15 Jan WCME Midcoast News January 15 2014

Dump?

That’s the word used by third district Brunswick school board member Chris McCarthy at Wednesday night’s board meeting to describe the state of the physical plants at the Coffin Elementary and Junior High Schools. The comment came in another of many recent board discussions of what to do about the situation. Consultants say the schools are facing necessary safety-oriented repairs but those repairs would be costly–especially in light of the fact that the buildings are aging to begin with. And the cost of new buildings is far greater.

The Future of Brunswick’s Fifth Grade

Should Brunswick’s fifth graders attend the crowded Harriet Beecher Stowe School or should they be sent instead to the junior high school. A swarm of parents have signed a petition and have also now descended on at school board meeting to let the board know in no uncertain terms that they don’t like the junior high plan. The board plans to take another look at the situation next month.

Plummeting Prices

Heating oil prices continue to nosedive throughout the nation and in Maine. A new survey from the governor’s energy office finds prices thirty percent lower than a year ago, and the statewide average price for number two heating oil at $2-63 a gallon. That’s eight cents lower than last week.

More Mainers Insured

The final deadline won’t come until the middle of next month but almost 60 thousand Mainers have already signed up for health insurance coverage in 2015 through the federal marketplace established by the Affordable Care Act–a 34 percent increase over the 44 thousand who did so last year. The U-S Department of Health and Human Services says over 59 thousand Maine residents were covered under the health care act as of January 9.