Tom Allen to visit Cape on Sunday
    A community discussion about foreign policy in the Middle East with Tom Allen will be held at the Cape Elizabeth Middle School Cafetorium on Sunday (Jan. 28). Seating and question submission will begin at 12:30 p.m. with the presentation beginning at 1 p.m. sharp.
The event is being sponsored by The World Affairs Council of Cape Elizabeth High School and is supported by a grant from the Cape Elizabeth Education Foundation and in association with the World Affairs Council of Maine.
This is an opportunity for citizens learn more about what is currently happening, listen to different ideas and perspectives, and share concerns with our Representative in the U.S. House.

Bromley finds faults in special ed rules
    State Sen. Lynn Bromley (D-Cumberland County) recently commented against the imposition of new state rules governing special education. The proposal would mandate that pre-schoolers receiving services through Child Development Services (CDS) obtain those services in public schools, and calls for changing eligibility criteria in ways that could result in fewer children receiving services.
    “I am very disappointed with this rule change,” Bromley said. “It appears as though children will only qualify for services, or in fact can be dropped from services, unless there is proof of ‘an adverse effect on academics.’ Further, and most disturbing, the rules require that the disability’s impact on academics be pervasive over a six month period. This means that parents would have to watch their child “fail academically” for six months – two thirds of a school year – before special education supports services could be made available. We can do better.”
    Information concerning the rule change is located at the following website: www.maine.gov/education/edletrs/2007/ilet/07ilet051.htm
Written comments on the rule change were due Jan. 22.
    Bromley lives in South Portland and is Senate Chair of the Business, Research and Economic Development Committee.

Bliss Asks for bridge scheduling bill
    State Rep. Lawrence Bliss (D-South Portland) has submitted a bill to the state legislature asking the Department of Transportation (MDOT) to create a schedule for opening of the Portland-South Portland Bridge. The bill, which does not yet have a “Legislative Document Number,” will be sent to the Legislature’s Committee on Transportation for debate and deliberation.
    “When I’m sitting on the bridge at 7:45 in the morning, knowing I’ll be late for work as I wait for a tanker to crawl across the water, I get multiple telephone calls on my cell phone from constituents who are, like me, sitting in their cars,” said Bliss. “I understand that the ships need the high tide, and that it costs them money to sit and wait, but I’m sure a reasonable schedule can be created.”
The bill offers no specific solution. Rather, it asks the Department of Transportation to find a solution that would set aside specific morning and evening rush-hour periods on weekdays when the bridge would not be opened, except for emergency situations.
    “I love living in South Portland and being able to come into Portland to work,” Bliss said. “But with so many commuters from South Portland, Cape Elizabeth, and Scarborough relying on the bridge every work day, I think a bill like this just makes sense.”