, Watjen told analysts in a Monday conference call briefing.
A crisis of confidence and leadership led to Chandler’s ouster, Olsen said. He will get $8.5 million in severance pay, roughly four times his annual pay in 2000, and $8.5 million in pension benefits.
Chandler joined Provident as its CEO in 1993, and presided over the merger with the Portland-based Unum in 1999, after which he remained CEO of the combined company. One analyst said in the conference call that she was glad that Watjen would stay on “to provide continuity,” while another expressed surprise that one architect of the company’s plan would be fired and the other would take his place.
Watjen said he would keep the plan moving, but would have a different leadership style from Chandler, who he said was less decisive, less inclusive and less communicative than Watjen will be. He said his new style would become evident very shortly, and pointed to the increased disclosures in the company’s annual report, filed with the SEC Monday, as an example of more communications. He said company employees were notified of the management change over the weekend and would be involved in further company-wide discussions in the coming days, to allow them to understand what happened.
In the coming months, UnumProvident will be “out in the marketplace” seeking to raise as much as $1.5 billion, according to a November 2002 filing with the SEC. Olsen said the company would be looking for between $500 million and $1 billion, while Watjen told analysts Monday that the figure would be between $750 million and $1 billion.
The money is not earmarked for spending but instead will be used as capital on hand to offset concerns held by investment analysts, Olsen said.
“We will continue to have investment losses,” she said. Rating agencies are therefore looking for additional capital on hand to cushion those losses, she said.
Some of the capital will come from internal processes, such as regrouping some old individual disability policies into group policies, and there may be further sales of below-investment-grade bonds, she said.
Also, inter-company loans from the insurance subsidiaries to the holding company will be repaid, giving the subsidiaries more ready cash, Olsen said.
She expects there will be a combination of stock sales and convertible bonds. “We will not be issuing straight debt,” Olsen said. Initial indications from investment banks lead her to believe the company will raise the money it needs, she said.
The company also faces 13 class-action lawsuits alleging the company committed securities fraud by failing to truthfully disclose financial performance information to shareholders and prospective shareholders.
Olsen discounted the lawsuits, saying, “it’s an annoyance.” She said many of them were filed by law firms that specialize in stock-price collapses. The last group of suits was filed after the price dropped 62 percent, bottoming out below $6 per share.
“None of those classes have been certified,” Olsen said. Without a judge’s certification that a broad class of people was harmed, the suits cannot proceed.
The company also was fined $1 million by Georgia’s insurance commissioner for violations of that state’s insurance code during the merger of Unum and Provident in 1999.
“It was a slap on the wrist,” Olsen said.
The company’s search for a new, permanent CEO will begin shortly, and interim CEO Watjen will be considered for the position, Olsen said. “We have a real sense of urgency about this,” she said.
Facing as many as 13 class-action securities fraud lawsuits, profit restatements, downgrades from investment rating firms and a crisis of employee morale, UnumProvident fired long-time chairman and CEO Harold Chandler and replaced him March 27 with interim president and CEO Thomas Watjen, Chandler’s right-hand man.
Layoffs and organizational restructuring are not on the table, said the company’s spokeswoman in Portland, Linnea Olsen. “We need everyone that’s here,” she said. UnumProvident, which sells disability insurance, is headquartered in Chattanooga, Tenn.
The board’s firing of Chandler “is not something that was caused by any one event,” Olsen said. Instead, it was “the cumulative effect of many things.”
Among those were a $29.1 million restated reduction in earnings for 2000, 2001 and 2002, the result of a Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry into the company’s investment disclosures.
And in the past three weeks, several investment-rating firms, including Standard and Poor’s and Moody’s, have downgraded UnumProvident stock, citing concerns the company is over-invested in high-risk companies.
The company recently sold $500 million worth of these below-investment-grade bonds specifically to placate rating agencies, Olsen said.
But the company still believes in its business plan and will continue to implement it quickly, Watjen told analysts in a Monday conference call briefing.
A crisis of confidence and leadership led to Chandler’s ouster, Olsen said. He will get $8.5 million in severance pay, roughly four times his annual pay in 2000, and $8.5 million in pension benefits.
Chandler joined Provident as its CEO in 1993, and presided over the merger with the Portland-based Unum in 1999, after which he remained CEO of the combined company. One analyst said in the conference call that she was glad that Watjen would stay on “to provide continuity,” while another expressed surprise that one architect of the company’s plan would be fired and the other would take his place.
Watjen said he would keep the plan moving, but would have a different leadership style from Chandler, who he said was less decisive, less inclusive and less communicative than Watjen will be. He said his new style would become evident very shortly, and pointed to the increased disclosures in the company’s annual report, filed with the SEC Monday, as an example of more communications. He said company employees were notified of the management change over the weekend and would be involved in further company-wide discussions in the coming days, to allow them to understand what happened.
In the coming months, UnumProvident will be “out in the marketplace” seeking to raise as much as $1.5 billion, according to a November 2002 filing with the SEC. Olsen said the company would be looking for between $500 million and $1 billion, while Watjen told analysts Monday that the figure would be between $750 million and $1 billion.
The money is not earmarked for spending but instead will be used as capital on hand to offset concerns held by investment analysts, Olsen said.
“We will continue to have investment losses,” she said. Rating agencies are therefore looking for additional capital on hand to cushion those losses, she said.
Some of the capital will come from internal processes, such as regrouping some old individual disability policies into group policies, and there may be further sales of below-investment-grade bonds, she said.
Also, inter-company loans from the insurance subsidiaries to the holding company will be repaid, giving the subsidiaries more ready cash, Olsen said.
She expects there will be a combination of stock sales and convertible bonds. “We will not be issuing straight debt,” Olsen said. Initial indications from investment banks lead her to believe the company will raise the money it needs, she said.
The company also faces 13 class-action lawsuits alleging the company committed securities fraud by failing to truthfully disclose financial performance information to shareholders and prospective shareholders.
Olsen discounted the lawsuits, saying, “it’s an annoyance.” She said many of them were filed by law firms that specialize in stock-price collapses. The last group of suits was filed after the price dropped 62 percent, bottoming out below $6 per share.
“None of those classes have been certified,” Olsen said. Without a judge’s certification that a broad class of people was harmed, the suits cannot proceed.
The company also was fined $1 million by Georgia’s insurance commissioner for violations of that state’s insurance code during the merger of Unum and Provident in 1999.
“It was a slap on the wrist,” Olsen said.
The company’s search for a new, permanent CEO will begin shortly, and interim CEO Watjen will be considered for the position, Olsen said. “We have a real sense of urgency about this,” she said.
Wednesday, March 26, 2003
Chancellor Gardens changes hands
Published in the Current and the American Journal
With its principal owner in bankruptcy, the company that owned Chancellor Gardens on Scott Dyer Road has sold the Cape Elizabeth assisted living home, as well as a sister facility in Saco, to Commonwealth Communities of Massachusetts. The home has been renamed Village Crossings of Cape Elizabeth.
Abraham Gosman, who lives in Florida, was the majority owner of the company that owned Chancellor Gardens and Chancellor Place.
He was also a founder of Carematrix, the company that managed the Chancellor properties. Carematrix will not continue its management functions, according to Beth Derrico, a spokeswoman for the company.
Gosman, who made millions in real estate and healthcare, filed for bankruptcy in 2001, according to William King of Development Specialists Inc., the Miami-based firm that was appointed by the court as trustee for Gosman’s assets.
His filing was cited as an example of a problem some legislators see with the federal bankruptcy system – the unlimited homestead exemption. Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wisc., told the U.S. Senate in March 2001 that Gosman, while owing as much as $233 million, was keeping a 64,000-square-foot mansion in West Palm Beach, Fla.
In his Maine business dealings, Gosman had guaranteed a mortgage taken out by the Chancellor company, with the two homes as collateral. “The value (of the properties) was significantly less than the mortgage,” King said.
Rather than foreclosing on the homes, the lender agreed to cooperate in the sale of the properties and take the proceeds as partial payment of the debt, King said.
The change of ownership took effect March 1, bringing Chancellor Gardens and Chancellor Place in Saco into a company that already operates 12 nursing homes and rehabilitation facilities, six assisted living homes and four specialized hospitals in Massachusetts.
“This is our first step into Maine,” said David Calendrella, vice president of operations for Commonwealth Communities.
Last year Commonwealth bought two Massachusetts nursing homes from the same owners.
“They proved to be quality facilities,” Calendrella said. That experience led to this recent deal.
“We’re very bullish on the Maine marketplace,” he said.
The company does not have significant plans to change things at Chancellor Gardens. “At the moment, the plan is to introduce ourselves as the new owners,” Calendrella said. No staff changes are in the works, he said. Everyone has signed on with the new owners.
Calendrella plans to pay close attention to hiring practices and employee supervision, in the wake of an employee’s February arrest on charges of stealing medication from several patients. He said the company would be open about any problems that might arise.
It is the second turnover of a senior living facility on Scott Dyer Road in three months. In January Haven Healthcare of Cromwell, Conn., took over the management of the Viking Nursing Home and Crescent House, with plans to take ownership in the next several months.
With its principal owner in bankruptcy, the company that owned Chancellor Gardens on Scott Dyer Road has sold the Cape Elizabeth assisted living home, as well as a sister facility in Saco, to Commonwealth Communities of Massachusetts. The home has been renamed Village Crossings of Cape Elizabeth.
Abraham Gosman, who lives in Florida, was the majority owner of the company that owned Chancellor Gardens and Chancellor Place.
He was also a founder of Carematrix, the company that managed the Chancellor properties. Carematrix will not continue its management functions, according to Beth Derrico, a spokeswoman for the company.
Gosman, who made millions in real estate and healthcare, filed for bankruptcy in 2001, according to William King of Development Specialists Inc., the Miami-based firm that was appointed by the court as trustee for Gosman’s assets.
His filing was cited as an example of a problem some legislators see with the federal bankruptcy system – the unlimited homestead exemption. Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wisc., told the U.S. Senate in March 2001 that Gosman, while owing as much as $233 million, was keeping a 64,000-square-foot mansion in West Palm Beach, Fla.
In his Maine business dealings, Gosman had guaranteed a mortgage taken out by the Chancellor company, with the two homes as collateral. “The value (of the properties) was significantly less than the mortgage,” King said.
Rather than foreclosing on the homes, the lender agreed to cooperate in the sale of the properties and take the proceeds as partial payment of the debt, King said.
The change of ownership took effect March 1, bringing Chancellor Gardens and Chancellor Place in Saco into a company that already operates 12 nursing homes and rehabilitation facilities, six assisted living homes and four specialized hospitals in Massachusetts.
“This is our first step into Maine,” said David Calendrella, vice president of operations for Commonwealth Communities.
Last year Commonwealth bought two Massachusetts nursing homes from the same owners.
“They proved to be quality facilities,” Calendrella said. That experience led to this recent deal.
“We’re very bullish on the Maine marketplace,” he said.
The company does not have significant plans to change things at Chancellor Gardens. “At the moment, the plan is to introduce ourselves as the new owners,” Calendrella said. No staff changes are in the works, he said. Everyone has signed on with the new owners.
Calendrella plans to pay close attention to hiring practices and employee supervision, in the wake of an employee’s February arrest on charges of stealing medication from several patients. He said the company would be open about any problems that might arise.
It is the second turnover of a senior living facility on Scott Dyer Road in three months. In January Haven Healthcare of Cromwell, Conn., took over the management of the Viking Nursing Home and Crescent House, with plans to take ownership in the next several months.
Wednesday, March 5, 2003
Viking to see $1 million in renovations
Published in the Current and the American Journal
The Viking and Crescent House in Cape Elizabeth will see up to $1 million in renovations in the coming months and will be upgraded to become what its new owner calls “the facility of choice” in the area.
Ray Termini, president, CEO and owner of Haven Healthcare of Cromwell, Conn., met with Viking staff last month to announce the change of management. Haven has a consulting arrangement with the Viking pending state approval of a certificate of need for the change of ownership.
When the approval is complete, three to six months after the application is submitted, Haven will take over management from Duane Rancourt Sr., the current co-owner and administrator of the nursing home.
The certificate of need application has not yet been filed.
As of this month, Termini told the Current, Haven is operating 26 nursing homes throughout New England, with 3,200 patients and a similar number of employees.
Of those, four homes in Connecticut and one in Vermont have had more than one situation where residents were either subjected to “actual harm” or “immediate jeopardy,” since Haven took over management, according to federal documents and information from the Connecticut Department of Public Health.
Each affected one patient or a small number of them, and each has been rectified. Termini told the Current all of his facilities are in compliance.
Two of the problems found by Connecticut inspectors in May 2002 at Haven Health Center of New Haven are representative of the problems.
One patient was given only one-fourth the prescribed amount of a medication. Another resident was not properly restrained or attended while in a shower chair, resulting in the resident “almost falling out” of the chair, and suffering two scrapes on the head.
The nursing home was fined $600 by state authorities. Upon inspection in August 2002, the nursing home was found to have corrected the problems.
The Viking had much more serious problems prior to Haven’s arrival on the scene. In August 2002, Viking resident Shirley Sayre, 77, wandered out of the nursing home and drowned in a culvert across the street. As the family mourned, Viking was hit with an “immediate jeopardy” citation and over $30,000 in fines.
Money tight
Those fines came at a tough point for the nursing home, which faced running out of money by November.
State reimbursements for Medicare were late, and the company faced the tough choice of paying creditors or meeting payroll.
In a time when nursing homes are feeling financial pressure, Termini said Haven succeeds by making their nursing homes more attractive to residents and families than competing facilities.
Most nursing homes, he said, have 10 percent of their patients on private payment, 10 to 12 percent on federally funded Medicare payment and the rest on state-funded Medicaid payments.
Many are also not near full capacity, resulting in overhead costs with no revenue to make up for them.
Medicaid does not pay the full amount for services, forcing Medicaid-dependent homes into financial ruin, Termini said. Medicare pays $315 per day, while Medicaid pays $130 per day, no matter the services a patient requires.
Haven solves the problem by attracting higher-paying customers, and by making sure its homes are full.
“The only way to survive is to decrease dependency on Medicaid,” Termini said. Haven homes have 96 percent occupancy and over 30 percent non-Medicaid patients, he said.
Just that additional margin is enough to make the difference between a successful nursing home and one that is in trouble, he said.
Termini said attracting higher-paying residents takes work and said he will begin renovating the buildings as soon as he takes ownership.
New look, new faces
Resident rooms will get all new surfaces, including paint, flooring and window dressings, as well as electric beds, according to Patrick Keaveny, regional vice president for Haven Healthcare, who will be overseeing the renovation.
Gathering areas also will be renovated, with a new fine-dining area planned for what is now a “sunroom” space, and a bistro area in the assisted-living facility, Keaveny said.
A lounge area, corridor and office space will be converted into a large physical therapy, occupational and speech therapy room.
To staff that room, Haven will be hiring a new physical therapist and assistant, an occupational therapist and assistant, as well as a part-time speech therapist.
To get new blood into the rest of the staff, Keaveny plans to send recruiting mailings out to all the nurses in the area.
The changeover will not involve layoffs, however. “Everybody that has a job (at the Viking and Crescent House) is going to be an employee of Haven Healthcare,” Keaveny said.
All of this is dependent on state approval. While the certificate of need process is usually used for constructing a new healthcare facility, it is also used for transferring ownership, according to Cathy Cobb in the Maine Department of Human Services.
The process determines whether a company is “fit, willing and able to run a nursing home,” she said, and also makes sure costs to the state-funded Medicaid program will not increase.
The process involves an application, an initial hearing and then a public hearing and then a review of the application and any additional information, Cobb said.
Regulators look at the organization applying for the certificate, its financial plans and
the quality of care it provided elsewhere.
The Viking and Crescent House in Cape Elizabeth will see up to $1 million in renovations in the coming months and will be upgraded to become what its new owner calls “the facility of choice” in the area.
Ray Termini, president, CEO and owner of Haven Healthcare of Cromwell, Conn., met with Viking staff last month to announce the change of management. Haven has a consulting arrangement with the Viking pending state approval of a certificate of need for the change of ownership.
When the approval is complete, three to six months after the application is submitted, Haven will take over management from Duane Rancourt Sr., the current co-owner and administrator of the nursing home.
The certificate of need application has not yet been filed.
As of this month, Termini told the Current, Haven is operating 26 nursing homes throughout New England, with 3,200 patients and a similar number of employees.
Of those, four homes in Connecticut and one in Vermont have had more than one situation where residents were either subjected to “actual harm” or “immediate jeopardy,” since Haven took over management, according to federal documents and information from the Connecticut Department of Public Health.
Each affected one patient or a small number of them, and each has been rectified. Termini told the Current all of his facilities are in compliance.
Two of the problems found by Connecticut inspectors in May 2002 at Haven Health Center of New Haven are representative of the problems.
One patient was given only one-fourth the prescribed amount of a medication. Another resident was not properly restrained or attended while in a shower chair, resulting in the resident “almost falling out” of the chair, and suffering two scrapes on the head.
The nursing home was fined $600 by state authorities. Upon inspection in August 2002, the nursing home was found to have corrected the problems.
The Viking had much more serious problems prior to Haven’s arrival on the scene. In August 2002, Viking resident Shirley Sayre, 77, wandered out of the nursing home and drowned in a culvert across the street. As the family mourned, Viking was hit with an “immediate jeopardy” citation and over $30,000 in fines.
Money tight
Those fines came at a tough point for the nursing home, which faced running out of money by November.
State reimbursements for Medicare were late, and the company faced the tough choice of paying creditors or meeting payroll.
In a time when nursing homes are feeling financial pressure, Termini said Haven succeeds by making their nursing homes more attractive to residents and families than competing facilities.
Most nursing homes, he said, have 10 percent of their patients on private payment, 10 to 12 percent on federally funded Medicare payment and the rest on state-funded Medicaid payments.
Many are also not near full capacity, resulting in overhead costs with no revenue to make up for them.
Medicaid does not pay the full amount for services, forcing Medicaid-dependent homes into financial ruin, Termini said. Medicare pays $315 per day, while Medicaid pays $130 per day, no matter the services a patient requires.
Haven solves the problem by attracting higher-paying customers, and by making sure its homes are full.
“The only way to survive is to decrease dependency on Medicaid,” Termini said. Haven homes have 96 percent occupancy and over 30 percent non-Medicaid patients, he said.
Just that additional margin is enough to make the difference between a successful nursing home and one that is in trouble, he said.
Termini said attracting higher-paying residents takes work and said he will begin renovating the buildings as soon as he takes ownership.
New look, new faces
Resident rooms will get all new surfaces, including paint, flooring and window dressings, as well as electric beds, according to Patrick Keaveny, regional vice president for Haven Healthcare, who will be overseeing the renovation.
Gathering areas also will be renovated, with a new fine-dining area planned for what is now a “sunroom” space, and a bistro area in the assisted-living facility, Keaveny said.
A lounge area, corridor and office space will be converted into a large physical therapy, occupational and speech therapy room.
To staff that room, Haven will be hiring a new physical therapist and assistant, an occupational therapist and assistant, as well as a part-time speech therapist.
To get new blood into the rest of the staff, Keaveny plans to send recruiting mailings out to all the nurses in the area.
The changeover will not involve layoffs, however. “Everybody that has a job (at the Viking and Crescent House) is going to be an employee of Haven Healthcare,” Keaveny said.
All of this is dependent on state approval. While the certificate of need process is usually used for constructing a new healthcare facility, it is also used for transferring ownership, according to Cathy Cobb in the Maine Department of Human Services.
The process determines whether a company is “fit, willing and able to run a nursing home,” she said, and also makes sure costs to the state-funded Medicaid program will not increase.
The process involves an application, an initial hearing and then a public hearing and then a review of the application and any additional information, Cobb said.
Regulators look at the organization applying for the certificate, its financial plans and
the quality of care it provided elsewhere.
Wednesday, February 12, 2003
Local sons and daughters off to war
Published in the Current and the American Journal; co-written with Brendan Moran and Robert Lowell
As war drums beat louder, many local servicemen and women already are on the move, getting ready to fight a war with Iraq. They leave behind families who anxiously watch the news and hope for their safe return.
Tyler Dunphy, the Westbrook school department’s network administrator, went on active duty two weeks ago, after being in the Army Reserves for the last two years. Dunphy said he was reluctant to leave behind his wife, who is pregnant with their first child.
“I don’t want to leave my wife with her baby,” said Dunphy. “I don’t want to leave my job. But this is a volunteer army, and I volunteered. So I go willingly.”
“I’m so proud of him,” Nancy Dunphy said of her husband. “I also know he’s proud to serve his country.”
The Westbrook school department threw a going away party for Dunphy the week before he left. Dunphy will return to his position in Westbrook after a year of active duty. He will keep tabs on school computers while he’s gone with his laptop and cell phone.
U.S. Marine Capt. John Ginn is on his way to the Middle East on an amphibious assault ship, the U.S.S. Saipan. Ginn, a helicopter pilot stationed at New River, N.C., flies AH-1W SuperCobra attack helicopters in support of combat troops on the ground and left Jan. 14.
“He seems to be doing very well,” said his father, Gregg Ginn of Cape Elizabeth. John has been training for this for several years. “He’s where John Ginn should be,” his father said.
John’s wife Jenn is well “under the circumstances,” Gregg said. “This is obviously one of those situations that nothing prepares you for.”
Gregg is also doing well. “Worrying wouldn’t help me very much,” he said. He remains concerned for his son’s safety. “He’s constantly on our minds and in our prayers,” Gregg said.
Gregg said he has received several messages from his son, and the mood aboard ship is one of readiness. “They’re prepared to do what’s necessary,” he said.
Navy Petty Officer Second Class Dylan S. Paige told his mother he is too. The son of Susan and Rick Paige of Windham, Paige is a crewmember of the aircraft carrier USS Truman. A Navy report said the carrier was in the Adriatic Sea last week. Sue hears from Dylan by e-mail and she told the American Journal Tuesday that he’s busy, “working 12 to 14 hours a day.”
She thought that he was tired and overworked, and he might have had a three-day leave. She said that her son is taking college courses aboard ship.
Susan said that Dylan is a fire control technician, working with computers in the missile system on the $4.5 billion ship. Although Susan said Dylan couldn’t talk about it, she said, “They’re prepared for war. They’re ready.”
“Of course I’m worried,” she said, but she added, “He feels safe.”
Dylan told his mother not to worry. But Susan, who had family in World War II and an ex-husband in Vietnam, added that she hated war. She thinks that President Bush wants it.
Susan and Richard saw the Truman in action last year when they went on an all-day cruise out of Norfolk, Va., the Truman’s homeport.
Kendra Curran of Windham, Dylan’s sister, said that her brother had reenlisted.
Dylan, who was married last spring, is serving aboard the Truman with his wife Jennifer’s stepfather. (See her letter on Page 8.)
The nuclear-powered Truman is armed with Sea Sparrow missiles, a Phalanx close-in weapons system and carries about 85 warplanes.
Jessi Matthews of Westbrook, the 19-year-old daughter of Carol and Richard Matthews, found out Monday she would be called up to active duty in the Army reserves.
Matthews, a member of the 934th Quartermaster Company, leaves Wednesday for a base in Connecticut.
“Of course, I’m nervous about it,” said Carol Matthews, who works at Fruiti’s Deli in downtown Westbrook. “But I’m trying to look at it as an adventure.”
Some local residents are actually in combat now, rather than just on the way to a possible fight. Cpl. Brendan Sweeney is in the 82nd Airborne Division and is now in Afghanistan. He stopped quickly in Kandahar, according to his father, Kevin Sweeney, and is now at what the military calls “a forward operating position.”
“We’re worried about him, of course,” Kevin said. Brendan does manage to call his wife fairly frequently, “even though he’s in the boonies,” Kevin said.
“We have no idea where he is,” but he expects that Brendan is up in the mountains. When Kevin heard from Brendan recently, “he seemed pretty good.”
Apparently Brendan claims to have “gained 100 pounds” with all his gear on, including an M4 rifle, a 9 mm pistol, a mortar tube, seven mortar rounds and hundreds of rounds of gun ammunition. He also wears body armor plates, which add still more weight.
“It’s a real war – they’re shooting,” Kevin said. He and his wife are doing well, though they are worried about their son. “Of course we miss the hell out of him,” Kevin said, his eyes starting to fill with tears.
As war drums beat louder, many local servicemen and women already are on the move, getting ready to fight a war with Iraq. They leave behind families who anxiously watch the news and hope for their safe return.
Tyler Dunphy, the Westbrook school department’s network administrator, went on active duty two weeks ago, after being in the Army Reserves for the last two years. Dunphy said he was reluctant to leave behind his wife, who is pregnant with their first child.
“I don’t want to leave my wife with her baby,” said Dunphy. “I don’t want to leave my job. But this is a volunteer army, and I volunteered. So I go willingly.”
“I’m so proud of him,” Nancy Dunphy said of her husband. “I also know he’s proud to serve his country.”
The Westbrook school department threw a going away party for Dunphy the week before he left. Dunphy will return to his position in Westbrook after a year of active duty. He will keep tabs on school computers while he’s gone with his laptop and cell phone.
U.S. Marine Capt. John Ginn is on his way to the Middle East on an amphibious assault ship, the U.S.S. Saipan. Ginn, a helicopter pilot stationed at New River, N.C., flies AH-1W SuperCobra attack helicopters in support of combat troops on the ground and left Jan. 14.
“He seems to be doing very well,” said his father, Gregg Ginn of Cape Elizabeth. John has been training for this for several years. “He’s where John Ginn should be,” his father said.
John’s wife Jenn is well “under the circumstances,” Gregg said. “This is obviously one of those situations that nothing prepares you for.”
Gregg is also doing well. “Worrying wouldn’t help me very much,” he said. He remains concerned for his son’s safety. “He’s constantly on our minds and in our prayers,” Gregg said.
Gregg said he has received several messages from his son, and the mood aboard ship is one of readiness. “They’re prepared to do what’s necessary,” he said.
Navy Petty Officer Second Class Dylan S. Paige told his mother he is too. The son of Susan and Rick Paige of Windham, Paige is a crewmember of the aircraft carrier USS Truman. A Navy report said the carrier was in the Adriatic Sea last week. Sue hears from Dylan by e-mail and she told the American Journal Tuesday that he’s busy, “working 12 to 14 hours a day.”
She thought that he was tired and overworked, and he might have had a three-day leave. She said that her son is taking college courses aboard ship.
Susan said that Dylan is a fire control technician, working with computers in the missile system on the $4.5 billion ship. Although Susan said Dylan couldn’t talk about it, she said, “They’re prepared for war. They’re ready.”
“Of course I’m worried,” she said, but she added, “He feels safe.”
Dylan told his mother not to worry. But Susan, who had family in World War II and an ex-husband in Vietnam, added that she hated war. She thinks that President Bush wants it.
Susan and Richard saw the Truman in action last year when they went on an all-day cruise out of Norfolk, Va., the Truman’s homeport.
Kendra Curran of Windham, Dylan’s sister, said that her brother had reenlisted.
Dylan, who was married last spring, is serving aboard the Truman with his wife Jennifer’s stepfather. (See her letter on Page 8.)
The nuclear-powered Truman is armed with Sea Sparrow missiles, a Phalanx close-in weapons system and carries about 85 warplanes.
Jessi Matthews of Westbrook, the 19-year-old daughter of Carol and Richard Matthews, found out Monday she would be called up to active duty in the Army reserves.
Matthews, a member of the 934th Quartermaster Company, leaves Wednesday for a base in Connecticut.
“Of course, I’m nervous about it,” said Carol Matthews, who works at Fruiti’s Deli in downtown Westbrook. “But I’m trying to look at it as an adventure.”
Some local residents are actually in combat now, rather than just on the way to a possible fight. Cpl. Brendan Sweeney is in the 82nd Airborne Division and is now in Afghanistan. He stopped quickly in Kandahar, according to his father, Kevin Sweeney, and is now at what the military calls “a forward operating position.”
“We’re worried about him, of course,” Kevin said. Brendan does manage to call his wife fairly frequently, “even though he’s in the boonies,” Kevin said.
“We have no idea where he is,” but he expects that Brendan is up in the mountains. When Kevin heard from Brendan recently, “he seemed pretty good.”
Apparently Brendan claims to have “gained 100 pounds” with all his gear on, including an M4 rifle, a 9 mm pistol, a mortar tube, seven mortar rounds and hundreds of rounds of gun ammunition. He also wears body armor plates, which add still more weight.
“It’s a real war – they’re shooting,” Kevin said. He and his wife are doing well, though they are worried about their son. “Of course we miss the hell out of him,” Kevin said, his eyes starting to fill with tears.
Wednesday, February 5, 2003
Armed robbery spree in S.P.
Published in the Current and the American Journal
South Portland police are looking for three separate suspects in connection with a recent spate of armed robberies at businesses in the city.
The first was Tuesday, Jan. 28, at 8:30 p.m., at the Sheraton Tara Hotel at 363 Maine Mall Road. A white male went to the front desk, told the clerk he had a gun and asked for money. The clerk wasn’t able to open the safe, so the man left, according to South Portland Detective Sgt. Edward Sawyer.
The man was about 5 feet, 10 inches tall, about 180 pounds, with a green winter stocking mask pulled over his face and a blue jacket with a tan collar.
Then on Feb. 3, at 1:51 a.m., a black male went into the Irving station at 474 Westbrook St., showed a knife and demanded money. The clerk gave the man money, and the robber left.
That man was described as about 20 years old, 5 feet, 9 inches tall, about 150 pounds, with a dark winter hat, black leather coat, carpenter- style jeans, a blue bandanna on his head and white gloves.
And shortly after 1 a.m., Feb. 4, a white male entered the Best Western at 700 Main St., “displayed a handgun and demanded money,” Sawyer said. That man got away with money as well. The suspect was described as in his mid- to late-20s, about 5 feet, 9 or 10 inches tall, 140 to 150 pounds, with strawberry blond eyebrows, pale blue eyes and pale skin, with no scars or facial hair, wearing a full-length black trench coat, a black knit hat, a black scarf, black gloves and blue jeans.
“It’s difficult to say at this point whether they’re related,” Sawyer said. Police continue to look for the suspects.
They are also “comparing notes” with Portland police, who are investigating two armed robberies between 9:30 and 10 p.m., Feb. 2, according to Detective Reed Barker. One was at Wild Oats on Marginal Way and the other was at the McDonald’s restaurant on St. John Street. The suspects in those incidents have similar descriptions to each other and to the suspect at the Best Western robbery Feb. 4.
South Portland police are looking for three separate suspects in connection with a recent spate of armed robberies at businesses in the city.
The first was Tuesday, Jan. 28, at 8:30 p.m., at the Sheraton Tara Hotel at 363 Maine Mall Road. A white male went to the front desk, told the clerk he had a gun and asked for money. The clerk wasn’t able to open the safe, so the man left, according to South Portland Detective Sgt. Edward Sawyer.
The man was about 5 feet, 10 inches tall, about 180 pounds, with a green winter stocking mask pulled over his face and a blue jacket with a tan collar.
Then on Feb. 3, at 1:51 a.m., a black male went into the Irving station at 474 Westbrook St., showed a knife and demanded money. The clerk gave the man money, and the robber left.
That man was described as about 20 years old, 5 feet, 9 inches tall, about 150 pounds, with a dark winter hat, black leather coat, carpenter- style jeans, a blue bandanna on his head and white gloves.
And shortly after 1 a.m., Feb. 4, a white male entered the Best Western at 700 Main St., “displayed a handgun and demanded money,” Sawyer said. That man got away with money as well. The suspect was described as in his mid- to late-20s, about 5 feet, 9 or 10 inches tall, 140 to 150 pounds, with strawberry blond eyebrows, pale blue eyes and pale skin, with no scars or facial hair, wearing a full-length black trench coat, a black knit hat, a black scarf, black gloves and blue jeans.
“It’s difficult to say at this point whether they’re related,” Sawyer said. Police continue to look for the suspects.
They are also “comparing notes” with Portland police, who are investigating two armed robberies between 9:30 and 10 p.m., Feb. 2, according to Detective Reed Barker. One was at Wild Oats on Marginal Way and the other was at the McDonald’s restaurant on St. John Street. The suspects in those incidents have similar descriptions to each other and to the suspect at the Best Western robbery Feb. 4.
Locals sue Portland chief over accident
Published in the Current and the American Journal
Kimberly McLellan of Gorham and Kevin Hardy of Scarborough are planning to sue Portland Police Chief Michael Chitwood under the state’s Liquor Liability Act after the vehicles they were in were involved in an accident caused by an allegedly drunk police officer.
They will also sue the City of Portland and the Portland Police Department.
Lawyers for the two will file notices of claim this week. Hardy and McLellan were the drivers and only occupants of the other two vehicles involved in a three-car crash at about 10 p.m. Dec. 17. Lt. Ted Ross, a Portland officer who lives in Cape Elizabeth, was driving home from an open-bar holiday party hosted by Chitwood, and a subsequent stop at a Portland bar with two other senior police officers, when he hit a truck
driven by Hardy, pushing Hardy’s truck into McLellan’s Land Rover.
Ross was not arrested for driving under the influence at the time, but rather was transported to the hospital for treatment of a head injury received in the crash.
A search warrant served on Maine Medical Center Jan. 27 indicated that Ross’ blood alcohol level at the time of his admission to the hospital was 0.253 percent, more than three times the legal limit. The district attorney’s office announced last week it was seeking charges against Ross, but none had been filed as of Tuesday, when it transferred the case to the state attorney general’s office for further action.
Ross’ attorney, Michael Cunniff, said Ross had not yet been charged, and he will ask the attorney general “to make a decision as quickly as possible.”
Assistant Attorney General William Stokes said he had received and accepted the case, and would review it to determine “what charges if any may be filed.”
Cunniff questioned the usefulness and validity of the hospital’s diagnostic blood test for law enforcement purposes and said officers did not have reason to suspect Ross was drunk following the accident.
“Because there was no evidence of alcohol impairment, the officers would have released anyone” who was in the position Ross found himself in Dec. 17, Cunniff said.
Mark Randall, an attorney with the Daniel G. Lilley Law Offices in Portland, the firm handling the case against the police department, said filing a notice of claim gives McLellan and Hardy two years from the date of the accident to file a lawsuit.
The specifics of the lawsuit are not yet determined, Randall said. An investigation is ongoing, which includes looking into whether Ross has any past history of incidents like this one, and how police handled those, Randall said.
He said he expects the city and police department parts of the suit to relate to Ross’s conduct while operating a city-owned vehicle, the unmarked police cruiser assigned to him at the time of the incident.
According to court documents, Ross initially told police and rescue workers that he was reaching for a cell phone. Use of cell phones while driving city vehicles is prohibited by city policy. Ross also told emergency workers he was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident.
Cunniff said Ross admitted to wearing a seat belt and attempting to use his cellphone, and said Ross may have violated city policies.
Randall expects the liquor liability portion of the suit to name people who served alcohol to Ross, “including Michael Chitwood.”
Randall said Hardy and McLellan are not speaking to the media now, but Randall did remark upon their “amazement” that police officers and rescue workers at the scene “did not even talk to them prior to Ross being placed in an ambulance and being removed.”
Hardy and McLellan refused ambulance transport to a hospital, but both were taken by friends to Portland emergency rooms that evening and were treated and released, according to Randall.
Both are “undergoing medical treatment” to determine the extent of their injuries. Neither has been hospitalized.
Randall dismissed public claims by, among others, District Attorney Stephanie Anderson, that blood could mask the smell of alcohol.
Court documents indicate that Ross was “bleeding profusely” from a forehead wound caused when he hit his head on the rear-view mirror.
The idea that blood could have covered up the smell of alcohol is “fanciful,” Randall said. Officers often tell investigators that they can smell alcohol at some distance from a car. “They can smell alcohol in the most unusual circumstances,” Randall said.
Randall said the officers should not have ignored the smell of alcohol he is sure was present at the accident scene. “I’ve heard of selective hearing. This is the first time I’ve ever heard of selective smelling,” he said.
Cunniff said the evidence from the Portland police investigation, including more than 20 interviews, some of which were cited in court documents, indicates “the people who were on the scene did not detect any evidence of alcohol.” Further, “he wasn’t impaired.”
Ross is on paid administrative leave, the usual status assigned to officers who are under investigation, Cunniff said. Chitwood and Portland City Attorney Gary Wood did not return phone calls by press time.
Kimberly McLellan of Gorham and Kevin Hardy of Scarborough are planning to sue Portland Police Chief Michael Chitwood under the state’s Liquor Liability Act after the vehicles they were in were involved in an accident caused by an allegedly drunk police officer.
They will also sue the City of Portland and the Portland Police Department.
Lawyers for the two will file notices of claim this week. Hardy and McLellan were the drivers and only occupants of the other two vehicles involved in a three-car crash at about 10 p.m. Dec. 17. Lt. Ted Ross, a Portland officer who lives in Cape Elizabeth, was driving home from an open-bar holiday party hosted by Chitwood, and a subsequent stop at a Portland bar with two other senior police officers, when he hit a truck
driven by Hardy, pushing Hardy’s truck into McLellan’s Land Rover.
Ross was not arrested for driving under the influence at the time, but rather was transported to the hospital for treatment of a head injury received in the crash.
A search warrant served on Maine Medical Center Jan. 27 indicated that Ross’ blood alcohol level at the time of his admission to the hospital was 0.253 percent, more than three times the legal limit. The district attorney’s office announced last week it was seeking charges against Ross, but none had been filed as of Tuesday, when it transferred the case to the state attorney general’s office for further action.
Ross’ attorney, Michael Cunniff, said Ross had not yet been charged, and he will ask the attorney general “to make a decision as quickly as possible.”
Assistant Attorney General William Stokes said he had received and accepted the case, and would review it to determine “what charges if any may be filed.”
Cunniff questioned the usefulness and validity of the hospital’s diagnostic blood test for law enforcement purposes and said officers did not have reason to suspect Ross was drunk following the accident.
“Because there was no evidence of alcohol impairment, the officers would have released anyone” who was in the position Ross found himself in Dec. 17, Cunniff said.
Mark Randall, an attorney with the Daniel G. Lilley Law Offices in Portland, the firm handling the case against the police department, said filing a notice of claim gives McLellan and Hardy two years from the date of the accident to file a lawsuit.
The specifics of the lawsuit are not yet determined, Randall said. An investigation is ongoing, which includes looking into whether Ross has any past history of incidents like this one, and how police handled those, Randall said.
He said he expects the city and police department parts of the suit to relate to Ross’s conduct while operating a city-owned vehicle, the unmarked police cruiser assigned to him at the time of the incident.
According to court documents, Ross initially told police and rescue workers that he was reaching for a cell phone. Use of cell phones while driving city vehicles is prohibited by city policy. Ross also told emergency workers he was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident.
Cunniff said Ross admitted to wearing a seat belt and attempting to use his cellphone, and said Ross may have violated city policies.
Randall expects the liquor liability portion of the suit to name people who served alcohol to Ross, “including Michael Chitwood.”
Randall said Hardy and McLellan are not speaking to the media now, but Randall did remark upon their “amazement” that police officers and rescue workers at the scene “did not even talk to them prior to Ross being placed in an ambulance and being removed.”
Hardy and McLellan refused ambulance transport to a hospital, but both were taken by friends to Portland emergency rooms that evening and were treated and released, according to Randall.
Both are “undergoing medical treatment” to determine the extent of their injuries. Neither has been hospitalized.
Randall dismissed public claims by, among others, District Attorney Stephanie Anderson, that blood could mask the smell of alcohol.
Court documents indicate that Ross was “bleeding profusely” from a forehead wound caused when he hit his head on the rear-view mirror.
The idea that blood could have covered up the smell of alcohol is “fanciful,” Randall said. Officers often tell investigators that they can smell alcohol at some distance from a car. “They can smell alcohol in the most unusual circumstances,” Randall said.
Randall said the officers should not have ignored the smell of alcohol he is sure was present at the accident scene. “I’ve heard of selective hearing. This is the first time I’ve ever heard of selective smelling,” he said.
Cunniff said the evidence from the Portland police investigation, including more than 20 interviews, some of which were cited in court documents, indicates “the people who were on the scene did not detect any evidence of alcohol.” Further, “he wasn’t impaired.”
Ross is on paid administrative leave, the usual status assigned to officers who are under investigation, Cunniff said. Chitwood and Portland City Attorney Gary Wood did not return phone calls by press time.
Wednesday, January 29, 2003
Viking and Crescent nursing homes ‘given away’
Published in the Current and the American Journal
Facing low patient numbers, delays in state reimbursement and heavy competition from nearby nursing homes and assisted-living facilities, the Viking and the Crescent House in Cape Elizabeth have been given to Haven Healthcare Management of Cromwell, Conn.
In late November 2002, Viking and Crescent House co-owner and Administrator Duane Rancourt recognized he needed some help. Rancourt had suffered a heart attack in August, and shortly after a resident of the Viking’s Alzheimer’s unit, Shirley Sayre, wandered off the grounds and died.
At that time, state reimbursements for Medicare were several weeks behind schedule for most healthcare providers, he said. The company went into debt and faced the tough choice of paying creditors or meeting payroll.
The market was also very competitive, Rancourt said. Piper Shores and Chancellor Gardens were attracting more residents, and the Viking and Crescent House were hurt by the publicity about Sayre’s death.
Rancourt went looking for someone to come in as a consultant to improve programs and patient numbers, and eventually take over both operations. “It was a business decision,” Rancourt said.
Rancourt approached Ray Termini, president and CEO of Haven Healthcare, who visited Cape Elizabeth Dec. 26. Rancourt visited several of Haven’s locations in Connecticut New Year’s Eve, and liked what he saw: a “resident-centered operator.”
Termini was interested in acquiring the facility, and the two signed a consulting agreement Jan. 15, which took effect immediately.
Pending state approval of a certificate of need application, Rancourt will stay on as administrator and run things, with Termini acting as a consultant.
Based on electronic records from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Haven facilities in Connecticut and Vermont since 2000 have been repeatedly cited for causing “actual harm” or “immediate jeopardy” to residents, the same category of problems the Viking was cited for in August 2002, after Sayre’s death. Rancourt said he asked about those issues before making the deal. “They may have been attributed to Haven Healthcare, but they didn’t happen under Haven Healthcare’s watch,” he said, explaining that the ones he knew about occurred before Haven took over the facilities.
Changes begin
The name change has already happened in Cape, with a new sign installed in front of the facility last week. Operational changes will happen over the next weeks and months, Rancourt said.
When Termini and Haven Healthcare complete the certificate of need process in three to six months, “we will allow him to acquire us,” Rancourt said.
Haven will assume all debts and liabilities of the Viking and Crescent House.
The transfer is not a purchase, Rancourt said. “Nobody is going to buy it. There’s nobody out there buying nursing homes today.”
Rancourt said he hopes to leave his job in November and will be available as a consultant. “I hope to be able to retire,” he said.
He said he has not yet been served with a lawsuit resulting from Sayre’s death, but is aware that both his insurance company and lawyers for Sayre’s family are investigating the incident.
The Viking was not permitted any new Medicare admissions for three weeks following the incident, but is no longer under any government sanctions and has not been since September.
“All of that negative stuff is behind us,” Rancourt said.
Haven spokesperson, Marissa Hamzy, said the company has nearly 30 facilities throughout New England. Haven Health Center of Cape Elizabeth (the former Viking) and Haven Manor Assisted Living (the former Crescent House) will be the first in Maine.
She said Haven expects to renovate both buildings. The company will add rehabilitation services and a full-service dining room to the nursing home, which may require an addition.
Hamzy said the company does well in the tough nursing-home sector because it is large enough that economies of scale apply.
“We have the ability to have a larger volume,” Hamzy said.
She described Termini as a strong leader and a “visionary” who is “always thinking one step ahead” of developments in the industry.
Facing low patient numbers, delays in state reimbursement and heavy competition from nearby nursing homes and assisted-living facilities, the Viking and the Crescent House in Cape Elizabeth have been given to Haven Healthcare Management of Cromwell, Conn.
In late November 2002, Viking and Crescent House co-owner and Administrator Duane Rancourt recognized he needed some help. Rancourt had suffered a heart attack in August, and shortly after a resident of the Viking’s Alzheimer’s unit, Shirley Sayre, wandered off the grounds and died.
At that time, state reimbursements for Medicare were several weeks behind schedule for most healthcare providers, he said. The company went into debt and faced the tough choice of paying creditors or meeting payroll.
The market was also very competitive, Rancourt said. Piper Shores and Chancellor Gardens were attracting more residents, and the Viking and Crescent House were hurt by the publicity about Sayre’s death.
Rancourt went looking for someone to come in as a consultant to improve programs and patient numbers, and eventually take over both operations. “It was a business decision,” Rancourt said.
Rancourt approached Ray Termini, president and CEO of Haven Healthcare, who visited Cape Elizabeth Dec. 26. Rancourt visited several of Haven’s locations in Connecticut New Year’s Eve, and liked what he saw: a “resident-centered operator.”
Termini was interested in acquiring the facility, and the two signed a consulting agreement Jan. 15, which took effect immediately.
Pending state approval of a certificate of need application, Rancourt will stay on as administrator and run things, with Termini acting as a consultant.
Based on electronic records from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Haven facilities in Connecticut and Vermont since 2000 have been repeatedly cited for causing “actual harm” or “immediate jeopardy” to residents, the same category of problems the Viking was cited for in August 2002, after Sayre’s death. Rancourt said he asked about those issues before making the deal. “They may have been attributed to Haven Healthcare, but they didn’t happen under Haven Healthcare’s watch,” he said, explaining that the ones he knew about occurred before Haven took over the facilities.
Changes begin
The name change has already happened in Cape, with a new sign installed in front of the facility last week. Operational changes will happen over the next weeks and months, Rancourt said.
When Termini and Haven Healthcare complete the certificate of need process in three to six months, “we will allow him to acquire us,” Rancourt said.
Haven will assume all debts and liabilities of the Viking and Crescent House.
The transfer is not a purchase, Rancourt said. “Nobody is going to buy it. There’s nobody out there buying nursing homes today.”
Rancourt said he hopes to leave his job in November and will be available as a consultant. “I hope to be able to retire,” he said.
He said he has not yet been served with a lawsuit resulting from Sayre’s death, but is aware that both his insurance company and lawyers for Sayre’s family are investigating the incident.
The Viking was not permitted any new Medicare admissions for three weeks following the incident, but is no longer under any government sanctions and has not been since September.
“All of that negative stuff is behind us,” Rancourt said.
Haven spokesperson, Marissa Hamzy, said the company has nearly 30 facilities throughout New England. Haven Health Center of Cape Elizabeth (the former Viking) and Haven Manor Assisted Living (the former Crescent House) will be the first in Maine.
She said Haven expects to renovate both buildings. The company will add rehabilitation services and a full-service dining room to the nursing home, which may require an addition.
Hamzy said the company does well in the tough nursing-home sector because it is large enough that economies of scale apply.
“We have the ability to have a larger volume,” Hamzy said.
She described Termini as a strong leader and a “visionary” who is “always thinking one step ahead” of developments in the industry.
Wednesday, January 8, 2003
Audit shows problems with public access
Published in the Current and the American Journal
As the result of a statewide freedom of information audit spearheaded by the state’s press association, two bills designed to ensure that public records and documents are actually available to members of the public have been introduced in the Legislature.
Staff members of the Current and American Journal newspapers participated in the Nov. 19 survey, along with over 100 other volunteers from newspapers, universities and citizens’ groups.
The outcome is that the Maine Press Association and the Maine Daily Newspaper Publishers Association have filed a request for legislators, media representatives and local and state government representatives to study compliance with the state’s Freedom of Access Act and report back to the Legislature at the end of the year. It also calls for a review of the law itself and recommendations on ways to improve it.
The second bill would require police departments to adopt written policies on compliance with the state’s right-to-know laws. The Maine Criminal Justice Academy would have to establish minimum standards for public
information policies. The bill would require police officials to train personnel about right-to-know laws and assess fines for those officials who failed to comply with them.
In the Nov. 19 statewide survey, the volunteer auditors visited 156 municipal offices, 75 police stations and 79 school administrative offices to request specific documents that are public under state statute.
Also, requests by mail for copies of the minutes of the most recent town council meetings were made for each of the 489 villages, towns and cities in the state. A one-dollar bill was included in the request, to defray copying and mailing costs.
According to a statement by the Maine Freedom of Information Coalition, which coordinated the effort, “the response of public officials was mixed.” Many auditors were asked to produce identification, identify their employers or provide reasons for their requests. Maine law does not require people to identify themselves, their employers or explain why they want to view public documents.
Auditors asked to view police logs, the superintendent’s contract and expense reports for the town’s highest elected official.
Police results
Police departments in Cape Elizabeth, Gorham, Scarborough, South Portland, Westbrook and Windham were all audited.
South Portland did not allow the auditor to view the log, and said in her comments, “(they) said they don’t give it out, that some of the info is not public knowledge. I asked for a blacked-out version, couldn’t get it.” She was also asked for a reason for her request.
The auditor of Scarborough’s police department was unable to view the log because a computer malfunction meant the system was inaccessible. He was asked for identification, the name of his employer and a reason for his request.
Cape Elizabeth allowed an auditor to view the report, after asking for identification and a reason, and asking her to fill out paperwork. The person who made the request said on her comment form, “waited about 45 minutes for chief to redact the log. He said he removed names so people would not be discouraged from calling police.”
Westbrook allowed an auditor to view the log, but asked for the auditor’s employer and a reason for her request.
Windham allowed viewing of the log, but asked for identification, the name of the auditor’s employer and a reason for her request.
Gorham allowed viewing of the log, which did not include summonses or arrests, and asked for a reason but did not require one.
Of 75 police departments visited statewide, 33 percent denied access to police logs outright. Of the 67 percent that complied, 45 percent required auditors to identify themselves, 39 percent required auditors to name their employers and 48 percent required justification for access. In a small number of cases, members of the public were denied access to police records because they were not members of the media.
The question also arose of what a police log is.
Gorham’s records were a list of complaints and calls handled by officers, but did not include information on whether arrests or summonses were made, or the names of people arrested or summonsed.
The auditor in Cape Elizabeth was given access to the department’s call record, a document not normally made available in the department’s public log.
School and town results
School offices in Cape Elizabeth, Gorham, Scarborough, South Portland, Westbrook and Windham were asked for copies of the superintendent’s contract.
Cape Elizabeth allowed an auditor to view the document, but the person handling the request asked for a reason and had to ask a coworker to make sure the document was public. When told that it was, the person “gave it to me with no trouble,” the auditor reported.
Gorham allowed access without any questions. Scarborough, South Portland and Windham did allow access, but asked for identification, a reason, an employer’s name or all three.
Westbrook did not allow an auditor to view the document, asked for identification and suggested the auditor return to see if it would be available later.
Town offices in Cape Elizabeth, Gorham, Scarborough, South Portland, Standish, Westbrook and Windham were also asked for access to expense reports for the towns’ highest elected official.
Scarborough, Gorham and Standish would have allowed access but no such information exists. Standish offers councilors $10 per meeting, to cover travel and expenses, but as of Oct. 31, 2002, no members of the present council had even filed to request that stipend.
Westbrook asked for an ID and a reason, and did not have any applicable documents ready to hand. “Michelle (mayor’s secretary) said she’d pull something together,” the auditor wrote. Michelle “didn’t have anything easily accessible, and promised to call tomorrow.”
Windham denied access because the form was “waiting to be approved,” the auditor was told. The auditor was also asked for ID, an employer and a reason for wanting to see the document.
Cape Elizabeth allowed access, with a “very cooperative” person helping the auditor.
South Portland also allowed access, after an office worker asked a co-worker for the proper procedure.
All of the towns, Cape Elizabeth, Gorham, Scarborough, South Portland, Standish, Westbrook and Windham, sent the most recent council meeting minutes, as requested by mail. Some also returned the $1 and several post minutes on their town web sites.
Statewide results
The Maine School Management Association learned of the audit before Nov. 19 and sent an e-mail to superintendents advising them to comply with auditors’ requests.
But of 79 school departments visited, only 67 percent permitted access to the superintendent’s contract.
Of those, 50 percent asked auditors for ID, 13 percent asked for the auditor’s employer’s name and 37 percent asked auditors for a reason they wanted to view the document. In about 10 percent of offices, workers had to ask a supervisor if the contract was a public document, and in a few cases the document was locked away and not accessible to office staff.
Of 156 visited municipal offices, only 18 percent of them had the expense report on file. Nearly half of the towns, 47 percent, do not reimburse elected officials for expenses.
As for the mailed requests for minutes to 489 towns, 77.7 percent sent the documents as requested; 16.8 percent “ignored the request,” the MFOIC report said. Some towns sent the documents but they arrived after a deadline requested in the letter.
As the result of a statewide freedom of information audit spearheaded by the state’s press association, two bills designed to ensure that public records and documents are actually available to members of the public have been introduced in the Legislature.
Staff members of the Current and American Journal newspapers participated in the Nov. 19 survey, along with over 100 other volunteers from newspapers, universities and citizens’ groups.
The outcome is that the Maine Press Association and the Maine Daily Newspaper Publishers Association have filed a request for legislators, media representatives and local and state government representatives to study compliance with the state’s Freedom of Access Act and report back to the Legislature at the end of the year. It also calls for a review of the law itself and recommendations on ways to improve it.
The second bill would require police departments to adopt written policies on compliance with the state’s right-to-know laws. The Maine Criminal Justice Academy would have to establish minimum standards for public
information policies. The bill would require police officials to train personnel about right-to-know laws and assess fines for those officials who failed to comply with them.
In the Nov. 19 statewide survey, the volunteer auditors visited 156 municipal offices, 75 police stations and 79 school administrative offices to request specific documents that are public under state statute.
Also, requests by mail for copies of the minutes of the most recent town council meetings were made for each of the 489 villages, towns and cities in the state. A one-dollar bill was included in the request, to defray copying and mailing costs.
According to a statement by the Maine Freedom of Information Coalition, which coordinated the effort, “the response of public officials was mixed.” Many auditors were asked to produce identification, identify their employers or provide reasons for their requests. Maine law does not require people to identify themselves, their employers or explain why they want to view public documents.
Auditors asked to view police logs, the superintendent’s contract and expense reports for the town’s highest elected official.
Police results
Police departments in Cape Elizabeth, Gorham, Scarborough, South Portland, Westbrook and Windham were all audited.
South Portland did not allow the auditor to view the log, and said in her comments, “(they) said they don’t give it out, that some of the info is not public knowledge. I asked for a blacked-out version, couldn’t get it.” She was also asked for a reason for her request.
The auditor of Scarborough’s police department was unable to view the log because a computer malfunction meant the system was inaccessible. He was asked for identification, the name of his employer and a reason for his request.
Cape Elizabeth allowed an auditor to view the report, after asking for identification and a reason, and asking her to fill out paperwork. The person who made the request said on her comment form, “waited about 45 minutes for chief to redact the log. He said he removed names so people would not be discouraged from calling police.”
Westbrook allowed an auditor to view the log, but asked for the auditor’s employer and a reason for her request.
Windham allowed viewing of the log, but asked for identification, the name of the auditor’s employer and a reason for her request.
Gorham allowed viewing of the log, which did not include summonses or arrests, and asked for a reason but did not require one.
Of 75 police departments visited statewide, 33 percent denied access to police logs outright. Of the 67 percent that complied, 45 percent required auditors to identify themselves, 39 percent required auditors to name their employers and 48 percent required justification for access. In a small number of cases, members of the public were denied access to police records because they were not members of the media.
The question also arose of what a police log is.
Gorham’s records were a list of complaints and calls handled by officers, but did not include information on whether arrests or summonses were made, or the names of people arrested or summonsed.
The auditor in Cape Elizabeth was given access to the department’s call record, a document not normally made available in the department’s public log.
School and town results
School offices in Cape Elizabeth, Gorham, Scarborough, South Portland, Westbrook and Windham were asked for copies of the superintendent’s contract.
Cape Elizabeth allowed an auditor to view the document, but the person handling the request asked for a reason and had to ask a coworker to make sure the document was public. When told that it was, the person “gave it to me with no trouble,” the auditor reported.
Gorham allowed access without any questions. Scarborough, South Portland and Windham did allow access, but asked for identification, a reason, an employer’s name or all three.
Westbrook did not allow an auditor to view the document, asked for identification and suggested the auditor return to see if it would be available later.
Town offices in Cape Elizabeth, Gorham, Scarborough, South Portland, Standish, Westbrook and Windham were also asked for access to expense reports for the towns’ highest elected official.
Scarborough, Gorham and Standish would have allowed access but no such information exists. Standish offers councilors $10 per meeting, to cover travel and expenses, but as of Oct. 31, 2002, no members of the present council had even filed to request that stipend.
Westbrook asked for an ID and a reason, and did not have any applicable documents ready to hand. “Michelle (mayor’s secretary) said she’d pull something together,” the auditor wrote. Michelle “didn’t have anything easily accessible, and promised to call tomorrow.”
Windham denied access because the form was “waiting to be approved,” the auditor was told. The auditor was also asked for ID, an employer and a reason for wanting to see the document.
Cape Elizabeth allowed access, with a “very cooperative” person helping the auditor.
South Portland also allowed access, after an office worker asked a co-worker for the proper procedure.
All of the towns, Cape Elizabeth, Gorham, Scarborough, South Portland, Standish, Westbrook and Windham, sent the most recent council meeting minutes, as requested by mail. Some also returned the $1 and several post minutes on their town web sites.
Statewide results
The Maine School Management Association learned of the audit before Nov. 19 and sent an e-mail to superintendents advising them to comply with auditors’ requests.
But of 79 school departments visited, only 67 percent permitted access to the superintendent’s contract.
Of those, 50 percent asked auditors for ID, 13 percent asked for the auditor’s employer’s name and 37 percent asked auditors for a reason they wanted to view the document. In about 10 percent of offices, workers had to ask a supervisor if the contract was a public document, and in a few cases the document was locked away and not accessible to office staff.
Of 156 visited municipal offices, only 18 percent of them had the expense report on file. Nearly half of the towns, 47 percent, do not reimburse elected officials for expenses.
As for the mailed requests for minutes to 489 towns, 77.7 percent sent the documents as requested; 16.8 percent “ignored the request,” the MFOIC report said. Some towns sent the documents but they arrived after a deadline requested in the letter.
Wednesday, November 6, 2002
Former Westbrook man dies in Maryland
Published in the American Journal
Eric Schmehl, 34, formerly of Giles Street, Westbrook, died when he was hit by a car while riding a bicycle in Easton, Md., Nov. 3.
Schmehl, according to his father, Jay, grew up in Warnersville, Pa., and came to Maine in 1999 to seek work as a physical therapist. He worked at Maine Medical Center in Portland for two years and then worked for Alpha One in South Portland.
About six months ago, he left Maine and took up work for a company employing medical professionals who travel around the country filling short-term positions.
Schmehl worked in Pennsylvania and was working in Maryland when he was killed.
According to Easton police, Schmehl had a green light and was crossing a four-lane highway on his bike when he was hit by a 16-yearold female driver making a left turn from the oncoming lane.
Eric Schmehl, 34, formerly of Giles Street, Westbrook, died when he was hit by a car while riding a bicycle in Easton, Md., Nov. 3.
Schmehl, according to his father, Jay, grew up in Warnersville, Pa., and came to Maine in 1999 to seek work as a physical therapist. He worked at Maine Medical Center in Portland for two years and then worked for Alpha One in South Portland.
About six months ago, he left Maine and took up work for a company employing medical professionals who travel around the country filling short-term positions.
Schmehl worked in Pennsylvania and was working in Maryland when he was killed.
According to Easton police, Schmehl had a green light and was crossing a four-lane highway on his bike when he was hit by a 16-yearold female driver making a left turn from the oncoming lane.
Auto shop explosion injures two
Published in the Current and the American Journal
A container of “waste oil and other products” exploded around 11 a.m., Nov. 5, at the VIPDiscount Auto Center at 207 Waterman Drive in South Portland, injuring two male employees, according to South Portland Fire Chief John True.
True said it was a “major explosion” followed by a “flash of fire,” which did not ignite any other material.
Some of the liquid caused chemical burns on the face of one worker, who was taken to a Portland hospital. Asecond worker was taken to a hospital as well, with a possible broken bone.
The fire department covered the liquid spill with foam and waited for an environmental cleanup company to arrive.
True said the exact contents of the container were unknown, but “if the mixture’s right and the conditions are right,” waste oil and other car fluids can explode.
The South Portland Police Department is investigating and notified the state Bureau of Labor and the federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration.
A container of “waste oil and other products” exploded around 11 a.m., Nov. 5, at the VIPDiscount Auto Center at 207 Waterman Drive in South Portland, injuring two male employees, according to South Portland Fire Chief John True.
True said it was a “major explosion” followed by a “flash of fire,” which did not ignite any other material.
Some of the liquid caused chemical burns on the face of one worker, who was taken to a Portland hospital. Asecond worker was taken to a hospital as well, with a possible broken bone.
The fire department covered the liquid spill with foam and waited for an environmental cleanup company to arrive.
True said the exact contents of the container were unknown, but “if the mixture’s right and the conditions are right,” waste oil and other car fluids can explode.
The South Portland Police Department is investigating and notified the state Bureau of Labor and the federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration.
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