05/06/2008
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Morning Sentinel staff photofrom the Kennebec Journal
Rep. Pingree hears varied proposals for health-care solutions
HALLOWELL Fire that cut communications labeled arson
MONMOUTH Police defended after slim budget rejection
State's schools chief to parley
Wasser will lead newsrooms at KJ, Sentinel and in Portland
BRIEFS
Hockey still in picture for Harrington
Portland boxer to face legend's son
All of today's:
News | Sports
from the Kennebec Journal
from the Morning Sentinel
$1.3 MILLION FOR HEALTHREACH
Families Matter grows to meet special needs
Chellie Pingree listens to ideas on health care reform
FARMINGTON Rain alters plans for 4th of July
District regroups after budget failure
Vote on county budget hits snag
Burnham driver wins checkered flag at 2 tracks on same day
Maine boxer gets unique opportunity
All of today's:
News | Sports
from the Morning Sentinel
Maria Corson, 81, of Athens, was driving west on U.S. Route 2 about 9:15 a.m., when her four-door Pontiac left the road and struck a utility pole just over the Norridgewock town line, said Sgt. Michael Knight, of the Somerset County Sheriff's Office.
Corson was taken by LifeFlight helicopter to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor with what appeared to be serious injuries but was alert and conscious, said Knight.
Knight said inattention appears to be a factor in the accident.
The stretch of road where the accident occurred is relatively flat and straight. No other vehicles were involved.
Both lanes of the busy road were closed for between a half-hour and 45 minutes while Central Maine Power Co. crews worked to remove the broken pole from the roadway, said Knight.
One lane remained closed for several hours as CMP crews installed a new pole.
CMP spokeswoman Gail Rice said the outage affected about 2,500 customers in the towns of Fairfield, Mercer, New Sharon, Norridgewock, Skowhegan and Smithfield.
Power to the entire circuit had to be cut off to allow crews to work safely to repair the damage, said Rice.
She said power was restored at roughly 12:15 p.m.
School Administrative District 54 Superintendent Brent Colbry said students at Skowhegan Area High School and the Skowhegan Area Middle School boarded buses for home about 11:30 a.m.
Elementary schools were released at 1 p.m.
Principals, secretaries and teachers called parents, often on cell phones, to make sure parents, particularly those with young children, knew their children were coming home early.
The outage was so widespread that most people knew what was happening, Colbry said. Despite the disruption, Colbry said the day went fairly smoothly. Classes took place on schedule in the morning and children had lunch before they left school, he said.
The biggest problem was that toilets at the high school, middle school and Bloomfield Elementary, the district's biggest elementary school, stop functioning when pressure maintained by a booster pump fails.
When the outage first occurred, school officials were told the estimated time to fix the problem and return power was between three and five hours, said Colbry.
Based on that information, the decision was made to close school early.
Students at the high school said the water pressure in bathrooms was already poor by midmorning.
Even schools that were not affected by the outage got out early, said Colbry, because the district wanted to make sure students arrived home at about the same time. Often older students take care of their younger siblings.
To do additional bus runs for schools that were not affected by the outage, would also mean scheduling three bus runs, which would have resulted in many students arriving home later than usual, said Colbry. A spokesman for Eastern Maine Medical Center said Monday afternoon that no information was available about Maria Corson's condition.
Alan Crowell -- 474-9534, Ext. 342
acrowell@centralmaine.com
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