Cape nomination papers available 

Nomination papers for the Nov. 2 municipal election and Portland Water District trustee election are available at the town clerk’s office in Cape Elizabeth. 

Two seats on the town council and two seats on the school board will be up for election. They are currently held by Councilors Frank Governali and Penny Jordan and school board members Linda Winker and Rebecca Millett. All are three-year terms. 

Also, one five-year term on the Portland Water District Board of Trustees, currently held by John Brady, will be up for election. 

Election day is Tuesday, Nov. 2, at Cape Elizabeth High School gym from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Nomination papers are available at the town clerk’s office Monday, 7:30 to 5 p.m. and Tuesday through Friday. 7:30 to 4 p.m. They are due 4 p.m., Sept. 3, in the town clerk’s office.

Seats on the council or school board require between 25 and 100 registered voters of Cape Elizabeth.

The Portland Water District Trustee seat requires between 35 and 50 registered voters in Cape Elizabeth and between 100 and 150 registered voters in South Portland. Papers must be presented to the clerks in both municipalities prior to the Sept. 3 deadline for completion. 

Fund would offer new SMCC degree 

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a request from U.S. Sen. Susan Collins for $1,125,000 for the University of Southern Maine’s School of Professional Continuing Studies and Southern Maine Community College’s Heavy Equipment and Transportation Program. 

The funding is included in the fiscal year 2011 Labor, Health and Human Services Senate Appropriations bill, which was approved by the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education. 

 University of Southern Maine would establish a School of Professional and Continuing Studies with $500,000 of appropriations. It would offer new online degree completion programs and graduate professional studies for working adults who cannot access traditional campus-based programs.

Southern Maine Community College would use $625,000 to create a Transportation and Heavy Equipment Program to be offered at SMCC’s midcoast campus in Brunswick. The program would offer students an associate degree in heavy equipment maintenance and an associate degree in heavy equipment operations. 

The fiscal year 2011 Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations bill must now be considered by the full Senate.

Art in the Park is this weekend

South Portland’s 31^st annual Art in the Park show and sale is 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at Mill Creek Park.

The show features original art and photography by 185 artists. Admission is free.

Children can make their own artistic creations 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Kids in the Park area. Children also can get their faces painted and learn to make Chinese folded paper lotus flowers under the guidance of volunteers from the New England Falun Dafa Association. Julie and Brownie will entertain with three musical shows at 10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. All activities are free.

The food court, located in the Broadway and Ocean Street corner of the park features a variety of food from hot dogs and ice cream to international cuisine. It is open 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Wellness activities will be available including chair massage, reflexology and acupuncture.

In the afternoon, musician Peter Albert will play guitar in the gazebo.

Prize winners will be announced at noon by Mayor Tom Coward. Prizes range from Best in Show ($800) to Merit Awards ($150 each) and include Best Photo in Show ($500). Six $30 student prizes are also awarded to South Portland High School students whose art is exhibited in the student art tent.

The judges’ tent, with one submission by each artist in the show, is open to public 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The student art tent, featuring art by students in South Portland Schools, is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Art in the Park uses art by students in South Portland Schools for promotional materials. This year’s poster art is by Kayla Brown, grade five. T-shirt art is by Miranda Young, grade one. Program cover art is by Ceanna DePaolo, grade eight.

This year’s $1,000 Arthur Hahn Scholarship was awarded to Lillian Dickson. She is a South Portland High School graduate who will attend the Savannah College of Art and Design.

Judges for this year’s even are Anastasia Weigle and Stretch and Jenny Tuemmler. 

Rooster issue to go to planning board

Council members in Cape Elizabeth have passed on the issue of noisy roosters.

Spurred by a June letter from Ocean House homeowners John and Debra Maley about “being awakened by a crowing rooster at 4 a.m. or earlier, 50 feet from your bedroom window,” the council and its ordinance committee discussed the idea of banning roosters in town.

However, Council Chairman Anne E. Swift-Kayatta said an existing zoning ordinance makes the matter one more suited for the planning board. Agricultural zoning standards in town require structures housing 25 or more birds to be at least 150 feet from a property line.

USM develops new core curriculum

University of Southern Maine Assistant Provost for Undergraduate Education Susan McWilliams is leading the university as it implements a new core curriculum developed by USM faculty. 

 McWilliams is available to speak on the subject of how liberal education reform will benefit higher education in the U.S., and specifically how USM’s new core curriculum will work to benefit students after the implementation of the university’s planned reorganization.

 “Ensuring that all students achieve the high quality liberal education they need and deserve … is a central challenge facing higher education,” said Association of American Colleges and Universities President Carol Geary Schneider.

McWilliams led a team of USM professors who attended an association institute this summer that addressed how universities can implement liberal education reform. Visit blogs.usm.maine.edu for more information about the summer institute.

 To reach McWilliams, call USM Public Affairs at 780-4200.

Online absentee voting enhanced

Maine Secretary of State Matt Dunlap announced the Online Absentee Ballot Request Service for the November general election is now available. 

The service has been enhanced to comply with the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act enacted in Congress and changes to state law that make it easier for all Maine residents to submit electronic requests for an absentee ballot, regardless of whether they are living in Maine or are stationed in the military or temporarily residing in another country. 

Other changes in state law are aimed at improving delivery of absentee ballots to military members or voters living outside the U.S. who may be disenfranchised due to slow mail service. For more information, visit www.maine.gov.

Additionally, starting with the Nov. 2 general election, all Maine municipalities are required to accept electronic requests for absentee ballots. In prior elections, municipalities could opt to participate. Municipal clerks will process the requests and mail absentee ballots.

Voter use has grown since the online service was first implemented in November 2008. In November 2009, an all time high of 10,301 absentee ballots were requested through the online system. During the June 2010 primary, 1,776 voters from 217 municipalities requested absentee ballots using the online service.

The service is available now for voters to submit their requests, however, ballots will not be sent until 30 to 45 days before the election. Once voters have submitted a request using the online service, they will be sent an automated e-mail notification containing the information they submitted and a confirmation number. When the request is processed and accepted by their municipal clerk, voters will be sent an additional status notification.