Biddeford expects new test results next week

Biddeford High School assessment scores will be recalculated after results for more than 100 students were left out.
Assistant Superintendent Jeff Porter said the scores for 107 students were not included in the school’s Maine High School Assessment results and will be re-run by testing company Measured Progress. He said the students were incorrectly coded as “home-schooled” in the school’s computer system. Scores for home-schooled students are not included in results for schools.
Porter said the scores, which have not yet been released by Maine Department of Education, were low and raised concern from school officials. The mistake was discovered after school officials contacted the department of education and have since been fixed, he said.
The school’s new test scores will be available in about a week and will be presented to the school committee at its Sept. 13 meeting.



UNE receives grant to build Portland school

University of New England officials were all smiles last week after it announced the school will receive a $3.5 million state grant to open a dental school teaching clinic in Westbrook.
“This award is key for UNE and enables us to establish clinical dental training for our new College of Dental Medicine,” said UNE President Danielle Ripich in a prepared statement. “We appreciate that Maine recognizes the critical need to educate dentists for the people of our state.”
The grant from the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention will be combined with a $2.3 million commitment from Northeast Delta Dental to open the first dental college in the state and northern New England.
UNE College of Dental Medicine Dean James Koelbl said the school will be located in Goddard Hall on the UNE Portland campus off Stevens Avenue. Applications for the school will be accepted in June 2012 for the anticipated opening in fall 2013.
Koebl said the dental college has begun efforts to get accredited by the American Dental Association Commission on Dental Accreditation.
After a campus visit by the commission in spring 2012, Koebl said he expects the school to gain accreditation in late summer 2012.

OOB pantry needs food after loss during storm

Old Orchard Beach Assistant Town Manager Louise Reid said a power outage caused by Tropical Storm Irene led to the loss of frozen food stored at the local Salvation Army food pantry.
The pantry serves area communities and does not anticipate a delivery of more frozen food until the middle of the month.
Reid said the pantry is “in dire need” of frozen food and nonperishable food items. Those who would like to help can contact Danielle Fish, social service and volunteer coordinator, at 934-4381. The pantry is located at the corner of Sixth and Church streets in Old Orchard Beach.

Referendum revised

A revision by Maine Secretary of State Charles Summers changed the Nov. 8 referendum state question to clarify the potential location of a racino to support harness racing at Scarborough Downs.
The revised referendum question for the statewide vote now asks: “Do you want to allow a slot machine facility at a harness racing track in Biddeford or another community within 25 miles of Scarborough Downs, subject to local approval, and at a harness racing track in Washington County, with part of the profits from these facilities going to support specific state and local programs?”
Last November Biddeford voters approved allowing the racetrack and slot machines in the city, pending local permitting and approval by the Maine Legislature, Gov. Paul LePage or state voters.
LePage in June vetoed the bill that allowed the facility and one in Washington County. He said the question should be put before voters.
The revision came at the request of Rep. Linda Valentino (D-Saco) and members of Casinos No to reflect the language of the bill. Scarborough Downs owner Sharon Terry and project developers Ocean Properties Ltd. have said the intention is to build the racino and track in Biddeford.
The original referendum question asked “Do you want to allow a slot machine facility at a harness racing track in Biddeford and at a harness racing track in Washington County?”

Prosecuters could seek new hearing in Horsemen case

Federal prosecutors have until Sept. 29 to seek a new hearing against two men convicted of drug distribution charges that occurred in part in Old Orchard Beach.
On Aug. 16, Richard W. Szpyt and Ramon Dellosantos, both former Massachusetts residents, had their June 2009 convictions in U.S. District Court in Portland overturned by a three-judge panel in the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston.
Judges Juan R. Torruella, Norman H. Stahl and Jeffrey R. Howard said evidence presented at their trial “prejudicially varied from the charge in count 1 of the indictment” against both men.
The indictment that named Szpyt and Dellosantos charged them with each distributing marijuana and cocaine from Massachusetts to Maine. Szpyt was identified as the president of the Maine chapter of the Iron Horsemen motorcycle gang and owner of an Old Orchard Beach house used by the club.
Appellate judges agreed there was no evidence that linked Szpyt to selling marijuana in Maine or Dellosantos to selling cocaine to Iron Horse members in Maine. Because each was convicted of distributing marijuana and cocaine, the guilty verdicts were overturned, according to court records.
Dellosantos and Szpyt were among 18 people, including Iron Horsemen members, arrested in October 2008. Among those arrested was Robert Sanborn, who testified against Szpyt as part of a plea agreement.
Sanborn linked Szpyt to the gang, clubhouse and cocaine distribution from Massachusetts to Maine, but federal appellate judges said his accounts of marijuana distribution were not directly linked to Szpyt.
Federal prosecutors relied on testimony from Massachusetts resident Plinio Vizcaino to build its case against Dellosantos, but appellate judges ruled Vizcaino’s accounts did not link Dellosantos to distributing cocaine to Iron Horse members in Maine.
Szpyt was sentenced to life in prison. Dellosantos was sentenced to 10 years. Both men remain in prison.

 – Compiled by Staff Writers David Harry and Gillian Graham