Power grid bottleneck stalls Maine project
MILLINOCKET, Maine — A gridlocked New England power grid in Maine has stalled a Harpswell developer's plan for a $50 million biomass boiler in Millinocket.
Jerry Tudan, of Peregrine Technologies, had already lined up financing for the 17-megawatt project that would bring 45 jobs to the Katahdin region when he got the bad news from the grid manager.
Tudan said his company sought to register the site with ISO-New England, only to be told that a northern Maine wind farm project had registered earlier and had "maxed out" any available access to the grid at this time.
Tudan has no quarrel with First Wind, the Massachusetts developer of Stetson Mountain and other wind projects in northern Maine. But he said that company is among several that have queued up for so much space on the grid in coming years that no one else can fit.
"There's no bitter tears here toward First Wind about it," Tudan said. "That's the marketplace, though I feel very bad about how it went because we had a beautiful project."
ISO-New England manages the transmission of electricity through the 45-, 115- and 345-kilovolt lines connecting various power company systems. It's open, on a first-come, first-served basis, to generators that meet reliability standards.
Embattled hotel files for bankruptcy
KILLINGTON, Vt. — The Cortina Inn, which closed two months ago after being linked to Legionnaires' disease, has filed for bankruptcy.
But a bankruptcy court judge in Connecticut dismissed the inn's case after learning the hotel had failed to maintain worker's compensation insurance.
Although the hotel's options are unclear, the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings on May 28 show the inn owed more than $8 million as of Feb. 1 to GE Commercial Mortgage Corp. Owner John Kerr also owes 167 unsecured debtors including individuals, companies, municipalities and state agencies.
Neither Kerr nor the inn's lawyers could be reached for comment.
The inn was ordered to close again this week after follow-up tests detected Legionnaires disease bacteria in its water.The inn closed voluntarily in April after confirmation of the bacteria in its water system and three confirmed cases of the disease linked to it.
There have been no new cases of the disease since then.
R.I. lawmakers approve changes to public record laws
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Rhode Island lawmakers have endorsed the first major changes to the state's open records law, including hastening their release and specifying the information from arrest records police must make public.
Lawmakers approved the changes yesterday. They would take effect Sept. 1, if accepted by Gov. Don Carcieri.
The proposed law would decrease the time that public agencies have to respond to requests for public records, from 10 days to seven. It would bar state agencies from requiring those seeking the information to provide personally identifiable details or stating the reason for their request.
The bill lists the basic information that police must release about arrests within 24 hours. It also orders that police release narratives of arrest reports within seven days.
Arrest records are some of the most commonly requested public records.
Pilot killed in plane crash off Maine coast
OWLS HEAD, Maine — A pilot was killed when her light plane crashed yesterday in shallow coastal waters as she was preparing to practice approaches and landings at Knox County Regional Airport.
The crash occurred at around 11 a.m. off Crockett Beach Road shortly after the single-engine Piper Cherokee took off from the airport in Rockland. The pilot was identified as a woman but her name was being withheld until Maine State Police could notify relatives, said Jeff Northgraves, airport manager.'
The pilot, who was the plane's lone occupant, was operating under visual flight rules and air traffic control was not involved, said Holly Baker, spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration.
The plane belongs to the Knox County Flying Club and was piloted by a club member who was a partial owner, Northgraves said.
The Coast Guard, state police, Maine Marine Patrol and local fire and rescue crews responded to the crash, which occurred in 3-foot-deep water near Crockett's Beach. The flying club was making arrangements to recover the aircraft, Northgraves said.
House at center of U.S. Supreme Court ruling finds new home
NEW LONDON, Conn. — A small house that was once at the center of a U.S. Supreme Court decision on government seizure of private property has found a safe haven.
The little pink clapboard house that stood in the way of New London's efforts to build a riverfront project and instead sparked a property rights movement was disassembled and relocated to a site close to downtown New London.
Avner Gregory of New London, the new owner, dedicated his house yesterday before a crowd of about 200 participants and onlookers. "This was somebody's house and they were asked to leave," he said. "This is a house that represents a home to the everyday people of America."
Gregory paid $1 for the house and $100,000 for dismantling and moving it from Fort Trumbull and rebuilding it on property he owns near downtown New London.
The house once belonged to Susette Kelo who raised the battle cry of eminent domain abuse against New London's efforts to make way for condominiums, a hotel and offices. She said yeserday that the relocated home will be a reminder of how the city reshaped the neighborhood that she had to abandon.
Kelo lost her battle when the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in June 2005 that local governments may seize homes and businesses — even against the owners' will — for private economic development. The stakes were high because many areas, particularly rapidly growing urban and suburban areas, face competing pressures of development and property ownership rights.
Navy's newest attack submarine christened
GROTON, Conn. — The U.S. Navy invoked the war on terrorism yesterday as it christened its newest attack submarine.
The 7,800-ton, 337-foot ship was christened by the widow of a pilot who was killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
"I believe I'm looking at heroes," Cheryl McGuinness, of Portsmouth, N.H., said, looking at the ship's crew. "You all are my heroes." Her husband, Thomas McGuinness, was co-pilot of American Airlines Flight 11, which was flown into the World Trade Center's North Tower.
The submarine was built by General Dynamic's Electric Boat and Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding.
The Navy said the boat, which will have a crew of about 134, is an example of efficiencies in technology and budget advances. It was delivered $54 million under budget and eight months ahead of schedule, the Navy said.
The submarine is scheduled to begin sea trials this summer and is scheduled for delivery to the Navy in October at a ceremony at the Naval yard in Portsmouth N.H.
3 scallopers charged with violations
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Three New England-based scallop boats, including two from Maine, could face penalties after federal officials allegedly found more than the legal limit of scallops on board.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found violations on the three scallopers following an operation this week that involved the boarding of 20 boats catching scallops off Nantucket.
Andrew Cohen, special agent in charge for the northeast division of NOAA Fisheries' Office of Law Enforcement, says the Charlotte Jean II of New Bedford carried 900 pounds of scallop meat, more than double the 400-pound maximum allowed per trip. Black Bear and Caroline I, two Maine boats, each allegedly had 600 pounds of scallops on board.
The cases have been handed over to NOAA's Office of General Counsel, where officials will review the evidence and decide on possible fines or other penalties.
Father faces infant murder charge
RUTLAND, Vt. — A Rutland man is facing a murder charge in the death of his infant son.
Police say 22-year-old Salvatore MacEwan is accused of causing the death of his 5-week-old son, who died in December from blunt force trauma.
MacEwan is expected to be arraigned Monday on a charge of second degree murder.
Detective Cpl. Chris Kiefer-Cioffi says an autopsy showed the child had sustained multiple injuries over his lifetime.
MacEwan is being held on $1 million bail.
If convicted of murder, he faces a minimum of 20 years in prison if convicted.
—Associated Press
