DOWN EAST NOTES

According to the Portland Sun,

"Marriage ceremonies have been put on hold at City Hall until after the Nov. 3 election to give city clerks time to process a record number of absentee ballot requests." So it looks like a referendum to uphold heterosexual marriages is holding up heterosexual marriages.

Boston Globe - Portland officials say they expect the city to set a record for both early voting and election-day turnout next week. City Clerk Linda Cohen says she's ordered 4,000 additional absentee ballots and scheduled extra hours on Saturday to accommodate voters.

Maine Public Broadcasting - The Maine Marine Patrol is investigating a complaint that two Tenants Harbor lobstermen cut lobster traps and one threatened another man with a shotgun. The Patrol's Sgt. Marlowe Sonksen says . . . the patrol knows all the men involved in the alleged incident.

Maine PTA - ME PTA supports the repeal of mandated consolidation. Any school administrative units which will be improved by consolidation should be free to do so. Commissioner Gendron has said that if this referendum passes repealing the consolidation law, she will act quickly with the legislature to enact legislation allowing existing RSU's to remain consolidated if they wish and, presumably, new RSU's to form. By the same token, school administrative units for which the currently mandated consolidation won't work need the right to choose the paths most appropriate for their students and communities.

Maine Public Broadcasting - Maine's Passenger Rail Authority has begun exploring the possibility of running some express trains between Maine stops and Boston. Authority Director Patricia Quinn says the authority is looking at running train 682, an 8 a.m. departure from Portland with stops only in Saco, Wells, and Exeter, New Hampshire. Quinn says leaving out the other stops would reduce the running time from Portland to Boston by about 15 minutes, to two hours and 10 minutes.