Editor’s note: The Sentry and Scarborough Leader, in a combined edition this week, review some of the top stories from 2009.

By Rick Wright

Staff Writer

A local referendum regarding banning dogs on Willard Beach during summer attracted so many people to the polls Nov. 3 that the city ran out of ballots. Afternoon and evening voters used photocopied ballots that volunteer election workers counted by hand.

  The measure was defeated by a vote of 6,773 to 4,369. The election drew 63.2 percent of all registered voters to the polls. 

Fred Wilson, 55, was found dead in the basement of his South Portland home in April. He was the victim of a shooting, said Maine State Police Spokesman Steve McCausland. Bruce Lavalle-Davidson, 50, of Skowhegan was charged with manslaughter in the killing of Wilson. Davidson’s trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 8 in Superior Court in Portland.

Fairchild Semiconductor canceled plans to build a 90,000-square-foot, $25 million Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design building six months after announcing its move to Scarborough’s Haigis Parkway.

  The decision to stay at its Running Hill Road location in South Portland could save the city more than $80,000 in business equipment and property taxes while costing Scarborough jobs that Scarborough Economic Development Corp. President Harvey Rosenfeld had said could “diversify the economy of the town.”

The Cape Elizabeth Town Council in April passed the proposed municipal budget by a vote of 4-2. The vote eliminated funding for local emergency dispatch service. On July 1, Cape Elizabeth merged with South Portland and Portland’s regional dispatch center.

Town Manager Michael McGovern said shifting to a regionalized service would save the town more than $130,000.

Debra Ann Cole of Lyman, a South Portland and Goodwins Mills firefighter-paramedic, died unexpectedly at Maine Medical Center in Portland, following a medical emergency while on duty June 11. She was 40.

Thousands of firefighters, police officers and friends from Scarborough, South Portland, Biddeford and New Hampshire attended her funeral. She was a member of the South Portland Fire-Rescue Department for seven years.

Sean Casey of Cape Elizabeth drowned in Sebago Lake in August. He was 21. While swimming with friends from a stopped boat, Casey went under water and did not resurface. Divers recovered his body one day later. The cause of death was a drowning accident according to the Maine Medical Examiner’s Office.

Dana Anderson, South Portland’s director of parks, recreation and public works was put on paid leave in May by City Manager Jim Gailey pending a review of an audit of his department.

Gailey said Anderson’s leave was “for the submittal of the review of [former city employee] Deb Smith’s letter and for the auditors to explore the financial controls of the department.”

Smith was one of five city employees under Anderson’s supervision who were laid off in February. She expressed concern that her job was eliminated due to a disagreement with Anderson.

In mid-July Anderson was reinstated to his position when an investigation of Anderson’s department showed no wrongdoing. The investigation was conducted by  MacDonald Page & Co. 

According to a press release from the city, “Anderson settled a civil lawsuit brought against him by the International Association of Approved Basketball Officials (IAABO), [the] civil lawsuit alleged that Mr. Anderson had embezzled funds from that organization. This civil lawsuit did not involve the city or Mr. Anderson’s employment by the city.”

The Cape Elizabeth High School football team played a Class B title game against Leavitt Nov. 1, losing 35-21 at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland. Though the loss was disappointing, coach Aaron Filieo, told players, “You guys have made history.”

Filieo was right. It was a historic season for Cape Elizabeth football. The Capers won their first Western Maine Championship and played in the state title game for the first time. The team also set a school record for most wins in a season finishing with an 11-1 mark.

State funding reductions to local schools in November caused South Portland and Cape Elizabeth to take immediate steps to plug big holes in their budgets. South Portland suffered a $1.2 million curtailment while Cape Elizabeth suffered a $621,000 hit.

Cape School Superintendent Alan Hawkins implemented several cost-saving measures, including limiting the purchase of supplies, freezing library budgets, putting a hold on staff development money and delaying approval of travel and other expenses for co-curricular programs.

South Portland Superintendent Suzanne Godin froze all nonessential expenditures, including professional development, supplies, field trips, dues, fees, travel and non-essential overtime. She said she also hopes to get state approval for a furlough day scheduled for April 26, 2010, that’s expected to save $140,000.

South Portland can keep $1.4 million in refunds and interest after a favorable ruling on Dec. 15, by the Maine State Board of Property Tax Review, said South Portland Tax Assessor Elizabeth Sawyer.

General Growth Properties, which owns the Maine Mall, had disputed South Portland’s 2006 valuation of the mall property. South Portland had assessed the mall’s property tax value at $260 million, while GGP maintained the property’s value was $190 million, Sawyer said.

“We are very pleased,” South Portland Mayor Tom Coward said of the tax review ruling. “It vindicates our feelings about the value of that property and it saves us over a million dollars in taxes,” he said.