Morning Sentinel from Waterville, Maine • 1

liin ntiux ounded 1904 A Blethen Maine Newspaper copyright 2005 Thursday April 7 2005 Serving Northern Kennebec Waldo Somerset and ranklin County Communities 50 CENTS Staff photo by David Learning EpfS HO IV Ww ISb i SB Jwl BOwwi HKbkkPLj? HL ikjiilsEiMii fIswpsiwir? LimyE jyffigiwBBH MMEwsfe' iEfiMwP'jrfe a rula 11 iW Bgwr wr iil i 'a aM gy mte biMsHws Ml SAE HALLS: A student walks to class recently at Waterville High School The high school holds an assembly every Thursday to give students a chance to voice concerns about a wide array of issues including school security Schools stress security Students say they feel safe accustomed to precautions By DOUG HARLOW Staff Writer Uniformed police presence security guards patrolling school grounds and special rules aimed at safety in Maine high schools all have become a reality that most students and staff say they are willing to live with The alternative the prospect of school violence as has been seen elsewhere in the country is not an option they said rom a handgun incident at Mt Blue High School in armington recently to BB gun shootings at Carrabec High School in North Anson and the expulsion of a Madison Area Memorial High School student a couple of years ago for a threat ening Internet chat message Maine school teachers say they know what they are up against At Cony High School in Au gusta a eb 9 stabbing of a stu dent by another student has led to stepped up staff monitoring of corridors and school entry ways and searches of backpacks Cony Principal Geraldine Massey said or many students the in crease in security is something that comes with the times and the territory not all big on the search ing but if what they got to PLEASE SEE SAETY A8 LOCAL PROBLEMS In the wake of the Columbine High School massacre and most recently shootings at a high school at Red Lake Minn school officials nationwide are on high alert to ensure safety in schools Several events locally in recent years have made safety at high schools in central Maine a high priority: A stabbing at Cony High School in Augusta led to in creased security inside and outside the school Threat of a fight at Lawrence High School in air field brought police to the campus Threatening Internet chat message by a Madison Area Memorial High School student resulted in expulsion BB gun shots fired at a school bus after a basketball game at Carrabec High School in North Anson brought po lice to that town A 22 caliber handgun found in a car at Mt Blue High School in armington resulted in a police investi gation but no charges Equipment tax targeted by Baldacci Governor to push for repeal state stands to lose $150M By CHRIS CHURCHILL Staff Writer Gov John Baldacci is readv to renew a push to repeal the state's tax on business equip ment a tax manufacturers consider onerous but one that's crucial for many central Maine towns and cities Baldacci is expected to submit a bill to repeal the tax this leg islative session The repeal could be presented to lawmakers by mid April and likely would be part of a broader tax reform package officials said governor is committed to moving forward with this" said Martha reeman director of the State Planning Office also interested in other changes to Maine's tax policies" Baldacci asked lawmakers to consider a repeal of the tax on business equipment in 2004 He even addressed the topic in that year's State of the State address 1 ask you to repeal finally the personal prop erty tax on business equipment and machinery" Baldacci said at the time tax is a burden for businesses and discourages investment particularly in man The governor repeated those sentiments this week while dis cussing changes needed to make the forest products indus try more competitive Repealing the tax which Baldacci said brings in $150 mil lion to $170 million annually would encourage forest based industries in particular to invest would be a really difficultyear to try to push this through" MICHAEL STARN Maine Municipal Association spokesman in costly new equipment help ing Maine's forestry firms com pete against foreign competi tion But many Maine cities and towns especially those with large industrial mills rely on that revenue so eliminating the tax could cause property taxes paid by homeowners to skyrock et In Skowhegan for example nearly 60 percent of the tax base in 2003 came from the business equipment tax much of that paid by Sappi ine Paper Go In Madison home to Madison Paper Industries 53 percent of 2003 revenue derived from the tax Michael Starn spokesman for the Maine Municipal Associa tion noted that Maine cities and towns already are dealing with several state mandated changes to how they raise and receive rev enue one more would be kind of Starn said would be a really difficult year to try to push this Starn also said efforts to repeal the tax are not new: Gov Angus King hoped to repeal the tax but stopped short he saw the PLEASE SEE TAX AB Cardinals set April 18 to begin pope selection By VICTOR SIMPSON Associated Press Writer VATICAN CITY After elec tronic highway signs and cell phone text messages failed to staunch the flow of pilgrims police stepped in Wednesday to turn back mourners hoping to lege of Cardinals set April 18 as the start of its conclave in the Sistine Chapel to choose a suc cessor to John Paul a papal election with new rules and new technological challenges Using a special entrance for VIPs President Bush viewed the body with his wife Laura along bowing their heads in prayer joining a million pilgrims who had filed solemnly through St Peter's Basilica Seeking to clear the basilica by Thursday evening so the Vat ican could prepare for John Paul's funeral the following day police announced they were "Wi TT it id join the 24 hour line to view the with his father former Presi closing the line at 10 pm Text AP photo body oLPopeJohn Paul IIona dent Clinton and Secretary of messages were sent over Italian day that brought almost 1 mil State Condoleezza Rice shortly cellular phone lines Those at 3 PRESIDENTS: rom left President Bush his wife Laura his lion people to the Vatican after the US delegation the back would wait 24 hours father former President George HW Bush and former Presi The crowd control problems reached Rome They knelt in a dent Bill Clinton kneel by the body of late Pope John Paul II in developed hours after the Col pew in front of the remains PLEASE SEE POPE A8 side St Basilica at the Vatican on Wednesday ire destroys hall apartment at Sidney beach area By BETTY ADAMS Staff Writer IDNEY Lakeside Hall burned to the ground early Wednesday morning leaving the owners homeless and de stroying all the rental records for the upcoming sea son The large wooden hall that stood near the shore of Messa lonskee Lake has functioned for the past five years as a site for banquets and weddings Prior to that it served town beachgoers who know it as Bangs Beach A recent addition to the 1940s hall contained a two story apartment occupied by James and Agnes Milligan who were forced to flee in their pajamas quarters of the rec hall itself was pretty much gone when we got said Richard Jandreau Sidney fire chief rest of the rec hall continued to burn into rafters and into two story addition where owners were living" He said the large open hall created conditions for a hot in tense fire was a complete loss" Jandreau said The first alarms was called in about 3:20 am and firefighters from Belgrade Rome Oakland and Smithfield were called for assistance No one was injured in the blaze but one of the Mil ligans' cats died Jandreau and odier Sidney firefighters were still at the fire scene 10 hours later An excava tor flattened the last of the building Jandreau said because it was structurally unsound Maggie Milligan of Hallowell said the property had been in her family for generations Her parents called her just after 3 am she said after they were unable to get connected to 911 Milligan called in the alarm for them She and other family members gathered at the scene Wednesday in an attempt to salvage PLEASE SEE IRE A8 Mobile to give job details in June By CH IN WE I YAP Staff Writer OAKIAND The next majot event for Mobile USA staffing plans at its irst Park calLcenier comes in lune when an open house is planned to introduce its customer serv ice representative positions Once hired classes for the new representatives begin in early August As part of then training the first batch of re cruits is expected to take its first live calls within two weeks of their seven week training stints have 90 to 105 repre sentatives in the first six or sev en classes" said Brian Brueck man the cal! center's general manager expect them to take their first calls Aug 22 well ahead of schedule" Mobile's ramp up to its full staffing level of 700 customer service representatives is ex pected to take place over the I 1 MOBI1 AH Weather Showers Page A8 6 H'erjs 20IJ50 6 Where To ind It Annies Mailbox D5 Calendar B2 Classified Dl 47 8 Comics D5 Crossword C7 Entertainment C7 Local news Bl 6 Maine news 6 8 National news A2 5 Obituaries B4 Opinion A7 Sports Cl 6 Stocks D5 TV listings C7 World news A2 6 Tomorrow Inside MUSIC COMPETITION The Williamson Arts Center at Lawrence junior and senior high school will host the 2005 Maine State Jazz Vocal and Show Choir Competi tion on Saturday The daylong event which is set to begin at 8:30 am will mark the first time the show has come to airfield ItVs WmwwT" nai SOX EARN IRST WIN The Red Sox rallied lor five runs olfYankees clos er Mariano Rivera in the ninth inning and beat New York 7 3 Wednesday to avoid a season open ing sweep SI.