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Patriots’ Connolly sets record for kick return; Packers weigh QB options

See stories in Sports, pages 15-16

Parking Grinch steals

Christmas spiritSee Bob Higgins’

column on page 4

The case against George

BaileySee Curtis Robinson’s column on

page 5

Hey, Matt

Dodge, how’s kicks?

See the column, page 5

The Bicycle Coalition of Maine has named a Portland resident as its new executive director.

Nancy Grant has been the coali-tion’s board president for the past two years, helping to lead the organi-

zation through an expansion of staff and educational programs. Grant has been on the group’s board since 2005.

“We conducted a nationwide search and Nancy Grant stood out from among dozens of highly quali-fi ed candidates,” said John Wright, the coalition’s incoming board presi-

dent. “If you knew her, you’d under-stand, she’s really enthusiastic about cycling and it just rubs off on every-body,” he said.

Grant’s history of bicycle advo-cacy includes founding the North

Reny’s 15th store will be a big one for Portland as the loss of one iconic Maine retailer opens space for another.

The retailer plans to fi ll side-by-side vacancies on Congress Street vacated by L.L. Bean and Olym-pia Sports, the store announced Monday.

In November 2009, L.L. Bean announced plans to shut down its

outlet store in downtown Portland, opting to concentrate on its outlet store in Freeport. On Monday, Dec. 27, neighboring Olympia Sports will close as well, the store reported.

“We’re probably looking at the fi rst of April” for an opening in downtown Portland, said John

Reny’s coming to Congress St.L.L. Bean, Olympia Sports spots to be fi lled

BY DAVID CARKHUFFTHE PORTLAND DAILY SUN

RIGHT: The L.L. Bean and Olympia Sports storefronts are shown in this fi le photo from earlier this year. (DAVID CARKHUFF PHOTO)

see RENY’S page 8

Grant

Portlander to take head bike coalition jobBY MATT DODGETHE PORTLAND DAILY SUN

see BIKE page 9

Outside the cardiac inten-sive care unit on the ninth fl oor of Maine Medical Center, the waiting room was packed.

No one took an exact tally, but a nurse said that she’d never seen so many people

waiting for just one person. Family members and old friends had arrived from California, DC, New York, and Canada. Dozens of friends and co-workers from throughout Maine fl oated in and out to keep watch between Saturday afternoon and Tuesday, when Chef Bob Smith was fi nally removed from life support, his kid-neys donated to someone in need of a transplant.

God rest ye, merry gentlemanChef Bob Smith dead at 49

BY MARGO MALLARTHE PORTLAND DAILY SUN

LEFT: A fi xture in the restaurant community, chef Bob Smith pauses from cooking at Turkey Hill Farm. (Photo courtesy of Zack Bowen) see SMITH page 6

Page 2 — THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Tuesday, December 21, 2010

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–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– DIGEST––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––Dog gives birth to 17 puppies

SAYWHAT...Every dog must have his day.”

—Jonathan Swift

BERLIN (AP) — A dog in Germany has given birth to 17 puppies, leaving their owner thrilled but fatigued after having to feed them with a bottle for several weeks because their mother couldn’t cope with the demand.

Owner Ramona Wege-mann said Monday she barely slept for more than a couple of minutes without interrup-tion during about four weeks in an “exhausting” struggle to make sure all of the purebred Rhodesian Ridgeback pup-pies would survive.

She said when she was “fi nished feeding the last puppy, the fi rst was hungry again.”

Wegemann’s dog Etana gave birth to eight female and nine male puppies on Sept. 28 in Ebereschenhof, which is near Berlin.

At least fi ve times a day, Wegemann gave the dogs a bottle with special milk because their mother’s nip-ples could have never coped with the demand, and when the puppies were not hungry, they wanted to be enter-tained, she said.

Wegemann said when dogs give birth to so many puppies several of them die within the fi rst week. “But all of our puppies survived. This is incredible and wonderful,” the 32-year-old added.

It was the second time that Etana gave birth. She gave birth to eight puppies in her fi rst pregnancy, not uncom-mon for the dog’s breed, Wegemann said.

“

3DAYFORECAST LOTTERY#’SDAILY NUMBERS

Day 0-2-0 • 8-5-1-8

Evening9-2-4 • 3-8-9-3

TodayHigh: 38

Record: 60 (1957)Sunrise: 7:11 a.m.

TonightLow: 29

Record: -14 (1955)Sunset: 4:07 p.m.

TomorrowHigh: 36Low: 25

Sunrise: 7:12 a.m.Sunset: 4:07 p.m.

ThursdayHigh: 33Low: 17

THEMARKETDOW JONES

13.78 to 11,478.13

NASDAQ6.59 to 2,649.56

S&P3.17 to 1,247.08

1,440U.S. military deaths in

Afghanistan.

LONDON (AP) — In the biggest anti-ter-rorist sweep in Britain in nearly two years, police on Monday arrested a dozen men accused of plotting a large-scale terror attack on targets inside the United Kingdom.

The suspects, who ranged in age from 17 to 28, had been under surveillance for weeks and were believed to have links to Pakistan and Bangladesh, security offi cials said.

The arrests come amid growing concerns in Europe over terrorism following a suicide

bombing in Sweden and reported threats of a terror attack on a European city modeled on the deadly shooting spree in Mumbai, India.

Police swooped in before dawn Monday in coordinated raids on houses in four cities — London, the Welsh city of Cardiff and the English cities of Birmingham and Stoke-on-Trent. The offi cers were unarmed, suggest-ing any planned attack was not imminent.

The raid, a joint operation by Britain’s

domestic spy agency MI5 and police, was the largest since April 2009, when 12 men were detained over an alleged al-Qaida bomb plot in the northern city of Manchester.

Counterterrorism offi cials declined to give more details of the latest alleged plot, saying only that the men had been under surveillance for several weeks. No details were given as to whether explosives or arms were found, and searches were under way in the homes where the arrests took place.

12 arrested in suspected UK terrorism plot

NEW YORK (AP) — The world’s biggest gas-guzzling nation has limits after all.

After seven decades of mostly uninterrupted growth, U.S. gaso-line demand is at the start of a long-term decline. By 2030, Amer-icans will burn at least 20 percent less gasoline than today, experts say, even as millions of more cars clog the roads.

The country’s thirst for gasoline is shrinking as cars and trucks become more fuel-effi cient, the gov-ernment mandates the use of more

ethanol and people drive less.“A combination of demographic

change and policy change means the heady days of gasoline growing in the U.S. are over,” says Daniel Yergin, chairman of IHS Cam-bridge Energy Research Associates and author of a Pulitzer Prize-win-ning history of the oil industry.

This isn’t the fi rst time in U.S. history that gasoline demand has fallen, at least temporarily. Drivers typically cut back during recessions, then hit the road again when the economy picks up.

U.S. gas demand should fall for good after 2006 peak

YEONPYEONG ISLAND, South Korea (AP) — North Korea backed off threats to retaliate against South Korea for military drills Monday and reportedly offered concessions on its nuclear program — signs it was looking to lower the temperature on the Korean peninsula after weeks of soaring tensions.

But Pyongyang has feinted toward conciliation before and failed to follow through.

The North’s gestures came after South Korea launched fi ghter jets, evacuated hundreds of residents near its tense land border with the North and sent residents of islands near disputed waters into underground bunkers in case Pyongyang followed through on its vow to attack over the drills.

“It appears that deterrence has been restored,” said Daniel Pinkston, Seoul-based analyst with the International Crisis Group think tank. “The North Koreans only understand force or show of force.”

North Korea backs away from threat to attack South

THETIDESMORNING

High: 10:29 a.m.Low: 4:14 a.m.

EVENINGHigh: 11:10 p.m.Low: 4:56 p.m.

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THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Tuesday, December 21, 2010— Page 3

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BIDDEFORD — Linda Holway Busby, 59, of West Street, died unexpectedly on Saturday Dec. 18, 2010 at Southern Maine Medical Center.

She was born in Fairfi eld, Maine on July 26, 1951, the only child of Samuel and Lois Bragg Holway. She attended local schools there and graduated from Lawerence High School. She furthered her educa-tion by receiving her B.S. from Thomas College in Waterville.

In January of 1974 she married Richard J. Busby

in Waterville.Linda was a committed and dedicated teacher with

nearly thirty years of teaching experience. In her spare time she enjoyed reading, spending time at the beach, gardening and landscaping, sewing, collecting frogs and her dogs. Her greatest love, however, was the time spent surrounded by her family and friends.

Linda was predeceased by her husband on April 3, 2010. She is survived by a daughter Kelly A Busby of Portland and a son Michael S. Busby of Biddeford

along with several nieces and nephews.A memorial service will be held at the Conroy-

Tully Crawford Funeral Home, 172 State St., Portland, Maine on Wednesday, Dec. 22, at 10 a.m. Those who wish may make contributions in Linda’s memory to the American Cancer Society, New Eng-land Division, Inc., One Main St., Topsham, ME 04086 or the Friends of Casco Bay, 43 Slocum Drive, South Portland, ME 04106. Online condolences may be expressed at www.ctcrawford.com.

Linda Holway Busby, 59

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– OBITUARIES –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

SCARBOROUGH — Sarah (Sally) Stewart Gates, 75, of Scarborough, formerly of Ocala, Florida and Waterville, Maine, died peace-fully at the Gosnell Memorial Hospice House on Dec. 17, 2010 after a courageous battle with cancer. Born on Jan. 6, 1935 in Glasgow, Scotland, she was the daughter of William and Janet Thompson. Sarah was a gradu-ate of Eastbank Academy. She spent much of her adult life as a homemaker raising her two sons. Eventually she went to work as a receptionist at Thayer hospital, from which she later retired.

Sally had great faith in the Lord and was last a member of the Marion Oaks Assembly of God in

Ocala, Fla. She enjoyed such hobbies as gardening, knitting and reading. Sally moved back to Maine to be closer to her family throughout her battle with cancer. During that time she enjoyed a variety of activities with her grandchildren. She took them bird watching, watched them play sports and piano, played board games with them, taught them about Jesus and saw them off to school each day. She also spent many days reading and relaxing at Two Lights State Park. She is remembered by all as a woman of dignity and grace, with a warm heart for everyone.

Sally was predeceased by her parents, as well as her sister Williamina (Billie) Thompson. She is survived by her husband Lewis J. Gates of Ocala, her two sons, Ian Robinson and his wife Jennie of Scarborough, Andrew Robinson and his wife Paula of Auburn, and four grandchildren, Nathan and Meghan Robinson of Scarborough, and Adam and

Cameron Robinson of Auburn. She is also survived by her brother James Thompson and his wife Marion of Collingwood, Ontario Canada. Her fi rst husband of 25 years, Allan Robinson, has remained a friend and supporter to her through her illness.

Sally’s family would like to give a special thanks to Dr. Tracey Weisberg and her colleagues, as well as the Hospice of Southern Maine and the people at the Gosnell Memorial Hospice House for their care and support throughout her battle.

A visiting hour will be held at Hobbs Funeral Home, 671 U.S. Route 1, Scarborough, Maine on Wednesday, Dec. 22, at 10:30 a.m. followed by a memorial service, offi ciated by the Rev. John R. d’Anjou S.J. In lieu of fl owers, memorial donations may be made to the Maine Center for Cancer Medi-cine and Blood, 100 Campus Drive, Scarborough, ME 04074.

Sarah (Sally) Stewart Gates, 75

WINDHAM — Helen Viola (Hancome) Whitney, 88, passed away at The Gosnell Memorial Hospice House on Dec. 16, 2010 following a long illness.

Helen was born a daughter of the late Charles and Edna (Sanborn) Hancome on July 16, 1922, one of 11 siblings.

On Dec. 16, 1938, she married her late

husband Elmer Whitney and they raised fi ve children together. She passed away minutes before their 73rd anniversary.

She worked as an offi ce manager for the Mobile Sales and Service in Windham for many years.

She is survived by three of her fi ve chil-dren, 15 grandchildren, 17 great-grandchil-

dren, six great-great grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.

Services will be private. Arrangements are by the Hobbs Funeral Home, 230 Cot-tage Road, South Portland, ME 04106.

Memorial donations may be made to the Gosnell Memorial Hospice House, 11 Hun-newell Road, Scarborough, ME 04074.

Helen Viola (Hancome) Whitney, 88

AUGUSTA (AP) — Maine Repub-licans may be elated over their fi rst Blaine House victory in two decades, but they won’t celebrate by dancing the night away.

In a nod to Maine’s fragile economy, Republican Gov.-elect Paul LePage has opted against a glitzy gala inaugu-ral ball with free-fl owing champagne next month, offi cials say. Instead, there’s going to be a reception with a receiving line for LePage and his wife Ann at the Augusta Civic Center.

The invitation-only reception on Jan. 5 follows a ceremony in which LePage will be sworn into offi ce before

a joint session of the Maine Legisla-ture at the civic center.

LePage was adamant about there being no fancy ball.

“He’s just looking forward to taking the basic oath, and going to work,” said Brent Littlefi eld, LePage’s senior political adviser and inaugural direc-tor.

Republicans have reason to party.The last time the GOP won the

governor’s race was back in 1990 — John McKernan’s second term. And it’s been even longer since the GOP has controlled both legislative cham-bers.

Gov. LePage opts for low-key inaugural

Page 4 — THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Tuesday, December 21, 2010

––––––––––––– LETTERS TO THE EDITOR –––––––––––––

Portland’s FREE DAILY NewspaperCurtis Robinson Editor

David Carkhuff, Matt Dodge Reporters

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Finding a volunteer to work at the Preble Street Resource Center Soup Kitchen can be a dif-fi cult task. They get a lot of folks who are ordered there by the court system to work off fi nes or do community service, but they do occasionally get volunteers who want to come in and serve hungry people.

The job of fi nding and keeping those volunteers just got a lot harder for Joel Reed. Thanks to the city of Portland and the park-ing enforcement division, over the last few months volunteers have been drifting away, and showing up in ever-dwindling numbers.

One side of Portland and Oxford streets has one-hour parking. Those highly coveted spaces go fast, even among vol-unteers and local residents. Reed, volunteer services coordi-nator, has a commercially plated truck he uses to make pick-ups and deliveries from local food pantries, but even the commer-cial plate delivery zone is not a safe haven.

“I’ve gotten about $300 worth of tickets in the last week or ten days,” he said.

Reed claims he went to the

Parking Grinch steals Christmas spirit

city to see if there was some-thing that could be done. “Some of my volunteers are older people, and they like to park close. Many have stopped coming altogether. They just can’t afford the tickets.” I asked Reed if he had asked the city for placards for the volunteers cars, but he said “The city told me if I had a grievance, to fi le it and they would get to it eventually. That was last week. Since then, the amount of tickets has at least doubled.”

He said he understands the city’s position, but “there has to be some kind of arrangement we can work out. I need these vol-unteers, and they are just being scared away.”

One volunteer contacted South Portland State Representa-tive Terry Morrison, as he was an active volunteer at the soup

kitchen. “He said he would see if there was anything he could do, and we are hopeful.”

A brief survey of at least one other local business confi rmed that lately, they have seen a “huge increase” in the amount of tickets being issued. I asked him if he thought that this was connected to a neighborhood prosecutors recent efforts at “quality of life” issues such as littering, but he was unsure.

Reed says that he points out the local parking garage on Elm St. to potential volunteers, or other spaces in the neighborhood and the surrounding streets. He also pointed out the “pain” factor of having volunteers who have to go out every hour to move their vehi-cles, or get a ticket.

During the interview, I saw one such episode. A hurried and har-ried staff member answered my question, but was in an obvious rush. “I Just heard the truck was in the neighborhood, so I have to go move my car NOW. Can we continue this in a few minutes?”

A call to City Communications Director Nichole Clegg had her

see HIGGINS page 5

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– COLUMN ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Bob Higgins–––––

Daily Sun Columnist

Public art committee makes city a laughing stock among critics

Editor,The Portland Public Art Committee is more likely

to get a pow from the public than to wow them. Most Portlanders will see the spending of over $50,000 on less than half a dozen art benches for the Bay-side Trail as just another of this Committee’s waste of public funds. Add this project to their other most publicized site-specifi c art fi asco “Tracing the Fore” and the PPAC should be worried about their committee being deaccessioned. Being a former member of this committee and friends with many of its current members I appreciate their dedication to bringing strong contemporary public art into the city’s collection. I would agree with them that good art and the choosing of it for Portland is not and should not be a popularity contest.

But it is political. And, unfortunately, the perception of people, including artists, from all over Maine is that the PPAC is a group of elite art snobs spending ridiculous amounts of money on “art” that makes Portland the biggest joke in the state. The PPAC is naive if they don’t realize that the continual bad press and critical public opinion about their deci-sions will force the Portland City Council to consider their committee’s existence.

The PPAC needs to end or at least postpone it’s bench project until it has looked at the very real threat that vandalism poses to it’s fi nished product.

As a daily user of the Bayside Trail I have seen how it has become a magnet for graffi ti and how no surface is safe from it. As soon as it is painted over or cleaned off it returns. Neither the police nor installation of extensive lighting has reduced this vandalism. PPAC member Pandora LaCasse’s studio is in a graffi ti cov-ered building almost adjacent to the trail.

Anyone who uses this trail or spends time in this area knows that it is inevitable that the benches installed along it will be vandalized repeatedly. The proposed benches as part of the Portland Public Art collection would require continued cleaning and repair at a cost that would skyrocket this project’s budget. And what will the public’s reaction be? The Portland Public Art Committee needs a winner project and the Bayside Trail benches is not it. At least not now.

Jay YorkPortland

“... unfortunately, the perception of people, including

artists, from all over Maine is that the PPAC is a group of elite art snobs

spending ridiculous amounts of money on ‘art’ that makes Portland the biggest joke in the state.”

THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Tuesday, December 21, 2010— Page 5

“looking into the issue of whether staff at Preble Street Soup Kitchen would be eligible for placards.”

Reed, who says that his truck “has been ticketed for being parked for as little as fi fteen minutes in a one-hour zone” was hopeful, but seemed resigned. “We’ve got to do something, but at this point I’m not

sure what. The parking guy says he is chalking my tires for time, but I keep getting tickets for $15-$25 bucks each. I just don’t understand it.”

Soup kitchens and such have a lot on their plate this time of year trying to make sure everyone else has enough on THEIR plate. Donations to soup kitchens are reportedly down drastically this year as compared to other years, and the volunteers at

Preble Street are making do with a lot less.They don’t need the added aggravation if a ticket-

hungry city, as they are the “meal ticket” for those that can least afford it this time of year. This should be a slam-dunk.

(Bob Higgins is a regular contributor to The Port-land Daily Sun.)

HIGGINS from page 4

A soup kitchen doesn’t need more hurdles for fi nding volunteers

As a rule, Christmas is a good time to avoid discussions of the “good old days,” yet I do sometimes wonder if my favorite Christmas story of all time might have been reportedly dif-ferently if it occurred today:

Bedford Falls (AP) – A local bank-ing executive is being sought by police in connection with a Christmas Eve drunken driving accident and allega-tions of bank fraud, offi cials said.

Police say George Bailey, developer of the Bailey Park affordable housing project and an offi cer at the Bedford Falls Building & Loan, is believed to have crashed his late-model Ford into a tree downtown in last night’s snow-storm.

When police confronted Bailey, they say, “... subject Bailey slugged an offi cer pretty good and departed the scene on foot, with various offi -cers giving chase.” Friends of the fugi-tive say he may have been going to a nearby bridge to attempt insurance fraud involving a $15,000 life insur-ance policy, but that could not be con-fi rmed at presstime.

In the meantime, the paper has learned, Bailey is facing allegations that some $8,000 is “missing” from the Building and Loan his family has controlled since engineering a hedge-fund style cash bailout some years ago.

That bailout apparently laid the groundwork for the affordable hous-ing project that bears the family’s name.

“He’s kind of an affordable housing

What if ‘A Wonderful Life’ happened today?

Donald Trump,” said one local Realtor who spoke on condition of not being identifi ed by name. “He took money people put into the Building and Loan and used it to leverage fi nanc-ing for more housing; the bubble had to burst sometime.”

George Bailey apparently assumed control of the Building and Loan upon the sudden death of his father. No foul play was proven in the appar-ent “stroke.”

Lawyers for the Bailey family say police are over-stating the situa-tion and no “manhunt” is necessary. Indeed, they say, the developer is undergoing mental evaluation to determine if he is capable of deciding how to surrender to authorities.

“His story is that a paranormal being transported him to a parallel universe,” said one person briefed on the situation. “He claims that any shortfall at the bank has been cov-ered by private donations from a vari-ety of his friends and neighbors.”

But both national drunken driving activists and banking experts scoff at that defense.

“You can’t just crash your car into a tree during a busy shopping season, attack a police offi cer, and then claim

divine intervention,” said one DUI prosecu-tor. “I’m sure people get drunk enough to see angels, but that’s hardly a defense.”

The DUI allegation also contends that Bailey “took to strong drink” following a domestic incident involving his wife and young children. Neighbors confi rm they heard Bailey yelling at the family shortly before heading to the bar.

State child welfare offi cers say they will review the homelife situation and make cus-tody decisions on the Bailey children within 24 hours.

As for the banking allegation, a series of experts contacted for this story stressed that missing funds can’t simply be replaced.

“It is our understanding that a spot audit by a qualifi ed examiner deter-mined a shortfall in the funds that should have been deposited in the Building and Loan,” said an offi cial statement. “We understand that addi-tional private funds have been ten-dered to replace the undocumented fi nancial transaction, but both tax authorities and bank examiners have more work to do.”

Bedford Falls offi cials declined com-ment. The city’s arborist said damage to the tree hit by Bailey’s car was

extensive. State plant rights activists said civil action was likely.

Witnesses said a clearly distraught George Baily returned to his Bedford Falls home following the wild spree where both banking authorities and local police prepared to take him into his custody.

They were stopped by what authorities terms “a mob” of people insist-ing they be allowed to pay any shortfalls with undocumented contribu-tions to what appeared to be a defense fund. Many of his defenders are

believed to have profi ted from Bai-ley’s real estate development.

Henry F. Potter, a onetime board member of the Building and Loan and a longtime local fi nancial expert, said that stress may have been a factor in the Bailey rampage.

“I’ve known the Bailey boy for a long time,” he said. “And it’s no secret we clashed over the high-risk sub-prime loans he liked to make for affordable housing. But I never dreamed he would endanger the community by driving while intoxicated or assem-bling a mob to prevent his own arrest. It is truly a sad day for Bedford Falls.”

(Curtis Robinson is editor of The Portland Daily Sun. Contact him at curtis@portlanddailysun.me.)

Curtis Robinson

–––––Usually

Reserved

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– STAFF OPINION ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

New York Giants’ Matt Dodge punts the ball in the fi nal seconds against the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday, in East Rutherford, N.J. The Eagles returned the punt for a touchdown and beat the Giants, 38-31. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

Note:With 12 seconds remaining in Sunday

night’s National Football League game against the Philadelphia Eagles, rookie punter Matt Dodge was instructed by New York Giants’ coach Tom Coughlin to kick the ball out of bounds, which would have likely given the Eagles poor fi eld position, and possibly put the 31-31 game into overtime.

But a bungled snap resulted in a direct punt to the Eagles’ DeSean Jackson, who scored a 65-yard punt return for a TD as time expired, handing the Eagles a 38-31 victory.

Following the Giant’s loss, my Twitter account bearing the name @mattdodge, was fl ooded by fake ReTweets, vitriolic messages from passionate fans and sarcastic job offers. What follows is an open letter to my fellow Matt Dodge.

So, heyyyy buddy, How you holding up?Look, fellow Matt, I know we’ve had our differences

in the past. At least I have, And, yeah, I’ve said a lot of nasty things about you to my friends. I vowed to out-shine you and pursued a career in journalism largely to

close the gap in how many times our name appears in print.

But that all changed last night when I saw you getting your head chewed off by Tom Coughlin and I started receiving a slew of hate mail via Twitter and a steady stream of calls from news organizations who think this case of mistaken identity

is a hilarious “our modern times” kind-of bit. Which, given this “open letter” gimmick, I guess it is.

I mean sure, you have a history of fumbled snaps, something the Fox sportscasters were kind enough to point out shortly before your “punt.”

And yeah, you couldn’t really have sent a more direct kick to Jackson if you had used FedEx Same Day ship-ping, which you think someone might have mentioned, brand integration-wise at least. Endorsement opp here?

But does all that justify @InDaMixRadio’s sugges-tion that “you need to go into witness protection...NOOOOW!!!!”?

As @MzBrownSugah “gathers lynching mob,” let’s look at how all this started, and try to fi gure out a game plan going forward — one that you’ll stick to this time.

Matt Dodge–––––

The Daily Sun

An open letter to Matt Dodge (the Punter)

see DODGE page 12

Bailey

Page 6 — THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Tuesday, December 21, 2010

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The well-known fi xture of the local restaurant scene was 49 years old. The offi cial cause was arrhythmia of the heart.

It had been quick. A 2 a.m. phone call to 911 early Saturday was the last time anyone had spoken with him. His 5-year-old friend and neighbor, Isabella Barnes summed up what hundreds of adults are struggling to come to grips with: “Chef Bob can’t go away, he’s my friend.”

Generous, vivacious, energetic, hilarious; those words come quickly when people speak of Bob Smith.

“I see him in his white t-shirt with a fl annel shirt over it, jeans and a pair of clogs, moving a million miles an hour. His goatee, perfectly parted hair and those signature eyebrows. Nobody had more passion for life than Bob had,” said Marc Doiron who worked with him at the Commissary, the lunch and dinner eatery at the Portland Public Market..

“My experience of Bob is seeing him come up to the house with overfl owing bags of groceries saying something like ‘I’ve got dinner,’” recalled Steve Ger-lach, who fi rst met Bob in 1979 when the two were assigned dishwashing duties as part of work-study at the University of Rochester. There were food fi ghts almost daily, he laughs, and late night conversations and glee club practice.

Bob’s passion for learning led him to double-major in psychology and French. He was a voracious reader of novels, poetry, history and thought seriously about academia as a career.

He was working on his PhD in Physical Anthropol-ogy when he took a job as a waiter at a restaurant in Sherburne, New York working for Sue Wright. Bob’s passion for food was ignited and his dissertation sim-mered on a back burner.

Before long he and Sue had opened their own res-taurant in nearby Greene called Gabby’s, which they ran for fi ve years before both deciding to move East – Sue to Maine and Bob to Boston. It wasn’t long before Bob joined Sue in Ogunquit, where she was managing Jonathan’s Restaurant. Bob waited tables

for a time, then was drawn back into the kitchen to sous. After almost fi ve years there, he took a position as the assistant GM at the Commissary.

Kyle Rankin, now a fi lmmaker in Los Angeles remembers working for Bob.

“I waited tables ... or tried to... I was terrible at it, but Bob made that job the best non-fi lm gig I’ve ever had,” said Rankin. “He was warm, kind, hilarious, and okay with the idea I was never meant to be a waiter. From him, I learned one can lead while being tender at the same time. I’ve brought that into my work directing actors and crew. I worked harder for Bob than I ever have for anyone else. I wanted to work well for him, because he was so good to me in return.”

When the Commissary closed, Bob became Executive Chef at The Ken-nebunkport Inn, moving from there to working as Executive Chef at the Coastal House. Anyone who worked with him found his work ethic remarkable.

“He would get down on his hands and knees and scrub a fl oor because he thought that was the professional way to do it,” said friend and colleague Leslie Oster from Aurora Provisions. “He was a consistant volunteer for Slow Food Portland events, Twilight Dinners and 20-mile meals at Turkey Hill Farm, Food Films at Longfel-low Square and EastOver, the gathering of “foodie friends, chefs, wine geeks, farmers, teachers and art-ists to celebrate Easter & Passover together with a feast fi t for the gods.”

In 2009 Bob and friend Kim Macdonald tried their hand at cheesemaking, making a stinky washed rind called Curmudgeon and a bloomy soft cheese called Essence that made their way onto menus at Fore Street, Street and Co. and Vignola as well as at cheesemongers like K. Horton, the Cheese Iron and Rosemont Markets. When the venture didn’t fl y, Bob became Executive Chef for Kitchen Chicks Catering in Kennebunk.

Bob was born and raised in Beaver Meadow, New

York, a community that had taken on mythical quali-ties among his friends.

Without traffi c lights or commerce to speak of, some call it a hamlet. The census bureau calls it class code U6: A populated place that is not a census designated or or incorporated place having an offi cial federally recognized name. Bob often spoke of his col-orful Uncle Nate and his parents, sister Joanne and his nephews and his family and friends are planning a gathering there next July on what would have been his 50th birthday.

“He loved his family dearly and never failed to mention that,” said Ian Brown, a friend from South Portland whose wife Krista is expecting what would have been Bob’s godchild. “Bob was one of those

great friends. I remember one time we were coming back from a memorial service for my wife’s grandfather and we passed him on the Casco Bay Bridge as we were coming home. When we got home we found a roasted chicken on the dining room table with a bottle of wine waiting for us. That was so typical of Bob, always in touch, always checking in to see how we were doing.”

Bob was also attentive to his four-legged friends, carrying dog biscuits in his pockets in case he ran into one and often offering to petsit when human friends went out of town.

Knowing his friend Sue’s love of dogs but her partner Lisa’s resistance to them, Bob conducted a steady campaign to wear Lisa down, fi nally convincing her to let him buy Sue a golden retriever for her 50th birthday.

“It’s hard to believe that she’s here and he’s not,” said Sue Wright. “He was a very

caring soul with the biggest heart I’ve ever experi-enced. He would talk about people saying things like ‘I love that guy, I’d give him a kidney if he needed one.’ And in the end that’s what he gave.”

“I never saw him without a smile. He was so warm and friendly amazingly generous with an astonish-ing work ethic. With so many mean people in this world, it’s not fair that such a good person is gone. Sometimes the universe just sucks,” said friend Samantha Lindgren, co-owner of Rabelais Books.

“Working with Bob was like being with a child on Christmas morning. Whether we were working at Turkey Hill, or exploring Terra Madre in Torino, Italy, or even trying a new cheese, his joy was just so infectious,” said Oster. “I don’t know what I’m going to do without him.”

(Margo Mallar is the Portland Daily Sun Locavore columnist. Her column appears on Tuesdays.)

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– FOOD COLUMN –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

“He was a very caring soul with the biggest heart I’ve ever experienced. He would talk about people

saying things like ‘I love that guy, I’d give him a kidney if he needed one.’ And in the end that’s what

he gave.” — Sue Wright

Chef Bob Smith was known for his generosity and good spirits. (Photo courtesy of Zack Bowen)

SMITH from page one

‘He was warm, kind, hilarious. ... he was so good to me’

British pub saved from developerLLANARMON-YN-LAL, Wales (AP) — Bundled up

against the cold, Dave Willis and wife Sue shovel snow from the pathway to The Raven Inn. Wendy Holifi eld carries out the sandwich board and plants it by the pub’s stone wall. Inside, Jim Pilkington stokes the fi re and checks the beer taps are in order.

Britain may be in the grip of a nasty cold snap, but it’s business as usual at The Raven Inn. The workers have a big stake in keeping the pub going come rain, shine, sleet, or snow: They’re among a group of local volunteers who took over the inn after it closed at the height of Britain’s credit crunch.

The 290-year-old Raven Inn is the only watering hole in this tiny Welsh village nestled in the Clwydian Hills. Villagers were aghast when the owner put the property on sale for redevelopment. For the villagers it was about the very fabric of their community.

THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Tuesday, December 21, 2010— Page 7

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Page 8 — THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Tuesday, December 21, 2010

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Reny, owner and president of Reny’s, based in Damariscotta.

Started by John Reny’s father, Robert H. Reny, in 1949, the retailer generally operates in rural communities — Dam-ariscotta, Bridgton, Gardiner, Farmington, Dexter, Madison, Pittsfi eld, Bath, Camden, Saco, Belfast, Ellsworth and Wells.

“We’re going to have to fi ne tune it a little bit maybe, but we’ll offer everything we have in the other stores, the departments,” John Reny said in an interview Monday.

Sometime in February or March the store is likely to start hiring up to 50 people to work there, Reny said.

Currently, Reny’s employs between 375 and 475. according to its website. Reny’s expanded its Belfast store in May 2009, but the move into Portland has been under discussion since shortly after L.L. Bean announced its exodus.

“We’ve been working on this for

about six or seven months, going back and forth,” Reny said.

Reny’s in Portland will feature 25,000 square feet of total fl oor space, with about 21,000 square feet of selling space, he said. The store will have a back entrance off Free Street.

“We’re going to make the sales fl oor bigger on the LL Bean side,” Reny said, and the store will spread out into the Olympia Sports space as well.

Asked how Reny’s would pros-per where other retailers failed, Reny said the downtown space would be a draw for customers looking for a variety of attrac-tively priced merchandise. The LL Bean site was a “closeout store,” not the company’s regu-lar campus (the fl agship store in Freeport remains successful), Reny pointed out, and, “We carry a broader range of merchandise than they do obviously,” he said.

A move into Portland marks the retailer’s entry into its larg-est market to date.

“It’s the biggest we can get to be in Maine,” Reny said.

RENY’S from page one

Reny’s announces move into Portland

Flakes pile up on the Long-fellow statue Monday evening as a storm begins to snarl traffi c in Port-land. With heavy snow falling, the speed limit was lowered to 45 mph on the Maine Turnpike from Kittery to Augusta Monday afternoon. Portland Police reported a 17-car pile-up at the intersec-tion of Deering Avenue and Park Avenue after snowfall started around 3:30 p.m. Monday, according to WGME-13. Police also closed the intersection of Cumberland and Deering avenues because of sev-eral accidents, the TV station reported.(DAVID CARKHUFF PHOTO)

Winter storm dumps on Portland

THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Tuesday, December 21, 2010— Page 9

Yarmouth Safe Bike and Walk Ways Committee, serving as a founding member of Bowdoin College’s Com-mute Another Way Committee, join-ing the coalition’s delegation to the National Bike Summit and serving on the Portland Bicycle Network Advi-sory Group.

“She cares passionately about making our state a safer place to bicy-cle and encouraging more Mainers to try bicycling. She understands the important role that bicycling can play in encouraging tourism and economic development, addressing our state’s obesity problem and saving energy,” said Wright.

Grant will begin work in early 2011. She will replace the coalition’s current executive director, Allison Vogt, who is moving out of state.

For Grant, the job is about getting Mainers comfortable about embracing alternative transportation. “We need to continue to work to get Mainers bicycling and keep working with our partner organizations in the legisla-ture to improve infrastructure. I still think there are a lot of people who are afraid to bicycle on various roads in the state,” she said.

“The more bicyclists that we get out there, the closer we get to a tipping point where it almost becomes the norm,” she said.

Grant became involved in bicycle advocacy in 1998 when she led the push for a $2.6 million project to pave

bicycle shoulders and build a sidewalk through North Yarmouth.

“In this day and age, that’s a tough sell,” said Wright of Grant’s North Yar-mouth initiative. “She’s very familiar with the process for doing that kind of stuff,” said Wright.

An educational technology consul-tant at Bowdoin College since 2001, Grant has served as staff advisor to the college’s bicycle sharing program, as a member of the Bowdoin Presi-dent’s Climate Commitment Advisory Committee and as lead organizer of Bowdoin’s Commute Another Way activities.

The recreational cyclist and bicycle commuter who rides with the Wom-en’s Portland Velo Club, has some idea about how Portland could improve it’s bike friendliness.

“In Portland there are still a lot of drivers that are maybe distracted and not paying careful enough attention to the possibility of bicyclists on the road,” she said. “There are sections of the city where it is pretty hard to ride on the road safely and confi dently for all but the most confi dent and experi-enced riders.”

But along with Portland’s Bicycle & Pedestrian Program Coordinator

Bruce Hyman and the support of the city, Grant is hopeful for improving bicycling in town.

“I think Portland ha made some incredible strides, we are making progress and headed in the right direction,” she said.

Grant’s previous work experience includes coordinating technology at Freeport High School, teaching social studies at Westbrook Junior High School and serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Sierra Leone, West Africa.

The Bicycle Coalition of Maine has been working since 1992 to make Maine a better place to bicycle. The coalition advocates for Maine cyclists at the Legislature and in Washington, D.C., teaches bicycle safety to thou-sands of Maine schoolchildren each year, partners with state agencies on a Share the Road media campaign and serves as a resource on local bicy-cling issues.

The coalition credits their work with helping Maine achieve the rank-ing as the country’s third most bike-friendly state, according to the League of American Bicyclists.

BIKE from page one

In this scene from last winter, a bicyclist navigates Congress Street. (DAVID CARKHUFF FILE PHOTO)

“She cares passionately about making our state a safer place to

bicycle. ...” — John Wright, Bicycle Coalition of Maine’s incoming board

president, on Nancy Grant

Coalition’s new director to begin work in early 2011

Page 10 — THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Tuesday, December 21, 2010

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Saturday’s Answer

HOROSCOPE By Holiday Mathis

ARIES (March 21-April 19). If you feel that you keep repeating the same behavior over and over again, today provides just the pattern interruption you need. It’s like a great cosmic throat clear -- “ahem” -- that somehow star-tles you onto a new path. TAURUS (April 20-May 20). It’s not about fi nding the right person for you; it’s about being the right person for you. Give yourself a treat to show your love. Nothing fancy is necessary, just a ges-ture that says you’re paying attention to your own needs. GEMINI (May 21-June 21). The shift in consciousness that you need is not diffi cult to make. Rather, it’s so easy that you might even call it fun. Do what you want to do. There, it’s that simple! CANCER (June 22-July 22). If you want to get results, you have to be the squeaky wheel. Normally, you are too cool to take this approach, and yet there are times, like now, when being cool is seriously overrated. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). There will be a lull in the action, and it comes at the perfect moment. Now you can sit back and fi gure out just how to make the most of the recent turn of events. Strategize. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). Because of your charm, grace and cha-risma, you’ll be in a position to keep the social brew bubbling. If you only follow one rule this evening, make it this one: Never be boring. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). You’ll be in a position to learn about others. You’ll ask questions and focus intently on the answers. Instead of relaying everything about your own situation that comes to mind, you simply listen. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). While someone you know is dreaming about

tomorrow, you’ll be busy making today worth remembering. You’ll have many spontaneous and creative notions about how to accomplish this. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). You might try and miss today, which is to be expected for someone who is still learning. You’re going to get it even-tually if you keep trying. On the other hand, if you don’t try, you’re guaranteed to miss. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). You sync up with nature in some way, perhaps by connecting with an animal or getting out into the open air. There is a deep feeling of contentment within you because you are in harmony with the natural world. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). You may feel compelled to tell your side of a story, especially because the other sides of the story seem to be riddled with half-truths. If it’s imperative that you say your piece, leave quickly after-ward. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). Your sign can change moods as quickly as a chameleon changes colors. But today you’ll be in a state of mind that you want to hang on to for as long as pos-sible. External circumstances cannot change this. TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (Dec. 21). The year starts off on a streak of fi nancial luck. You courageously attempt things at which you are not an expert and wind up broadening your horizons. New people come into your life in January. You land in peculiar circumstances in February and fi nd a way to shine. May brings fun dates. July brings travel. Cancer and Aries people adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 9, 4, 20, 22 and 19.

ACROSS 1 Gush forth 6 Former Iranian

leader’s title 10 Ruby & scarlet 14 Spud 15 “Othello” villain 16 Actor Sandler 17 As hairy as __ 18 Horse’s gait 19 Doing nothing 20 Decapitated 22 Frontiersman __

Boone 24 Commotions 25 Most gutsy 26 Famed New York

theater 29 Boring tool 30 Journal 31 Middle East leader

titles 33 __ up; absorbs 37 Feline sound 39 Diffi cult to climb 41 Appeal 42 Alloy that is

primarily iron 44 Follow 46 Hatch or Boxer:

abbr. 47 Punctuation mark 49 Early release of a

prisoner 51 Mythological

winged horse 54 Urgent 55 Makes amends 56 1 of 2 times when

the sun is the greatest distance from the equator

60 Rudely brief 61 Stylish 63 Beverly __, CA 64 Margin 65 Slender; thin 66 Lowest deck of a

ship 67 Action 68 Needle holes 69 In a bad mood

DOWN 1 Pierce 2 Window glass 3 Provo’s state 4 Abolish, as a law 5 Old sewing

machine pedal 6 Locations 7 Diffi cult 8 In past times 9 Frankfurter 10 Bit of precipitation 11 Actor __ Albert 12 Valleys 13 Small bony fi sh 21 Sends to a

dreadful fate 23 Tavern orders 25 Public vehicles 26 “Heidi” setting 27 Mope 28 Cruel one 29 Stadium 32 Articles 34 Additionally 35 __ over; faint 36 Rational

DAILY CROSSWORDTRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES

38 Took back, as one’s words

40 Student 43 Suffer defeat 45 Within __; close

enough to hear 48 Biceps, for one 50 Accept one’s

pension 51 Walked the fl oor

52 Piano piece 53 Overeat 54 Landing places 56 Trigonometric

term 57 Troubles 58 Coagulate 59 Catch sight of 62 Dobbin’s dinner

Fill in the grid so that every row, every column, and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 thru 9.

Solution and tips at

www.sudoku.com

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THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Tuesday, December 21, 2010— Page 11

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7 WPFOGlee “A Very Glee Christ-mas” Finn tries to spread holiday cheer.

Million Dollar Money Drop Competing for up to $1 million. (N) Å

News 13 on FOX (N) Frasier (In Stereo) Å

According to Jim Å

8 WMTWSkating With the Stars The winner is chosen. (N) Å

No Ordinary Family Stephanie’s parents visit unexpectedly.

Detroit 1-8-7 A car wash owner is tortured and shot. Å

News 8 WMTW at 11PM (N)

Nightline (N) Å

10 MPBNNOVA “Arctic Dinosaurs” Expedition to collect new fossil clues.

Independent Lens “The Calling” Ordained religious professionals. (N) (In Stereo) (Part 2 of 2) Å

Charlie Rose (N) (In Stereo) Å

11 WENHAre You Being Served?

Keeping Up Appear-ances

As Time Goes By Å

Good Neighbors Å

The Vicar of Dibley Å

The Red Green Show

Globe Trekker Jerusa-lem’s identity. Å (DVS)

12 WPXTOne Tree Hill Julian starts a new film project. (In Stereo) Å

Life Unexpected Lux must improve her grades. Å

Entourage (In Stereo) Å

TMZ (N) (In Stereo) Å

Extra (N) (In Stereo) Å

Punk’d (In Stereo) Å

13 WGMENCIS “Mother’s Day” Gibbs’ former mother-in-law. (In Stereo) Å

NCIS: Los Angeles Exploding cell phone kills a Marine. Å

The Good Wife Alicia welcomes Peter home properly. Å

WGME News 13 at 11:00

Late Show With David Letterman

17 WPME Smarter Smarter Lyrics Lyrics Curb Earl Star Trek: Next

24 DISC Dirty Jobs Å Dirty Jobs (N) Å Auction Auction Dirty Jobs Å

25 FAM “Miracle-34 St.” Movie: ››› “The Polar Express” (2004) Å The 700 Club Å

26 USA “Gone in Sixty” WWE Friday Night SmackDown! Å Psych Å

27 NESN College Basketball Hot Stove Red Sox Daily Hot Stove Daily Daily

28 CSNE Profiles Jay Glazer World Poker Tour Sports SportsNet Celtics SportsNet

30 ESPN College Football: Beef ’O’ Brady’s Bowl St. Petersburg SportsCtr

31 ESPN2 College Basketball College Basketball UNLV at Kansas State. SportsCtr NFL Live

33 ION Without a Trace Å Criminal Minds Å Criminal Minds “Lo-Fi” Criminal Minds Å

34 DISN “Beauty and the Beast” Suite/Deck Fish Fish Suite/Deck Suite/Deck

35 TOON Tower Prep (N) Tower Prep “Trust” (N) King of Hill King of Hill Fam. Guy Fam. Guy

36 NICK “Merry Christmas” My Wife My Wife Lopez G. Martin The Nanny The Nanny

37 MSNBC Countdown Rachel Maddow Show The Last Word Countdown

38 CNN Parker Spitzer (N) Larry King Live Å Anderson Cooper 360 (N) Å

40 CNBC Marijuana USA Price of Admission Price of Admission Mad Money

41 FNC The O’Reilly Factor (N) Hannity (N) Greta Van Susteren The O’Reilly Factor

43 TNT Bones (In Stereo) Å Movie: ›› “A Christmas Carol” (1999) Å Southland Å

44 LIFE Pawn Pawn Movie: “Undercover Christmas” (2003) Å How I Met How I Met

46 TLC Not to Wear What Not to Wear (N) What the What the Not to Wear

47 AMC Movie: ›› “Road House” (1989, Action) Patrick Swayze. Movie: ›› “Road House” (1989)

48 HGTV First Place First Place House Estate House Hunters For Rent For Rent

49 TRAV Mysteries-Museum Mysteries-Museum When Vacations Ghost Adventures

50 A&E Billy Billy Billy the Exterminator Storage Storage Billy the Exterminator

52 BRAVO Matchmaker Matchmaker The Fashion Show (N) Housewives/Atl.

55 HALL Movie: “The Christmas Choir” (2008) Å Movie: “A Grandpa for Christmas” (2007) Å

56 SYFY Movie: “Alice” (2009, Adventure) Caterina Scorsone, Kathy Bates. Å “Headless Horseman”

57 ANIM River Monsters River Monsters River Monsters River Monsters

58 HIST Modern Marvels (N) Top Gear Å Ax Men Å Modern Marvels Å

60 BET Beyonce’s I Am World Tour Å Michael A Very BET Christmas The Mo’Nique Show

61 COM Tosh.0 Tosh.0 Tosh.0 Tosh.0 Tosh.0 Tosh.0 Daily Show Colbert

62 FX Movie: ›› “Christmas With the Kranks” (2004) Movie: ›‡ “Deck the Halls” (2006, Comedy)

67 TVLND Sanford Sanford Raymond Raymond Everybody-Raymond Raymond Roseanne

68 TBS Fam. Guy Fam. Guy Fam. Guy Fam. Guy Glory Daze (N) Conan (N)

76 SPIKE Auction Auction Auction Auction Auction Auction Hooters’ Snow Angels

78 OXY The Sing-Off (In Stereo) Å The Sing-Off The winning group is announced. Å

146 TCM Movie: ››‡ “Sunny Side Up” (1929) Movie: ››› “Swing Time” (1936) Fred Astaire.

––––––– ALMANAC –––––––

Today is Tuesday, Dec. 21, the 355th day of 2010. There are 10 days left in the year. Winter arrives at 6:38 p.m. Eastern time.

Today’s Highlight in History:On Dec. 21, 1620, Pilgrims aboard the

Mayfl ower went ashore for the fi rst time at present-day Plymouth, Mass.

On this date:In 1860, American Zionist leader Henri-

etta Szold, founder of the Jewish women’s group Hadassah, was born in Baltimore.

In 1940, author F. Scott Fitzgerald died in Hollywood, Calif., at age 44.

In 1945, Gen. George S. Patton died in Heidelberg, Germany, of injuries from a car accident.

In 1968, Apollo 8 was launched on a mis-sion to orbit the moon.

In 1971, the U.N. Security Council chose Kurt Waldheim to succeed U Thant as Sec-retary-General.

In 1976, the Liberian-registered tanker Argo Merchant broke apart near Nantucket Island, off Massachusetts, almost a week after running aground, spilling 7.5 million gallons of oil into the North Atlantic.

In 1988, 270 people were killed when a terrorist bomb exploded aboard a Pam Am Boeing 747 over Lockerbie, Scotland, send-ing wreckage crashing to the ground.

One year ago: President Barack Obama hailed a crucial, early-morning test vote in the Senate on his health care overhaul, in which all 58 Democrats and two indepen-dents held together against unanimous Republican opposition. The Obama admin-istration imposed a 3-hour limit on how long airlines can keep passengers waiting inside planes delayed on the ground. A Russian rocket blasted off from Kazakhstan, shuttling an American, a Russian and a Japanese to the International Space Station.

Today’s Birthdays: Country singer Freddie Hart is 84. Actor Ed Nelson is 82. Talk show host Phil Donahue is 75. Actress Jane Fonda is 73. Actor Larry Bryggman is 72. Singer Carla Thomas is 68. Musician Albert Lee is 67. Actor Josh Mostel is 64. Actor Samuel L. Jackson is 62. Movie pro-ducer Jeffrey Katzenberg is 60. Singer Betty Wright is 57. Actress Jane Kaczmarek is 55. Entertainer Jim Rose is 54. Actor-comedian Ray Romano is 53. Country singer Christy Forester (The Forester Sisters) is 48. Rock musician Murph (The Lemonheads; Dino-saur Jr.) is 46. Actor-comedian Andy Dick is 45. Rock musician Gabrielle Glaser is 45. Actor Kiefer Sutherland is 44. Actress Karri Turner is 44. Actress Khrystyne Haje is 42. Country singer Brad Warren (The Warren Brothers) is 42. Actress Julie Delpy is 41. Country singer-musician Rhean (rehn) Boyer (Carolina Rain) is 40. Contemporary Chris-tian singer Natalie Grant is 39. Actor Glenn Fitzgerald is 39. Singer-musician Brett Scal-lions is 39. Rock singer Lukas Rossi is 34. Country singer Luke Stricklin is 28.

ACROSS 1 Lummox 5 Chocolate

substitute 10 Practice punches 14 Actor Sharif 15 Gland: pref. 16 Warsaw native 17 Warning to take

action 19 Ron in Mayberry 20 Nearly

perpendicular 21 Coloring agent 23 Musical aptitude 24 Ten: pref. 27 Rough fi le 28 False charge 30 Gambler’s risk 33 Use a keyboard 36 Blues vocalist

James 37 Ancient Greek

coins 39 Will VIP 41 Supreme Court

architect 43 Aluminum

company 44 Object of devotion 46 __ out (just

manages) 47 Sort or kind 48 Middle-relief

pitcher 51 Sch. on the Rio

Grande 53 Unfl edged bird 54 “The Bells” poet 57 Hush! 60 Neck of the woods 62 Composer

Khachaturian 63 Cheesecake

photos 66 Distort 67 Satellite of Jupiter 68 Skin-cream

additive 69 Disney clownfi sh 70 Infamous Ford fl op 71 Porgy’s woman

DOWN 1 Use a divining rod 2 Nebraska city

3 Los Angeles basketball player

4 Branching diagram

5 Bottle topper 6 Military asst. 7 Adjust anew 8 Part of ROM 9 Short jacket 10 Picks out 11 3-D kiddie reading 12 First Arabic letter 13 Coral formation 18 Pakistani language 22 Dutch wooden

shoe 25 Summers at the

Sorbonne 26 Makes the grade 28 Nevertheless, in

Napoli 29 Decrepit car 31 Dresden’s river 32 Equal scores 33 Bangkok guy 34 Shout 35 Part of a record

player

38 British weapon 40 Comforted 42 __ mater 45 Chaperones 49 Epic poetry 50 Eurasian vipers 52 Pace 54 Worker 55 Preminger and

Kruger

56 Double bends 57 Hock 58 “Dies __” (day of

wrath) 59 Feral 61 Melville’s whaler 64 Mary of “Where

Eagles Dare” 65 Buddy

Yesterday’s Answer

DAILY CROSSWORDBY WAYNE ROBERT WILLIAMS

Page 12 — THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Tuesday, December 21, 2010

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MIUMS: First word caps no charge. Additional caps 10¢ per word per day. Centered bold heading: 9 pt. caps 40¢ per line, per day (2 lines maximum) TYPOS: Check your ad the fi rst day of publication. Sorry, we will not issue credit after an ad has run once. DEADLINES: noon, one business day prior to the day of publication. PAYMENT: All private party ads must be pre-paid. We accept checks, Visa and Mastercard credit cards and, of course, cash. There is a $10 minimum order for credit cards. CORRESPONDENCE: To place your ad call our offi ces 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 699-5807; or send a check or money order with ad copy to The Conway Daily Sun, P.O. Box 1940, North Conway, NH 03860. OTHER RATES: For information about classifi ed display ads please call 699-5807.

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Prickly City by Scott Stantis

ANNIE’S MAILBOX Dear Annie: I am living with the girl I fell in love with 40 years ago. “Nancy” and I were separated during the Viet-nam War. Last year, we reconnected, divorced our respective spouses and began planning a future together. I told Nancy I wanted an honest relationship, and she agreed. She told me she was sexually abused by her boss’s son and never fi led a complaint. Later, she was gang raped by three men. She didn’t report that, either. Then she told me that while I was away in the Army, my now-deceased father raped her. She never mentioned this to anyone, but it was the reason she ended our relationship. She married a guy who cheated on her, and they divorced. While living with her sec-ond husband-to-be, she had an affair with his best friend and became pregnant. When I visited her hometown, I met the man she had the affair with and realized how much her son resembles him. The second ex-husband raised both of her children from her fi rst marriage, as well as the child she had while living with him. I think he deserves to know if he is the biological father of this child. I also think rapes and abuse should be brought up to the authorities. But Nancy doesn’t want to make waves. She especially doesn’t want to hurt her children’s relationship with the man who raised them. I love this woman, and we are planning to marry in a few months. Knowing her past and not being able to help her worries me. What should I do? -- Vietnam Vet Dear Vet: Nancy sounds like she’s had a life of emotional turmoil. The fact that her son resembles another man is not proof, but the child deserves to have an accurate medical his-tory. You may be able to convince Nancy to discuss this with her son, but you should not take any action on your own. As for the various sexual assaults, there are statutes of limitation

on reporting such crimes. The best thing you could do for Nancy is encourage her to get into counseling to deal with the trauma of her past. Dear Annie: My wife is a beautiful woman whom I dearly love. She has some facial hair, especially on her chin, which she chooses to shave. This leaves her chin stubbly. When she does not take care of it as often as she should, it becomes a little unattractive. I am no fashion expert, but I believe that waxing would be a better option. How do I bring this up without upsetting her? -- Anonymous or I’d be in Big Trouble Dear Anonymous: There is no fl attering way to tell a wom-an that her face reminds you of George Clooney. But she may be unaware that her stubble is visible to others and should be told. Waxing and depilatories would do a better job, and if she is unwilling to maintain that regimen, she can look into laser hair removal or electrolysis. For the holidays, present her with a gift certifi cate to a waxing salon or a laser clinic, and tell her she deserves to be pampered. Dear Annie: “Recycling Myself” said she wants her body to be used for research and organ donation. She also said her mother would be upset at not having her placed in a casket for a viewing. I have represented both the Gift of Life Michigan and Mich-igan Eye-Bank at Donor Heart registrations and other rallies. Please tell “Recycling” that one can now donate body parts for organ donation and medical research and still have their body be in a presentable condition for an open-casket view-ing. I hope this will help others with any uneasiness they may have with their decision. May God bless all donors for their readiness and willingness. -- Michigan

Annie’s Mailbox is written by Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar, longtime editors of the Ann Landers column. Please e-mail your questions to: anniesmailbox@comcast.net, or write to: Annie’s Mailbox, c/o Creators Syndicate, 5777 W. Century Blvd., Ste. 700, Los Angeles, CA 90045.

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As near as I can tell, the confusion here started when @MrEkay267 posted a fake ReTweet shortly after The Punt reading “RT @MattDodge: Who’s Hiring?”.

Clever and topical, if ill-researched, but ultimately something I’m use to in managing the Twitter account for a Maine-based free daily that shares a name with South Africa’s largest newspaper.

Now, I always intended on offering to sell you my Twitter handle. I was just going to wait until you were making a little more than the pittance they call a rookie salary in the NFL. I’m glad to hear Coughlin plans to keep you on, so keep me in mind.

I mean, I’m not some screen name-hoarder out

to make a buck. I’m a 23-year-old journalist named Matthew Dodge who has always enjoyed the mono-syllabic appeal of our shortened name and – let’s face facts here – slightly more in tune with trends in social media.

As my friend Jimmie Connors (who is not the tennis star, but yeah, I get the joke) advised, citing the recent fi ring of Redskins punter Hunter Smith. “@MattDodge sell now, every punter is just one bun-gled snap away from unemployment.”

I’m also not interested in your job, so no worries about me taking up the innumerable job offers from people whose involvement with the Giants is prob-ably limited to the amount of licensed fan apparel they own.

And while I don’t have the whole Greater New York City area calling for my head, leg and famously slip-pery fi ngers on a plate, as a journalist I can sort of sympathize with the rigors of the special teams life-style — we are largely ignored when the jobs goes right, but make one mistake and they’re all over you.

So listen man, if you want my Twitter handle, I’ll set a fair price. If not, we need to get together and run some drills, because this “career” of yours ruined my whole day.

Yours in Matt Dodge-ness, Matt Dodge.

(Matt Dodge is a reporter for The Portland Daily Sun, at least he is when he’s not fi elding a request for interviews on not being THE Matt Dodge.)

DODGE from page 5

A word to a namesake who became instantly infamous

THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Tuesday, December 21, 2010— Page 13

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– EVENTS CALENDAR–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

see next page

Tuesday, Dec. 21

Longfellow House Holiday Tours10 a.m. “Bring your family and friends and step back in time to the 1800s! See the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s childhood home — decorated for the holidays!” Through Dec. 31, tours run every hour. Last tour leaves at 4 p.m. when the Longfellow House closes at 5 p.m., and at 1 p.m. when it closes at 2 p.m. Visit www.mainehistory.org.

College of The Atlantic Holiday Open House5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. College of The Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Holiday Open House: Share holiday sweets and son with the island community at COA’s annual holiday party, with music from the MDI High School Choir in the Leslie C. Brewer Great Hall inside The Turrets, COA south entrance. Contact Lyn Ber-zinis at 288-5015, lberzinis@coa.edu, or 801-5625.

Blue Christmas Service6:30 p.m. Hope.Gate.Way. (on the ground fl oor of the Gateway parking garage, just beyond the Eastland Park Hotel, at 185 High St. “While the world is rejoicing, for some, the days leading to Christmas can be fi lled with pain and sadness. Loss of a spouse, child, or parent… a broken relationship … job loss or fi nancial insecurity… seasonal depression — these can make the holi-day season a diffi cult time for many. On the longest night of the year, we invite all who wish to come together for a time of quiet, medita-tive worship: to acknowledge their pain, to be assured that they are not alone, and to fi nd time and space to refl ect and fi nd comfort.” www.hopegateway.com. or www.newlight-portland.org

Winter Solstice Ceremony6:30 p.m. Winter Solstice Ceremony: 2010 is a very spe-cial year because the winter solstice will occur during a full moon and a lunar eclipse. Unity Church of Greater Portland, 54 River Road, Windham will hold a special ceremony titled “The Spiral Light of our Lives.” For more information about Unity or its events, please contact the church offi ce at 893-1233 or visit www.unitygreaterportland.org.

Gong Meditation on the solstice7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. In the early morning of Dec. 21 there will be a total eclipse of the Full Moon. That evening will be the exact moment of Winter Solstice. “To better attune to these solar and lunar energies, Dragonfl y Taijiquan will be hosting a ‘Gong Meditation’ that evening at its studio in Portland, at 222 St John Street, Suite 240. “Gongs are ancient instruments used for thousands of years to promote healing, balance and intuition. Come, relax, and experience the sounds of gongs, singing bowls and other sound medi-tation instruments in a musical improvisation by Todd Glacy of Saco River Yoga. On this day of the Winter Solstice and Full Moon, be immersed in the primordial, resonant, heal-ing, sacred, vibratory sounds of the gong. Bring a pillow, mat or blanket to lie on, or a meditation cushion.” There is a suggested donation of $10 to $15. Advance registration is encouraged. FMI or to register contact: 761-2142 or drag-onfl ytaiji@roadrunner.com.

‘The Gift Of The Magi’7 p.m. “The Gift Of The Magi” an original musical set in 1940s Maine. Dec. 7-23, Tues. and Wed. at 7 p.m., Satur-day at 2 p.m. Added shows, Thursday, Dec. 23 at 2 and 7 p.m. $15-$22. Old Port Playhouse, 19 Temple St., Portland. 773-0333. oldportplayhouse.com

Mad Horse’s take on ‘A Christmas Carol’ 7 p.m. Mad Horse Theatre Company offers a production of “A Christmas Carol” that will not be soon forgotten. Found-ing company members, current members, and some very special guests will join forces for a revival of the Mad Horse Christmas Radio Show — a madcap depiction of the effort to produce a radio play of “A Christmas Carol.” “Featuring hilarious performances and the merriest of holiday songs, this show brings you behind the scenes of an old-fashioned radio program, where nothing ever goes quite as planned. Mad Horse performed this show many years ago, and is bringing it back for a whole new audience to enjoy. This event is a benefi t to support Mad Horse’s 25th Anniversary Season.” Performances run Dec. 20 through 23, 7 p.m., at the theater’s new home in the Hutchins School, 24 Mosher St., South Portland. “So whether you’ve been waxing nos-

talgic for the old Christmas Show, or you want to start a new holiday tradition, please join us for an evening full of fun, holiday spirit, and tasty seasonal treats served before and after the show.” For more information, call 730-2389, or visit www.madhorse.com.

Nutcracker Burlesque at the St. Lawrence Arts Center7:30 p.m. It’s time again for Nutcracker Burlesque at the St. Lawrence Arts Center, 76 Congress St. “Come see the show that started it all! This year’s show brings new cho-reography, a new story, and sexy new dances to the stage at St. Lawrence. Don’t miss your chance to see the show that was selected by The Portland Phoenix as ‘Portland’s Best Annual (hopefully) Event.’” Tickets are $12, on sale at Longfellow Books or online at www.vividmotion.org. They go fast, so get yours early! Shows are Friday through Sunday, Dec. 17-19 and Tuesday through Thursday, Dec. 21-23. This year’s show is sponsored by Warren Memorial Foundation, Shipyard Brewing Company, Gorham Self-Storage, Longfellow Books, and The Portland Phoenix. “Director Rachel Stults Veinot, weaves together a story of love and lust to create a world where true love fi nds a way to bring two people together. This year, our main character Clara, played by none other than local favorite Amy Gieseke (rhymes with whisky), fi nds herself throwing yet another fes-tive holiday party for friends; including her new boyfriend, Big Guns Antonowicz as the Rat King, and his wandering eyes.” www.stlawrencearts.org

The Polar Express7:45 p.m. The Polar Express will come to life again in a whole new way when the Maine Narrow Gauge train departs its Portland depot for a journey to the “North Pole.” Holiday decorations along the train’s route will light up the night as guests on board meet the conductor, have hot chocolate and cookies (may not be suitable for patrons with food aller-gies), listen to a reading of the magical story over our sound system, and sing carols. Santa will ride back with everyone to the train station from a special outpost of the North Pole and every child will receive the special bell on board the train. This event is the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad’s big-gest annual fund raiser. https://tickets.porttix.com/public/default.asp

Total lunar eclipse viewingat USM’s Southworth Planetarium12:45 a.m. to 4 a.m. There will be a total lunar eclipse on Dec. 21 (in the early morning hours). The Southworth Planetarium of University of Southern Maine is open for the lunar eclipse. “We’ll open our doors for the seeth-ing throng at 12:45 a.m. (Yes, 12:45 in the morning!) We’ll have a tedious, indefensibly long eclipse lecture at 1 a.m. Viewing begins at 1:30 a.m. (Weather permit-ting, of course.) Free and open to the public. ... Pro-vided the skies are clear (or at least partly cloudy), we will

observe the Full Moon moves into Earth’s shadow cone, During its passage, we’ll watch our planet’s curved shadow proceed across the lunar facade until the Moon is completely immersed. During this immersion, a phase called “total-ity,” the Moon generally appears reddish, not dark, because Earth’s upper atmosphere will direct the red portion of the Sun’s light into the shadow and therefore onto the eclipsed moon.” http://usm.maine.edu/planet

Wednesday, Dec. 22

‘The Gift Of The Magi’7 p.m. “The Gift Of The Magi” an original musical set in 1940s Maine. Dec 7-23, Tues. and Wed. at 7 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. Added shows, Thursday, Dec. 23 at 2 and 7 p.m. $15-$22. Old Port Playhouse, 19 Temple St., Portland. 773-0333. oldportplayhouse.com

Film: ‘Rare Exports’ at SPACE7:30 p.m. SPACE Gallery screens the fi lm, “Rare Exports.” “It’s the eve of Christmas in northern Finland, and an ‘archeological’ dig has just unearthed the real Santa Claus. But this particular Santa isn’t the one you want coming to town. When the local children begin mysteriously disappearing, young Pietari and his father Rauno, a reindeer hunter by trade, capture the mythological being and attempt to sell Santa to

the misguided leader of the multinational corporation spon-soring the dig. Santa’s elves, however, will stop at noth-ing to free their fearless leader from captivity. What ensues is a wildly humorous nightmare — a fantastically bizarre polemic on modern day morality.” $7/$5 for SPACE mem-bers, all ages.

Secret Lives of Comedians7:30 p.m. Secret Lives of Comedians at Lucid Stage, 29 Baxter Boulevard. Produced by Cloud Morris and Brian Brinegar, this monthly series features stand-up comedy, sketch comedy, “surprised guests” and other disturbing delights! Musical guest Pete Witham. $10. Lucid Stage is a multi-use venue for the many arts organizations in the Greater Portland area with space for artists of various genres, class-room space, summer camp and educational programs, and visual art gallery space. www.lucidstage.com/

Thursday, Dec. 23

‘The Gift Of The Magi’2 p.m. and 7 p.m. “The Gift Of The Magi” an original musical. Dec 7-23, Tues. and Wed. at 7 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. Added shows, Thursday, Dec. 23 at 2 and 7 p.m. $15-$22. Old Port Playhouse, 19 Temple St. 773-0333. oldportplayhouse.com

The Victorian Nutcracker in Portland2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Christmas comes with its own set of family traditions and for many, the season isn’t considered complete without seeing the only Nutcracker set in Maine. Portland Ballet Company brings its own local version of the Nutcracker to life in celebration of the holiday season again this year with its beloved The Victorian Nutcracker. The show, which takes the classic Nutcracker story and sets it in historical Portland with sets, costumes, and characters inspired by the Victoria Mansion, Hermann Kotzschmar and others, will be performed twice at Merrill Auditorium on Dec. 23 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. The cast of professional dancers from the Portland Ballet Company, accompanied by stu-dents from the Company’s highly regarded school, and a professional live orchestra, is known for a lively, entertain-ing and beautiful Nutcracker with breathtaking scenery and vivid costumes. The story unfolds as young Olivia follows her Nutcracker Prince to the enchanted Kingdom of the Sweets, where she is dazzled by dancers from around the world - from the Russian Trepak to the Sugarplum Fairy. Tickets are available through PortTIX at www.porttix.com or 842-0800 or in person, 20 Myrtle Ave., Monday through Saturday, noon to 6 p.m. Ticket prices range from $17-$47 (plus $5 handling fee for online sales). For more information about Portland Ballet, its school and programs, visit www.portlandballet.org or call 772-9671.

Portland Ballet presents The Victorian Nutcracker in Portland on Dec. 23. (Photo courtesy of Portland Ballet Co./Tammy Sarchi)

Page 14 — THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Tuesday, December 21, 2010

‘Twas the Night Before Christmas’2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine welcomes kids for a special performance. “Act out the poem ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas’ in this special the-atre workshop where we put on a play in just one day! We will learn the story, rehearse it and perform it for our fami-lies! $5 for members, $6 plus admission for non-members. Pre-registration is required, and space is limited. To register call 828-1234, x247.

Next Level Church Christmas celebration5 p.m. Using hundreds of volunteers, Next Level Church is hosting a “life-changing Christmas celebration” at the Abromson Center on the campus of the University of Southern Maine in Portland. The event is completely free, although Next Level Church is asking attendees to bring non-perishable food items to donate to the Way-side Food Rescue Program. The church hopes to make the largest single donation by a church in Wayside’s his-tory as a result of this event. At the event, Next Level Church is also offering free family photos with Santa, live, professional Christmas music, a special kids experience, and a variety of Christmas gifts and surprises for those in attendance. Those who want to attend can get their free tickets by visiting www.nlc.tv/christmas. The photos, kids activities, and Christmas treats will be available beginning at 5 p.m., with doors to the auditorium open-ing at 5:45 p.m. The Christmas celebration will begin at 6 p.m. Due to an overwhelming demand for the free tickets, organizers have been forced to add a second experience time and make more seats for everyone wanting to attend the Christmas celebration. There will now be a celebration at 6 p.m. and another at 7:45 p.m., the church announced. www.nlc.tv or www.nlc.tv/christmas. Next Level Church was started in April 2008 as part of the Association of Related Churches. They currently meet every weekend in three locations: Portland; Newington, N.H.; and Dover, N.H. They also operate a nonprofi t coffeehouse in Dover, N.H. called Kaleo Coffee which donates its proceeds to commu-nity causes. Learn more about Next Level Church by visit-ing www.nlc.tv or about this event at www.nlc.tv/christmas.

Friday, Dec. 24

Christmas Eve Candle Lighting7 p.m. Christmas Eve Candle Lighting by Unity Church of Greater Portland, 54 River Road, Windham. “This ceremony focuses on the wonder of our lives and the promise of our future. The candle lighting event is a spiritual acknowledge-ment of the light within each of us and within ourselves. It faces the future with hope and optimism for the spirit that fl ows though us all. This journey of our light unfolding will be told through many of the traditions of Christmas; the Christmas Story and our Christmas Carols.” For more infor-mation about Unity or its events, please contact the church offi ce at 893-1233 or visit www.unitygreaterportland.org.

Sunday, Dec. 26

Phyzkidz! at SPACE2 p.m. Phyzkidz! Norman Ng, Drew Richardson, Yo-Yo

People come to SPACE Gallery. “In the grand tradition of vaudeville, Acorn Productions has assembled a line-up of world-class performers from all over the country to enter-tain kids of all ages with a unique blend of expert juggling, incredible illusions, mystifying magic, unbelievable feats of dexterity, and side-splitting physical comedy.” $12 adults; $10 students/seniors; $8 kids 12 and under, all ages.

‘My Dog Tulip’ screening at Movies at the Museum, Portland Museum of Art2 p.m. “My Dog Tulip” at Portland Museum of Art as part of the Movies at the Museum series. Saturday, Dec. 18, at 2 p.m.; and Sunday, Dec. 19, at 2 p.m.; also Sunday, Dec. 26, 2 p.m.; and Sunday, Jan. 2, 2 p.m. “Beautifully animated and featuring the voices of Christopher Plummer, the late Lynn Redgrave, and Isabella Rossellini, My Dog Tulip is a bittersweet retrospective account of author J. R. Ackerley’s 16-year relationship with his adopted Alsatian, Tulip. A pro-found and subtle meditation on the strangeness that lies at the heart of all relationships, My Dog Tulip was written, directed, and animated by award-winning fi lmmakers Paul and Sandra Fierlinger and is the fi rst animated feature ever to be entirely hand drawn and painted utilizing paperless computer technology.

Monday, Dec. 27

‘Celebrate Kids’ vacation camp10 a.m. to 2 p.m. “Celebrate Kids” vacation camp, Dec. 27-31 for kids ages 8-14. Register today. Arts and crafts, movies, activities and more. Space is limited. Old Port Play-house, 19 Temple St. Portland. (207) 773-0333. For more info go to oldportplayhouse.com

Acorn Productions’ annual Phyzgig festival11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Acorn Productions announces its annual Phyzgig festival, a celebration of physical comedy and variety entertainment for the family, will take place in downtown Portland between Christmas and New Year’s Eve 2010. The week includes six Main Stage Vaudeville Shows at the Portland Stage Company (including two shows on New Year’s Eve), eight Phyzkidz shows at SPACE Gallery and a rare appearance by Phyzgig’s Artistic Director and Peaks Island resident Avner the Eccentric, who will be per-forming his full-length show for the fi rst time in four years in Portland. Tuesday the Phyzkidz shows are at SPACE Gal-lery. www.phyzgig.org

Tuesday, Dec. 28

Holiday Vacation Day Camp10 a.m. A Holiday Vacation Day Camp for kids from Dec. 27-31 at the Old Port Playhouse. The day camp will run Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Kids ages 8-14 will do a variety of activi-ties each day including arts & crafts, jewelry making, fairie houses, games, movies, cooking and other special activities that put the “F-U-N” back into vacation! The cost is $225 per kid with discounts for more than one kid per family. Camp is held in a safe, secure and healthy environment with a professional staff. For more informa-tion, call 773-0333. Space is limited so sign up today. Old Port Playhouse is located at 19 Temple St. in Portland.

oldportplayhouse.com

Acorn Productions’ annual Phyzgig festival11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Acorn Productions announces its annual Phyzgig festival, a celebration of physical comedy and variety entertainment for the family, will take place in downtown Portland between Christmas and New Year’s Eve 2010. The week includes six Main Stage Vaudeville Shows at the Portland Stage Company (including two shows on New Year’s Eve), eight Phyzkidz shows at SPACE Gallery and a rare appearance by Phyzgig’s Artistic Director and Peaks Island resident Avner the Eccentric, who will be per-forming his full-length show for the fi rst time in four years in Portland. Tuesday the Phyzkidz shows are at SPACE Gal-lery. www.phyzgig.org

Avner the Eccentric7 p.m. Avner the Eccentric fundraiser, Portland Stage Com-pany. Phyzgig’s own Master of Mirth presents his full-length show as a special Phyzgig fundraiser.

Wednesday, Dec. 29

Phykidz at SPACE; vaudeville at Portland Stage11 a.m. Phykidz (SPACE Gallery); 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Vaude-ville shows at Portland Stage Company.

Comedian Bob Marley at Merrill7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 29 through Friday, Dec. 31, Come-dian Bob Marley returns to Merrill for his annual holiday show with this year’s special guest, Kelly MacFarland. Pre-sented by Cogee Entertainment. Tickets $45; $48 on New Year’s eve (includes service fee). Wednesday and Thursday at 7 p.m.; Merrill Auditorium; Friday at 6:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. https://tickets.porttix.com/public

Thursday, Dec. 30

Phykidz at SPACE; vaudeville at Portland Stage11 a.m. Phykidz (SPACE Gallery); 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Vaude-ville shows at Portland Stage Company. http://www.phyz-gig.org/

Holiday blood drive11 a.m. to 6 p.m. FairPoint recently teamed up with WCSH-TV and WLBZ-TV, the American Red Cross and other community partners for a fi rst-ever holiday blood drive, scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 30 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The drive will be held in two different locations around the state in hopes of attracting a large number of donors during this challenging time of year. Eligible donors may visit the Holiday Inn by the Bay, located at 88 Spring Street in Portland, or the Bangor Elks Lodge at 108 Odlin Road in Bangor to give blood. To make an appointment, or for more information about giving blood, call 1-800 RED CROSS or visit online at redcrossblood.org or fairpointbundleupblood-drive.org.

Friday, Dec. 31

Plunge at East End Beachnoon. “Be bold in the cold with a plunge into the Atlantic to support the Natural Resources Council of Maine’s work to reduce global warming pollution. The bone-chilling fun will take place at East End Beach in Portland, Maine on Friday, Dec. 31st at noon (the “warmest” part of the day!) Your friends and family can pledge your plunge, to raise money and awareness about global warming and what NRCM is doing right here in Maine to curb it. And, it will be fun, with folks in polar bear costumes and hot coffee from Coffee by Design and pastries from Whole Foods. The two top fundraisers will receive $50 gift certifi cates to LL Bean, while additional top fundraisers will receive commemora-tive NRCM tote bags or caps. To participate, email or call stacie@nrcm.org, 430-0127, with your name and contact information and we will send you an information packet. We request that you raise a minimum of $50 in pledges. Your pledgers may use the online pledge forms at http://supporters.nrcm.org/polar_plunge.”

Vaudeville at Portland Stage2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Vaudeville shows at Portland Stage Company. http://www.phyzgig.org

New Year’s Burning Bowl Service7 p.m. New Year’s Burning Bowl Service at Unity Church of Greater Portland, 54 River Road, Windham. “The burning bowl service is a favorite within Unity. It encourages each of us to identify the doubts and fears which stand between us an true spiritual enlightenment. It is an opportunity to release those limitations into a ritual fi re, letting go of them and opening ourselves to new possibilities to come.” For more information about Unity or its events, please contact the church offi ce at 893-1233 or visit www.unitygreaterport-land.org.

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from preceding page

This holiday fi lm isn’t for the squeamish: “It’s the eve of Christmas in northern Finland, and an ‘archeological’ dig has just unearthed the real Santa Claus. But this particular Santa isn’t the one you want coming to town. When the local children begin mysteriously disap-pearing, young Pietari and his father Rauno, a reindeer hunter by trade, capture the mythological being and attempt to sell Santa to the misguided leader of the multinational corporation sponsoring the dig. Santa’s elves, however, will stop at nothing to free their fearless leader from captivity. What ensues is a wildly humorous nightmare — a fantastically bizarre polemic on modern day morality.” “Rare Exports” is showing Wednesday, Dec. 22 at SPACE Gallery. (COURTESY IMAGE)

THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Tuesday, December 21, 2010— Page 15

Credit Card Debt?Solutions that can help you

get out of debt.

Tom Hill CGA STAFF WRITER

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Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy and quarterback Matt Flynn (10) talk during a fi rst quarter timeout of their NFL football game against the New England Patriots in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday night. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)

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GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — As of Monday, the Green Bay Packers couldn’t say for sure that Aaron Rodg-ers will be able to play this weekend.

They did know this: Despite Sunday night’s tough 31-27 loss at New Eng-land, the Packers still are virtually assured of a playoff spot if they win their fi nal two games.

Even after watching yet another close game go the wrong way — all six of the Packers’ losses this season have come by four points or fewer — Packers coach Mike McCarthy gen-erally was upbeat about the way his team played in a road game against the NFL’s hottest team with Rodgers on the sideline.

“You get angry, and you don’t sweep anything under the rug,” McCarthy said Monday. “There was a lot of posi-tive aspects of the game last night that would lead to a very high performance level, and there’s some things that we need to do a better job in, particularly in critical points in the game.”

Rodgers sat out Sunday night’s game a week after sustaining his second concussion of the season. McCarthy said he will have more information on Rodgers’ availability Wednesday.

“We’re still going through our medi-cal process now with all of our play-ers,” McCarthy said.

Backup Matt Flynn played well in Rodgers’ place, throwing for 251 yards with three touchdowns and an inter-ception. He nearly rallied the Packers late in the fourth quarter, but a late drive ended with a sack.

“It’s a tough one to swallow,” Flynn said after the game. “It makes you sit there and think what you could have done different, make a play here, just things that kind of eat you up that you can’t stop thinking about. It’s defi -nitely tough to swallow, but we’ve got to look forward. We’ve got two games left and we’ve still got things in front of us.”

Flynn credited Rodgers with help-ing him out during his fi rst career start.

“Me and Aaron talked all week,” Flynn said. “He just told me to cut it

loose and have fun out there, trust your preparation, trust your reads. He was with me the whole time on the sideline, talking to me. He was a big help to me.”

Flynn said his inexperience wasn’t a factor on the fi nal drive.

The Packers were driving toward what could have been a game-winning touchdown, but got bogged down after a sack forced them to burn their third timeout with just under a minute remaining. A third-down pass from Flynn to Donald Driver came close to the fi rst down marker, but the Pack-ers lost valuable time while waiting to offi cials to determine if it was fi rst down or fourth down.

They ended up a yard short. Flynn got one last snap off with the clock running down, but was sacked on the fi nal play.

“That third-down play, we couldn’t really tell if we got the fi rst down or not,” Flynn said. “We would have gone up and clocked the ball and had an opportunity to call a better play, but once they spotted it late, it was fourth down and we just had to go. I don’t feel like it was inexperience. I’ve been around the game and we work 2-minute drills all the time.”

McCarthy said the sack earlier in the drive hurt the Packers’ ability to manage the clock, but the coach wasn’t critical of the way Flynn handled the fi nal two plays.

“I thought that Matt did fi ne with the operation of the third-down to the fourth-down play,” McCarthy said. “They went with a three-man rush, Matt tried to extend the play — which you like to do there — and he was sacked.”

Should Rodgers return to practice this week, it would give the Packers a big boost going into their fi nal two games. The Packers host the New York Giants on Sunday, then face the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field a week later.

They’ll likely have to face the Giants without defensive end Cullen Jenkins, who has missed the last two games with a lingering calf injury. McCarthy

hopes Jenkins will be able to return for the regular season fi nale against Chicago.

McCarthy seemed optimistic about safety Nick Collins, who left Sunday’s game with a rib injury. And he said outside linebacker Frank Zombo could return from a knee injury after sitting

out Sunday’s game.Win both games, and the Packers

are virtually assured a playoff spot.“That sounds good, but we’ve got to

win a close game,” cornerback Charles Woodson said. “And we haven’t done that. We haven’t shown that we can do that yet.”

Rodgers’ status remains unclear for Packers

BOSTON (AP) — Rest up, Rajon Rondo.

The Boston Celtics showed they can still keep the ball moving even with-out the NBA’s assist leader, getting a triple-double from Paul Pierce while holding off the Indiana Pacers 99-88 on Sunday to extend their winning streak to 13 straight.

Pierce had 12 assists and Ray Allen added six more as the Celtics played their second straight game without Rondo, who is out for a couple of weeks with a sprained left ankle.

“That’s the point we make with this team. When the ball moves, there’s assists,” coach Doc Rivers said. “Guys are going to get assists and they’re getting that.”

Pierce added 18 points and 10 rebounds to go with his dozen assists. It was the sixth regular-season triple-double of Pierce’s career and seventh overall. He last accomplished the feat

March 8, 2006, against Philadelphia, which visits Boston on Wednesday.

“I pride myself in trying to be a com-plete player,” Pierce said. “Throughout the course of my career I’ve worked on a lot of things on both sides of the ball.”

Nate Robinson started for Rondo and scored 18 points. Allen fi nished with 17 points and Shaquille O’Neal, who had missed four straight games with a sore right calf, returned with 11 points, including a monster dunk off a long lob from Pierce.

“Shaq is a big guy. When he looks up, I get his head nod and he says ‘throw it to the rim’ — that’s what I try to do,” Pierce said. “He doesn’t have to jump too high to dunk the ball, so I just try to put it right next to the rim.”

The only Boston starter not to score in double fi gures was Kevin Garnett, and he had a solid nine points and nine rebounds.

Celtics tough to beat at home

Page 16 — THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Tuesday, December 21, 2010

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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — The suddenly sluggish New England Patriots needed a lift.

They got a huge one from 313-pound Dan Connolly.

Showing the shiftiness of a receiver and the power of an offensive lineman — which he is — Connolly rumbled 71 yards for what is believed to be the longest kickoff return by an offensive lineman in NFL history, sparking the Patriots to a 31-27 win over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night.

“I’ve never seen anything happen so slow in my life,” Tom Brady said with a laugh. “They won’t be kicking to him anymore, I’ll tell you that.”

The return by Connolly, who later left with a head injury, set up Brady’s 2-yard scoring pass to Aaron Hernan-dez, cutting Green Bay’s lead at half-time to 17-14.

“When Dan made that play, you could see the vibe pick up and see the momentum swing in our favor,” Patri-ots linebacker Jerod Mayo said.

The Patriots, who outscored their previous two opponents 81-10, had their hands full even with Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers missing the game with a concussion. Matt Flynn, in the fi rst start of his three pro seasons, threw his fi rst three touchdown passes in Rodgers’ place.

The game went down to the fi nal play when Flynn, with the ball at the New England 15-yard line, lost it when he was sacked by Tully Banta-

Cain. Vince Wilfork recovered for the Patriots (12-2), securing their sixth straight victory one week after they clinched a playoff berth.

Green Bay (8-6) suffered a serious blow to its playoff chances. The Pack-ers trail Chicago (9-4) in the NFC North with the Bears playing at Min-nesota on Monday night.

“We’ve got two games left,” Flynn said. “We’ve still got things in front of us.”

According to STATS LLC, the run by Connolly topped the 48-yard touch-down return by Atlanta’s Mal Snider in 1969. Complete offi cial records have been kept since 1976.

Mason Crosby had kicked the ball

short to avoid Brandon Tate, who has two kickoff returns for touchdowns this year.

“When you kick the ball, you’d like to kick it to an offensive lineman. That should be a positive,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. “We did a very poor job there tackling.”

Safety Charlie Peprah had the fi rst shot at the lumbering lineman.

“I tried to go for the ball thinking he was a big man without ball skills,” Peprah said. “I should have just made the tackle.”

The Patriots had beaten the New York Jets 45-3 and Bears 36-7 in their previous two games.

“Do I want to blow people out every game? Yeah,” Wilfork said, “but it doesn’t happen like that every time.”

Trailing 27-21, the Patriots scored on Shayne Graham’s 38-yard fi eld goal with 11:05 left in the game and went ahead 31-27 on Brady’s second touchdown pass to Hernandez, a 10-yarder with 7:14 to go.

Brady broke Don Meredith’s record with his seventh straight game with at least two scoring passes and no interceptions. He has now gone nine games without an interception.

But he threw for only 163 yards, his third-fewest of the season.

“It certainly wasn’t one of our better games,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. “We’ve got to play a lot better than this or our season won’t last much longer.”

Patriots’ Connolly sets record for OL kick return

New England Patriots guard Dan Connolly (center) runs past Green Bay Packers kicker Mason Crosby (left) as he returns a kickoff for 71 yards during Sunday’s NFL football game in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Boston Herald, Nancy Lane)