Thursday, October 10, 2002

Cape student suspended for coming to dance drunk

Published in the Current

One Cape Elizabeth High School student has been suspended after coming to the school’s Homecoming Dance drunk and getting sick, according to Principal Jeff Shedd. The administration is also looking into the possibility that the student was not alone.

“There are unconfirmed reports of others,” Shedd said.

Junior Hillary Weimont and senior Aaron McKenney expressed concern about the incident and the administration’s reaction at the regular School
Board meeting Tuesday, where the two are representatives of the high school student body.

McKenney said he was worried that disciplinary action would be too sweeping. “I don’t think we should all suffer because of some kids,” he told the board.

McKenney said the school was looking at having more chaperones at future dances, including possibly coaches, who might be expected to be more aware of members of their teams.

Shedd told the board they had enough chaperones by “old standards,” but the events at the dance showed “we need to have even more.”

In the past, he said, six chaperones for a dance were believed to be enough, but now he is looking at doubling that number, he told the Current.

He said he was considering asking coaches to chaperone dances “because they know the kids in a different way.” Partly because of the coach-athlete relationship and partly because of school policies of athletic suspension for intoxication, Shedd said, “it would be a very strong deterrent.”

Shedd said other schools have problems with alcohol use, too, but in Cape the problem is student efforts to hide their drinking. “The degree of brazenness and the degree of sophistication that our kids bring to disguising their drinking is startling,” Shedd told the board.

He told the Current that he was at the door much of the night, checking students for signs of drunkenness when they arrived. “There was a strong smell of breath mint and gum” when some students entered, he said, but none of those students showed signs of intoxication.

“I was at the door … and I couldn’t tell,” he said.

The student, who was found out when he got sick, was suspended for two days, in keeping with the district’s policy on first offenses for intoxication on school grounds. Subsequent offenses bring longer suspensions.

Board members did not make comments following either report, with the exception of Elaine Moloney, who thanked Shedd for his efforts to involve parents and teachers in Homecoming activities.

Superintendent Tom Forcella said the students were disciplined in keeping with the policies in the student handbook, which include suspension from school and from athletic teams.

The student in question was not a member of any athletic team, Shedd said.

Shedd said he is concerned for the safety of all students. He also said he will take what action is necessary to prevent this from recurring. “The result will be a tightening up,” he said.

Students suspended for drugs at SHS

Published in the Current; co-written with Kate Irish Collins

Three students have been suspended from Scarborough High School after two of them were caught under the influence of a prescription drug stolen by the third from her mother.

On Sept. 27, two male students came to school “impaired,” according to Detective Sgt. Rick Rouse. They had taken medication belonging to the mother of a female friend of theirs, who had stolen it.

All of the students are aged 14 or 15, Rouse said, and were charged with possession of illegal drugs. One of the male students was on probation for a
prior offense and was taken to Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland. The other male was charged with “another drug offense,” Rouse said. He was not able to determine what that charge was.

Police later identified the drug as clonazepam, which is sold under the brand name Klonopin. Principal Andrew Dolloff said the drug is used to quell anxiety and is also an anti-seizure medication.

Dolloff said the students came to the attention of a staff member, who reported that they appeared to be high on something.

Dolloff said the procedure, when it is suspected that a student is under the influence, is to call them into the main office and access their condition.

He also said a search was conducted, but school officials did not find the drug in the possession of the students.

Dolloff said discussions are still ongoing about further consequences, including possible expulsion for the student who supplied the drug in the first place. He said that this type of incident at school during school hours is fairly rare, but this incident has raised his level of concern.

Dolloff is planning to hold a forum for parents in the near future to talk about what kids in Scarborough are doing after school, including getting
involved in using drugs and alcohol and engaging in sexual activity.

Dolloff said one thing the school can do is to take a strong stance when students are caught on school grounds, which includes the automatic suspensions.

This week freshmen are participating in preventative awareness programs that focus on issues facing teenagers, including social pressure and participating in illegal activities.

Thursday, October 3, 2002

Public needs to weigh in on Cape school expansion

Published in the Current

Frustrated at being shut out of the planning process, Cape town councilors expect to have a workshop and a public hearing on the school renovation project before sending it to a town-wide referendum in May.

The plan, now estimated to cost $10 million for renovations to the high school and additions to Pond Cove School, remains under review by the school building committee and must be approved by that body and the School Board before going to the council in December.

“It’s a huge amount of money, number one,” said Town Council Chair Jack Roberts. “And number two, the council never appointed this building committee. If they had wanted to involve the council early on, they should have.”

The School Board-appointed building committee, headed by School Board Chair Marie Prager, took a preliminary version of the project to the town’s Planning Board in early September, before either the School Board or the Town Council had looked at the plans, Roberts said.

That’s ignoring the proper flow of this type of process, Roberts said. “It should be coming to the council first.”

The Planning Board did not make any formal decisions, but asked for site plans and a traffic analysis when they are available.

Roberts said the council has not had any official word on the project, though council finance Chair Mary Ann Lynch is a member of the building committee, as is Town Manager Michael McGovern.

Public support needed
Lynch said she, too, wants to hear from the town. “It’s a project of such a magnitude for our small town that it really needs to have the support of the public,” she said. It is especially true because it benefits “one segment of the town” and is paid for by the entire town.

She warned that in the current economic conditions, “the larger the number, the harder the project will be to sell.”

Roberts and Lynch have met with Prager and school finance Chair Elaine Moloney, but Roberts characterized those meetings as “laying down groundwork” for the upcoming budget process, which all parties expect to be difficult due to state budget problems.

Roberts said he first heard the dollar amounts for the school projects by reading local newspapers, and said he knows the building committee has “made a strong effort” to reduce costs from their initial $11.7 million amount.

The latest dollar amount is $9.9 million, with $7.4 million to renovate the high school and $2.5 million to add a kindergarten wing and an art room to Pond Cove School.

The next building committee workshop will focus on Pond Cove, following an Oct. 8 School Board vote on whether the addition will be two stories or one story. That decision will be made based on whether the town wants to keep open an option for all-day kindergarten.

The October School Board workshop will address programs for the high school and middle school. “We want to make sure that all programming issues are done before we start (building),” Prager said.

High School plans developing
The process of planning the building has continued, however. A Sept. 26 building committee meeting addressed work at the high school, and included the completely new idea of expanding the lighted lower field to become the school’s main field, as well as questions on costs for new parking spaces.

At that meeting, Prager said she wanted to develop four options. The first would be an unchanged $9.2 million project previously described as containing all the items on the “wish list” of school staff and administrators. The fourth option would be a “bare bones” project, including only “what we absolutely have to have,” Prager said. The second and third options would be “somewhere in between.”

Those options, she said, would be presented to the School Board Nov. 12 for a decision on which to send to the Town Council. At that time, Prager said, she and Moloney will meet with Roberts and Lynch, and then “with each councilor individually” to discuss the proposal.

Lynch, in attendance at the meeting, said the council would likely have a workshop and then a public hearing on the matter before voting to send it to referendum in May.

Some of the things the committee is looking at are a list of line items that could be added or deleted, including resurfacing the track, expanding the size of the school’s lighted lower field to accommodate varsity sports, reconfiguring the locker rooms to eliminate the need for a building addition, eliminating an addition to the cafeteria, and reupholstering the seats in the auditorium instead of replacing them.

Costs for the specific items have not yet been determined. A $500,000 sprinkler system will be included if local and state fire inspectors determine it is necessary.

The building committee will next meet at 7 p.m., Oct. 30, in the Jordan Conference Room in Town Hall and will make a report to the School Board at the board’s regular business meeting at 7:30 p.m., Nov. 12, in the Town Council Chambers.

Making your home safe from fire

Published in the Current

People should take the initiative to make sure their homes are safe from the dangers of fire. According to Cape Elizabeth Fire Chief Philip McGouldrick, there are a number of small projects that can dramatically improve a home’s fire safety. Some cost no money at all, and others are cheap.

• The most important tool is a smoke detector. Make sure you have smoke detectors installed on each floor of a home, including the basement and attic. Take an extra moment as part of a fall project to make sure they have fresh batteries – often when you change your clocks for Daylight-Saving Time. Also be sure to replace smoke detectors older than 10 years, McGouldrick said.

• Knowledge can also help fight fire. Teach everyone in the house how to shut off the electricity at the main circuit breaker, as well as how to turn off natural gas lines or propane tanks around the house. If valves can’t be closed without a wrench, be sure one is handy, McGouldrick said. Turning off sources of heat or explosive gases can prevent small fires from becoming very large ones.

• Adjust hot water heater settings to make sure the water is not hot enough to scald children. Many more people are burned by water that is too hot than by fires, McGouldrick said. As an added bonus, turning down hot water heaters can result in significant energy savings.

• Look again at where you have stored flammable liquids. Gasoline should never be stored indoors. It should be in a safety can outdoors. Oil paint, as well, should be in a metal container and stored outdoors. Never store gas or propane tanks in the basement, as their vapors are heavier than air and can collect in low places for some time before finding a pilot light or other way to catch fire. Propane for grills should be shut off at the tank when a grill is not in active use; if the tank valve is open, the hose could leak, permitting the buildup of explosive fumes.

• Buy fire extinguishers for your kitchen and for other areas of the home where you use heat regularly, such as a workshop. “Sometimes you get a fire and you can put it out before it spreads,” McGouldrick said. Read the directions before using it, and make sure it is properly maintained. They are good for small fires, like flames in a sauce pan on a stove, but should not be used to take on larger fires. For those, get out of the area and call 911 .

• In case you do have emergencies, make your home easy to find. The best way is to ensure your house numbers are clearly visible from the street, especially at night. There are also special light bulbs that can be triggered to flash on and off in a light on your front porch or lamppost, making it easier for emergency workers to find your home.

• Have the local fire department check your woodstove to be sure it is properly installed. Stoves that are not installed correctly can cause fires, even years after they are put in.

• Clean chimneys twice a year or more often if needed.

If you are doing larger projects, you can add fire safety to them without adding significant expense.

• Asphalt roof shingles can dramatically reduce the risk of your house catching fire if embers from a nearby house or brush fire fall on the roof.

• To further reduce the risk of a brush fire spreading to your home, clear the brush for several feet away from the house.

• Consider lightning rods. Many homes in this area are near trees that are taller, reducing the risk of a lightning strike. But, McGouldrick said, homes in newer developments and tall homes on local high ground could be at risk for a strike.

The ultimate in property protection and fire safety is a home sprinkler system, which can be installed using a pressurized water tank outside, or with a connection to a town water supply.

Sprinklers are equipped with bells to alert people to a fire, in addition to their use as fire extinguishers. They are 96 percent effective at putting out fires on their own, McGouldrick said, and 95 percent of sprinkler discharges are on very small fires.

Scarborough man kidnapped at gunpoint by carpenter

Published in the Current

A Scarborough man was kidnapped at gunpoint from his driveway Oct. 1 by a carpenter claiming he was owed money.

The two drove across Cumberland County in search of a bank to withdraw funds. They ended up at a Falmouth bank, where a teller called police, who arrested the kidnapper without incident.

At 7:10 a.m., Rodger Smith, 55, of Old Colony Lane was in his driveway when he was approached by Joseph Loughery, 43, of Poland, according to Falmouth Police Chief Edward Tolan. Loughery said he wanted payment for carpentry work done on Smith’s house a year ago.

Smith told Loughery he wasn’t going to pay, Tolan said, because the quality of the work was poor.

At that point, Loughery produced a 9-millimeter handgun from a shoulder holster and told Smith the gun had two bullets, “one for his wife and one for his knee,” Tolan said.

Smith’s wife was home, but was unaware of the situation, said Falmouth Detective Tom Brady.

Loughery demanded payment for work done on Smith’s home about a year ago, Tolan said. Scarborough Code Enforcement Officer Dave Grysk said the only permit Smith had for 2001 was for a 14-by-18-foot porch to be constructed at his home.

The work was to be done by “Joe the Carpenter,” the name under which
Loughery does business.

Fearing for his wife’s safety, Smith agreed to drive Loughery to a bank where Smith would withdraw the money to pay for the work, Tolan said. They drove around the area because a number of banks weren’t open, ending up at the Peoples Heritage Bank on Route 1 in Falmouth, Tolan said.

In the parking lot, Loughery again showed Smith the gun and the two bullets, all of which were in a briefcase on Loughery’s lap, and followed Smith partway into the bank. Smith went to a teller while Loughery stood in the foyer and then outside the bank, Tolan said.

Smith told the teller that he had been kidnapped at gunpoint and asked the teller to call police. The call came into the Falmouth police at 9:12 a.m., reporting a man with a gun at the bank, Tolan said, leading officers to believe they had a possible bank robbery on their hands.

Upon arrival, officers saw Loughery outside the bank and “subdued him without incident,” Tolan said. A search of the car turned up the gun, wo bullets and two pairs of handcuffs. “You can surmise whatever you think those handcuffs were to be used for,” Tolan said.

Falmouth police are handling the charges from the incident, which is considered a “continuing crime” that began in Scarborough and ended in Falmouth, according to Tolan and Scarborough Detective Sgt. Rick Rouse.

Loughery was arraigned Wednesday morning on charges of kidnapping and two counts of criminal threatening with a firearm, all felonies. A misdemeanor charge of violation of probation was not part of the arraignment but is expected, Detective Brady said.

Brady said Loughery was on probation in Androscoggin County for a second offense of operating under the influence, and was to be transferred to the Androscoggin County Jail after his arraignment in Portland District Court Wednesday morning.

He said Loughery is originally from out of state and had traveled around the country a lot. Tolan said his department is in the process of conducting a nationwide records search for Loughery’s criminal history, if there is any.

Phone calls from the Current to the Smith residence were not returned, and there was no answer at the door of their home Wednesday afternoon.

Neighbors on Old Colony Lane said the Smiths had not been home the evening after the incident and did not know how to contact them.