Sun-Journal from Lewiston, Maine • 11

L-t rt v'' -t A i City Editor Dave Griffiths 784-7045 ext 241 TUESDAYMAY5 1998 SnnJounwl T' --h v- HELP ARRIVES: Jason waHac 16 is pulled to safety by Auburn firefighter Gepff River itoo other teen-agers in the canoe were able to swim to shore the rescue boat Monday after vvailace's SECTIONB IS Federal labor J- investigator looks into egg farm voting results a- BV Liz Ch apm an' StaffWriter AV' labor krves-tigator has returned to the former DeCoster Egg Farms to continue investigating a allegations that employees were frightened into rejecting the union in a vote InMarch' A lawyer for two DeCoster spin-off companies denied any wrongdoing saying thd United Paper- workers International Union 1 making up the allegations in a broaderattemp Rrmake money off farm workers had a free and fair election and the union lost that said Vermont attorney Thomas Somers who represents Quality Egg ofNew England and Maine Ag the two companies charged 1 with union-busting by the UPIU I know what they're whining about now Even if they had another vote still go? ing to be beat the workers want anything to do with that Farm workers voted nearly 3-1 against unionizing in the first vote -of its kind among agriculture workers in Maine The vote wqg heldMarch27 Jonathan Beal the Portland at- tomey representing the union' said that whether workers want a union is at the heart ofthe UPIU complaint Beal and union offi- cials think the workers were' so y- frightened by farm bosses into Ink' iieving they would lose their jobs that they voted against the union Beal said the union hopes to prove the intimidation was so bad that it ruined the union's chances for both in March and in the foreseeable future The union may seek a court injunction dl? recting the company not to intimi- date workers in the foture he said maybe that another vote will be useless Beal said the intimidation has made a fair vote impossible In those situations -the board will consider imposing the union (on the farm) based on the majority status of the union prior to the (alleged) campaign of intimidation That may be tbe best indicator of senti-' ment about the union before the intimidation The NLRB investigator Lucy Reyes speaks fluent Spanish Bed said He said that will be impor-' tant in the probe because many qf the workers are Hispanic ThCTe-' will be no filtering" of the workers' testimony to the investigator he said Reyes began her probe last week and continues it this The two Turner companies set- tied an NLRB case out of court in -February promisfog to not engage in unfair labor practices Beal said the firms ignored the previous agreement so the Please see UN ION page B2 -i Low while fire Lt Denis Dudwrme steers V' launched the aluminum canoe along Riverside Drive when they began to hit rapids behind Gagne Sons Concrete Blocks Inc It filled up with water and it just went over Turgeon said water is so cold Myfriend Erik was planning on falling in I guess he brought a change of clothes Stone was getting changed into dry duds while Auburn fire and rescue officials kept a close eyeon Wallace from the riwr bank An emergency boat was launched from the Durham boat launch nearly none By Mark LaFlammeV StaffWrlter A Durham teen-ager was not just up the river without a paddle Monday afternoon he was up the river withoutaboat Jason Wallace 16 found himself stranded on a small rock In the An- droscoggin River for about 45 minutes after his canoe capsized near 1 His two friends swam to ter the craft took on water and sunk but Wallace played it safe and swam School proposal above suggested levels 1 1 canoe capsized on the Androscoggin lucky that rock was one woman said could have gone down stream quite a ways At about 6:30 pm emergency officials arrived with the rescue boat and plucked Wallace from the rock within seconds He was brought back to the Durham boat launch where he finally stepped foot on land again Wallace was chilled and wet but other-' wise unharmed Meanwhile fire and rescue offl- cials spread the word to be on the lookout for the canoe in case it surfaced somewhere downstream dropped right to the Turgeon sald know not going back for it way too cold from school money Vv New Qoucester nixed it 102-33 After Gray residents vote the combined tallies will determine if directors get a raise Selectmen got the OK to sell eight foreclosed properties on Pond Road Gerke Park Penney Road Jjewiston Road Outlet Road Waterman Drive Bald Hill Road and Ricker Road Additionally more than $480000 of assessed property also in foreclosure got the green light for the town to keep for future planing These PLEASE SEE NIXFU PAGE B2 five miles away leaVing Wallace plenty of time to sit and think about his adventure He sat calmly on the rockroughly 50 feet from shore as about a dozen people watched him from the river-bank I Iookfromover he shouted to the crowd The river incident brought out several people who live on Riverside Drive near the area where the boat overturned Some wondered what the fuss was about until they peered through a small patch of trees and got a glimpse of Wallace lounging on the stone just a few feet above the surface THE VIEHLFROM ABOVE NEWGLOUCESTER members a $15 raise residents argued volunteerism should be practiced instead Peter Bragdon a volunteer fire and rescue worker said he opposes paying any money to board members this going to enhance the grades of student by giving directors a asked Edgar Wilcox a former school board member who said he was aghast over the propos Voters in New Gloucester and Gray by state law must approve granting school directors raises to a rock just before the Maine Tum -pikeoveipass All three teen-agers were wearing life jackets when the canoe overturned emergency officials said We were moving along when we started to go sidewaysrl was trying to turn us back said Erik Stone 16 who was in the canoe when it tipped water came dowaand took us arid we went into the water I just started swimming My adrenaline was pumping Stone and 16-year-old Ben Tur-geon- also of Durham had just in their tax bill this year The proposed $501 million budget would push the mill rate ta $2739 up sharply from If councilors really have their hearts set on a zero tax increase they'll have to find a way to cut spending by nearly $13 million FintrigansakL She said the budget calls for a 3 percent increase in municipal spending and about a 6 percent increase in school expenditures In- tergovemmental programs such as the Aubum-LewUton Airport The PLEASE SEE BUDGET PAGE B2 to allocating $46200 for loan funds to assist businesses interested in expanding or relocating here the program sets aside $200000 to help es-tablish low-cost manufacturing space for new businesses The money will be used along with another $700000 in private funds to help the owners of Falcon Rule renovate 40060 square feet at 45 Hutchins St into a business in- cubator The plan is to develop the incubator space in four 10000-square-foot sections Jay Hardy a consultant for Falcon Rule said the marketing and promotional item manufacturer and printer has Outgrown its four-story facility on Hutchins Street and is PLEASE6EE PROJECT PAGE B2 JOSZLZIMSUN JOUPUL MOCK TRIAL: Ryan Reed a fifth-grader at the Martel School in Lewiston shares the bench with Judge Thomas Deiahanty at a mock trial held at Superior court In Auburn Monday Students from the Lewiston Spark program displayed their courtroom skids MonteikL McMahon pettlnglll and Farwell eletrantaty schools were also Involved In the mock trial By randy whitehouse StaffWritef 'V' The City CouncE wiD have some serious cuts to make if it wants to give taxpayers a tax cut two years in a row The city budget released Monday night contains a 4 percent increase in expenditures Last year the council passed a budget that actually gave residents a five cent decrease for every $1000 of assessed property value If the council makes no changes to the proposal put forward by City Manager Patricia Flnnigan Monday residents will seea4J percent increase Auburn seeks in BY RANDY StqffWriter Abustaesshnibator traittportation for the disabled and an amphitheater near Sherwood Heights School are anpong programs up for federal assistance through the city's $56 million Community Development Block Grant program The City Council approved the program Monday night The proposal was ndt without its detractors however and the council reacted with a minor amendment to the plan One ofthe aims of this program is to expand the number of businesses in operation and create quality Jobs in Auburn In addition Squirrel cuts power to thousands 1 -TURNER A squirrel rtiar crawled into a Route 4 electrical substation Monday morning caused a small fire and a power outage that affected a half dozen! towns Roughly 3000 homes nesses in Turner Hartford Buck-field Sumner Canton and Liver-: more were in the dark at fcbout 830am- The electrical short caiuedl smaU-blaze Inside the substafinh across the street from the Tutmp Plaza fire officials said We rolled in and there was no firr it put Itself out" said nn Chief Steven Fish was lustk Two circuits at the substation before 3JOOO CMP customers affected hr the blackout wereliroudSH on-line at about noon BY ELUE FE1AERS Special to the Sun Journal i "i Monday's annual New Gloucester Town Meeting rejected two zoning Ordinance proposals and (lady refused to raise school board from $10 to $25 per meeting- More than 150 voters turned out at Memorial School for the meeting to act on 25 articles In about two hours Opposed to giving school board.