Entries by Mary Grow

Final results from November 8 election (2022)

by Mary Grow Because of several write-in candidates for local elected positions and a technical glitch with the town website, results of China’s Nov. 8 local votes were incompletely reported in the Nov. 10 issue of The Town Line (see p. 3). For three positions on the planning board, James Wilkens was re-elected with 1,442 […]

China building committee recommends looking ahead

by Mary Grow At least two members of China’s Municipal Building Committee plan to join chairman Sheldon Goodine at the Nov. 21 China select board meeting, hoping to persuade select board members to see the future through their eyes. The disagreement between the two boards, as described by several building committee members at their Nov. […]

Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Augusta fires, fire departments, Part 3

by Mary Grow Your writer hopes her readers are not tired of fires and firefighting, because there will be one more article on the theme after this one. As usual, the topic has expanded because of more information than expected from easily available sources. One invaluable source is the University of Maine’s on-line DigitalCommons collection. […]

China select board supports broadband committee

by Mary Grow After a pre-meeting party in appreciation of retiring chairman Ronald Breton, China select board members settled down to deal with a long and varied Nov. 7 agenda. They unanimously endorsed a letter of support for the China Broadband Committee (CBC) application for a Maine Connectivity Authority (MCA) grant to improve broadband service […]

Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Augusta fires & fire departments – Part 2

by Mary Grow Another fire Augusta historian James North described was the one that destroyed Augusta’s bridge across the Kennebec River the night of April 2, 1827. (See the July 28, 2022, issue of The Town Line.) It was spotted a little after 11 p.m. and spread so fast that the “citizens [who] rushed to […]

VASSALBORO: Town seeks ideas for use of ARPA funds

by Mary Grow At their Oct. 27 meeting, Vassalboro select board members planned for a December discussion of ways to use federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. Town Manager Mary Sabins intends to ask town departments and committees for suggestions, as she did last year. After audience member Holly Weidner offered ideas, board chairman […]