The Portland Daily Sun, Saturday, December 24, 2011

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2011 VOL. 3 NO. 230 PORTLAND, ME PORTLAND’S DAILY NEWSPAPER 699-5801

Due to the holiday weekend, The Portland Daily Sun will not publish on Tuesday, Dec. 27. We wish our readers a Merry Christmas and offer seasons greetings!

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Family joins vigil for Ayla Reynolds

Search, page 8; vigil, page 10

Jolly, old St. V ic?

Blogging with heart

See page 22

When this motorcycle pulled to a stop on State Street, a men dressed as Santa and a black-clad fi gure riding behind him declined to explain their mission. Perhaps, actions speak louder than words. They embarked on a tour of downtown Portland, stopping to dispense envelopes full of money to strangers. (DAVID CARKHUFF PHOTO)

No sleigh here. This jolly

elf rides a Victory

motorcycle. See the story

on page 3

Page 2 — THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Saturday, December 24, 2011

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CATTARAUGUS, N.Y. (NY Times) — The Bank of Cattaraugus, the New York’s smallest bank — one branch, eight employees — isn’t the kind of bank you’ll fi nd any-more in New York City, where multiple branches and capital-izations counted in 10 fi gures are the norm. With $12 million in total assets, the Bank of Cattaraugus is a microbank, well below the $10 billion ceil-ing that defi nes small banks. It exists in a seemingly different universe from the mammoth banks-turned-financial-ser-vices-conglomerates.

With obvious exceptions, business at the Bank of Catta-raugus hasn’t changed much since 1882, when 20 promi-nent residents — among them a Civil War surgeon and a cousin of Davy Crockett — established the bank to safe-guard townsfolk’s money and to fi nance local commerce. In its 130-year history, the bank has rarely booked a profi t for itself in excess of $50,000. He and his offi cers are industry anomalies: bankers who avoid high-risk and high-growth tac-tics in order to reinvest in their community’s economy.

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(NY Times) — In under an hour on Friday, the House and Senate dispensed with weeks of partisan bickering, passing a bill to ensure a two-month extension of a payroll tax holiday and unemployment benefi ts for millions of Americans. Presi-dent Obama signed the legislation hours later, as soon as it arrived from Capitol Hill, calling the resolution “good news just in the nick of time for the holidays.”

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ing American will keep their tax cut,” Obama told reporters, and “vital” assis-tance will continue for the long-term unemployed. “More money spent by more Americans means more businesses hiring more workers, and that’s a boost for every-body,” the president said.

In his remarks, Obama sounded his cam-paign theme of fi ghting for the middle class, and at one point looked into the cameras in the White House briefi ng room as if address-

ing viewers, and said: “It’s about you, it’s about your lives, it’s about your families. You didn’t send us to this town to play partisan games.”

The fi ght over how and whether to pass a payroll tax cut extension was settled Thursday afternoon, when Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio agreed — against the will of many of the chamber’s most con-servative members — to a Senate bill to extend the benefi ts for two months while a longer deal was hammered out.

Standoff ends: Payroll tax cut bill passes

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (NY Times) — Pakistan lurched between crises on Friday with its military chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, dismissing talk of a coup and canceling a visit from a top American general, a sign that Pakistani fury at the United States over airstrikes that killed 26 soldiers is far from abating.

Concern has been growing in Pakistan and abroad that the two crises — a political struggle that has pitted civilian offi cials

against the military, and the fray-ing relations with the United States — are distracting from deeper threats to stability, pri-marily the faltering economy and the festering Islamist insurgency. The Pakistani Taliban offered a sharp reminder of their potency on Friday, killing one soldier and abducting 15 in an attack on a paramilitary post in the country’s northwest, the police said. The Taliban militants threatened to kill the captives.

As Pakistan faces two crises, military denies a conspiracy

BEIRUT, Lebanon (NY Times) — Two powerful bombs exploded outside government offi ces in Damascus on Friday, in what appeared to be the most brazen and deadly attacks against the government since the start of the uprising in Syria in March. SANA, the government news agency, reported that dozens of people were killed, blaming suicide car bombers.

The news agency said that while some soldiers were among the dead, most were civilians. Faisal Mekdad, the deputy foreign min-ister, was quoted by The Associated Press as saying that 30 people were killed and 100 wounded in the attacks, coordinated within minutes of each other. In a statement, SANA said an initial inves-tigation showed the attacks “carried the blueprints of Al Qaeda,” though it did not provide any further detail. It appeared to be the fi rst use of car bombs — a frequent and deadly means of attack in neighboring Iraq — in the Syrian confl ict.

Bomb blasts hit two security facilities in Syrian capital

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THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Saturday, December 24, 2011— Page 3

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This Santa rides a Victory to give cash to strangers

Between her birthday and Christmas, Marie Mannette of Portland received a visit from Santa on the streets of Portland.

OK, it wasn't THE Santa, but one of his helpers, riding a Victory motorcycle with a black-clad sidekick on back.

Mannette, who turned 79 on Dec. 12, was sitting in her rolling walker near the Forest Avenue inter-section with Congress Street Thursday, waiting to make her way down to the CVS pharmacy. That's when a motorcycle pulled up to the curb, with a men dressed as Santa driving and a black-clad fi gure with a dark helmet riding behind him. The rider bounded off the bike and handed Mannette an envelope, then leaped back on the motorcycle, and driver and passenger roared off.

"They just said, ‘Merry Christmas,’ they came over and gave me the envelope and said, ‘Merry Christmas,’” Mannette remembered.

When Mannette opened the envelope, inside was $10. Not as much as the envelopes containing $100 that a Secret Santa from Portland handed out at a Bruns-wick food pantry earlier this week, but Mannette teared up at the kind-ness, nevertheless.

"This was $10, and that’s wonder-ful," she said.

When asked what she would do with

the money, Mannette said, "I need new snow boots that are comfortable."

Neither driver nor rider would com-ment when asked by a reporter what they were doing, but it became clear from a brief time following them along

Grateful recipient: Marie Mannette was delighted to accept a cash gift from a motorcycle-riding Secret Santa on Thursday on Con-gress Street in Portland. (DAVID CARKHUFF PHOTO)

BY DAVID CARKHUFFTHE PORTLAND DAILY SUN

“They came over and gave me the envelope and said, ‘Merry Christmas.’” — Marie Mannette,

recipient of a cash gift

see SANTA page 6


All letters columns and editorial cartoons are the opinion of the writer or artists and do not refl ect the opinions of the staff, editors or pub-lisher of The Portland Daily Sun.

We welcome your ideas and opinions on all topics and consider every signed letter for publication. Limit letters to 300 words and include your address and phone number. Longer letters will only be published as space allows and may be edited. Anonymous letters, letters without full names and generic letters will not be published. Please send your letters to: THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, [email protected]. You may FAX your letters to 899-4963, Attention: Editor.

Looking around for a good holiday story, I found one in the pages of the BDN. There are a couple of guys here in Portland that are getting ready to do something that gets little press, but in the long run, you realize that this might be the best way to celebrate the season.

Let’s just get one thing out of the way. By no stretch of the wildest defi nition imaginable could I be considered a “vet-eran.” There differing agencies tell me that due to technicali-ties, I fall under the defi nition, and could get help on stuff. I didn’t earn it, period. My expe-rience with the military could best be summed up by the plaque on the wall outside the fabled law fi rm: “Solitary, Poor, Nasty, Brutish, and Short.”

That being said, I still look back on the short amount of time I spent wearing the greens before Uncle Sugar thought better of it, and gave me a one-way plane ticket back to the civilian life. I even did some “Reserve” time later, but that is a story for another day. You go in, and among the most valuable lessons you learn (“When people are shooting at you, duck.”) are some of the coping skills.

There are vets on the street, homeless. It should never happen, period. This is not sub-

Veteran of the holidays

ject to negotiation or debate. A couple of Portland guys felt the same way a few years back, and started what has become a holiday tradition. They throw a dinner.

Down at the Boys and Girls club last year, the estimated crowd of 200 gathered in one place for mutual companion-ship and a hearty meal. “Uncle” Jake Myrick and “Nephew” John Myrick put the whole deal together for the fi rst time in 2009. They both work at the B&G club, so getting the space wasn’t a big deal. They served 125 people that fi rst year.

Think about that for a minute. 125 people who served, but through circumstance and a combination of inner and outer demons, would be alone on Christmas.

This year, they are expanding it, even though donations have fallen short of what they need to do the job. Kind of like two old soldiers, that approach. It needs to get done, but we lack

the resources, so dig in grunt, and get it done anyway.

They are expanding the meal this year to assist those down at Milestone Shelter, a wet shelter for those still pursued by the demon rum and compatriots.

Now we have reached the point in the “Christmas Column” where said columnist pokes you repeat-edly with a pointy stick, until you get the point of the column. It’s a good cause, and is running short of donations. In case you missed that, make with the goods. There are those that came home, those that left bits of themselves else-where not exactly on a voluntary basis, those that had holes shot in them by enemies in a particularly foul mood.

There are those who never really came completely home. The military IS kind of like a family, and even though my status might be as the weird step-cousin-twice-removed who got caught doing unspeakable things in the bushes behind the Battalion offi ce, the tales are told with laughter and for a few brief moments we are all a family again.

Take one vet I know, “Dave.” Bullet hole in each leg, arm half ripped off his body at the shoulder and reattached. Has continuing issues. The VA basi-

see HIGGINS page 5

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– COLUMN ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

As the final days of 2011 begin to whiz past like taxis on a rainy night, our annual barrage of reflection and prediction is bound to leave all but the most focused among us wondering what the

For 2012, The Nation keeping an

eye on Maine politics

Curtis Robinson

–––––Usually

Reserved

heck a new year might bring.And should your thoughts

turn political, well, the term “yikes!” comes to mind.

If you think that Mayan Calendar end-of-days stuff is scary, wait until we see the campaign ads as the presi-dential election gets serious. If the TV barrage in New Hampshire is any indication, we’ve not seen this much air pollution since they started putting scrubbers on coal plants.

The reason for that, of course, is that negative ads work – and since the U.S. Supreme Court has pretty much decided that money is speech, then we can expect it to scream bloody murder. That would be chaos enough, but this year we also have a one-two punch of Tea Party folks and Occupy protesters.

see ROBINSON page 5

We want your opinions Bob Higgins–––––

Daily Sun Columnist

–––––––––––––––– COLUMN ––––––––––––––––

Portland’s FREE DAILY NewspaperDavid Carkhuff, Editor

Casey Conley, City Editor Matthew Arco, Reporter

Founding Editor Curtis RobinsonTHE PORTLAND DAILY SUN is published

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cally says, “Well, we DID sew the arm back on, and it sort of works ... what is the problem?” Kind of sucks when most of the jobs he can get all require heavy lifting, and every time he picks up something that weighs more than two pounds it pops the shoulder out of the socket again. Portland’s MEDCU doesn’t even bother to take him to the hospital anymore ... just pops the arm back in and goes on their way. (Actually, even “David” admits that is a LOT more effi cient than going to the ER.)

So I’ve decided to take a good chunk of that day and go down to the Boys and Girls Club and help pass out the food. We’ll all sit around for a bit and swap tall tales. I might even

get a buddy of mine to stop in for a bit and tell the funny story of how he had to sedate somebody once that was screaming, because they were covered with spiders. Or the tall tale of the bushes behind the offi ce, or swap some of their stories.

For on this day when each man is a brother to every other, or should at least act like it, the family get-ting together to tell tales is best summed up by author Spider Robin-son: “Shared joy is joy increased, and shared pain is pain lessened. Thus, I refute entropy”

Share the joy. I’ll be there, 1 p.m. Christmas Day, dinner at 4:30.

(Bob Higgins is a regular contribu-tor to The Portland Daily Sun.)

HIGGINS from page 4

Of course, those are very separate manifestations of very similar situ-ations.

The Democratic pollster Pat Cad-dell last week was among those citing recent polling that “just 17 percent” of likely U.S. voters feel the federal government had “the con-sent” of the governed.

And most of those polled, nearly three quarters, feel the “system” is rigged against them.

Caddell, who has more or less called for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to step into the presidential race, made some headlines when he labeled the polling “pre-revolution-ary.”

Certainly the numbers document a sort of free-fl oating angst that visits Occupy protesters in Iowa as they shout down candidates and/or Tea Party activists when they embrace “debate” over the president’s citizen-ship.

Looking into the Maine legislature through 2012 will be a study in duel-ing angst. The high-profi le debates over issues like the labor mural were merely prelude to the debates over substance that have placed us in a national spotlight of sorts.

The Lower 47 might actually do well to learn from Maine.

For one thing, the leading Occupy complaint seems to be about public servants being bought and paid for by money in politics. Maine is famously, at least politically famously, a leader in public fi nanc-ing of state races with more than 80 percent of our legislature elected through Clean Election campaigns.

Granted, the conservative Supreme Court has challenged our system, and that’s one of the hotter conversations we’ll have in 2012.

But it remains an example that Main

Another good example came late last week when a leading progres-sive magazine, The Nation, included a Maine state rep on its annual “Pro-

gressive Honor Roll.” It just doesn’t get much more “on the radar” than that.

Writes The Nation’s John Nich-ols: “A good case can be made that the most extreme of the new crop of radical right-wing Republican governors is Maine’s Paul LePage. An equally good case can be made that no one has caused LePage more frustration than Portland Democrat Russell. With deep roots in Maine and a record of agitat-ing for progressive causes, Russell battled to block a right-wing move to eliminate Maine’s election-day-registration law. After Republicans rammed the change through, she became a leading advocate for the referendum that restored the law. Active with the Progressive States Network, Russell joined the pro-tests in Wisconsin and returned to Maine with a renewed determina-tion to pass pro-worker legislation. She succeeded with her work-sharing bill, which allows employ-ers to avoid layoffs by making the state unemployment insurance pro-gram more fl exible. Even Tea Party Republicans backed it.”

While a high personal honor for Rep. Russell (who is a frequent contributor to this newspaper) the selection perhaps illustrates more than the writer intended. Because support from “Tea Party Republi-cans” doesn’t just happen for a pro-gressive legislator — Diane is not hesitant to become inclusive on con-sensus issues.

And finding some scrap of common ground, as we say farewell to 2011 and trade rumors of the Biblical rapture for Mayan end-time prophecy, will be our defining challenge.

Full disclosure: Diane Russell is a social media director for Morel Communications, which is owned by Curtis Robinson’s wife, Michelle Morel.

(Curtis Robinson was founding editor of The Portland Daily Sun.)

ROBINSON from page 4

An invitation to swap some tall tales and share in some holiday joy

The Maine legislature in 2012 will be a study in dueling angst


Merry C hristmas from T eddy

and t he Skillful H ome

Recreation f amily!

the streets that they were making similar stops through-out downtown Portland, dis-pensing identical envelopes with cash to strangers.

Peter Gordon, owner of Cum-berland County Choppers at 314 Warren Ave., said he wasn't surprised that a motorcyclist would take on such a mission of kindness four days before Christmas.

"Bikers are generally very generous, they give back toys at a toy run each fall, and there's thousands of bikes that show up for that from all over the state. There are always benefi t rides," he noted.

Mannette said she has lived in Portland since 1993. She was born in York, Penn., and lived in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Chicago before moving to California and then back to the Port City, the city to which her grandfather emigrated from Nova Scotia and where her father was raised. Only on one other occasion could Mannette recall a stranger giving her a gift of cash — at the time, it was $50. But Thursday's gift from the duo on the Victory will stay with her.

"That was a blessing. I hope the Lord blesses them," she said.

SANTA from page 3

This motorcyclist dressed as Santa handled the driving, and the black-clad fi gure with a dark helmet riding behind him jumped on and off at stops to give out cash gifts to people on the sidewalk. Neither would divulge who they were or why they were on a mission of kindness. (DAVID CARKHUFF PHOTO)

‘Bikers are generally very generous,’ business owner notes


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Unemployment remains high and many Main-ers are struggling, but many small businesses in Portland are reporting a stronger holiday shopping season than last year despite the challenging econ-omy.

Joseph Redman, owner of Joseph’s, a fi ne clothing store on Fore Street in the Old Port, said his sales have been higher than last year “all month and all quarter.” “It’s way up,” he added.

While he’s not noticing any signifi cant changes in consumers’ shopping habits, Redman said his store has experienced a boost from out-of-state custom-ers. Meanwhile, he says locals have “started buying suits again.”

“It’s better this year,” he said yesterday, adding that “quality is the driving factor. It’s not price; people are buying quality.”

Nancy Lawrence, the owner of Portmanteau, said she’s noticed a difference in the way people are shop-ping this year.

“In general, people are so happy out shopping,” said Lawrence, who sells locally-made tapestries and canvas bags on Wharf Street and, until January, from its former showroom on Free Street. “It seems to be different than other years.”

“I am getting a sense that people are sort of invest-ing their heart in their shopping,” Lawrence said, adding that people seem to be putting more “sweet-ness and thoughtfulness” into their gift choices than in other years.

“I had a wonderful woman say how she is being much more specifi c about how she shops, and how she is thinking about ... choosing specifi c things,” Lawrence said.

Other merchants are also noticing a greater emphasis on meaningful gifts this season.

Heather Nichols, the owner of Stones & Stuff on Congress Street, said she’s noticed more people are making a point to buy local.

“I have been more consistent than slammed, but consistency is better because I can talk to people more,” she said yesterday, adding that people who shop at her mineral and jewelry store are typically seeking gifts with an emotional connection.

Although the 2011 holiday season was “not a record” it was “defi nitely better than last year and way better than the year before,” she said.

Brook DeLorme, who sells handmade clothing from her boutique Brook There on Wharf Street, said she too has seen an uptick in sales this year. The 2011 season “was a little better for me than last year,” she said.

Across town, business has also been brisk at Jolly John’s Cumberland County Choppers store on Warren Avenue. Owner Peter Gordon said his nine-month-old motrocycle and scooter business has been selling “a lot of gear.”

“Leather coats, helmets, and just little trinkets for bikes,” said Gordon, who said the shop has also sold several motorized scooters.

“I honestly had no idea what to expect” heading into the shopping season, he said, “so anything we got exceeded our expectations.”

With the holiday shopping season nearly com-plete, several merchants are already looking toward 2012. And even with continued uncertainty, many are hoping to sustain the momentum they’ve gained over the past few months.

“I’m feeling optimistic, but I’m an optimistic person,” said Nichols.

Old Port merchants optimistic following stronger holiday shopping season

BY CASEY CONLEYTHE PORTLAND DAILY SUN

Half off at the entire store at Ann Taylor. Sixty per-cent at Gap. Forty percent off almost everything at Abercrombie & Fitch.

Aggressive last-minute deals in the days before Christmas are good for procrastinators, but they could be an alarm bell for the retail industry.

While scattered markdowns are standard every year, discounts across entire stores — which analysts say are more widespread than last year — suggest merchants are stuck with too much merchandise.

“It’s really a game of chicken,” said David Bassuk, managing director and head of the retail practice at the consultant fi rm AlixPartners.

Many retailers entered the season “with pretty opti-mistic plans” that shoppers would rush into stores and pay full price, Mr. Bassuk said. But that did not pan out, and the fi nal days before Christmas have retail-ers being “much more aggressive in terms of promo-tions being offered,” he said.

Shoppers are fi lling their holiday lists against the backdrop of an uncertain year, with stubbornly high unemployment, increased food prices, volatile gas prices and unpredictability for stocks and Europe’s debt crisis. The government on Thursday said that third-quarter economic growth had not been as brisk as it previously estimated, because of a drop in con-sumer spending on services like health care.

Toys “R” Us announced on Thursday new deals on dozens of items for Friday and Saturday, including ‘buy one, get one half off” on popular toys like Legos. A sampling of other promotions: Up to 70 percent off toys at Amazon; up to 50 percent off gifts at Resto-ration Hardware; 40 percent off almost everything at American Eagle Outfi tters, Talbots, Limited and Wet Seal; and 30 percent off everything at J. Crew.

“There’s been kind of a waiting game with retailers,” Gerald L. Storch, the chief executive of Toys “R” Us, told CNBC last week. “And it looks like the consumer wins.”

Paul Lejuez, an analyst at Nomura Equity Research, surveyed mall deals over the weekend and said he was concerned. “It looks like 40 percent is the new level you have to be at, 40 percent off, to drive traffi c. Those that weren’t at that level weren’t getting their fair share,” he said.

Going into the holiday season, inventories had grown more than three times as fast as sales at sev-

eral retailers, including American Eagle Outfi tters, Aéropostale, Gap Inc., Urban Outfi tters, Chico’s and Talbots. “If inventory is growing ahead of sales growth, there is a need to be more promotional to move the goods,” Mr. Lejuez said.

Although sales over Thanksgiving weekend were surprisingly strong, Mr. Lejuez said they seemed to have cut into shopping that more typically would occur in December. Sales were sluggish the fi rst two weeks after Thanksgiving, though they improved in the third week, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers.

In e-mail inboxes, the promotional cadence is rapid. Retailers sent about 5.6 e-mails each last week on average, according to the e-mail marketer Responsys. That was a 26 percent increase over the same week last year, and matched the record high hit during the week of Cyber Monday this year.

Stores including Macy’s and Toys “R” Us are offer-ing 24-hour shopping in the days before Christmas, and many stores moved “Super Saturday,” a promo-tion that falls on the fi nal Saturday before Christmas, back a week hoping to spur sales.

The deals are a boon for people who have put off shopping.

“Last-minute Christmas shopping,” posted a Twit-ter user named Samra Tekeste. “Literally everything is on sale, LOL. Knew my procrastination would come in handy some day.” Another Twitter user with the handle BossNugget suggested that the King of Prus-sia mall near Philadelphia hang up a sign saying “It’s Almost Christmas, and Everything Is on Sale.”

The big discounts mean that retailers are willing to sacrifi ce profi ts for revenue.

“More and more each year, sales become less of the issue, and it’s more about what retailers have to do to get those,” Mr. Lejuez said. “There’s a little more pres-sure on that out-the-door price than we would have thought, and, I think, what the market would have anticipated.”

And, after Christmas, the value of most merchan-dise slides.

“The inventory is worth so much less in two weeks,” said the chief executive of a retailer, who asked not to be named because he did not want to reveal his store’s strategy. “With that kind of inventory, you’ve got to get rid of it. Whatever the margin is today, it’s that much lower next week and the week after when traffi c stops.”

National retailers start slashing prices ahead of Christmas holiday

BY STEPHANIE CLIFFORDTHE NEW YORK TIMES


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Search for missing child to continue

Waterville Police Department offi cers plan to work through the holiday weekend in the case of a missing 20-month-old Maine toddler, offi cials said yesterday. The department issued a state-ment Friday saying overnight snowfall had "hampered our abil-ity to conduct large-scale search operations," though teams of Maine Warden Service offi cials planned targeted searches in spe-cifi c locations, the release stated.

Offi cials are searching for Ayla Reynolds, who was last seen by family members on Dec. 16. Ayla was living with her father, Justin DiPietro, when she was reported missing Saturday morning. DiPi-etro told police the toddler was last seen sleeping in her bed at about 10 p.m.

Waterville's chief of police said Thursday the search for Ayla was still a missing person case, not a criminal investigation.

The news came during a daily press conference held just a short time after the home of where the Maine toddler was last seen had been roped off with police crime-scene tape, and only hours after one of the state's top homi-cide prosecutors had arrived at the Waterville residence. The department, which has been hosting daily news conferences,

indicated Friday that no addi-tional news conferences were planned for the weekend.

In addition to searches, author-ities said they will continue to investigate the case of the miss-

ing girl, which includes "the painstaking review of an unprec-edented amount of information which has been gathered to date," read the statement.

On Thursday alone, inves-tigators received nearly 200 tips in Ayla's disappearance.Anyone with information perti-nent to the case is encouraged to contact the Waterville Police Department at 680-4700.

BY MATTHEW ARCOTHE PORTLAND DAILY SUN

The search for Ayla Reynolds has garnered national attention and is also a topic being discussed on social networking websites, like Facebook, home to a page titled “Find Ayla Reynolds Missing Since 12/16/2011 From Waterville, Maine.” Anyone with information about Ayla’s whereabouts is urged to call 680-4700. (COURTESY PHOTO)

Family, friends, supporters hold vigil in Portland. See

story on page 10.


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The mother of missing toddler Ayla Reynolds, Trista Reynolds of Portland, attended a vigil in Portland Friday evening, holding a candle along with a crowd of over 50 people. (DAVID CARKHUFF PHOTO)

Grandfather, mother join vigil to missing toddlerA candlelight vigil in

Congress Square Friday evening gave family of missing Waterville

toddler Ayla Reynolds a chance to plead for the safe return of the 20-month-old girl.

Family members reported seeing Ayla

Reynolds on Friday, Dec. 16. Ayla was living with her father, Justin DiPietro, and she was reported missing Sat-urday morning, Dec. 17, offi cials said. DiPietro told police the toddler was last seen sleeping in her bed at about 10 p.m., according to police.

"I never, ever give up hope that that little girl is coming home to us," said Ayla's grandfather, Ronald Reynolds, during a vigil near the East-land Park Hotel Friday evening that drew more than 50 people.

"I believe that she is with somebody, some-where out there, some-body has my Ayla, and I want her home," he told media before the vigil began.

Ayla's mother, Trista Reynolds of Portland, also attended the vigil. Surrounded by friends and family, she lit a candle near the front of the large crowd, listen-ing to speakers offering prayers and support from a microphone in the square.


see VIGIL page 12


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Waterville's chief of police said Thursday the search for Ayla was still a missing person case, not a criminal investigation.

DiPietro told police when he last saw Ayla, she was wearing green pajamas with polka dots and the words "Daddy's Princess" on them. She also had a soft cast on her broken left arm.

Ron Reynolds urged the public to cooperate with the police investigation, and "let them do their job, that's what they're there for."

"I do give thanks to the law enforcement offi cers, men and women who are out there right now trying to bring her home. I am very grateful and very thankful," he said.

Speaking directly to TV cameras, he said, "'Ayla, as I always say, I love you. Papa loves you. We all love you. We all love you. You'll be home with us soon, I know you will.'"

VIGIL from page 10

ABOVE: Ayla’s grandfather, Ronald Reynolds, speaks to the media prior to a vigil near the Eastland Park Hotel Friday. BELOW: A pic-ture of Ronald Reynolds with his granddaughter and a missing poster seek to raise public awareness about the missing persons case. (DAVID CARKHUFF PHOTOS)

Family members join candlelight vigil for missing Waterville child



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HOROSCOPE By Holiday Mathis

ARIES (March 21-April 19). It may feel like everyone wants something from you at once. You’ll rise to the occasion. You’ll be quite amazing in your ability to address more than one need at a time. TAURUS (April 20-May 20). You enjoy making people comfortable. You could use your charm to climb to new ranks, though more than likely, you’ll dedicate yourself to simply making others happy, and whatever happens after that is just icing on the cake. GEMINI (May 21-June 21). You’ll have more company than you expected, but that’s OK because you get such a positive charge from friends. You’ll notice a loved one’s happy, danc-ing eyes and wonder what secrets lie behind them! CANCER (June 22-July 22). Life will seem suddenly less complicated. You can feel that you have the poten-tial for a good life ahead of you, and you sense that success is really just a matter of continuing to choose what’s best for you. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). You know better than to pin your hopes on acquir-ing certain objects. You’d rather have the feeling that comes with knowing that you love and are loved. You’ll do what it takes to kindle that feeling now. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). You’ll have the strong sense that you’re in control of your own destiny. This is what liberty feels like. When you exer-cise your free and independent will, joy rings through you like a bell. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). You’ll do everything within your ability to make life the way you want it to be. There are others involved who won’t mind doing things your way. In fact, they’ll rather enjoy being a part of your vision.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). You’ll fi nd simple ways to bring joy to others using the talents with which you were born. It’s a win-win: You delight in applying yourself in this way, and every-one you reach out to really appreciates it. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). Waste not a moment in apprehension. There is no use in wondering whether everything will turn out. It already has. There is no better place or time than now. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). Scientists have yet to fi gure out exactly why fl owers make people smile. But they do. You’ll use fl owers and other methods to put a smile on the faces of those around you. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). You’ll be decisive, choosing as though you know you can’t get it wrong. In fact, you probably can’t. Whatever you pick, you can always pick something differ-ent next. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). You believe that being alive is enough of a reason to celebrate. So when special occasions come up, you think either “What’s the big deal?” or “This is the biggest deal ever!” Which one is it this time? TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (Dec. 24). You’ll systematically build on small vic-tories, and before you know it, you’ve done something remarkable. Your accomplishments will give you a sense of pride. You’ll be available to those who need your support in 2012 and will be grateful to be in a position to help. Adventure happens in April and August. Libra and Aquarius people adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 20, 14, 3, 1 and 18.

ACROSS 1 Nat King __ 5 Stashes away 10 Snatch 14 Peak 15 King’s order 16 Vex 17 Chicken’s noise 18 First Greek letter 19 Frosted 20 Force into

servitude 22 Unity 24 Mine car load 25 Relinquished 26 In the know 29 Xenon or radon 30 Respond to a

stimulus 34 __ public;

disclosed 35 Brillo rival 36 Looking glass 37 Long __; in the

distant past 38 Inspection 40 Lamb’s cry 41 Filthy

43 Gobble up 44 Throw 45 Move furtively 46 Eyelid swelling 47 Glee 48 Dining room

events 50 Unruly crowd 51 Look __ at; view

scornfully 54 Became juicy and

ready to be eaten 58 Engagement

symbol 59 Records 61 Crimson __;

Alabama team 62 Pine or beech 63 __ layer; topic for

Al Gore 64 Related 65 Poppy __ rolls 66 Actress Winona 67 Earns, after

expenses

DOWN 1 Poncho

2 Ajar 3 Peggy & Bruce 4 Delve into 5 Gave the old

__-ho to; fi red 6 Doing nothing 7 Guacamole or

salsa 8 Canyon sounds 9 Get up 10 Hoagie 11 Asian staple 12 Tavern drinks 13 Cots and cribs 21 “You __ what you

eat” 23 Inexplicable 25 Coffi ns 26 Accumulate 27 “__ Train”; old TV

Western 28 Venerate 29 Sticky stuff 31 Vine-covered

lattice shelter 32 Seashore 33 Garbage 35 Layer of turf

DAILY CROSSWORDTRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES

36 Encountered 38 Compare 39 Utter 42 Banged up 44 Dalai Lama

devotee 46 Like a slimeball 47 Unruly head of

hair 49 Cast member

50 Tightwad 51 __ and crafts 52 Beget children 53 Leg joint 54 France’s Coty 55 Shoe brand 56 Correct text 57 Comfy rooms 60 Pack of whales

Fill in the grid so that every row, every column, and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 thru 9.

Solution and tips at

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Yesterday’s Answer


SATURDAY PRIME TIME DECEMBER 24, 2011 Dial 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30 10:00 10:30 11:00 11:30 5 CTN 5 Alternate Route TV Just Coolin Minutes Teen TV Chatting with History

6 WCSHMovie: ›››› “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946, Comedy-Drama) James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore. A guardian angel strengthens a man ruined by a miser.

News Christmas Eve Mass Å

7 WPFOTerra Nova “Nightfall; Proof” A meteor knocks out all technology. (In Stereo) Å

News 13 on FOX

The Big Bang Theory

Hell’s Kitchen Chefs face a grueling dinner service. Å

8 WMTWMovie: ›››› “The Sound of Music” (1965, Musical) Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Eleanor Parker. A governess weds an Austrian widower with seven children. (In Stereo) Å

News 8 WMTW at 11 (N)

Christmas Mass: Come All

10 MPBNAs Time Goes By Å

Keeping Up Appear-ances

Doc Martin Helen Pratt dies during an examina-tion. (In Stereo) Å

Doc Martin Martin’s par-ents visit; startling news. (In Stereo) Å

Scrooge

11 WENHMasterpiece Classic “Downton Ab-bey” Lord Grantham loses his heirs. (In Stereo) Å

Masterpiece Classic “Downton Ab-bey” Mary’s three suitors include a diplomat. (In Stereo) Å

Christmas at St. Olaf: Rejoice, Give Thanks, and Sing Å

12 WPXTFamily Guy Å

Family Guy “FOX-y Lady”

Community Auditions

Jose’s Animtd Christmas

Nite Show with Danny Cashman

It’s Always Sunny in Phila.

It’s Always Sunny in Phila.

Futurama “Xmas Story”

13 WGMEBlue Bloods “My Funny Valentine” A girl is kid-napped. Å

48 Hours Mystery (In Stereo) Å WGME News 13 at 11:00

Christmas in Chelsea Square (N)

17 WPME Criminal Minds Å The Unit “Whiplash” Law & Order Å Sports Raymond

24 DISC Sons of Guns Å Sons of Guns Å Sons of Guns Å Sons of Guns Å

25 FAM Year Without a Santa Movie: ››‡ “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York” (1992) Santa

26 USA NCIS “Heartland” Å NCIS “Road Kill” Å NCIS “Silent Night” NCIS “Sub Rosa”

27 NESN Bruins in Two Daily Outdoors Daily Dirty

28 CSNE World Poker Tour: Sea Basketball Show Special SportsNet SportsNet Basketball

30 ESPN College Football Sheraton Hawaii Bowl -- Nevada vs. Southern Mississippi. (N) (Live) SportsCtr

31 ESPN2 NFL PrimeTime (N) SportsCenter (N) Å SportsCenter (N) Å SportsCtr Year of

33 ION Monk (In Stereo) Å Monk (In Stereo) Å Psych (In Stereo) Å Psych “Christmas Joy”

34 DISN “Good Luck Charlie” Shake It Random Austin Austin Shake It

35 TOON Movie: “Shrek” (2001) Oblongs King of Hill King of Hill Fam. Guy Boondocks Stroker

36 NICK “Merry Christmas” Big Time Rush Å ’70s Show ’70s Show Friends Friends

37 MSNBC Lockup Boston Lockup Wabash Lockup Wabash (N) Lockup Boston

38 CNN CNN On The Frontlines P.M. Christmas CNN Presents: After Jesus: First Christians

40 CNBC American Greed The Suze Orman Show Debt/Part Debt/Part American Greed

41 FNC Huckabee (N) Justice With Jeanine The Five Jour. FOX News

43 TNT Movie: ›››‡ “Forrest Gump” (1994) Tom Hanks. Å Movie: ››› “War of the Worlds”

44 LIFE Movie: “Undercover Christmas” (2003) Å Movie: “A Diva’s Christmas Carol” (2000) Å

46 TLC Gypsy Christmas Toddlers & Tiaras Cupcake Cake Boss Gypsy Christmas

47 AMC Movie: ›‡ “American Outlaws” (2001) Hell on Wheels Å “American Outlaws”

48 HGTV Celebrity Holiday Design High Low Color Spl. Dina Party Hunters Hunters

49 TRAV Christmas Crazy (N) Christmas to Extreme Christmasy Places Crazy for Christmas

50 A&E Dog the Bounty Hunter Dog the Bounty Hunter Dog the Bounty Hunter Dog Dog

52 BRAVO Housewives/NJ Housewives/NJ Housewives/NJ Housewives/NJ

55 HALL Movie: “The Christmas Card” (2006) Ed Asner. Movie: “November Christmas” (2010) Å

56 SYFY Movie: “Red Planet” Movie: ››› “The Fifth Element” (1997) Bruce Willis. Batman

57 ANIM Planet Earth Å Planet Earth Å Planet Earth Å Planet Earth Å

58 HIST Swamp People Å Swamp People Å Swamp People Å Swamp People Å

60 BET The BET Awards 2011 Music, entertainment and sports in LA. Å

61 COM Tosh.0 Tosh.0 Tosh.0 Tosh.0 The Comedy Central Roast Å Comedy

62 FX Movie: ›› “Alvin and the Chipmunks” (2007) Movie: ›› “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs”

67 TVLND Roseanne Roseanne Raymond Raymond Raymond Raymond Raymond King

68 TBS Movie: ›››› “A Christmas Story” (1983) Movie: ›››› “A Christmas Story” (1983)

76 SPIKE Movie: ›››› “Jaws” (1975) Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw. Movie: ›››› “Jaws” (1975)

78 OXY Movie: ›› “Enough” (2002, Suspense) Jennifer Lopez. Å Movie: ›› “Monster-in-Law” Å

146 TCM Movie: ›››› “Miracle on 34th Street” (1947) Movie: ››› “Margie” (1946) Jeanne Crain.

––––––– ALMANAC –––––––

Today is Saturday, Dec. 24, the 358th day of 2011. There are seven days left in the year. This is Christmas Eve.

Today’s Highlight in History:On Dec. 24, 1814, the War of 1812 offi -

cially ended as the United States and Britain signed the Treaty of Ghent.

On this date:In 1524, Portuguese navigator Vasco da

Gama — who had discovered a sea route around Africa to India — died in Cochin, India.

In 1809, legendary American frontiers-man Christopher “Kit” Carson was born in Madison County, Ky.

In 1851, fi re devastated the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., destroying about 35,000 volumes.

In 1865, several veterans of the Confed-erate Army formed a private social club in Pulaski, Tenn., called the Ku Klux Klan.

In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower supreme commander of Allied forces in Europe as part of Operation Overlord.

In 1951, Gian Carlo Menotti’s “Amahl and the Night Visitors,” the fi rst opera written specifi cally for television, was fi rst broadcast by NBC-TV.

In 1961, the Houston Oilers won the second American Football League Cham-pionship Game, defeating the San Diego Chargers, 10-3.

In 1968, the Apollo 8 astronauts, orbiting the moon, read passages from the Old Tes-tament Book of Genesis during a Christmas Eve telecast.

In 1980, Americans remembered the U.S. hostages in Iran by burning candles or shin-ing lights for 417 seconds — one second for each day of captivity. Karl Doenitz, the last leader of the Third Reich following the sui-cides of Adolf Hitler and Joseph Goebbels, died in West Germany at age 89.

One year ago: Pope Benedict XVI ush-ered in Christmas Eve with an evening Mass amid heightened security concerns following package bombings at two Rome embassies and Christmas Eve security breaches at the Vatican the previous two years. John War-hola (cq), the older brother who helped raise pop art icon Andy Warhol and later helped establish the Andy Warhol Museum, died in Pittsburgh at age 85.

Today’s Birthdays: Songwriter-band-leader Dave Bartholomew is 91. Author Mary Higgins Clark is 84. Rock singer-musi-cian Lemmy is 66. Actor Clarence Gilyard is 56. Actress Stephanie Hodge is 55. The president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai is 54. Rock musician Ian Burden is 54. Actor Anil Kapoor is 52. Actor Wade Williams is 50. Designer Kate Spade is 49. Rock singer Mary Ramsey is 48. Actor Mark Valley is 47. Actor Diedrich Bader is 45. Singer Ricky Martin is 40. Author Stephenie Meyer is 38. “American Idol” host Ryan Seacrest is 37.

ACROSS 1 Bullring shouts 5 Unprofessional 15 Sampras of tennis 16 Preventive

measures 17 & others: Lat. 18 AC generator 19 Fit of violent anger 20 Fleshy fruits 21 Sorvino of “Mighty

Aphrodite” 22 Guinness or

Baldwin 23 Morrison or

Braxton 24 Brooks or Gibson 25 Wrongful acts 27 Attended the party 29 Uncool kid 30 Solidarity 32 Plucky 34 Close again 35 Southern shell

bean 39 Stick with

something 41 Humans

42 Slithery killers 45 Big name in sound

systems 47 Shadings 48 Arthur of “The

Golden Girls” 49 Saxophonist Getz 51 Central area of a

church 52 Knitter’s need 54 Marshy

depression 55 White dwarf or red

giant 56 Honeybun 58 Riga resident 59 Mobilized for

action 60 Skin-cream

additive 61 Without method 62 Political division

DOWN 1 Switchboard

overseer 2 Not to mention 3 Bric-a-brac stands

4 Singled-out condition

5 Keep up with the times

6 Becomes more easygoing

7 Bring into harmony

8 Abounding 9 Makes a wrong

turn 10 Large, decorative

vase 11 500 sheets of

paper 12 Before it’s too

late? 13 Olympics offi cial 14 Town crier 26 Bucket in a car? 28 Tex-Mex menu

selection 29 Classical

mechanics principle

31 Hunk of bacon 33 Satirical humorist

Sahl

36 Long slender cigar

37 Granary adjunct 38 Claimed 40 Biographer of

Samuel Johnson 41 South African

grains 42 Yawning gulfs

43 St. Lawrence, e.g. 44 Rind removers 46 Paper fastener 50 Requires 53 Home in a

hemlock 54 Thailand, formerly 57 Word ignored by

alphabetizers

Yesterday’s Answer

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ANNIE’S MAILBOX Dear Annie: I’ve begun to develop strong feelings for one of my managers at work. She is beautiful both inside and out and fun to be around. When I am near her, I behave properly, but inside, my heart is going pitter-pat. I want to do the honorable thing and keep our relation-ship strictly professional, but I don’t want to miss an op-portunity. There are certain things she does around me that come across as fl irting, but it’s possible I am misreading her. What should I do? -- Hopelessly Smitten Dear Smitten: Is this woman in a position of authority over you? If so, any relationship could put her job in jeopardy, and we recommend you keep it strictly business until one of you leaves the company. Otherwise, the usual caveats apply. Forming personal relationships at work can be risky because if things don’t work out, you still have to be around this per-son every day -- or quit your job. The choice is yours. Dear Annie: My roommate, “Jennifer,” and I began shar-ing a one-bedroom apartment a few months ago. The prob-lem is her behavior when my boyfriend visits. Each time, I have politely asked whether she minded his coming over. She replies that it’s fi ne with her. My boyfriend and I would sit in the living room chatting and watching TV for a couple of hours. Nothing else. Jennifer would pointedly sequester herself in the bedroom, and after he left, she would snidely imply that we should hang out somewhere else. A couple of times, she left in a huff during his visit, only to return later and ignore me for the rest of the night. My boyfriend is a nice guy, and we take pains not to show affection in public. He never stays too long or comes over at odd hours. Most importantly, he visits less than once a week. Annie, am I wrong to feel entitled to visits from my boy-friend in my own apartment? Jennifer and I are both new to

the area and are still making friends. I worry that she would behave the same way if I were to bring other people over. I want to be sensitive to her preferences, but if she had it her way, I’d probably be unwelcome in my own apartment. What should I do when her behavior becomes unaccept-able? -- Nine Months Left on the Lease Dear Nine Months: Jennifer is not being particularly ac-commodating, but this is a one-bedroom apartment, and when you have a guest over, she feels crowded out. It would help if she periodically entertained friends as well, but she doesn’t, so she reacts poorly to yours. One solution would be to invite over a couple of new people and do something together. Another is to see your boyfriend at his place. But you also should discuss this with Jennifer and ask how you can alleviate her discomfort when your boyfriend drops by. Dear Annie: “Aunt Jane” wrote about her “rude, unlik-able” sister-in-law and her likewise ill-mannered children. She said she didn’t want to create a problem, but there al-ready is a problem because nobody will take a stand to stop this behavior. Here’s my advice: She should talk to her siblings and make sure her brother passes it along to his angry wife, say-ing, “We’ve put up with this rude behavior long enough, and we’re not going to tolerate it. We expect basic courtesy from her and her children, and we won’t allow them to belittle people we love in front of us.” When this behavior rears its head at the next function, you say, “We really want to have a loving family, but we won’t put up with this anymore. If we have to say it again, you will be asked to leave.” I had to do this, and the people involved either changed or stopped coming around. We are better off without them. -- A Former Aunt Jane

Annie’s Mailbox is written by Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar, longtime editors of the Ann Landers column. Please e-mail your questions to: [email protected], or write to: Annie’s Mailbox, c/o Creators Syndicate, 5777 W. Century Blvd., Ste. 700, Los Angeles, CA 90045.

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During crucial holiday weekend, many ski areas lacking an essential ingredient

WEST DOVER, Vt. — There were far too many skis on hand this week at High Altitude, a rental shop on the road to Mount Snow here, and Andrew Glover, the manager, was far too lonely

The problem was the weather. Week after maddening week of unusually balmy temperatures have made snowfall scant in New England, and, worse, wreaked havoc on snowmaking at ski resorts that like to have a healthy base of, at the least, manmade snow by Christmas.

Many ski areas opened late this year, and the slow start is threat-ening the fragile economy of towns that rely heavily on the ski traffi c that usually starts in earnest over the holidays. Hundreds of seasonal workers have been unable to start their jobs, while some innkeepers report far more empty rooms than is customary during the holidays.

“We opened two weeks before Thanksgiving, and to this point we haven’t even done $2,500 worth of sales,” said Mr. Glover, whose shop also sells ski and snowboarding gear. “It’s been wacky weather, and it’s been really tough.”

Nor is the frustration limited to the Northeast. Out West, some of the country’s more famous ski resorts have been waiting for the steady snowfall that made last year an epic season, dumping seemingly endless amounts of fresh powder.

At Squaw Valley in Olympic Valley, Calif., near Lake Tahoe only 15 percent of the mountain was open this week. Just 12 inches of snow had fallen at the base of the resort and 26 inches on the upper mountain, by far the lowest in a decade for this time of year. (By this point in 2010, the resort had received 135 inches at the base and 246 inches on its upper mountain.) At Alta Ski Area, near Salt Lake City, the base depth was 34 inches, compared with 105 inches last year at this time.

“People are just ready to sac-rifi ce someone to the gods,” said Bill Clifford of Cumberland, Me., who plans to spend the holiday week with his family at Sugarloaf, where 15 out of 153 trails were open on Thursday. “Everyone’s depressed, knowing those limited trails will be crowded and not very much fun.”

On the few days and nights that temperatures have dropped and lingered below the mid-20s, ski areas in the Northeast have gone into manic snowmaking mode. Bill Stenger, president and chief exec-utive of Jay Peak Resort in Jay, Vt., said the resort had been able to make snow on about 15 days this season, about half the usual number.

“We’re going like hell” on days that are cold enough to fi re up the snow guns, he said. “Our guys are working 24 hours a day.”

But those efforts have been foiled at times — as on Wednes-day, when temperatures rose into the 40s in southern Vermont.

“If Mother Nature’s not going to give us the snow, she’s got to give us the temperatures,” said David Meeker, a spokesman for Mount Snow, where 16 of 80 trails were open on Thursday.

Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort, in Hancock, Mass., opened on Dec. 10, a few weeks later than its usual Thanksgiving start, delay-ing paychecks for hundreds of seasonal workers. Brian Fairbank, president and chief executive, said that about 800 skiers had visited the ski area by mid-December, down from 3,000 by that point last year. “The Valium bottle in my drawer — I haven’t taken it out yet or opened it yet,” Mr. Fairbank said. “But it’s close.”

Mad River Glen, a ski area in Waitsfi eld, Vt., which prides itself on making minimal snow and relying almost entirely on the nat-ural kind, has yet to open at all. “There’s probably about 45 people waiting just to start work,” said Jamey Wimble, Mad River’s presi-dent and chief executive.

In Colorado, ski areas like Key-stone and Arapahoe Basin had opened less than half of their ter-rain, although colder tempera-tures were allowing snow-making machines to keep runs open and both had a few inches of snowfall this week.

In both the East and the West, ski industry workers said it was too soon to predict how the season would shape up, because Decem-ber snowfall is typically fi ckle. Parts of Vermont and Massachu-setts were eagerly expecting a few inches overnight Thursday and Friday morning.

There is a bright spot: north-ern New Mexico, where Taos Ski Valley has received more than 50 inches of snow this month, com-pared with only six last December. “This is the best opening we’ve had since 2002,” said Adriana Blake, a spokeswoman.

At Vermont’s Mount Snow, an arsenal of some 250 fan guns and 800 air water guns have built the base depth to 10 to 18 inches and, thanks to cold temperatures over

the weekend, doubled the resort’s skiable terrain between Friday and Tuesday. Mr. Fairbank, of Jiminy Peak, said he had fl own a small plane over a number of ski areas in the region on Monday, snapping pictures of slopes cov-ered with (manmade) snow to send the 100,000 people on his resort’s e-mail list.

Still, he and others said it was famously hard to motivate people to venture north on a ski trip if their home turf was still grassy.

“When people are still able to play golf down in Connecticut,” said Mark Wallace, owner of First Trax Sports Shop in West Dover, “they’re not thinking about coming up here.”

Deb Buehler, who owns the Red Oak Inn in West Dover, a few miles from Mount Snow, said she had 22 guests last Christmas but no bookings until Dec. 29 this year. But Mr. Meeker said the resort’s hotel and condominiums were mostly booked for the week after Christmas.

At Stratton Mountain in south-ern Vermont, where 18 of 94 trails were open on Wednesday and the afternoon temperature was 39 degrees at the summit, Myra Foster, the marketing man-ager, said there had been a few cancellations for the Christmas week.

“People are really waiting to see,” she said. “Everyone’s keeping their fi ngers crossed.”

T. J. Raab, a skier from Hoboken, N.J., who coordinates a ski-house share with 17 other people in Killington, Vt., said he had skied there last weekend but that with limited terrain open, the trails felt crowded.

“We skied from 8 to 10, and by then we were like, We need to get off this mountain,” Mr. Raab said. “You feel like you’re going to get crushed.”

But Tristan Grush, 14, of West Dover, said he had skied 10 trails at Mount Snow last weekend and found the terrain “really nice.” The ribbons of white on the otherwise brown mountain lift his spirit.

“When I’m skiing, I feel like it’s winter,” he said. “You go to the mountain and it reboots your faith.”

BY ABBY GOODNOUGHTHE NEW YORK TIMES

A lone skier on an artifi cially snow-covered run at Mount Snow in West Dover, Vt. (New York Times photo).


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–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– EVENTS CALENDAR–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Saturday, Dec. 24

Christmas at the Movies10 a.m. Next Level Church presents “Christmas at the Movies,” an incredible family Christmas experience fea-turing clips from the holiday movie, “Elf,” a family photo booth, great gifts, and tons of holiday treats and fun. “Christmas at the Movies” will happen on Saturday, Dec. 24 at 10 a.m. at the Cinemagic Grand Theater, located at 333 Clarks Pond Road in South Portland. Tickets are free but are required, and are available by visiting www.nlc.tv anytime. Next Level Church is one church, meeting every weekend across three locations (Dover, N.H.; Newington, N.H. and Portland).

Christmas with the Longfellows10 a.m. Through Saturday, Dec. 31, Christmas with the Longfellows: Holiday House Tours. “Visit the Longfellow House for a special holiday experience. This year’s sea-sonal decoration and interpretation, based on family let-ters and documents, focuses on 1861. Objects have been

added to rooms to illustrate both the emergence of Christ-mas as the holiday we recognize today, and the impact of the Civil War on residents of the house and of Portland. Wadsworth-Longfellow family members kept up with their usual habits and interests throughout the holiday season: Anne Longfellow Pierce participated in the war effort by making bandages, socks, shirts, and other supplies to be sent to soldiers in addition to her usual charity work; Lucia Wadsworth was interested in politi-cal affairs and city life, and also contributed knitted and sewn goods to the war effort. Tours: Monday-Sat-urday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. Last tour leaves at 4 p.m. Dec. 24 and 31, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Last tour leaves at 1 p.m. http://www.mainehistory.org/programs_events.shtml

Christmas Eve service7 p.m. First Universalist will present its annual Christmas Eve service in song and prayer. First Universalist Church is located at 169 Pleasant St., with entry on Spring St. Acces-sible. For more information, call 783-0461 or www.aubur-nuu.org.

Sunday, Dec. 25

Merry Christmas!Chanukah on Wheels1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. A family Chanukah bash at Happy Wheels, 331 Warren Ave., Portland. Music, dreidels, latkes, grand raffl es, donuts, gelt, lighting of the menorah. Admis-sion is $7 per person. RSVP [email protected].

Monday, Dec. 26

Holiday curbside trash and recycling6:30 a.m. “This holiday season, Portland Public Services crews will collect curbside trash and recycling as usual with no changes to the schedule. Crews will collect trash and recycling Monday, Dec. 26 and Monday, Jan. 2. Resi-dents are asked to place their items out by 6:30 a.m. for collection. Christmas trees can be left for collection on your normal trash day between Dec. 26 and Jan. 20. Trees can also be dropped off at one of the following locations during the month of January: Cutter Street parking lot, Payson Park Little League Field and the nine-hole golf course lot on Riverside Street. Please note that wrapping paper is recy-clable, and Styrofoam packaging is not.”

Maine Academy of Modern Music’s Rock Camp10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. “School’s out and it’s time to rock! Forget the books and come play at the Maine Academy of Modern Music’s Rock Camp. Whether on the nice list with a brand new guitar … or stuck on the naughty list for jamming too loud, MAMM’s cool Rock Camp series pro-vides young aspiring musicians a place to learn rock ‘n’ roll and have fun. This weeklong crash course in modern music covers songwriting, recording and tips on how to start a band — everything it takes to get out of the garage and into the studio or on stage. Ages 10 and up. Price: $300. Dec. 26 through Dec. 30. Location: Portland (Breakwater School/856 Brighton Ave.). Registration: www.maineacad-emyofmodernmusic.org/camps, 899-3433.

Tuesday, Dec. 27

Phyzgig festival in Portland11 a.m. For the past 13 years, Acorn Productions has been brightening the cold bleak week between Christmas and New Year’s with Phyzgig, a unique festival featuring vaude-ville variety shows in downtown Portland from Dec. 27 through New Year’s Eve. “Phyzgig shows offer a complete package of entertainment for all ages — juggling, illusion, physical comedy, live music and much more. Acorn annu-ally attracts performers from all over the country to appear in Phyzgig, which is attended by approximately 2,500 audience members each year. This year’s edition of Phyzgig features 11 traditional acts and three local burlesque groups, along with the live sounds of ‘The Fabulous Lacklusters’ under the musical direction of Joel Eckhaus. The festival is comprised of 13 shows at three different venues: the mainstage at Port-land Stage Company, SPACE Gallery on Congress Street, and the Acorn Studio Theater in Westbrook.” Tickets to Phyzgig range from $10 to $20 and a complete performance schedule appears below. For more information or to purchase tickets, call 854-0065 or visit www.phyzgig.org.

Cafe en Francais in Brunswick2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Cafe en Francais at People Plus, 35 Union St., Brunswick. Are you a French speaker, eager to share a lively hour with good company? Have a cup of thé ou café on the fourth Tuesday of each month at People Plus. Nous parlons of our family histories and experiences as French speakers. Join us on Tuesday, Dec. 27 from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. when we’re pleased to have local attorney, Richard Lord as our guest. He has represented the interests of the French community for many years and will bring a selection of photos of Old Brunswick. All are welcome.” Call 729-0757 to sign up for Café en Français at People Plus.

Portland Boys Basketball Holiday Tournament3:30 p.m. At the Portland Expo, Maine Red Claws pres-ents Portland Boys Basketball Holiday Tournament, Bonny Eagle vs. Wells; 5 p.m. — South Portland vs. Lake Region; 6:30 p.m. — Deering vs Spruce High; 8 p.m. — Cheverus vs. Yarmouth. www.portland-calendar.com

Pizza for the Prom5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Pizza and the Prom: what a perfect combi-nation! Join us from 5 to 9 pm Tuesday, Dec. 27 at the Flat-bread Company, 72 Commercial St. in Portland, for Pizza for the Prom. A portion of the proceeds from the evening’s pizza sales will be donated to Friends of the Eastern Prom-enade.

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Wednesday, Dec. 28

Lady Bulldogs Basketball Tournament8:30 a.m. At the Portland Expo, Portland High School Lady Bulldogs Basketball Tournament, Greely vs Biddeford; 10 a.m. — Portland High School Lady Bulldogs Basketball Tournament Westbrook vs. Richmond; 11:30 a.m. — Port-land High School Lady Bulldogs Basketball Tournament Cape Elizabeth vs Thornton Academy. www.portland-cal-endar.com

Portland Boys Basketball Holiday Tournament1 p.m. At the Portland Expo, Maine Red Claws presents Portland Boys Basketball Holiday Tournament, Scarbor-ough vs. Cape Elizabeth; 2:30 p.m. — Falmouth vs. Moore Catholic, N.Y.; 4 p.m. — Greely vs. Mt Valley; 5:30 p.m. — Portland vs. Susan Wagner, N.Y.; 7 p.m. — Winner Game 5 vs. Falmouth; 8:30 p.m. — Portland vs. Winner Game 7.

Amateur Kids Stand-up Comedy auditions6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Schoolhouse Arts Center’s will hold audi-tions for an Amateur Kids Stand-up Comedy Show on Dec. 28. Shows will be presented in our new Black Box theater beginning on Jan. 14. “This is a chance for any kid who likes to make people laugh and wants a chance to show off their ‘stuff.’ Those auditioning should come prepared to perform before a small group. Performers must be at under 18 years of age. Content should be appropriate for kids of any age. Auditions will be held at the Schoolhouse Arts Center, located at 16 Richville Road (Route 114) in Standish, just north of the intersec-tion of Route 114 and Route 35. For more information, call Schoolhouse Arts Center at 642-3743 or log onto our website at www.schoolhousearts.org.

Thursday, Dec. 29

U.S. Postal Service processing operations consolidation meeting in Brewer rescheduled6 p.m. to 7 p.m. The U.S. Postal Service will hold a public meeting to discuss its proposal to move mail processing operations from the Eastern Maine Processing and Distri-bution Facility in Hamden to the Southern Maine Process-ing and Distribution Center in Scarborough. The public meeting originally scheduled for Dec. 29 to explain this pro-posal and to allow public input has been rescheduled for Jan. 11, 2012. The time and location remain the same: 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Jeff’s Catering, East West Industrial Park, 5 Coffi n Ave, Brewer. Anyone who wishes to submit com-ments in writing can send them to: Manager, Consumer and Industry Contact, Northern New England District, 151 Forest Ave., Portland, ME. All comments must be postmarked Jan. 13, 2012.”

Saturday, Dec. 31

Christmas with the Longfellows’fi nal day of Holiday House Tours10 a.m. Through Saturday, Dec. 31, Christmas with the Longfellows: Holiday House Tours. “Visit the Longfellow House for a special holiday experience. This year’s sea-sonal decoration and interpretation, based on family letters and documents, focuses on 1861. Objects have been added to rooms to illustrate both the emergence of Christmas as the holiday we recognize today, and the impact of the Civil War on residents of the house and of Portland. Wadsworth-Longfellow family members kept up with their usual habits and interests throughout the holiday season: Anne Longfellow Pierce participated in the war effort by making bandages, socks, shirts, and other supplies to be sent to soldiers in addition to her usual charity work; Lucia Wadsworth was interested in political affairs and city life, and also contributed knit-ted and sewn goods to the war effort. Tours: Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. Last tour leaves at 4 p.m. Dec. 24 and 31, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Last tour leaves at 1 p.m. http://www.mainehistory.org/programs_events.shtml

NRCM Polar Bear Plunge and 5K Race10:30 a.m. East End Beach, Portland. “Be bold in the cold with a plunge in at East End Beach and/or a walk or run around Back Cove to support the Natural Resources Coun-cil of Maine’s work to reduce global warming pollution. Run/walk registration starts at 10:30 a.m. at Back Cove; Dip registration starts at 11:30 a.m. at East End Beach. Pre-reg-ister online at http://supporters.nrcm.org/register. The walk begins at 11, the run at 11:15, and the dip at noon — the ‘warmest’ part of the day!”

Celebrate New Year’s with the Pirates5:30 p.m. Portland Pirates vs. Worcester Sharks, Kid’s New Year’s Celebration. Bud Light Saturday Night is Hockey Night. Celebrate New Year’s with the Pirates. “The game, an expected sellout, will mark the 17th season the Pirates have celebrated New Year’s featuring New England’s larg-est indoor fi reworks display at the conclusion of the game.” www.portlandpirates.com/promotions.asp

‘Forbidden Broadway’s Greatest Hits, Volume I’7 p.m. Freeport Factory Stage presents: “Forbidden Broad-way’s Greatest Hits, Volume I” — a musical roast of Broad-way’s best on New Year’s Eve. Two performances at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. Tickets are $25; call the box offi ce at 865-5505 or purchase tickets online at www.freeportfactory.com.

Thursday, Jan. 5

Vein Healthcare Center free leg screenings9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Vein Healthcare Center will be giving free leg screenings. Venous exam of both legs, an overview

of treatment options and an opportunity to have questions answered. 100 Foden Road, Suite 307, South Portland.

Friday, Jan. 6

‘Refl ection, Revelation, Resolution’5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The Gallery at Harmon’s & Barton’s pres-ents “Refl ection, Revelation, Resolution,” a collection of inspirational dance images by Maine photographer Arthur Fink and encaustic artist Lori Austill. 584 Congress St., Portland. First Friday Art Walk reception, exhibit and sale through January.

Auditions for Performance Troupes3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Auditions for Performance Troupes, Chil-dren’s Museum & Theatre of Maine, 142 Free St. “Seeking actors ages 11-17 to join the Kids on the Block puppeteer troupe and/or the Youth Voices On Stage anti-bullying perfor-mance troupe. Audition will include improvisation. No experi-ence necessary; new faces encouraged.” More information: www.kitetails.org, 828-1234, ext. 247.

from preceding page

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– EVENTS CALENDAR–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––


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–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– MUSIC CALENDAR –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Monday, Dec. 26

Matishayu’s Festival of Light7:30 p.m. Matisyahu with Cris Cab at the State Theatre. Matisyahu fuses the con-temporary styles of rap, beatboxing, and hip-hop in general, with the more tra-ditional vocal disciplines of jazz’s scat singing and Juda-ism’s hazzan style of song-ful prayer—more often than not rolling it all into a domi-nant background of reggae music. $25 advance/$28 day of show. www.statethe-atreportland.com/

Wednesday, Dec. 28

Clutch with Corrosion Of Conformity, Kyng8 p.m. State Theatre. Clutch combined elements of funk, Led Zeppelin, and metal with vocals inspired by Faith No More. Formed in 1991 in Germantown, Md., the group included Neil Fallon (vocals), Tim Sult (guitar), Dan Maines (bass), and Jean-Paul Gaster (drums). They built a local

following through constant gigging, and after just one 7” single (the classic Earache release “Passive Restraints”)

Clutch was signed by East-West Records. Their debut LP, Transnational Speedway League, followed in 1993. In the summer of 2010, the founding members of the pioneering underground metal band Corrosion of Conformity—bassist/vocal-ist Mike Dean, drummer/vocalist Reed Mullin and gui-tarist Woody Weatherman—gathered at Weatherman’s farm in the Virginia hills and began jamming together as a three-piece for the fi rst time since the mid-1980s. KYNG the southern Califor-nia hard rock trio, originated in January of 2008 in Los Angeles. This event is all ages. $20 advance/$25 day of show. www.statetheatre-portland.com

MAMM SLAM5 p.m. “The Maine Academy of Modern Music, in part-nership with the Portland Music Foundation, kicks off the next year of the MAMM SLAM and announces the opening of registration with a show featuring 2011 MAMM SLAM winner Modest Pro-posal, hot new indie rockers Worried Well (featuring former MAMM Slam judges Daniel James and Cam Jones), and rising openers Cosmonaut Astrox and Dusty Grooves on Dec. 28 at 5 p.m. at Bayside Bowl in Portland. The con-cert is open to all ages; cover is $5. The MAMM SLAM is much more than your typical battle of the bands, provid-ing young, career-minded musicians with a platform for developing not only their songwriting and performance skills, but also forcing them to consider their web pres-ence, marketing materials, professional appearance and all the other factors that go into being a professional touring and recording band. The winner of the MAMM SLAM not only lays claim to a title that is increasingly prestigious in Maine and far beyond, but also takes home a prize package that includes

$1,000, recording time, radio play, plum gigs and professional marketing help. Bands can register at www.MaineToday.com/Mammslam starting Dec. 28 through Feb. 14. The competition starts with preliminary rounds at the Big Easy March 24 and 25. Finals will be held April 28. 2011 winners Modest Proposal used their pack-age to record their self-titled debut album which they’ll release at the show on December 28. Since they took home the title, the band has opened for Fearless recording artists

Sparks the Rescue, top-selling local act the Mallett Brothers Band and a number of other great bands at venues like Bar Harbor’s Criterion Theater and the LL Bean Music Series.”

Friday, Dec. 30

Da Block at Lucid Stage8 p.m. Da Block at Lucid Stage. Live performances by K Em & B Aull/Conman/A.Willy/Mellmurk/Ga South/Loc Dab/Demon Dog & Da Block! Music By Neeko Brown! Tickets are $8. www.lucidstage.com

Two nights with moe.9 p.m. WCLZ presents two nights with moe., Dec. 30 and 31, at the State Theatre. moe. is the preeminent progres-sive rock band on the music scene today. With 20 years of touring and just as many albums under its belt, the quintet of Al Schnier and Chuck Garvey on guitars and vocals, Rob Derhak on bass and vocals, Jim Loughlin on percussion and vibes, and Vinnie Amico on Drums, continues to push the standard for performance art. This event is all ages. $50/two-day pass $75.

Russian rockers Kino Proby9 p.m. Kino Proby at Empire Dine & Dance, 575 Congress St., Portland. 21 plus. 21 plus. “To celebrate KP’s arrival on BandCamp, we’re performing a Winter 2011 tour! Dec. 29 in Boston at All Asia Cafe and Dec. 30 in Portland at the Empire Dine and Dance!”

Saturday, Dec. 31

NYE 2011 w/Mighty Mystic, et al8 p.m. New Year’s Eve 2011 w/Mighty Mystic, Soul Rebel Project and more at Port City Music Hall. Advance: $20; door: $25; VIP: $40. Celebrate NYE 2011 in a reggae style. Mighty Mystic, Soul Rebel Project, Royal Hammer, & DJ Queendem. Mystic began experimenting with the local urban and Hip Hop Scene of the early 90’s, and started to develop a buzz. After several years and several small releases on the local scene, Mystic began to receive some national attention when his “Put up unu Hand” and “Friends” remix’s were featured on popular Dance/Club Compilation Album “Dancehall Devastation” by X-Mix. Mystic says “his rising popularity is due partly to the exciting performance which he and his band ‘Strings of Thunder’ deliver at their concerts.” This party goes til 2 a.m.! 18 plus. http://portci-tymusichall.com/events

Paranoid Social Club, others at the Asylum9 p.m. Paranoid Social Club with Sidecar Radio and Grant St. Orchestra, at the Asylum. Come celebrate the new year with three of portland’s fi nest bands!$14 Adv./$16 day of show; 121 Center St., portland, 21 plus.

ICING: SPACE Gallery’s New Year’s Eve Bash9 p.m. “Ring in the new year SPACE style! ICING, our popular New Year’s Eve bash, will be full of performances and surprises, with music, food, art installations, a cham-pagne toast and the eventual descendence into an all out dance party! Come see what everyone has been talking about and live it up, it is the last party of the year, so do it right!” $50/$40 before Dec. 1/$400 for a virtual table of 10, 21 plus.

see next page

LEFT: The group moe. is considered by many to be the preeminent progressive rock band on the music scene today. On Friday, Dec. 30, fans can see them at the State Theatre. (COURTESY PHOTO)

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Thursday, Jan. 5

Naruse, Dan at noonday concert12:15 p.m. Program: Sonatina in G major op. 100, Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904); Sonata no.2 in Eb major op.120, Johannes Brahms (1833-1897). Chiharu Naruse holds a master’s degree in Music Performance and Instruction from the Hochschule fur Musik “Hanns Eisler” in Berlin. She has performed and toured extensively at numerous international venues in the United States, Japan and Europe. Chiharu has played with the Portland String Quar-tet, the DaPonte Quartet and performed Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto, Mozart Piano Concerto K 466 and the Rach-maninoff Second Piano Concerto with the Augusta Symphony. Robert Dan, violist, was praised by the New York Times as “a consistently tasteful stylist.” Mr. Dan has appeared extensively throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan per-forming and giving master classes. He has performed on many prestigious music series in the U.S. including at Carnegie Hall and has been a member of the Theater Chamber Players of the Kennedy Center for many years. He has been an Artist-in-Residence at Harvard University, inaugurat-ing Harvard’s Blodgett Artist-in-Residence program and performing at the 350th anni-versary of Harvard’s founding. First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church, 425 Con-gress St., Portland. Concerts are free and open to the public. 775-3356.

Thursday, Jan. 12

Atlantic Chamber Ensemble12:15 p.m. Robert Lehmann is Director of Strings and Orchestral Activities at the University of Southern Maine School of Music. In addition to his duties at USM, he is Music Director of the Portland Chamber Orchestra, the North Shore Philharmonic Orchestra and the New Hampshire White Mountain Bach Festival. First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church, 425 Congress St., Portland. Concerts are free and open to the public. 775-3356.

Saturday, Jan. 21

Robert Burns concert7:30 p.m. Concert of Music, Dance, Poetry in celebration of Robert Burns. Portland New Church, 302 Stevens Ave., Portland, featuring: Highland Soles (Scottish & Cape Breton music and dance by fi ddler Ed Pearl-man, dancer Laura Scott, and family); Neil Pearlman Band (Scottish music laced with jazz, Latin and funk infl uences); Elijah Wool-cott (Grade 1 bagpiper, the top level of solo piping); Annie Finch (renowned poet/author, director of USM’s Stonecoast MFA writing program); Betsy Sholl (former poet laure-ate of Maine). Poets Annie Finch and Betsy Sholl will select several Burns poems for us, and will write their own poems in dialogue with Burns, specially for this evening’s per-formance. We look forward to seeing you in the intimate hall at the Portland New Church (Swedenborgian).” Tickets $12 at door or online at www.highlandsoles.com.

from preceding page

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– MUSIC CALENDAR –––––––––––––––––––––––––

Early morning mischief draws police to West End; clerk accosted on Pine St.

A man in his early twenties was arrested early Friday for criminal mischief outside the Cumberland Farms on Pine Street, after an inci-dent in which witnesses said he threw food at a store clerk.

According to the store clerk on duty at the time of the incident, the assailant entered the store just after 4 a.m. and told the clerk to “put your hands on the register,” at which point the man, who seemed to be under the infl uence, was asked by the clerk to leave.

The man then told the clerk to “put your hands behind your f---ing back,” threw a snack cake at the clerk and abruptly left the building. The man remained on the property in the park-ing lot, however. The clerk told The Sun that there was only one other cus-tomer in the store at the time of the incident.

Police were then called to the scene and arrested the man without inci-dent, witnesses reported.

Later it was learned that the assail-ant had just walked to the store from Mercy Hospital, where he had been asked to leave by Portland Police for what security guards there told The Sun was “erratic behavior.”

Mercy Hospital security guards said the man waited in the lobby for police once he was told they were en route, and was sent on his way with-out arrest, allowing him the ability to walk to the Cumberland Farms.

Kiwanis helping Portland Eyeglasses for Students Fund

Portland Kiwanis Club President Elizabeth Richards presented a $1,000 check for the Portland Eye-glasses for Students Fund to Portland Public Schools Nurse Coordinator Amanda Rowe during the club meet-ing held at STRIVE in South Portland on Tuesday, Nov. 8, the club reported.

The club raised the money by spon-soring a walkathon called a Kake Walk around Back Cove Trail on Sat-urday, Oct. 1. Members from the Ser-vice Leadership Programs sponsored by the club collected walk sponsors with the net proceeds benefi tting the club’s service activities. The Catherine McAuley High School Key Club col-lected enough sponsors to earn $100 for its club treasury.

Kiwanis Clubs and members under-take nearly 150,000 service projects each year, contributing more than $107 million and over 18 million vol-unteer service hours, according to a club press release.

The Portland Kiwanis Club serv-ing Greater Portland is a nonprofi t organization whose members meet monthly every second and fourth Tuesday from 5:30 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. at STRIVE in South Portland. The club sponsors a Circle K Club at University of Southern Maine, an Aktion Club at STRIVE, a Cub Scout Pack at Front Street in Portland, and high school Key Clubs at Brunswick, Catherine McAuley, Cheverus, Deering, Gorham, and Portland. For more information on the club’s activities, visit www.port-landkiwanis.com or contact Richards at 329-5673 or by email at [email protected].

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– NEWS BRIEFS–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

BY JEFFREY S. SPOFFORDSPECIAL TO THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN


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Bloggers team up to spread holiday cheer

For the week leading up to Christ-mas, Corey Templeton decided to use the power of the blog as a source of kindness and generosity.

“The idea is that any time through-out the week, people that want to participate — it's open to anybody — they can go ahead and make the post about any local organization or cause they care about,” said Templeton, who blogs at Portland (Maine) Daily Photo (www.portlanddailyphoto.com).

Calling his project “Blogging for Good,” Templeton recruited other bloggers to share information about causes. On Friday, 11 had joined, and four had responded with posts.

Liz Woodbury of Me an Mama (www.meanmama.blogspot.com) promoted WMPG's Blunt Youth Radio Project, a Greater Portland Community Radio-produced high school weekly call-in talk show that airs Monday nights from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on WMPG.

The Old Pine Tree (http://oldpine-tree.tumblr.com) blogged about the Portland Museum of Art. Sweeter Salt (http://sweetersalt.com) blogged About the Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland. I Wanna Wear That (http://iwannawearthat.wordpress.com) blogged about the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). Templeton, 25, said he plans to blog about the Way-side Soup Kitchen.

“It's really open to a broad cross section of different organizations,” he said.

Templeton works at Unum as s ser-vice associate and attends University of Southern Maine part time as a com-munications major.

Photography is a hobby, he said. Blogging provides an outlet for his photos, which he tries to post daily.

Templeton’s Portland (Maine) Daily Photo blog draws about 135,000 unique visitors, according to stat-counter.com. He also blogs at Walk Around Portland (http://walkaround-portland.blogspot.com).

“Blogging for Good” bubbled up from the Portland blogging community and spread largely through email.

“The idea has been a while in the making, I'd say a couple of weeks ago I really started looking for a concrete way to organize something like this,” Templeton said.

Maine Belle’s Michelle Smith, who also is involved with Portland Food Co-op and Goodwill Industries of Northern New England, provided feedback, he said.

“She was a good person to bounce ideas back and forth,” Templeton said.

Smith said she jumped at the chance to participate.

"Corey approached me with the idea and I thought it was great," Smith said in a message to The Portland Daily Sun. "There is a pretty exten-sive blogging network in Portland that covers a wide array of topics — food, fashion, photography, thrift and re-use, etc. Many of these blogs have

high readership, so the thought was to take a week in December and blog about the good and important work nonprofi ts do in our community."

Smith added that there is a Buy Local aspect to the "Blogging for Good" campaign.

"There is a big focus in Portland on buying local for the holidays (which is fantastic), but you don't hear much about local nonprofi ts and how you can support them in a variety of ways — buying their products, gift mem-berships, making a donation, etc.," Smith wrote. "Blogging about these organizations reminds readers that they are also a part if our local econ-omy and need our support."

Templeton said bloggers seemed eager to boost awareness of charities and nonprofi ts.

“I think the root is thinking about ways to use my own blog for some greater good, taking advantage of the audience that's out there to start awareness of local causes,” he said.

“The format of the posts, I encour-age people to be creative, however they want to do it,” Templeton said. “It could be just typing something you care about, it could be sharing a per-sonal experience.”

Templeton wrote, “It might be saying way too much to imply that the bloggers of Portland, Maine play an important role in their commu-nity, but actually that's how I feel. If you are publishing something for the world to see, it provides a good oppor-tunity to make some sort of a positive difference in your local community.”

Templeton said “Blogging for Good” likely will evolve, maybe reaching beyond writing.

“I'm thinking it would be an annual thing to do around year end, I defi -nitely would like to do something bigger. It's been kicking around in my head for a while, but I think for next year, I could build upon the success of this year,” he said.


Calling his project “Blogging for Good,” Corey Templeton recruited other bloggers to share information about worthy causes. (COURTESY PHOTO)

see BLOGS page 23


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Portland police standoff ends with man in custody

A police standoff that lasted more than 13 hours and involved multiple outside agencies ended early Friday morning with one man in custody, police said.

Patrick Mullen, 41 of 169 Washburn Ave., was transported by police to the Maine Medical Center for a psycho-logical evaluation shortly after giving himself up to authorities at 4:30 a.m. Friday, ending a standoff with police that began shortly after 3 p.m. Thurs-day, according to offi cials.

Police were dispatched to the resi-dence after being alerted that Mullen had been making homicidal and sui-cidal threats to someone over the phone, said Capt. Ted Ross, of the Portland Police Department.

“Police responded to that location and attempted to make contact with Mr. Mullen with no success,” Ross said in a statement. “Believing Mr. Mullen was present in the residence, a perim-eter was established at the location and nearby streets were blocked.”

Ross said Mullen was “uncoopera-tive” during police negotiations and that he made a number of threats, including telling offi cials he planned to blow up the building and burn it to the ground.

Also, Mullen displayed a fi rearm at some point during the standoff, police said.

“Following several hours of nego-tiation attempts, gas was deployed by the Portland Police Special Reac-tion Team,” said Ross, adding the gas failed to end the standoff.

The PPD received assistance from South Portland authorities who com-prise the Southern Maine Tactical Team, and offi cials from Scarborough and Cape Elizabeth, police said.

Offi cials didn’t say whether Mullen sustained any injuries during the standoff or what charges he faces.

According to the Press Herald, police may pursue a civil case against Mullen to recover the cost of the effort.

Two teenagers charged with credit union robbery

Portland police say two teenagers were responsible for the daytime rob-

bery of a city credit union this week. The two juveniles, 14 and 15 years

old, were arrested early Friday morning and were being held at the Long Creek Youth Development Center pending court appearances. Both were arrested for robbery, but are unlikely to be charged as adults, offi cials said.

The teenagers are accused of rob-bing the University Credit Union at 391 Forest Ave., Wednesday at about 2 p.m.

The pair were spotted earlier that day acting suspiciously at two other nearby banks, police said.

Police said the department received tips from residents who recognized the teenagers from still photos released to the media by the Portland Police Department, and that offi cers also recognized the two suspects.

During the robbery, they concealed their faces with hooded sweatshirts and did not display any weapons.

Once inside the credit union, police said they used a note to demand cash and made off with an unspeci-fi ed amount of money.

Both were arrested at their respec-tive homes at about 6:20 a.m. Friday, police said.

Police: Man breaks into woman’s home to sleep

A 25-year-old man was arrested Thursday after police say he kicked open a Portland woman’s door and was found sleeping on her couch.

Christopher Chambers was charged with criminal mischief and criminal trespass after a resident awoke to fi nd Chambers asleep on her couch, police said. The woman discovered Cham-bers at about 8 a.m., said Lt. Gary Rogers, a police spokes-man.

“Sometime during the night he had gained entry,” Rogers said. “He was intoxicated.”

The woman, who lives in the 50 block of Grant Street, told offi cials she didn’t hear Chambers enter the resi-dence.

“When she got up, he was there on the couch,” Rogers said.

One idea is to involve the organiza-tions that are discussed.

“There's defi nitely a lot of opportu-nities. I think maybe there could be a fi nancial tie-in, too, some way to raise money for these organizations beyond just writing about them, actually helping them with money or volun-teering,” Templeton said.

Response so far this week has pro-vided momentum, he said.

“I've been getting a lot of thanks for

putting this together, some of us have blogged here and there about local causes that we really care about, but having this organized effort kind of gives it focus,” he said.

Participants as of Friday included Appetite Portland, the Blueberry Files, Fore Front Fashion, I Wanna Wear That, Mainebelle. Mean Mama, The Old Pine Tree, Portland Daily Photo, Sweeter Salt, Unseen Portland and The Vigorous North.

“Combined I think we have a pretty large audience,” Templeton said.

BLOGS from page 22

Templeton: ‘I encourage people to be creative, however they want to do it’

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– CRIME BRIEFS –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

BY MATTHEW ARCOTHE PORTLAND DAILY SUN

“When she got up, he was there on the couch.” — Lt. Gary Rogers, Portland

Police spokesman


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The Portland Daily Sun, Saturday, December 24, 2011

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