1. ByTAMMYWELLS
Senior StaffWriter
SPRINGVALE — Digging
four-foot deep holes into the
ground is hard work and this
group will need to dig sever-
al of them before they insert
sauna tubes, mix up concrete
and pour it in. Then, they’ll
start on the rest of the proj-
ect. By the end of this week,
or sometime during the next,
the wheelchair ramp for this
Springvale home will be
complete and ready for use.
The six young people in
this work crew, along with
an adult leader, are among
a group of 116 teens and
adults with Work Camp
NE, a Christian-based orga-
nization that makes home
repairs, for free. Their lead-
ers made contact with the
Sanford school system some
time ago, and through that
connection they were able
to find folks who own their
own homes, but whose
income doesn’t rise to the
cost of making repairs.
Then, the adult staff from
Work Camp NE met with
homeowners to assess the
projects, and with the city’s
codes enforcement officer
to make sure the projects to
make sure the projects con-
formed to city codes. Then
on Sunday, the campers and
their leaders arrived, ready
to get to work.
Work Camp NE is in
Sanford for two weeks
– they’re staying at Sanford
Junior High School, and
have upwards of 40 projects
By ANGELO J.VERZONI
StaffWriter
BIDDEFORD — The city
and the labor unions repre-
senting its police officers and
public works employees are
currently locked in a battle
over new contract negotia-
tions.
When negotiations start-
ed about six months ago, the
city drafted a proposal for
new contracts that included
salary and benefit cuts for
officers at the Biddeford
Police Department and the
city’s public works employ-
ees, whose contracts expired
on June 30. The proposal
was met with strong resis-
tance from union repre-
sentatives, who argued the
cuts would hurt not only the
employees and their families
but also the community as a
whole.
Since then, city officials
and union representa-
tives have met a handful
of times but remain at an
impasse over the contract
negotiations, Michael Wing,
the city’s negotiator, said
Monday.
Meanwhile, the union
representing Biddeford’s fire-
fighters has declined to even
meet with the city regarding
the firefighters’ contracts,
prompting Wing to file a
complaint with the Maine
Labor Relations Board.
In a letter dated July 1 and
sent to Marc Ayotte, execu-
tive director of the Labor
Relations Board, Wing said,
“The (firefighters’) union
has no intention of meeting
with the city to negotiate a
successor agreement. … The
reasons why the union does
not want to meet with the
city are clear. The union is
aware that the city has put
forward proposals to other
city bargaining units ask-
ing for some concessions so
if the union does not meet
with the city they will never
have to receive and consider
the city’s proposals.”
Philip Greenwood, chief
steward of the police offi-
cers’ union, said Monday
that the city’s request for
salary and benefit cuts at
the police department more
or less came as a surprise
to him, considering the
department has “taken very
• Priscilla Cutler, Biddeford
• Lottie Harris, Saco
• Robert Farley, Biddeford
Local/Region A3
Community A4
Opinion A5
Obituaries A6
Sports B1-2
TV B3
Comics B4
Television B5
Index: 12 pages
8 90090 00001 7
DEATHS, A6
SeeBenefitCuts
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SeeWorkCamp
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SeeRubioEconomy
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SeeBernieSanders
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Sanders hits Portland
on campaign swing
By AMANDA MELANSON
Special to the JournalTribune
PORTLAND — “When
people stand together, there
is nothing we can’t accom-
plish,” said Democratic
Presidential hopeful Bernie
Sanders Monday night.
His comments came at
the Cross Insurance Arena
in Portland, where about
3,000 people were expected
– though an arena employ-
ee guessed that much more
were in attendance. He said
the room could seat roughly
7,000 and that with almost
every seat as full as it was,
including several stand-
ing in a crowd on the floor
before the podium at which
Bernie spoke.
It looked to be “more
than double the expected
number of the evening and
closer to about 6,000 or so
attendees,” he said.
When asked what about
Sanders brought them to
the meeting that night,
Maine resident Samuel
Farnsworth stated that he
wanted to “stay informed
about candidates.” Others
asserted that Sanders was
their candidate because his
beliefs aligned with theirs.
When Sanders took
to the stage, he did so to
cheers as his wife walked
with him, both waving to
the crowd before he began,
using just a simple gesture
of his hands to quiet the
excited crowd of people.
Sanders broke down
his policies, saying about
income inequality that it
was “not acceptable that a
handful of billionaires are
controlling our political
process,” and making refer-
ences to the Koch brothers
and big business.
“Real change is what this
campaign is about,” he said.
“The drive did not come
from on top, it came from
Hannah Teague uses a post hole digger Monday, which will eventually hold a column of con-
crete as part of a project to build a new wheelchair ramp at a home in Springvale. Teague and
some of the rest of the crew of seven at this location are among 116 young people and adults
with Work Camp NE, in Sanford and the surrounding area, making home repairs for the next two
weeks.
tammywells/JournalTribune
liz gotthelf/
JournalTribune
Tom
Roughan
is pictured
at Saco
City Hall
Monday
night after
the City
Council
meeting.
amanda melanson/SpecialtotheJournalTribune
Democratic Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks at
the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland Monday night.
Biddefordseekingbenefitcutsforpublicsafetyworkers
Deadlinedayonnuke
talks,butnodealyet
By BRADLEY KLAPPER
Associated Press
VIENNA —
Iran nuclear talks were in
danger of busting through
their second deadline in a
week Tuesday, raising ques-
tions about the ability of
world powers to cut off all
Iranian pathways to a bomb
through diplomacy, and
testing the resolve of U.S.
negotiators to walk away
from the negotiation as
they’ve threatened.
As the latest target date
arrived for a deal setting a
decade of restrictions on
Iran’s nuclear program,
U.S. Secretary of State John
Kerry, Iranian Foreign
Minister Mohammad Javad
Zarif and other top diplo-
mats huddled in Vienna in
search of a breakthrough.
All have spoken of deep
differences remaining even
after 11 days of discus-
sions, and there was no
public indication they had
resolved disputes ranging
from inspection rules on
suspicious Iranian sites to
limits on Tehran’s research
and development of
advanced nuclear technol-
ogy.
Diplomats extended
their discussions by a week
when they missed their
goal of a pact by June 30,
after passing previous
deadlines in July 2014 and
last November. For Kerry
and his team, pressure is
increasing from skeptical
U.S. allies and members of
Congress. If the accord isn’t
sent over to American law-
makers by Thursday, their
month-long review period
would be doubled to 60
days, hampering the ability
of the Obama administra-
tion to offer speedy eco-
nomic benefits to Iran for
nuclear concessions.
In Tehran Tuesday,
Iran’s Atomic Energy
Organization declared it
had reached a “general
understanding” in parallel
talks with the U.N. nuclear
agency on “joint coop-
eration.” The Iranians have
made similar claims previ-
ously, and it was unclear
if any process was estab-
lished for the International
Atomic Energy Agency’s
long-stymied investiga-
SeeNukeTalks
PAGEA2
Roughanstepsinto
emptycouncilseatinSaco
By LIZ GOTTHELF
StaffWriter
SACO — Tom Roughan
has been appointed the Ward
3 councilor, filling out the
rest of the term vacated by
Bette Brunswick.
Brunswick announced
in a letter last month that
she was moving to Ward 4
and effective immediately,
would be resigning as Ward
3 Councilor.
The city sought resumes
from those interested in
filling the rest of the term,
which ends in November,
and received four responses.
The City Council voted to
appoint Roughan at Monday
night’s Council meeting.
Councilor Eric Cote said
he thought Roughan had a
good municipal background
and liked that Roughan said
he intends to run for re-elec-
tion in November.
Roughan said prior to
living in Saco, he had expe-
rience in his hometown
reviewing budgets on the
finance committee, and also
served as president of the
local chamber of commerce.
Roughan has done vol-
unteer work with the Saco
Fire Department, writing the
department’s newsletter.
Roughan described
himself as “three quarters
retired.”
“I am eager to serve; I
have the time and experi-
ence,” he said.
Roughan said part of the
reason he wanted to become
a city councilor was to repay
a debt to the city.
“This city saved my life,”
he said, recalling a time in
February when emergency
first responders came to his
rescue after he had a heart
attack in his home.
— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf
can be contacted at 282-1535,
ext. 325 or egotthelf@journal-
tribune.com.
Rubio:‘The
oldwaysno
longerwork’
By STEVE PEOPLES
Associated Press
CHICAGO — With an
eye on the future, Florida
Sen. Marco Rubio is laying
out his plans for an “innova-
tive economy” and “revolu-
tionized higher education
system” in his first major
domestic policy speech as a
presidential candidate.
The Republican White
House hopeful will outline
his policies at a Tuesday
morning speech in Chicago
before an extended cam-
paign swing through Iowa.
“We need a new president
for a new age – one with
original ideas to unlock the
two great doors to the future:
the doors of innovation and
education,” Rubio says in
prepared remarks. “I come
Faith time
Christian work
camp makes home repairs
Tuesday, July 7, 2015Vol. 131, No. 157
Mainers rally in a
big way, B1