Munjoy Hill News reports on the opening of the new Mayo Street Arts center.
"The Mayo Street Arts officially opened its doors today, said Blainor McGough, Director, in a press release. It’s located at 10 Mayo Street and the building is owned by wealthy businesswoman Roxanne Quimby.
The Mayo Street Arts is a “new non-profit arts center located in Portland’s East Bayside neighborhood. The center will be hosting ongoing gallery exhibits, music and dance performances and other art-related events."
The small wine shop Tropa on Congress is closing. They are selling off their stock with discounts up to 50%
"South Portland City Councilors voted in favor of a six-month ban on medical marijuana dispensaries during their council meeting Wednesday.
The council voted 5-2 in support of the moratorium. Councilors Rosemarie De Angelis and Tom Blake opposed the moratorium. No residents spoke during the meeting."
"Beginning Feb. 13, the Portland Winter Market will set up shop in a vacant storefront at 85 Free St., across from the Cumberland County Civic Center. Vendors will sell vegetables, bread, cheese, yogurt, milk, beef, pork and fish.
The market will run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Saturday until the middle of April, when the Portland Farmers Market will return for the summer."
As noted earlier, Norm's Urban Hardware will become Urban General Store. According to the sign they will have beer, wine, sandwiches, groceries, coffee, hardware and "green, local." Hopefully they will get in a price war with Joe's Smokeshop over local beer.
Perhaps as chairman of the Public Safety Committee he should pay more attention to these things. Press Herald:
"PORTLAND — City Councilor Dan Skolnik says he intends to appear in court on Jan. 26 to contest a charge of operating with a suspended license.
Skolnik said Sunday that he was fined in May 2008 for an overdue inspection on his vehicle. He said he paid his fine but inadvertently neglected to pay a $35 license reinstatement fee. Skolnik was subsequently pulled over and issued a summons for driving after his license was suspended.
He said he received notice of the suspension after the summons was issued, and that he was not aware of his suspended status.
Skolnik said he will challenge the charge because he should have received a notice of suspension from the state.
Skolnik, an attorney, is chairman of the City Council's Public Safety Committee."
In an article about the new Westbrook mayor, the Press Herald reports on the status of the Charter Commission working on the possibility of an elected mayor for Portland. Instead of having a mayor with actual power, and one who can act as a counter to the Council, the Commission appears to be proposing an elected mayor with no more power than the current one.
Having a mayor with no real power defeats the whole purpose of having an elected mayor. The Commission is essentially creating a new at-large Council member with the title of "mayor." Part of the reason for a real mayor is to have someone who can be accountable for the budgets, and the overall direction of the city (now much of that is in the hands of the unelected City Manager). The election process for a real mayor should allow for candidates to debate issues like the future of the waterfront, changes to Franklin Arterial, housing, business and school priorities. If the new "mayor" has no real control over these issues, you won't get good candidates and these debates won't have much of a point.
"The Portland Charter Commission has drafted a job description for a popularly elected mayor. At this point, it is calling for an elected mayor who would be much less powerful than the mayor of Westbrook.
Under the commission's proposal, the mayor would be a voting member of the council and have no power to hire or fire anybody. The mayor would chair the council meetings and be assigned the job of managing the budget process for the city and the School Department in a 'consensus-building' manner, Plumb said.
Any additional power, she said, would come from the political authority of having won a citywide election. The mayor would serve a four-year term."
"Employees of the Front Room restaurant in Portland and members of the Restaurant Opportunities Center of Maine have filed a federal lawsuit against the owner of the restaurant, Harding Smith, for violations of labor laws.
In the lawsuit, workers claim they were forced to pay a portion of their tips to management, were not paid appropriate minimum wages or overtime, and alleges a culture of disrespect at the Front Room. The suit, which asks for $160,000, seeks back wages for misappropriated tips. Eight former employees are taking part in the legal action."
