Portland Press Herald from Portland, Maine • 6

nd Press Herald Wednesday March 12 1997 6A liJorilanb Icralt) Brucej Gensmer President NEAR SHORE SPAWNING AREAS DUE PROCESS Column raises issues on bail system I NEW TRADITION BEGINS Portland lower Show brings spring to the city LICENSE REVOCATION HEARING 'ED ITORIAL TO OUR READERS Mike Raymond bell curve? Perhaps she has not but I would bet the design teams of men and women who helped develop the air bag have George Ncavoll Editorial Page Editor Jeannine Guttman Managing Editor Editorial board meetings are open to the public and are held at 9:30 am weekdays in the fourth floor editorial office at 390 Congress St Portland Letters to the editor should be exclusive to this paper contain no more than 250 words and include the name address and home and work phone numbers Those selected for publication are edited only for spelling punctuation and grammar Letters should be addressed to: Voice of the People Portland Press Herald PO Box 1460 Portland ME 04104 5009 Letters also may be sent by mail to lettersportkmdcom or laxed to (207) 791 6924 We know where the spawning areas are Now time to act ile away hardships This week think hardy bulbs In the age of AIDS unprotected sex is an invitation to disaster urviving hardships as chal lenging as any Maine winter first statewide flower show is ready to bloom tonight Then it will keep on blooming bringing a colorful touch of flower season to Mainers through Sunday Take heart from the displays and talks by flower and gardening experts Most of all however take heart from the show itself Already it has proved as hardy as the hardiest spring bulbs Presented for several years as the Maine lower and Garden Show the show ran into siting difficulties in recent years Its sponsor the Maine Landscape Nursery Association was staggered anew in January when the promoter Citrine Resources went out of business Then came transformation into the Portland lower Show to be presented at the historic Portland Company Com plex at 58 ore St Equally positive health safety and as the attorney argues Because the police chief and district attorney dis agree as to whether this is illegal begs the question of whether it is a public haz ard Clearly it is and should be ended One would think a sense of shame would keep the theater owner from operating a porno theater in the middle of the Downtown Arts District The critical block in which the theater is located never is going to reach its development potential as long as sleaze is being marketed there so brazenly (That goes for whether the outlet is a movie theater or adult film store The ine Arts owner says he will operate his business as the latter even if his license to operate as the former is revoked) The people of Portland want the ine Arts Theatre there Put the public health at risk as it does and the case for closing it is overwhelming ATER READING Mona McGeorge letter (eb 24 bags show again selfish power of one might think that a small man could not be killed byan air bag Has she not heard of thg he argument that open sex ual activity in a public estab lishment is fine as long as no violence or other disrup tion is involved is spurious on its face That was the argument used by the ine Arts attorneys in a hearing on whether the Congress Street license should be revoked Public decency questions aside the acts of unprotected sex that occur there are unquestionably a public health hazard Patrons expect to see porno graphic films when they enter but they expect to encounter men and women having sex either homosexual or heterosexual and inviting participation In the age of AIDS it is hard toimagine anythingmore inimical to the rom Grand Manan Channel in easternmost Maine to Ipswich Bay northwest of Cape Ann the inshore waters of the Gulf of Maine once teemed with spawning cod and haddock Unfortunately says Edward Ames in a survey published last year by the Island Institute most of these inshore spawning grounds decades ago and have long since been abandoned by Today he writes fishermen remain that know where these inshore spawning grounds are to be Ames located a number of retired fishing captains who did know however along with some older captains still working and recorded for posterity the invaluable knowledge they held His survey found extensive spawning areas in the northern half of the Gulf of Maine that had been previously unreported While spawning areas were scattered in the eastern section of the gulf they were amazingly concentrated in the western section nearly continuous strip of inshore spawning ground for cod and haddock extends from Casco Bay to Ipswich Bay most of which is found relatively close to Ames writes Identifying these spawning areas was key to legislation reintroduced this ses sion by Sen Phil Harriman Yarmouth Act to Protect Near shore Ground fish Spawning directs the marine resources commissioner to identify the time and location of spawning by cod haddock and yellowtail flounder in coast al waters Commercial fishing would be banned there during spawning season Commissioner Robin Alden acting on the newly available information in the Ames survey subsequently proposed a blanket of inshore areas rom April to June this would include everything from Kittery to Cape Elizabeth from June to August Cape Elizabeth to Mount Desert Rock and from July to September Mount De sert Rock to Grand Manan Channel This was a perfect way to address the spawning closures and initially the Marine Resources Committee after making the bill into a gave it an 11 1 to recommenda tion Then for reasons that are still unclear the committee changed its mind and the bill came out with a 7 4 not to vote It now goes to the Senate and an uncertain fate Nothing is uncertain about the fate of disappearing groundfish stocks however Their protection is in legisla hands and those hands beginning in the Senate ought not let them down I WAS AMAZED as I read last story about the shooting that occurred March 1 in the Parkside neighborhood My amazement in part stems from incredible differences between the legal and the mental health care systems that this incident demonstrates If this man Ronald Wittman had by chance gone to the emergency depart ment at Maine Medical Center and said something like know I am really not into indoor plumbing I am going to go urinate on the comer of Mellen and Grant streets and if anyone hassles me well I am going to have to shoot In all likelihood he would not have been free in the community on Saturday even ing Rather because of his voiced homici dal ideation he would have been consi dered a risk to both himself and the community and have been the guest (voluntary or involuntary) of mental health accommodations for the next 24 hours This story as it appears in the paper indicates that this man allegedly acted on his thoughts So and rightly so he enters the legal system Bail is set at an incredible $1000 and guess what? This fellow is free in the Portland community a few hours later It seems extraordinary to me that these two systems can have such different outcomes As a mental health nurse I may be biased in thinking but I figure out why at the least this man retained for the sake of observation Maybe I am missing something here Maureen Callnan Portland Hie photo A detail from Joel Lynn poster for Artistry by the Keith Citrine will serve as director of the show to be produced by the complex and cosponsored by the Maine State lorists Growers Association fine news for all involved from orchid lovers to backyard gardeners Most of all it will be welcomed by all had their fill of winter and want to share four days of Artistry by the May opening gala be the first of many Next show is already scheduled for March 12 to 15 1998 Air bag history shows no male design plot This is in response to the editorial (letter to editor) you published in the eb 24 edition of your paper from Mona McGeorge Harmon of Saco If she had taken the time to research Ralph Nader and other consumer group struggles to improve vehicle Regarding Bill column: whom does bail system Mr Nemitz continually turns out poorly written columns that lack depth and knowledge of subject matter His research approach appears to be limited to dialing the phone not that he listens once the phone is answered What journalists appear to under stand (until they are put in a tank for drunk driving or beating a partner) is that all citizens of this state are entitledto be released from jail until arraignment (with exceptions of course) admit that any person who does this type of thing (shooting a gun on a street corner) is allegedly dangerous and should be dealt with in a serious manner before a judge in court Mr Nemitz is equally as dangerous spewing out negative uninformed words to an equally uninformed public In an effort to educate I submit the following Bail commissioners write the law or the bail code (drafted by Judge John Sheldon modified and approved by the Legislature) Their job is to represent the court in the bail hearing and uphold the integrity of the court by ensuring that the defendant appears for arraignment or the meaning of the word refer to your dictionary or good reason bail commissioners talk to the press Although my knowledge of law is admittedly unin formed even I a lowly citizen understand the meaning of due process of law Jaye Gorham Wife of bail commissioner Bill Gorham Portland Portland West on course for people serving The HUD grant awarded to Portland West Neighborhood Planning Council is indeed good news (editorial eb 24) Today our YouthBuild students tread a little lighter hammer more on target paint with extra gusto and feel a little less daunted by their math class equations When afi is said and done our programs here at Portland West are about new beginnings As the new executive director I am determined to steer this agency on a course that will continue to improve our services and increase the number of people we serve This grant reinforces that determination rom all of us here thank you for your acknowledgment of our hard work Ethan Strimling Executive Director Portland West Neighborhood Planning Council Portland safety she would not be looking for plots in these regulations Why she investigate the statistics that prove how many lives are saved when these air bags deploy? Has she spoken to any law enforcement officials lately? How many men women and children have been saved due to these regulations? Maybe Ms Hannon should take a poll of other women in the community to deter mine if they believe airbags are designed to help unbuckled males I do not think many would agree with her rankly her letter saddened me As an insurance professional these last 19 years I have welcomed any changes and impro vements that can prevent toe loss of even one life It is unfortunate that young children and small women have been injured or killed but there has been much publicity and many public service messages that reinforce the need to seat young children in the back seat of any vehicle equipped withairbags Maybe more should be done to assist smaller men and women to prevent further injury and death Why Mona become an advocate for those her comments mention? I do agree that we need more women in power How about her? Katherine Getty Kennedy York Sen Snowe watching for fairness to women I find comfort knowing that Sen Olym pia Snowe is in Washington looking out for the interests of women in Maine As a woman who works in a male domi nated profession I appreciate the incredi ble current she swims against to fight for equal treatment for women I was proud when she stood up for women in the military and spoke against the Department of Defense merely ing the serious sexual harassment charges I was proud again when I learned of a resolution Olympia sponsored recognizing the importance of mammography for women in their 40s The resolution was controversial because a recent report by the National Institutes of Health recom mended that the expense of mammo graphy for women in their 40s outweighed the loss of 33000 women a year Olympia disagreed And others sup ported position as well: the American Cancer Society and the director of the National Cancer Institute As a woman in her mid 30s I also agree with Olympia I wonder if the same dollar value would be assigned to the lives of 33000 men a year is the costvalue ratio for the lives of men the same as for women? Only recently did they stop using men exclusively for breast cancer research What else is askew in Washington for women? As I ponder this I find comfort once again with the knowledge that Olym pia is watching out for fairness and equity on important issues for women Abby Holman Portland ine Arts Theatre a hazard to public health and safety Guy Gannett President (1921 1954) Jean Gannett Hawley Publisher and Chairman of the Board (1954 1994) Madeleine Corson Publisher and Chairman of the Board James Shaffer President and Chief Executive Officer Protecting groundfish up to Legislature now 11 i DON VIEW SOCKS TESTIIES BEORE A EDERAL GRAND JURY i'm AllTTMiMrtnir TnR WAS th i iMhUIWUPOWinn 1NPTHE06HTGDUPLE TOAGOiOSlMEPEPSIANANP A 77 i NEXT THING UP KIDS ARE TAKEN AWftd AL GORE SELLS THEM YXI KNOW IM WWAWit KjR5Q000 APIECE HAS NINE KITTENS! VW I VOICE THE PEOPLE i A 1 TO OUR READERS.