Housing authority looks for new home

South Portland Housing Auhority is looking for new administrative office space as it has outgrown the space at Landry Village where it has resided since 1977.  

During the past nine months, it has conducted a citywide search for potential administrative office space. In coming months, the board of commissioners will evaluate as many as five sites for consideration.  

“All options are on the table, including available space in the Maine Mall and Knightville areas,” said
Kevin Glynn, chairman.

“The time is right, our current location is in need of significant repair and before we put money into renovations we felt it prudent to explore all of our options,” said South Portland Housing Authority Executive Director Michael Hulsey.  “We recently constructed an office for our resident service coordinator in the corner of the community room used by the residents of Landry Village; we are bursting at the seams,” he said in a press release.

“An exciting benefit of moving to new office space is that we can rehab the current space used for offices at Landry Village into apartments for the elderly, which continue to be in great demand,” Glynn said. 

For more information, contact Hulsey at 773-4140.

Paint engineer receives award

Jon R. Cavallo, paint engineer for the Maine Center for Creativity’s “Art All Around” project in Portland Harbor, was honored with an international award for engineering expertise.

Cavallo is providing pro bono paint engineering services to the center’s “Art All Around” project which involves painting 16 Sprague oil storage tanks in South Portland. When completed in 2012, it will be the world’s largest public art painting.

He recently inspected the second finished oil tank. London-based artist Jaime Gili’s design was completed last fall on the first 36-foot tall tank. 

Cavallo, of South Berwick, is known worldwide in his field and received the Award of Merit and accompanying title of fellow from the ASTM International Committee D33 on Protective Coating and Lining Work for Power Generation Facilities. The Award of Merit is the highest organizational recognition for individual contributions to ASTM-standard activities.

Atheletes to play in all-star game

The 21^st annual Maine Shrine Lobster Bowl Classic will kick off at 4 p.m. Saturday at Waterhouse Field in Biddeford. 

The game, featuring all-star teams of players from west and east divisions, benefits the Shriners Children’s Hospital and Shriners Burn Institutes. Gates open Saturday at 1 p.m. and pre-game music starts at 2 p.m. 

Tickets are $10 for reserved seats and $8 for general admission. Tickets may be purchased at the game, Kora Shrine Center or from a Shriner. 

The game will be played by 90 of the best graduating high school players from across the state. About 60 cheerleaders also will participate in the event. 

Local players on the “West” team include Steve Trask, Sam Lalezari and Tim Grose of Thornton Academy; Travis Vigneault of Biddeford High School; Dean Perrone of Old Orchard Beach High School; Tom Foden of Cape Elizabeth High School; Ryan Curit and Michael Foley of South Portland High School; Luke Bogdanovich of Scarborough High School; and Will Foley of Kennebunk High School.

Cheerleaders for the west include Kaitlyn Dutremble, Alycia Gelinas and Stephanie Hatch of Biddeford High School; Brianna Acquaviva, Chelsea Boudreau and Meaghan Cote of Thornton Academy; Kelsey Adams, Erin Beal and Mariah Tetherly of Kennebunk High School; and Shelby Dahms of Scarborough High School. 

For more information, go to www.korashriners.org. 

Police catch suspect in robbery

A Portland man was arrested and charged with armed robbery after an incident at Kim’s Alterations on Ocean Avenue in South Portland last week.

Stephen Scala, 23, allegedly entered Kim’s Alterations around 1:15 p.m. on July 14, threatened the proprietor with a hammer and fled with cash.

After making his initial court appearance last Friday, Scala was returned to Cumberland County Jail. His bail was set at $10,000 cash or $50,000 property for the class A crime.

Scala is expected to go back to court in October for his dispositional conference, according to Tamara Getchell of the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office.

After the robbery, Scala was seen getting into a nearby car by witnesses who notified South Portland police of the car’s description, according to a press release from the South Portland police.

“Luckily, in this case nobody got hurt,” said Sgt. Steve Webster of the South Portland Police Department.

Scala’s car was spotted by a Maine Marine Patrol Officer on Spurwink Avenue in Cape Elizabeth before he was stopped and questioned by South Portland police officers.

After finding evidence of the crime in Scala’s vehicle, South Portland police took him into custody and transported him to the jail, Webster said in an e-mail.

Scala is not known to local police and apparently has no prior criminal record.

“This guy, to the best of my knowledge, has never been arrested in his life. He made a very poor decision that was very unfortunate for him and the victim,” Webster said.

                       – Compiled by Rick Wright