Friday June 19

Reports the Portland Press Herald - The Maine State Housing Authority has launched a program that will provide grants "up to $5,000 that first-time home buyers can put toward a down payment, closing costs or escrow funds. In addition, the program will provide coupons worth up to $500 to pay for energy audits that could reveal ways to cut heating and cooling costs, saving home buyers more money in the long run. The grants can be used in conjunction with an $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time buyers – and a buyer in Maine could convert that tax credit into cash toward a down payment under state legislation approved this spring, although details are still being worked out with the Internal Revenue Service.

You don't often get a story about something a seven year old has discovered that is too secret to tell you about, but your can be tantalized by it here. . . . "Quaid Guarino was playing with some Legos at the dining room table in March when an idea hit him. The 7-year-old - who has 32 bins of Lego products filling two rooms of his family's Falmouth home - was sure he had discovered something the Lego company would want to know about. . . Lego President Soren Torp Laursen sent the boy and his family a certified letter in April that included a release form for Quaid to sign before he and Lego could talk more about his idea. (If you're dying to know what Quaid's idea is - well, sorry. The release doesn't allow him to tell anyone else about it.)"

New Charter Commissioners during their organizational meeting elected former city mayors Pamela Plumb to serve as chairman and James Cohen to act as the vice chairman.

Boston Globe - Three wandering moose made their way down Lewiston's Main Street and onto a busy city bridge before fleeing to safety. . . The Sun Journal of Lewiston says vehicles sped past as the moose hung out for nearly an hour on a grassy island that separates the bridge on-ramp from the bridge lanes. The moose made several attempts to flee but were frightened by traffic before they eventually made their way to safety.

Bath Iron Works has notified its largest union of another 41 layoffs, part of a trend that'll continue for four to six months.

New York developer John Cacoulidis want to build a 30-story tower on the site of the Press Herlad's former printing press buiding. It would contain retial shops, a bank and pharmacy, hotel and office space. . . "'It will be a really classy building,' Cacoulidis said. City regulations now limit buildings on the site to 150 feet, the equivalent of about 15 stories. . . The tallest building in Maine is the 16-story Franklin Towers elderly housing complex in Portland.".

Maine is only one of 13 states whose personal income did not decline during the first quarter of 2009. On the other hand, it only went up 0.2 percent.

Sun Journal - Giant wind turbines cropping up across the nation are inadvertently creating problems for Doppler weather radar, because the turning blades are interpreted as precipitation. Tim Crum of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Association's National Weather Service Radar Operations Center in Norman, Okla., said that the phenomenon known as wind turbine clutter can create false predictions of tornadoes or severe thunderstorms. It has even caused the Federal Aviation Administration to reroute aircraft due to false returns. Crum said they first learned three years ago about problems associated with wind turbine clutter from people seeing significantly different radar images.. . . Even though the proposed Record Hill Wind LLC project to site 22 wind turbines along two ridges in Roxbury is in the line of sight of the National Weather Service's Doppler radar in Portland, Crum believes there won't be any problems because the Roxbury site is about 50 miles distant.

The Portland police department is testing out a Segway and a threer-wheel T3

MAINE FACTS

Maine produces 395,000 gallons of maple syrup a year - 43% of what brand hog Vermont does.

Government figures show that about six in 10 Maine households can't afford to pay a mortgage on a median-priced home under current lending rules.

EVENTS

Sun Journal - Think you're the next American Idol? Show your stuff at the Auburn Mall next Saturday, June 27. The prize for the local "Make Me An Idol" contest is a guaranteed audition at American Idol's mass audition at the Amway Arena in Orlando., Fla., on July 9. FOX23 will provide the cost of travel and accommodations for the local winner and a friend to travel to that audition. . . Pinney said contestants will be heard on a first-come, first-served basis at the Center Court stage, and each will be allowed 30 seconds to sing. Those advancing to the semifinal will be allowed a full minute to perform, and performers chosen for the final top 10 round will be permitted to sing from one minute up to the length of the full song before a winner is announced. Contestants must be between 16 and 28 years old. . . Other restrictions