The paving work being done on the Sagadahoc Bridge

BATH — The Sagadahoc Bridge repairs that have been ongoing since early June are finally winding up this week.

The paving project has caused traffic congestion in both directions.  In the early part of the project, the work was being done at night, which lessened the impact on motorists, but as the final paving and painting part of the work was done last week and this week, daytime work was necessary.

According to the Maine Department of Transportation, the project was estimated to cost between $348,000 to $500,000 for both engineering and construction. The project was eligible for both federal and state funding and special funding under a bridge repair program called TransCap Bond bridge funding.

by Mattie Porter
Coastal Journal Intern

ARROWSIC — Jonathan Owens, 19, of Durham drowned while swimming with two friends in Sewall Pond on Monday according to a spokeswoman from Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. 

Owens and his friends, Ryan Dipierro, 21, of Westport, and Sean Quinn, 22, of Alna were attempting to swim from the east side of the pond, some 200 yards to a dock on the west side. They were halfway there when they decided to turn around and go back to shore.  That is when Owens began to panic. “One of the boys made it back to shore and ran for help while the other one tried to help keep him (Owens) afloat,” explained Warden Doug Koulis. One of the boys tried several times to swim under and help Owens but eventually became tired himself.

by Will Gottlieb
Coastal Journal staff

BRUNSWICK — The small businesses that line the Bath Road between Wal-Mart and Cook’s Corner in Brunswick have been in purgatory since just after Easter, given the amount of work that contractor Pratt & Sons Inc. of Minot has put into breaking up the road and putting in a drainage line, as well as widening the Bath Road between Cook’s Corner and Tibbett’s Road, the entrance to Wal-Mart. The disruption has brought a lot of dust and noise to the area, and has effectively kept out business in the interim – or at least some people’s business. That should all change when the road gets paved, but some of those business owners are wondering if the town has done enough to protect their livelihoods. 

“Conditions suck,” said Scott Rieneau of Party Plan-It, 220 Bath Road. “[Customers] don’t want to come around here, they can’t get through the intersection, the road conditions are awful, beating up people’s vehicles, so people are avoiding and staying away.” 

BATH — Maine's primary election created a stir both within the state and across the nation with the stunning win of Paul LePage of Waterville, a conservative Republican who had been polling lower than the third-place candidate, Peter Mills, as late as Monday night. He easily won with more than 38% of the vote. Les Otten, who had heavily financed his own campaign, came in second, and Mills, who had run as a clean candidate, came in third. Steve Abbot, William Beardsley, Bruce Poliquin, and Matt Jacobson came in fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively.

LePage will face Elizabeth 'Libby' Mitchell of Vassalboro, who won the Democratic primary with 35% of the vote, edging out Steve Rowe, Rosa Scarcelli, and Pat McGowan. LePage will also face Eliot Cutler, who is running as an independent, as well as possibly two other independent candidates, Shawn Moody and Kevin Scott, who both recently turned in enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.