Are you risking your health by eating fish? The controversy over whether high levels of chemical contaminants in seafood outweigh the benefits of a fish diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids is complex, and for the general public, very confusing. A fish diet is said to be rich in protein, low in fat, and beneficial for cardiovascular health and early cognitive development. On the other hand, researchers are finding that high levels of toxic chemicals in fish may actually put people at risk from eating contaminated fish too frequently.

David O. Carpenter M.D., director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the State University of New York (SUNY) in Albany, is the featured speaker at the 2012 Ocean Environment Lecture Series: Rachel Carson Lectures, hosted by the Marine Environmental Research Institute (MERI) on Thursday, February 16 in Blue Hill. Carpenter will discuss current research on environmental contaminants in seafood and the consequences for human health and wellness. Carpenter’s lecture, Is Fish Safe to Eat?, begins at 7 p.m., preceded by a reception at 6 p.m. All lectures are free and open to the public.

Carpenter has published extensively on levels of persistent organic chemicals (POPs) in farmed and wild Atlantic salmon and discussed the issue at MERI’s lecture series in 2006. According to Carpenter, an area of concern today is emerging contaminants like PBDEs and other persistent flame retardants. His research measures not only their presence in fish, but also how much is accumulating in the bodies of people who eat contaminated fish. “How do you know when you go to the supermarket what fish is safe to eat?” asks Carpenter. “People know the benefits but don’t know the risks.”

Carpenter has been studying the relationship between contaminants and human health for more than 20 years and is currently researching whether or not fish in the Great Lakes are safe to eat. What is of increasing concern in his research is evidence that there may be a closer relationship between toxic chemicals and chronic disease. According to Carpenter, fish contaminated with methyl mercury, PCBs, dioxins and chlorinated pesticides are major pathways of exposure that contribute to diseases not normally considered to be a result of environmental exposure, including high blood pressure, diabetes, hypertension and heart disease, and perhaps even Alzheimer’s. “What we want to do in public health,” says Carpenter, “is to prevent disease. And the only way to prevent disease is to reduce the exposure.”

A long-time member of MERI’s Scientific Advisory Board, Carpenter has authored more than 300 publications and has edited five books. He is a recent co-recipient of a grant to assess exposure of endocrine disrupting chemicals – PBDEs and PFCs – on two Arctic Yupik villages of St. Lawrence Island in Alaska. The World Health Organization (WHO) has also designated his institute as a Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/World Health Organization Collaborating Center in Environmental Health.

MERI’s 2012 lectures celebrate the life of Rachel Carson, marine biologist, author and conservationist whose 1962 book Silent Spring galvanized public response to the dangers of pesticides and launched the global environmental movement. The 2012 Rachel Carson Lectures are sponsored in partnership with Cornerstones of Science, the national science literacy initiative based in Brunswick, Maine.

The Marine Environmental Research Institute, located at 55 Main Street in Blue Hill, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the marine environment and human health through scientific research and education. For more information, please call 207-374-2135, send an e-mail to info@meriresearch.org, or visit MERI online at www.meriresearch.org

Also honored at the annual meeting was Verrill Dana alum, the Honorable Beth Dobson, who was presented with the Glassman Award. The award is presented to a woman who is a member of the Maine Bar and has helped women advance in the legal profession, been a role model for women lawyers and educated the legal community on the status of women in the profession.

About Verrill Dana: In 2012, Verrill Dana celebrates 150 years of legal service. Verrill Dana, LLP is a full-service law firm with more than 100 attorneys conducting a nationwide practice from offices in Portland and Augusta, Maine; Boston; Stamford, CT; and Washington, D.C. To learn more, visit our website at www.verrilldana.com.

Contact: K.C. Jones (207/253-4408) or Gretchen A. Johnson (207/253-4784).

Three Courses, Two Restaurants, One Spectacular After Party
The Camden Gourmet Adventure, March 8

CAMDEN, Maine – The Camden Gourmet Adventure, the first culinary event of its kind in Maine, is scheduled for Thursday, March 8 as a Midcoast Maine highlight of Maine Restaurant Week.

Every guest who reserves a seat at the table by ordering tickets to the Camden Gourmet Adventure will enjoy courses in two different restaurants before heading to an after party with desserts from Megunticook Market and live music and dancing hosted by Cellardoor Winery in Lincolnville.

Ticket holders will delight in two gourmet courses at two of the four participating restaurants: 40 Paper, Francine Bistro, Hartstone Inn and Natalie’s at Camden Harbour Inn. Guests will not know which course will be at which restaurant, or what the restaurants have created for this special evening, until they are delivered to the restaurant’s front door. Transportation will be provided to and from the restaurants and Cellardoor Winery’s dessert and dancing after party. The ticket price includes transportation, tax and tip. The Adventure begins with the purchase of a single $79 ticket.

On March 7, the day before the Camden Gourmet Adventure, ticket holders will receive an email with the evening’s schedule and gathering time and location for transportation.

Designed as an evening for the truly adventuresome food enthusiast, March 8 promises to be filled with delicious food and fun.

Tickets are available online only through Brownpapertickets.com. (http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/224351)

The Camden Harbour Inn and Hartstone Inn will be offering special overnight rates for Thursday, March 8.

The evening is sponsored by Cellardoor Winery and Megunticook Market.

Maine Restaurant Week is sponsored by the Swan Agency-Sotheby’s International Realty, US Cellular, L.L.Bean Visa Card, Down East Magazine, Shipyard Brewing Company, American Express, Native Maine Produce, Maine Today Media and Cumulus Radio.

About Maine Restaurant Week
Maine Restaurant Week, March 1-10, is a statewide celebration of restaurants. In its fourth year, the event features restaurants offering three-course meals priced at $20, $30, or $40. A number of restaurants also offer three-course lunches for $15.

Mainerestaurantweek.com
Facebook.com/mainerestaurantweek
Twitter.com/dineme
Ph (207) 775-2126
E: dineme@mainerestaurantweek.com

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The Tavern at the Inn features local and regional beers, signature cocktails, wines, and an ever-changing menu of New England favorites prepared with fresh, local ingredients. The Tavern serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner seven days a week as well as Saturday and Sunday brunch. Monday evenings and Saturday brunch in the summer feature live jazz music. Happy Hour is Sunday through Thursday from 4-6 pm year-round.

For more information about the Inn or the Tavern or for reservations call 207.837.6565 or visit http://www.innatbrunswickstation.com.

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One of Maine’s oldest winter markets offers prizes, fun and great food, Saturday, February 4 from 9 AM until noon!
You are invited to meet your Farmer, come and sample the products of farmers market vendors and State of Maine Cheese plus enter to win a Rockport Winter Market prize basket at the Rockport Marketplace, Rt 1, Rockport Maine.

State of Maine Cheese handcrafts award winning cheeses from Maine milk right on the premises. Every Saturday, all year round, Cathe invites farmers to market their products right at the store. To celebrate the Pats and Giants Super Bowl matchup and make winter fun, this market tasting on the 4th will give you the chance to taste some of the fine products available and purchase special “Super Bowl fare” if you like, for Game Day and other winter meals. An example, Emma’s Family Farm will offer special pricing on pasture raised chicken wings and grass fed hamburger.

Participating vendors include:
Emma’s Family Farm, Windsor, pasture raised pork, chicken, and beef and free range eggs;
Atlantic Baking Company, Rockland, pastries, specialty breads and rolls;
Lakins Gorges Cheese, Rockland, basket molded ricotta and other small batch cheeses;
Dilly Dally Farm, Plymouth, greens and winter vegetables;
Green Hollow Orchard, Whitefield, award winning pies, apples and cider;
State of Maine Cheese, Rockport, many different cheeses and spreads including cheddar cheese hearts wrapped in bright red wax just for Valentines day, gift baskets plus hundreds of Maine products always available in the Rockport Marketplace.

Come and enjoy samples, enter to win our winter market gift basket, meet some farmers and vendors, shop for Maine products and find out what our winter market in Rockport can offer you each week.

For further information you can call State of Maine Cheese at (207) 236-8895
Or Emma’s Family Farm at (207) 445-2141.

Senator Courtney, Representative Knight and members of the Joint Standing Committee on Taxation, my name is Nancy Smith and I am the Executive Director of GrowSmart Maine. As many of you know from our previous interactions with the committee, GrowSmart Maine is a statewide non-profit organization working at the intersection of economic development, community revitalization, and natural and working land conservation. I regret that previously scheduled commitments prevent me or other GrowSmart Maine representatives from presenting this testimony at today’s Public Hearing.

As a part of our commitment to strengthening Maine’s economy, GrowSmart Maine is particularly enthusiastic about well grounded, thoughtful proposals which seek to grow the economy in a sustainable manner while at the same time protecting our state’s unique character and quality of place. We believe this bill fits that description. It is noted in the landmark 2006 report Charting Maine’s Future, commissioned by GrowSmart Maine, “this report affirms Mainers’ abiding intuition that economic success and quality places matter equally and can be fostered by effective, frugal government.”

In my eight years as a state legislator, we debated numerous efforts to evaluate the impact and cost of tax incentive programs, but made little progress. We even looked at the legislative process, hoping to encourage more collaboration between legislative policy committees to measure the value of tax policy proposals. I endorse this bill because it does provide a comprehensive, thoughtful approach to accomplish these goals.

Several components of this legislation are particularly noteworthy: the inclusion of a broad range of potential impacts to be considered, the repeal date and evaluation process at that time so that a review of the true impacts is necessary for a tax policy to continue, and the process by which the Taxation committee reviews each bill with proposed tax incentives, once the policy committee of jurisdiction has endorsed the legislation.

Last year, GrowSmart Maine led a broad coalition that appeared before this committee proposing the elimination of the sunset on the Historic Preservation Tax Credit (HPTC) due to its impressive success. Many of the potential impacts outlined in LD 1730 were a part of the economic impact evaluation brought forward by the coalition to support this change. In the end, this committee and the legislature made the sound decision to extend the sunset by ten years. This too is in line with the process now under consideration in this bill.

One caution I would offer is to ensure that the repeal date of tax policy is out far enough to provide a predictable regulatory environment required for planning, investments, and action. As we learned with the HPTC, developers require a planning window of at least five years due to the complexity and time commitment inherent in the rehabilitation and reuse of historic buildings.

Thank you for the opportunity to provide these remarks. Please feel free to contact me with any questions regarding GrowSmart Maine’s support for LD 1730.

About the Maine Volunteer Lawyers Project: The Maine Volunteer Lawyers Project is a non-profit legal aid organization that provides free legal information, assistance and representation to low-income people with civil legal problems. All of their legal services are provided by community and attorney volunteers supported and supervised by a small staff. Their mission is to make “justice for all” a reality in Maine by giving people the knowledge, tools and support to be equal participants in our justice system.

About Verrill Dana: In 2012, Verrill Dana celebrates 150 years of legal service. Verrill Dana, LLP is a full-service law firm with more than 100 attorneys conducting a nationwide practice from offices in Portland and Augusta, Maine; Boston; Stamford, CT; and Washington, D.C. To learn more, visit our website at www.verrilldana.com.

Lucille Moffett of RPC with Michael Newsom of W.J. Wheeler

South Paris & Bethel, Maine – For Immediate Release –During the months of December and January, W.J. Wheeler Insurance Agency donated $500 to Responsible Pet Care of Oxford Hills in Norway, Maine through their popular “Facebook Like Contest”.  The agency will be hosting a similar contest during the month of February, which will benefit another one of its non-profit partners – Oxford Hills Athletic Boosters (OHAB).

OHAB exists to serve the students, parents, faculty and the Oxford Hills community-at-large. Their mission is to promote, support and create interest in the Oxford Hills athletic programs.  Unfortunately, throughout the country and in many parts of Maine, student athletic programs are suffering because of budget cuts.  The OHAB raises money and offers support so that the community’s children can stay healthy, active, and happy through these athletic programs!

Recently, the OHAB has helped the area’s children by purchasing a new scoreboard for the elementary schools, buying a new wrestling mat, paying for the freshman sports programs, and starting a lacrosse program in the middle school.  This only scratches the surface of the benefit that the Boosters are to the community!

The team at the W.J. Wheeler Insurance Agency encourages its local community members to join in the effort to support the OHAB by liking the agency’s Facebook page.  The experts at W.J. Wheeler are committed to supporting the OHAB and making sure that the youth of Maine can still express themselves through athletic programs!

Facebook Page – www.facebook.com/wjwheelerinsurance

About W.J. Wheeler:

Established in 1864, W.J. Wheeler is a locally owned, independent Maine insurance agency.   The insurance experts at W.J. Wheeler strive to offer the highest quality customer service, and take pride in creating long standing relationships with each and every client.  W.J. Wheeler is also invested in the community through programs designed to provide consumer coupons to local businesses and donations to local non-profit organizations.  Finally, they are on the forefront of technology by offering fun and informative opportunities through their social media pages.