Lehigh University, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, welcomes the Class of 2027, which includes Logan McDonald, of Bingham.
The Kennebec Valley Council of Governments, based in Fairfield, plans to host Household Hazardous Waste Collection Days in October in Kennebec and Somerset counties.
Skowhegan, Anson, Bingham, Canaan and Madison will collect from 9 a.m. to noon, Saturday, Oct. 7, at the Skowhegan Transfer Station, 29 Transfer Station Drive. This is open to residents of those towns, who must call their own town office to schedule a time slot (Skowhegan, 207-474-6902; Anson, 207-696-3979; Bingham, 207-672-5519; Canaan, 207-474-8682; Madison, 207-696-3971).
Winslow, Belgrade, Clinton, Fairfield, Oakland and Waterville will collect from 8 a.m. to noon, Saturday, Oct. 21, at Winslow Public Works, 135 Halifax St. Residents must call their municipal office to schedule a slot (Winslow, 207-872-2776; Belgrade, 207-495-2258; Clinton, 207-426-8322; Fairfield, 207- 453-7911; Oakland, 207-465-7357; Waterville, 207-680-4200).
Those who don’t have an appointment slot made with their town will not be able to drop off that day.
Many chemicals commonly used around the home are hazardous, either alone or when combined with other chemicals, and need to be disposed of by professionals trained to handle hazardous materials, according to a KVCOG news release.
Improper disposal of these materials can disrupt the function of sewage treatment plants or private septic systems, contaminate ground water, and harm animals and residents. Items that are difficult to recycle or dispose of — such as electronic waste, batteries, paint, anti-freeze, chemical cleaners, yard chemicals, old fuels, oils and mercury thermostats — many of which can also become harmful if left unmonitored.
The council will have local law enforcement officials on hand in Winslow and Skowhegan to collect and properly dispose of any pharmaceuticals that residents want to bring in.
BINGHAM — One evening last week Clarence Jones of Bingham was presented the Boston Post Cane at a surprise event at Thompson’s Restaurant, in Bingham. Clarence is now the oldest resident in Bingham at the age of 98. The cane was presented to him by Bingham selectmen, First selectman Steve Steward, Second selectman Julie Rihard, and Third selectman Gloria Jean Shaw. He was also presented with a pocket watch.
Clarence Jones, front seated, receives the Boston Post Gold Cane. From left to right, First Selectman Steve Stewart, Second Selectman Julie Richard and Third Selectman, Gloria Jean Shaw. Photo by Marilyn Rogers-Bull
Clarence and his wife Dorothy Jones moved first from Flagstaff to Eustis (moving one of the houses from Flagstaff to Eustis with them when Flagstaff was flooded back in 1949.) They then moved to Bingham many years after that. Dorothy died several years ago and when Clarence’s eye sight failed in recent years, his son and daughter in law, Steve and Liz moved up to Bingham with him.
Clarence has two other sons, Tom and wife Insowa, who live in Farmington, and Larry and wife Stephine, who live in Limington.
Clarence has always been a hard worker but perhaps the one he enjoyed the most was working on the annual River Drive, he tells some very interesting events he was in on that job.
The above event when he received the honor of accepting the Boston Post Cane was a complete surprise for him.
For those of you who may not know that the recipient of the cane does not get to keep it in their possession these days, because so many of the canes were lost. The origin of the tradition: Back in 1909, the publisher of the Boston Post , a newspaper, forwarded to the Board of Selectmen in 700 towns (no cities included) in New England a gold-headed ebony cane with the request that it be presented with the compliments of the Boston Post to the oldest male citizen of the town.
The custom of the Boston Post Cane took hold in those towns lucky enough to have canes. As years went by some of the canes were lost, stolen, taken out of town and not returned to the selectmen or destroyed by accident.
In 1930, after considerable controversy, eligibility for the cane was opened to women as well.
INside the OUTsideby Dan Cassidy
Part 1 of 2
If you’ve been on the road anywhere between Skowhegan, Madison, Solon and Bingham, on Route 201 over the past several months, you may have been held up in a rare traffic jam, as state and local police escorts, support vehicles and huge tractor-trailer trucks transported massive towers, motors, blades and other related wind tower equipment to the Bingham, Mayfield and Kingsbury areas of Johnson Mountain off from Route 16.
According to the SunEdison website, manufacturers advanced solar technology is installing solar power systems that are supposed to deliver cost effective electricity to residential, commercial, utility and government customers.
Of the 56 towers planned for the area, 11 towers will be installed in Bingham. Photo by Dan Cassidy
Turbine deliveries began in the fall of 2015, and there are several towers already in place. The operation was suspended for about eight weeks due to spring posted road conditions, however Reed & Reed accelerated delivery of a large percentage of the project’s turbines during the winter months that allowed assembly to continue into the spring.
Reed & Reed and a team of highly skilled subcontractors are erecting turbines in two areas, with 36 turbines located just north of Route 16 and 20 turbines to the south. They are currently on schedule for an early completion by this fall.
The project hasn’t been all that easy, as SunEdison, once a poster child of the clean energy boom ran into financial troubles earlier this year, caused by a mountain of debt taken on during better times, according to their website.
“The decision to file for bankruptcy was a difficult, but important step to address our immediate liquidity issues,” Ahmad Chatila, SunEdison CEO said in a published statement. The statement went on to say that SunEdison was flying high with shares trading above $33. The collapse happened soon after. Earlier this spring, the shares were trading at about 34 cents. Trading was halted shortly before the bankruptcy filing.
As far as the filing of bankruptcy protection affecting the Bingham project, the project has been financed and was acquired by Terra Nova Partners last year, according to SunEdison sources. The bankruptcy should have no impact to the project whatsoever.
There were a lot of factors that went into the decision of erecting towers in the Bingham, Kingsbury and Mayfield area. “We choose locations to build projects that require good wind speed in the area, access to transmission, limited number of residences or camps nearby, willing landowners, and local support,” said John Lamontagne, Senior Director of Communications at SunEdison, in an e-mail interview. “All those factors were involved in this project, but especially the wind and the local support,” he said.
SunEdison is the head of the overall project, although they are working very closely with the owners of the project. “Reed & Reed has been the general contractor on all the wind projects that SunEdison has built in Maine. “They are a great partner with us. That is their role at Bingham,” he said.
The towers are approximately 100 meters, (330 feet), and each will have three blades attached that are about 57 meters, approximately (188 feet). In total, if a blade is standing straight up, the structure is about 157 meters, close to (515 feet). The unit attached to the tower and what the blades are attached to is called the nacelle. It is where the electricity is being generated. The blade speed depends on the wind speed. Collector lines are going to be installed and will be connected to a substation, which then sends the electricity via transmission lines, according to Lamontagne.
According to Lamontagne, there are three landowners that are involved in forestry where the project is taking place. “Construction began on the project last year. Clearing work was started, logging roads were widened, and collector cables were installed. Towers didn’t start going up until March of this year.”
Lamontagne said that they plan to set up 56 turbines, each with a capacity of 3.3 MW. “In total, the project is projected to power about 60,000 homes. We expect the project to be online and operational by the end of the year.”
“The energy is being sold at a highly competitive price to customers, on par with natural gas,” Lamontagne said. “Customers will have the benefit of clean energy at no additional cost on their electricity bills.”
(Continued next week)