Community news

Bangor

Online auction for NIE

The Newspapers in Education program is offering its first online auction.

The NIE Online Auction for Education is open for bidding through 9 p.m. Thursday, March 23. Proceeds will help sponsor newspapers for educators and students in more than 300 classrooms throughout the eight-county service area of the Bangor Daily News.

“Very generous businesses and individuals have donated many exciting items for you to bid on,” said Kimberly Whitmore, director of NIE. “Items range from everyday needs like haircuts, car washes, gifts and collectibles for you and your home to one-of-a-kind items, exciting and unique packages, sports memorabilia, deluxe getaways and much more. There are items you need, items you want and items you just have to have.

“Don’t get outbid by those last minute bidders that are waiting in the wings to snatch up the item that you have been bidding on,” Whitmore said. “Many of the “Buy Now” prices have been lowered so you may snatch up that item that you just have to have before the last-minute bidders join us Thursday night. The auction closes at 9 p.m. Thursday, March 23. Thank you for supporting Newspapers in Education.”

Orono

Seminars on Penobscot

The Sen. George J. Mitchell Center for Environmental and Watershed Research continues its spring seminar series “Penobscot River Research: Looking to the Future.” The series provides scientists, educators and communities with information on water quality trends, expected impacts of dam removal, river flora and fauna, environmental history, and current monitoring efforts.

All lectures are free and open to the public. Lectures take place at noon in Norman Smith Hall at the University of Maine. Parking permits and directions are available from Ruth Hallsworth, 581-3196. Additional info is available at www.umaine.edu/WaterResearch.

The lecture schedule is:

. Tuesday, March 28 – Chris Yoder, research director for the Center for Applied Bioassessment and Biocriteria at the Midwest Biodiversity Institute, will discuss his work in developing a fish assemblage assessment method for Maine’s non-wadeable large rivers. He will discuss progress made so far, and results from rivers where assessments have been conducted, including the Penobscot.

. Tuesday, April 4 – Gayle Zydelwski and Stephen Fernandes from the University of Maine will present two talks. The first will discuss whether descaling impairs osmoregulation in seawater-challenged Atlantic salmon smolts. Descaling is a commonly observed injury in smolts migrating in watersheds that have dams with poor downstream passage. The second discussion will be on sturgeon habitat in the lower Penobscot River. Historically, both Atlantic and shortnose sturgeon occurred in the river but the current status of both species’ populations is unknown.

. Thursday, April 6 – Barry Mower from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection will discuss the department’s monitoring of the Penobscot River to ensure that it meets required attainment goals. Along with other programs, he will discuss E. coli bacteria monitoring, biological and chemical effluent monitoring, and ambient monitoring of macro-invertebrate communities. He will discuss fish consumption advisories for the Penobscot River.