Maine notebook

The Maine Forest Service is sending three more representatives to the Gulf Coast this weekend to assist with hurricane relief, Department of Conservation spokesman Jim Crocker said Wednesday.

Sandy Botka is headed to a space center in Mississippi. Greg Miller, a mapping specialist, and Chris Blackie, a forest ranger pilot, also are headed for Mississippi.

“Resources are flying off the board at the Maine Forest Service,” Crocker said.

In all, the Maine Forest Service has deployed 10 people. Otis Gray and Bob Southard, who took aviation fuel from Maine, are returning from the gulf area this weekend, Crocker said.

Jeff Currier, Lance Martin, Steve Day, Tom Liba and Courtney Hammond are scattered throughout Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. The average deployment is two weeks, Crocker said.

“I think it’s entirely possible we’ll send more people, but to say we definitely will is difficult,” he said.

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The Maine State Police has donated 500 pieces of clothing to the Gulf Coast, mostly shirts, pants and jackets left over from when the Bureau Of Liquor disbanded in 2003, state police spokesman Stephen McCausland said Wednesday.

“We’re sending everything but the badges,” he said.

The clothing has no designated destination but was given to the Maine Emergency Management Agency, which will coordinate to find a home for the clothing.

McCausland said the surplus had been sitting in storage, and it is hoped the clothing will be useful to hurricane victims.

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U.S. Sen. Susan Collins will join Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee, Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and others on a visit Friday to the Gulf Coast.

Collins is chairwoman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which has begun an investigation into the federal response to Hurricane Katrina.

The committee oversees the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

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The United Way of Eastern Maine has donated $10,000 to the American Red Cross Pine Tree Chapter to mitigate the drain on resources the chapter has experienced as part of its hurricane relief efforts.

With so much attention in the Gulf Coast, the Pine Tree Chapter still needs to make sure local needs are met.

The Red Cross encourages the public to donate blood that can be sent to hurricane-stricken regions.

United Way of America has set up a fund to address likely long-term effects of Hurricane Katrina. Gifts can be made to this fund online at www.unitedway.org.

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MEMA has offered to send decontamination equipment from its York County office, but the agency hasn’t heard whether the donation will be needed or not, according to MEMA spokeswoman Lynette Miller.

– From Staff Reports