South Portland News Briefs

SOUTH PORTLAND NOTEBOOK

Street closure

Hinckley Drive will be closed to traffic from 4 to 8 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 7, for the annual Holiday Fest presented by the Waterfront Market Association along with the Community Chamber and Rotary Club of South Portland and Cape Elizabeth. The event includes a 6 p.m. tree lighting ceremony in Mill Creek Park, caroling with chorus students from South Portland High School and the middle schools (from 5:45 to 6:15 p.m.) and horse carriage rides through the neighborhood (from 4:30 to 7 p.m.). Visits with Santa will be at City Hall (from 5 to 6:30 p.m.) The Market Association also will sell snacks in the parking lot of the Noyes Hall and Allen Insurance Agency. This year’s master of ceremonies is Jennifer Rooks, of MPBN news.

Drunk watch

The South Portland Police Department has received a $9,990 DriveSober Maine Impaired Driving Grant from the Maine Bureau of Highway Safety. The money will cover overtime costs through Sept. 30, 2013, associated with running special details and sobriety checkpoints aimed at catching drunk drivers. A required $2,498 in-kind match will be “based on the enforcement actions made,” said Police Chief Ed Googins. “There will be no actual cash match.” The goal of the program is to reduce by 5 percent the annual fatalities caused by intoxicated drivers from the 2007-2001 average of 41, to 39 by the end of 2016.

Bug money

Ongoing efforts to make Bug Light Park and even more attractive amenity in South Portland got a boost last week when the City Council accepted $2,500 in private donations. William and Norma Arnold gave $1,000 toward the purchase of a park bench, while Vicki Schaffer and Ruth Knight have $750 each to buy memorial stones.

Ecomaine hires Bittermann

Lissa Bittermann has been named business development manager for ecomaine, a nonprofit municipally-owned recycling and waste-to-energy organization that serves 25 percent of Maine’s population. Her previous experience includes sales, recruitment for bio-pharmaceuticals, and operations responsibilities for Boston’s GreenFest. Ecomaine offices are located in Portland; it has an annual budget of $27 million.

Bittermann, a Cape Elizabeth native, lives in South Portland and is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire.