Parents and kids, if you're out trick-or-treating tonight and see a strange man hiding in the bushes holding a video camera, don't be alarmed. It's just a friendly cameraman from WGME (Channel 13).

He's not out to get you - he's just on a Halloween night "stakeout" at the homes of registered sex offenders. No, we're not kidding. See the trailer on WGME's Web site.

"The scariest part of Halloween could be who's greeting your children at the door," says the promo for "Trick or Trouble."

Just one thing - if that cameraman is wearing a mask - RUN!

10/31/2007 9:21:50 AM by Jeff Inglis | Comments [0] |  

The birth-control hoopla at King Middle School has reached such proportions that The Onion, the spoof newspaper and Web site, has asked its "people on the street" about the issue. We think it's just a typo that they called it King a "muddle school," but it could be Freudian - we'll never know.

10/24/2007 3:30:10 PM by Jeff Inglis | Comments [0] |  

Business and public transportation can get along, even sharing space. Check out this video from Bangkok, Thailand, with a hat tip to Salon.

And here's how it works (also from Salon).

10/18/2007 12:28:41 PM by Jeff Inglis | Comments [0] |  

We can't decide what's the better headline:

CREEPY BUT TRUE

or

CREEPY AND SMART

or

REALISM: CREEPY OR SMART?

Regardless, the Portland School Committee will consider a proposal tonight that would allow students at King Middle School to obtain prescription birth control medication. The committee meeting will take place at 7 p.m. in Room 250 of the Portland Arts and Technology High School.

Here's some background on the issue (a quick Google turns up countless other blog opinions): 

CNN video 

Press Herald article (plus 198 comments)

Bill Nemitz column (with 80+ comments, including at least one that is truly disgusting)

[Allow us to point out the kind-of irony -- or at least the related fact -- that this debate is taking place in Maine, where at least one college (Bowdoin) has had to stop offering birth control to its students because of a federal 'oversight' that dramatically bumped up the price of contraception at college health centers. (Now, Bowdoin's health center simply issues prescriptions that can be filled at regular prices at local pharmacies or Planned Parenthood clinics.) Will some 11 year olds have better access to contraception than some college co-eds?]

10/17/2007 3:12:54 PM by Deirdre Fulton | Comments [0] |  

Attention local peace activists:

We think it is perfectly safe to attend the "virtual rally" US Representative Tom Allen is hosting tomorrow against the Iraq war. I know, I know - you wouldn't really think so, given Allen's general practice of having protestors arrested.

But we here at the Portland Phoenix have a sneaking suspicion that people who attend the rally will not be arrested (at least not at Allen's request). You can mark the fifth anniversary of the Congressional vote to authorize using force in Iraq with Tom, without fear.

And even though the rally starts at 5 pm, those who stay past regular working hours will not be arrested, either, we think.

Nor will people who continue protesting after the rally's scheduled end time, of 5 pm on Friday, October 12.

Well, not unless you're at Allen's congressional offices, in which case you're on your own and should write the phone number of a good lawyer on your arm with a Sharpie.

We feel especially certain about giving you these pieces of information because the rally is, as noted earlier, virtual - that is, online. So you will not actually be protesting in a public place at all - rather, you can protest from your couch, or futon, or your front porch.

So, if you want to register your protest against the Iraq war in an online forum only viewable to people who go looking for it, visit www.tomallen.org/rally. If you want to tell the world that you oppose the war, go stand outside somewhere.

But protesting online is much better, in the eyes of the man who wants your vote for Senate. And it's better for you, too. Because as we all know, if you protested in a public place, he'd have you arrested.

PS - This isn't legal advice, so if you get arrested, don't look at us. But do look at Tom Allen - he has ordered the arrest of dozens of his constituents just this year!

10/9/2007 3:44:07 PM by Jeff Inglis | Comments [0] |  

The Portland branch of the League of Young Voters recently honored nine people (or groups) for being "young people" who are "social entrepreneurs," however they define those concepts.

The group's official announcement of the winners doesn't say anything about the winners or even give their ages. There is nothing there or in the media release to support the media release's quote from League state director Justin Alfond, saying that the award winners "exemplify the important contributions young people make to Portland." Nice quote, though.

For an audience member's account of the evening, click here.

Read on to find out what contributions they make, and how old they are (with thanks to League staffer Rachael Weinstein for digging the ages up for us).

The winner of the "Green Professional" award was Forrest Keever, 25, who owns Green Tree Clothing and Mainely Masters Art Gallery, at 437 Congress St, selling hemp products and supporting repeal of the ban on growing industrial hemp (which can't be used for that other purpose people like about hemp so much).

Winning the "Start Up Business Person" award were Kim Anderson (27) and Anna Maria Tocci (29), who in April opened the North Star Café at 225 Congress St, which offers not just yummy food and drink, but also music, local art, and free Wi-Fi.

Receiving the award for "Urban Ecologist" was Sarah Bostick, 27, who has done various urban- and rural-agriculture projects in Portland and around Maine. She now works at Meadow Wood Organic Farm in Yarmouth.

The "Artist" award went to Vanessa Torres and Touching Ground, a folk-bluegrass group here in town, who pay particular attention to social justice concepts when writing lyrics. Twenty-six-year-old Vanessa's sister Tamara Torres (who is 28 and works at the North Star Café) and 26-year-old law student Ra Criscitiello round out the trio, who played at SXSW in Austin, Texas this year. Honored as well was 27-year-old percussionist Lauren Snead, who has performed with them, but whose bio is no longer on any VT&TG sites.

Michelle Boisvert, 25, won the "Service Worker" award for her work at the Preble Street Resource Center and with the Portland Food Co-Op (whose MySpace page plays a Vanessa Torres and Touching Ground song).

Saul Amedee, 30, was given the "Technology Maven" award. He was involved with the People's Free Space's technology group at its old location, and remains involved in providing Web design and hosting for local nonprofits.

Jill Barkley, 26, of Family Crisis Services, who also organizes the Dyke March and Portland's Take Back the Night event, won the "Activist" award for her work teaching young people about healthy relationships.

Shana Paradis, a 29-year-old Deering High School English teacher, won the "City Employee" award, for her work at the school, which includes advising its Civil Rights Team. Paradis is also a local singer-songwriter and a member of the Maine Songwriters Association, which holds regular open-mic nights at the North Star Café.

The final award, for "Healthy Lifestyle Educator," went to Heather Chandler, the 35-year-old founder of the Sunrise Guide, which has information on living sustainably and coupons for discounts from enviro-conscious businesses.

10/8/2007 3:53:01 PM by Jeff Inglis | Comments [0] |