MOUNT DESERT — Two police officers are leaving the force this month, but they aren't going far. Officers Chris Wharff and Jacob Day are joining the Bar Harbor Police Department.

That announcement by Chief Jim Willis raised concerns at the Mount Desert Board of Selectmen's meeting Monday night.

"Once we get them trained, they seem to leave," Selectman Chuck Bucklin said.

Mount Desert resident Jim Robinson asked whether the town should consider increasing compensation and educational opportunities for its police officers. Dennis Shubert, a member of the public protection committee, recommended that the selectmen ask the committee to look at issues related to police officer retention.

"That is an excellent idea," selectman Rick Mooers said. But the board took no action on Shubert's recommendation.

Willis said officers Wharff and Day are leaving because of "a very rare opportunity" in Bar Harbor.

"We hired both of these officers from the Bar Harbor Police Department, where they were summer policemen," he said. "We trained them and sent them through the (Maine Criminal Justice) Academy. Now Bar Harbor has secured a federal Homeland Security grant that funded three full-time police officer positions, and these are two of the three."

Willis said the two officers would be paid "substantially more money" in Bar Harbor than they have been making in Mount Desert.

He said after the meeting that he is in the process of hiring officers to replace the two who are leaving. In the meantime, he said, police protection will not be compromised.

"We have the capability to provide 24/7 coverage," he said.

– Mount Desert Islander

SOUTHWEST HARBOR: Common Good offers 'soup events' Fridays until May

The Common Good Soup Kitchen Community Program will offer "soup events" and distribute soup weekly all winter, starting the first week in November and going through the end of April. A selection of "healthful nutritious soups" will be served at the events, along with live music or other entertainment, a spokesman said.

Volunteers will be present at the events to continue the "soup with soul" program started last winter: delivering soup to seniors and others who cannot get to the event. Folks who attend in person can take soup home, as long as the supply lasts.

November events will take place from noon to 2 p.m. on Fridays at the site of the former Annabelle's Seawall Dining Room, 566 Seawall Road.

"Everyone is welcome at these events, regardless of age or status," said Common Good spokesman Larry Stettner. "We want to change what people think of when they hear the words 'soup kitchen.' Here, it is a place for fun as well as food, an attractive place for the community to enjoy, for folks to gather, interact and help each other, rather than a run-of-the mill place where people just show up and the program does all the providing."

At the opening event on Nov. 6, Chuck Donnelly and Emma Walsh played Celtic guitar and fiddle. Vegetarian/vegan soups and meat-based soups featured organically based and locally produced or harvested ingredients.

The second soup event is scheduled for Nov. 13.

– The Ellsworth American.

BREMEN: Company proposes erecting cell tower on private property

A company has approached the town of Bremen about erecting a cell tower on private land. At their Oct. 14 meeting, planning board members met with representatives from Global Tower Partners about the proposal.

The company has leased property and wants to erect the tower on the west side of Route 32 behind the Bremen Community Church.

Planning board member John Marsh said the town has three areas of concern regarding the proposed tower: cell phone...