Down East Notes

Press Herald - Maine’s business leaders are applauding the selection of former gubernatorial candidate Eliot Cutler by the University of Maine System to establish a centralized graduate business and law center in Portland. However, faculty members at the University of Southern Maine are not pleased...Susan Feiner, a professor of economics at USM and president of the faculty’s union, called Cutler’s appointment “extremely problematic.”

“Regardless of his qualifications, the appointment is way outside of what is considered standard academic practice,” she said. “There was no shared governance in this at all and it’s very clear in our constitution that faculty are to play a significant role in electing people who direct the academic enterprise. I’ve been deeply bothered that the whole project around this graduate center has gone on with so much secrecy and no transparency.”

Maine Public Broadcasting  - Meals on Wheels programs across the U.S. and in Maine are scrambling to meet demand after an unexpected cut in federal funding. Maine was dealt a $130,000 blow, causing some programs to initiate waiting lists, or expand existing ones.

Seth Koenig, Bangor Daily News - The Pittsburgh-based Fourth Economy Consulting treleased its list of 10 “large-sized communities” poised for economic growth across the country, and Maine’s Cumberland County ranked sixth. The so-called Fourth Economy Communities were rated based on a variety of factors often seen as precursors to — or drivers of — economic growth, such as wage figures, employment numbers, education levels, entrepreneurship, minority business ownership, property values, population densities and a number of other things... “Ranked sixth in the Fourth Economy Community Index for large Counties, Cumberland County is Maine’s most populous county... Job growth in Cumberland County is projected to continue its current upward trend. Portland, Cumberland County’s principle city, is an enchanting mix of old and new. The city boasts a burgeoning arts and cultural scene along with a healthy mix of recreational activities, like dinner cruises, boat tours, light houses, strolls along the promenade and much more. Across the county, residents enjoy access to local farmers and fresh food, rapid employment growth, a strong base of individual and micro-entrepreneurs, and a very large percentage of educated and engaged citizens.”