The Bangor Daily News from Bangor, Maine • 27

Legislature explores changes to enforce deadlines moe-to-have recg- tions of gh school basket -baJ chairpionsh ps and wead-rg wj revised to mim ze the administrative burden paeed on drafters And some add tional sfat pos tions wj be no one said efficiency was tree such as a semor attorney to oversee the eflorts ot other a'toneys who assst committees Bjt Diamond sa thee wouid be cost savings overall in that dap canon would be eln mated Further potent al furl fgfts as a result of ambiguous re-ponsbu hes wll be controlled And cv -da wdl be avoided In fact said Diamond it as anticipated that committee hearings on proposed leg slation would start the frst day lawmakers return to Augusta The result he predicted would be an end-of-the-session flurrv ith less pressure and a lower volume ot bias and an a fjournment by the sla tutor I required April Is We wat with bated breath Bv Dai is Rawsoa NEWS Stale House Bureau AUGUSTA The days oi an leg sla-tve session are norm-d'y ma-Ned bv a tot of standing around wa ting for somebody to do something and that someth rg to happen Da 'v sessions am abvsma short consul rg ot nothmg more than the open praver a leu cursory announcements and a mot ion to ad journ The result is a sense of frustration by the leg slat ve rand and Me impatience onthe part of leadership-frantic behind the-scenes bill-drafting bv support personnel a public perception that la makers are in a mode and sporadic cries from ed torial writers that it was gh time the Legislature stopped wasting taxpayers' money at up to $50 (tut per day Adding to the confusion is a biend ng of responsibilities among the various legislative agencies so that neither Lawmakers nor the public is quite sure where to go tor what doesn do research 11 become the 0ffee of Revisor ot Statutes and have trie prmary re-spons t'Lty for acceptng and drart-ng ad new leg Suction The Legslat ve Finance office which does more than me-e's worry about nances w1 become tne rare of Fiscal and Program Rev iew past few years the services provided became clouded because of alter rg in'erpre-tatons of the said Damond While the directors of the various legislative oiftces knew whatthev were supposed to do no one else was sure Waft a Legislature that normally changes about one-thrd of its representatives every two years that can be a problem The old Leg slative Research Office will now get the bids to draft or to ass gn to another agency such as the attomev general ottice for araiurg It is responsible tor traJLing the progress of all bills and is responsible tor final review of all drafts for accuracy and completness Of eourse once into the hands of leg slators ary -nng can happen to a bU but at least nen starts out it should De correct Dead-nes 11 be enforced Wei that is hat the councJ members are pieog ng Commttees that have been au'borzed to studv issues and report out leg slat must do so by Dec 1 prior to trie 1 w-day sesson aid by Nov 1 prior to the jo-da session Curremiv some commttees don even get around to starting their stjdies unt early tad in essence taking the summer oil Ells coming in from various state departments the administration must be submitted bv the frst Wednesday of November a deadline routinely ignored the past A 3t-day grace period wuJ be awarded a new governor as il be the case next year since the new governor won even be sworn in when the Legislature convenes Current procedures for drafting the calendar -cloggng iegisiatve sentiments those Then just when even one has their workload caught up and everyth ng seems to be running turiy smooth the governor djnps a loo-bid package on the svstem (me of the reasons for the irocas candidly adm ts house Majority Leader J'Wtq Diamond D- Bangor is Luk of self as by leg sit ve leaders Id of iom -m the Lee sat ve Council umch Damona Chairs In an effort to sort out the response ities and enforce the deadlines the Council Friday considered several S'gmficant changes the legislative process Although generally appearing cosmetic to the untrained eye the changes are designed to speed up the process and utunately provide on a routine basis that which is now an annual impossibility The LegiSla'ure adjourning when it is supposed to First some name changes are in order TheOifice of Assistants which is a whole kit more than a bunch of peopie who assist leg sla tors will become the 01! ice of Legislative Policy Analvsis The Legislative Research Office which real- Perseverance yields results for 90-year-old Carmel woman Hazel Smith is oldest in Maine to earn GED diploma daveare center that Lewis attends several times a week Freeman said Lewis an inspiration for people ho work with her on tasks she sets up for herself The Rev Bernice Damon is director of the Fairmount Adult Da Sen ice said Hazel is proof that "there no lim it to learning and growing because aae or phvsical tnlmmities The six hour test Hazel had to take earn her diploma is not easy according to the Adult Learning Center director but Hazel passed with scores put her lr the upper half of this year graduating class She took the test in five segments after preparing for the exam for about lour months Marlene Libby of the Bangor Adult Learning Center stall administered the test to Hazel She presented the new graduate with a bouquet of carnations at the ceremonv BonmeCole who sen eda master of ceremonies sad a scholarship will be established in Hazel name at Hampden Academv Cole Shirley Nash and Lewis' grandaughter Missy Edger spend many hours ot the day with Lewis keeping her company and doing sma'l i bores lor her At 90 Lewis is unsiea 1v on her feet and occupies a wheelchair most of the time Lewis lives in her mobile home in Carmel She used to play the piano to accompany silent movies that were shown at the Carmel town hall She still practices on an organ in her trailer An avid reader she recently finished James Michener novel Centennial daughters Chine Libby coordinated activities for Friday ceremony Refreshments were served including a large cake the shape erf Hampden Academv made by Lewis son-m law Jerry Libbv A eating a white cap and gown with a purple tassle Hampden Academy sc hool colors Lewis 90 was assisted to a podmm the front of the old Hampden Academv Gvm More than lot) relatives Inends and local education officials stood and applauded Hazel I achievement several times during the ceremonv Carlton Dubois superintendent of SAD 22 which includes Hampden Academy presented her ith an honor-arv ploma and Dolby presented her with her high school equivalency diploma Hazel you are an inspiration to Dolbv said presenting her with the ploma Now you can attend the Iniversitv of Maine Husson or Dolbv said amid chuc kies from the audience her she just said a relative the audience Lewis said she might sit in on a few courses at the university with the help of Mary Bishop a university student whom Lewis credited with helping her get her diploma couldnt have done it without Mary" Lewis said Madeleine Freeman is executive director of the Eastern Area Agency on Ag-ng the organization that runs the Fairmount Adult Dav Sen ice an adult Rv Nanrv Garland Of the NEWS Staff HAMPDEN As a freshman at Hampden Academy toil Hazel i Smith Lew is rented a room in a home near the school During the week she cooked her own meals and attended classes On weekends her lather picked her up in a horse and buggy and the pair rode the 10-mile distance back to the family farm tn Carmel The arrangement worked for a year then Hazel had to auit school to take care of her ailing mother Seventy lour years Later Lewis 90 received her gh school diploma a special ceremony Friday Dec at Hampden Academv She ts the oldest person in the state ever to pass the General Equivalency Development i GED i exam which is required to get a gh school equivalency ploma Lewis is possibly the oldest person in New England to pass the test according to Jerry Dolbv coordinator of the Bangor Adult Learning Center Lewis said she was at Friday ceremony and she getting her ploma was big goal my life Lewis said she wanted to serve as an example to young puple who might have dropped out of school want them to know it never too late it can be Lewis said In the last 74 years she married was a farm housew ite in Carmel and had four children but she never forgot about her ploma she said One of her HAZEL LEWIS 90 displays the diploma she recently earned when she became the oldest person Mame to pass the Graduate Equivalency Development (GED) exam (NEWS Photo by Bob DeLong) Bill would allot more funds for hospital expansions By Mai learv capitoi News service are needs that Endangered species workshop debates definition numbers Couple is sought in baby death By Beurmond Banville St John alley Bureau FRENCHA ILLE Police northern Maine are seeking a young couple they believe is linked to the bodv oif a dead baby brought home by a dog last Sa'urdav Sgt Charles Love of the Maine State Polue is heading the invest gation into the discovery oi the body bv Armand Pelletier near his Bout hard Road home at Frenchville Investigators led by police dogs to a gravel pit access road said there is evidence that the birth of the full term female baby took place at that location during the earlv morning hours Saturday Police lound the placenta in the gravel pit drtvewav and a spot where there was a considerable amount ot blond Slate Trooper Patrick Plourde was called bv Pebetier who told police he found the bodv near his home after ID a He said it had not been there at I a Pelletier lives in the first home on the Bom hard Road near the intersection of Route 1 It is believed that Pelletier Siberian Huskv dragged the bodv about 700 feet to Pelletier home from the gravel pit Love said that a newshov told police that he had seen something on the ground in the gravel pit driveway at about I ill a Love said police don know if the bahv was bom alive He said that would he determined from an autopsv to be pe'-forroed on the bodv Monday in Bangor by Dr George hase Love said police are asking tor public help in the case Thev are asking anv-one with information tc call the Madawaska Police Department at 728 6iV or the Maine State Police at 1 )-437 7184 Police are kinking for information on a young couple seen early Madawaska Saturdav morning He said the people involved in the incident mav be driving a sub compact automohde He asked residents to he on the lookout lor anvone purchasing medical supplies to control bleed ng Portland man charged with Gray murder Associated Press Two deaths over the weekend have resulted one arrest with trues' gallons continuing in the other death In Portland a 19-vear-oid Portland man is to be arra goed todav on mur der charges stemmirg from the shoot mg dea'h of a person whose identity was not sdosed State police spokesman Rick Moore said James mg was bemg heid at the Cumberland County Jad and is to appear Pordand strict Court this moenirg He was arrested Sa'urdav authorises dseovered the body ot an ap parent shootirg victim earlier the day said the name of the victim was being withheld pendrg notification rela'ives The vne hodv was found Sa'ur day off Mocr'am iew Road in Grav Moore sad mg was arrest ed hen au'hor es spotted a red pck-ur trick he as dov mg at the Auburn toil booth on the Va ne Tur-pike ac cord -g to the spokesman In au'hori'ies Sunday idem fied the bodv of a man that was found the woods a that of A inceot LaVopa SI Of hennehung Ass'stant Geopral Michael Westrott described Lakopa death as Afer an a on Sunday Westcod ref used to the cause of La A opa dea'h es'cott sa he d'd not know how long LaVopa had been dead when his body was fou-vd the woods off 11 Road in Arundel by hue-em on Sa'urdav A u' horfes had sa'd Saturday they thought LaA opa had been dead for several days i are not being met But my bill would not eliminate the process The need would still have to be Seno'a President Charles Proy we doubiiynr tr pie the cap he su'd Prav proposal would increase the cap 'roro the present one percent to 2 percent frcim roughlv $fc million to $15 million The gores are for annual operating costs and annualized cost of the necessary capital equipment I don know how my proposal could gut the Pray sa'd 1 would not support a proposal that would remove the requirement to prove need and there is a need there must he money to meet the need And I don thrk the money is there with the one percent cap Prav said that rrp'y because tV CON account mav have more money ava lab ie expansion of pmg-ams does not mean hospitals apply for the funds If there ts money ava la hie I am sure they will app'v for it' Petit said I will oppose this leg slation I will trge Gov Brennan to oppose tlus as well Prav said if is time for the entire process tn be rev tew ed with the poss b-I ty some p-oipcts sbou'd be outside tV yearlv lmt He said la-ge protects bke Eastern Ma ne Mod cal Centers car-dac sungmy fac mav need a sepa-ra'e review pnocess because of their ze and comp fX ty Bv David Platt Environment Writer Wise ASSET Some wild animals we regard as or endangered aren trouble at all The Atlantic puttin was virtually extinct along Marne coast for generations until it was knmg'v (and expensively re introduced several vears ago yet putt ns are one of the world most numerous birds Golden eagles certainly aren tnumerous Fewer thana dozen are known to nest in Maine But their population has alwavs been low here suggesting that they don qualify as "endangered The federal government lists the Furbish Louse ort as an endangered plant because it exists only in a lirnued area along the St John River in northern Maine Aet there mav be thousands ol urbish Louseworts there at certain times of the year The problems ol defining rarity and endangerment as well as the irrpiK ations of protecting rare species were the focus of a first ever workshop on endangered spec tes Saturday at the Chewonki Foundation The workshop attracted about 125 scientists and lav-men It was held to consider a proposed endangered spec tes list or Mane Sponsor ot the workshop were The Nature Conservancy the state Nongume Project and the Maine Critical Areas Prngi-am The vu'nerahihtv of a spec es is more important than its rantv Prof Wilham Dmrv of the Couege of the A'lanttc told the g-nup in a keynote speech Ever since neol thic men beg nurtunrg certam 'penes he said man wth wid things has been laced wih human values Early efWs to project certain species tended to focus on or elegant things ke orchids and peregrine falcons Just because a pe les tn around in large numbers doesn mean it tad ng Large populations dun neces-saHv mean success he pointed nut Letting nature take its course Drury said is a process that favors the establishment because the most numerous species will probably rema so Every me we sav let na'tre lake its it a cop-out" Drury sa If we do nothing it as mu a decis on as if we decide to do someth rg Maieo'm Hur'er a ld' -e bmLg st from the I ver-s fy of Ma ne adm "ed to a more partyRa! view 'Ira not ashamed to admit it he sa I want there to be lyrx and Lea pe'rel in Ma ne The pnss 1 ty that local genfc petul anhes gM to man makes it important tc protect focal accord ng to Hunter Soe-msts were able to breed disease-resstant pee he sa because they could draw on a divers tv of stra ns world nde The cha rmen of several which proposed annus brnds mam mals repttes and amphibians for the sta'e endangered speces list exp'a tied how they had made ther decisions The rd group sa Mak 'ad'er of te Depammpnt of Hand Fisheries and Wild stamed off with more than lto birds on its hct Reaizng it had to amve at a more ranagsabie numher it pared the 1 st down to s-x in the calory phs three the ca'egorv The b-rd group also oroduced a longer gay AUGUSTA Senate President Charles Prav Millimxket has proposed leg slation more than duu-Dhng the amount ol funds a lowed tor hospital program expansions eavh year a move Human Services Commissioner Mu had Petit said would the program There are needs that are not being met" Prav su'd But my bdl would not ehmmate the process The need would stil have to be proven Pray said he ts conv tneed the present cap on (ert Lcu'e of Ved programs does not allow hospitals and other medical service providers to acquire the new technologies and programs needed to improve health rare Present CON projects are limited by a yearlv cap equal to one percent of health costs in the prev tous year This year the cap is lust over th mUion In fact the one percent level we are at now is g-eater than the historical average that the hosp ta's have appix for mer the lat 10 vears sad Pet't proposal would e'tect've'v gut the restrants that were bu It into the Hosp Finance Comm sson Law and in the existing Certificate of Need Law Pe'it said ror every dCar ad ted annual expend tures abowed under the process taxpavers pick up the tab twice Through their federal and sta'e taxes fbev pav for nearlv hah of the costs of rurnmg hospitals and they also pav increased insurance premiums as costs go up There a' a krf of o'her needs out there Those needs coedd gn urnt-et if Furs worth 5250000 taken in Edmundston EDMLVD'sTON New B-u" tek -More than 30 furs over S2V1 weT stolen from the Edmunds'on outlet of Labrador Furs Ltd early Sa'urdav Accord ng to a pocce report at Ed-mundston the theft wa qu ck and executed mites The alarm was received at 1 39 a and a ce cmser armed at tV Rimers with of receiving the alarm ben poi ce sm ed at te scene no me was around a-vf the ova's were gone Ertry to the store as ga red bv 1 out a donr lor TV entry is be He ved to have trggened the aiam system Tb Atlantic Puffin rebounds i Main list of birds dependent on certain habitats or whit the gmup thought should be monitored Bamv Burgs son who chaired the mammals group descr bed a Iterence of opmion amorg experts over the sta' of the cougar The cougar ended up on the list despite reports of sghtings or tracks recent years Several kinds of species arent covered bv Maine endangered species Saw Tom Squires of the Department ot Marine Resources listed lour marine species strped bass short nosed sturgeon Atlantic s'urgeon and American shad which hmiog sts are concerned about but which can he listed because they don come under the jurisdiction of the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wild te Irvemehraies xp'derx Res and other insects a'en included the endangered speces law e-rher are the vem foundation of IJe aiong th plants said John A'bpght of The Na'ure Conservancv We don knew which ones are rare but we do have some ideas A resea rcher ho spent sev mal seasons study jr-bish Lnuew ort a 'ong ne fit John descr bed and cautioned agamst re1 mg on reports on speces because haVat can change number of Furbish Louseworts at one me may not tell a whole lot" sa'd Sue Gawtor who her research under the auspces trf the sta'e Cr Areas Program Several researchers descr her) work on amph btans and rep? les including species such as Blaodmg Ture which may be in trouble because if 1 kes cornfields The number of acres of cornfields is dnppmg Ma ne It not as easy to protect amphibians and rept es as other d' said Jane Arhurkie of the Mame Audubon Socie'v Pep! tes and amph bans aren w-'d an mats' under the law" she sa'd An amphibian and rep listing pm jed is under ay Correction corner A Page rme story Sa'urday paper abnu sc nam action taken bv tKesta'eaca mt two supervisors of the Penqu-s Com'mj-'Cv Action Program in Bd'gvr carried a E'ihc that contained r-oe TV tl i'ra' on should have s'a'ed tV! Nano BnC-'-v c-tor of SV Division of Com mu- Services hid recon ended fV ring of Jyhn r'se and Thomas Daws Jr not Daw Jr a pub: vhed TV quoca' ion by Boot'-bv as correctly reported tV story by A Jay gg ns ii.