Maine: under the radar news roundup

For Mainers out there, a few "under the radar" news items of interest:

First, a number of Portland city councilors -- collectively, our elected executive -- have expressed frustration with city manager Joe Gray for refusing to provide information and documents they have requested. Dan Skolnik (Dem) lost his temper at Gray (in absentia) last week. Yesterday, John Anton (Green) made his concerns public on WMPG's morning show. The upstart Portland Daily Sun has latched onto this one.

Secondly, the Midcoast Forecaster has a follow-up on Oxford Aviation, which is looking for public subsidies for a project at Brunswick Naval Air Station even as it apparently failed to deliver on a similarly subsidized project over in Sanford; it suggests strong political pressure from Augusta may be being applied. (The head of the company responded to the original story with a strangely off-the-topic letter focused on how wonderful his employees are.)

Laurie Hyndman, former owner, and publisher of Port City Life has departed the magazine less than a month after its re-branded relaunch as The Maine Mag. Before her Sept. 15 departure, Hyndman had been serving as the magazine's managing editor.

Finally, while I've been reporting a great deal about how the city has over-hyped the benefits of cruise ship tourism, Mainebiz carried this report on what appears to be an intelligent effort to facilitate cruise ship crews' spending here. Good news with the bad...