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1 month ago | 
thebollard.com | Chris Busby |Dan Zarin
Portland police called to help Bill Lundgren after a brutal roadside assault roughed him up and charged him with OUI instead. photo/courtesy LundgrenWhy can’t police help us the way we help each other? OK, true-crime fans, please take a few moments to ask yourself how you would respond in the following situations:1.
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1 month ago | 
thebollard.com | Chris Busby |Dan Zarin
The kitchen inside one of Winter Landing’s apartments. photos/Kiki GarfieldLast November we got a call from a whistleblower, a lady nearing 80 we’ll call Margaret, complaining about her experience living in a newly built senior-housing development at Mercy Hospital’s former West End campus. Called Winter Landing, the 52-unit building comprised of 600-square-foot one-bedroom apartments opened in mid-October of 2024.
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2 months ago | 
thebollard.com | Figgy DiBenedetto |Dan Zarin |Tom Major
Environmental RadicalHey folks! “O’er the river and through the woods, to Grandmother’s house we go!” Did I get you into the holiday spirit? I had to try, and that’s the only Thanksgiving tune I know. I’m writing this during the holiday season and I’m sure happy. I got hit in the head by a boomerang the day before Thanksgiving as a small lad. Ain’t been right since. That explains a lot of things. You guys don’t know I have a daughter. In fact, I have grandkids. Call this column a Christmas gift to them.
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2 months ago | 
thebollard.com | Figgy DiBenedetto |Dan Zarin |Tom Major
Pork & Potatoes at CBG. photo/Figgy DiBenedettoCBG617 Congress St., Portland613-9356cbgportland.comThere’s nothing wrong with taking food seriously, but the pressures and pretensions of living in a foodie city like Portland sometimes make me cynical and I want to stick it to the man. And by “the man,” I mean James Beard. Sometimes I want to visit a place the late, great gourmand would never consider giving a try, a joint like CBG.
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Jan 5, 2025 | 
thebollard.com | Dan Zarin
The Everything Scone at Finestkind. photo/Dan ZarinFinestkind17 Pepperell Square, Saco494-7083finestkindmaine.comDid you hear? Saco is the new Biddeford, which was previously called Portland’s Brooklyn, so I guess Saco is now also Brooklyn vis-à-vis the Manhattan of Portland, making Biddeford … Queens? I’m having trouble keeping track, and it’s all bullshit anyway, but it is true that Saco’s dining scene is having a moment of sorts.
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Dec 8, 2024 | 
thebollard.com | Tom Major |Dan Zarin |Figgy DiBenedetto
Mike Dunn with a can of Alte. photo/Tom MajorHigh on HempSo this month I’m putting my beer/beverage writer hat back on and calling for more state regulation of products people drink to feel buzzed. This might not seem like a radical position to you, but damn, I can’t believe I just wrote that. Congress’ 2018 Farm Bill (a.k.a. The Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018) made it legal to grow hemp. Hemp and marijuana are two names for the same plant: cannabis.
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Dec 8, 2024 | 
thebollard.com | Figgy DiBenedetto |Tom Major |Dan Zarin
photo/Figgy DiBenedettoEarth at Hidden Pond354 Goose Rocks Rd., Kennebunkport967-6550earthathiddenpond.orgAnticipating my folks’ annual autumn visit to Maine, as well as their 51st wedding anniversary and my father’s 78th birthday, I booked a table months ago at Earth at Hidden Pond, which was declared “Kennebunkport’s best restaurant” by … well, their own website. I’d been intrigued to try this classy place’s “farm-to-fork” cuisine for quite a while.
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Dec 8, 2024 | 
thebollard.com | Dan Zarin |Zack Barowitz |Figgy DiBenedetto
Making a Better WorldHey, folks! So this month I’ve got some stuff to help you a bit if you’re with me in making this world a better place. Things like I recently read about schoolchildren up in Poland (Maine, that is) getting together and harvesting baby fish. Now if the whole world could do things like this…The first thing that came to mind when I thought about ways to help the world is vote Democrat. But then I realize I probably don’t have to tell you that, do I?
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Nov 11, 2024 | 
thebollard.com | Dan Zarin |Zack Barowitz |Chris Busby |Figgy DiBenedetto
photo/Kiki Garfield Oktoberfest Edition Welcome back, barbecue fans, to another Smokin’ Sausage Showdown, The Bollard’s almost annual competition among local butcher shops for greasy glory! We were so busy last barbecue season that we had to skip this event, and it wasn’t until late this September that we got it together for this special Oktoberfest Edition, or what we like to call the First Annual Fall Classic (sic) Smokin’ Sausage Showdown! After seven or eight Showdowns, it was abundantly...
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Nov 11, 2024 | 
thebollard.com | Dan Zarin |Zack Barowitz |Chris Busby |Figgy DiBenedetto
photo/Dan ZarinGonneville Farm and Homestyle Cookin379 New County Rd., Dayton284-5060I’m going to confess something right now. I’ve lived in and around Portland for over 20 years and it wasn’t until last month that I heard of the tiny town of Dayton, located less than half an hour away, just west of Saco. The restaurant at Gonneville Farm in Dayton dates back only about 10 years, but their seasonal ice cream window has been an institution for decades.
