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Yahoo
7 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Kennebunk High grads told to take risks: 'You have the power to change the world'
KENNEBUNK — Kennebunk High School Valedictorian Emilia Ilyas remembers when the question of her future shifted from fantasy to 'evoking anxiety.' 'I unfortunately had to accept that I would never live in a castle,' Ilyas said. Ilyas, speaking to 168 of her classmates at their graduation ceremony on June 8, said much of life is too focused on the future. She encouraged students to embrace the moment on the school's football field as they prepared to stand and receive their diplomas as the Class of 2025. 'Yes, we're actually graduating. It's real. And it's fleeting,' Ilyas said. 'Let's not forget to be here before we go out there.' A total of 174 students graduated from Kennebunk High School this year, and 169 chose to walk, according to Principal Scott Tombleson. Students gathered on the field in front of friends and loved ones as they turned their tassels and tossed their caps. Superintendent Terri Cooper told students that Sunday marked 'not an ending, but a beginning.' She told students to take risks, travel to 'places that scare and excite' them, and apply for their dream job. 'You have the power to change the world,' Cooper said, 'Whether through grand gestures or quiet moments of compassion.' Kennebunk High School graduate Cooper Thompson told students they grew not just academically, but in their ability to adapt and lead through change. He said students have seen their school evolve over the past four years, welcoming new teachers, coaches, assistant principals, and even a new principal in Tombleson this past year. Every year brought a different rhythm, new expectations, and fresh faces, he said. 'Through it all, we didn't just adjust, but we thrived,' Thompson said. 'That speaks to who we are as a class – resilient, flexible and strong.' The day's faculty speaker, history and social studies teacher Rebecca Moy, put a focus on sports as she described the passion with which she has followed the Oakland Raiders since she was a child. She said sports bring out the best in people who strive to compete. She encouraged students to pursue their passions with the same effort many athletes show in athletics. 'To love sports is to understand the value of competition in testing your personal limits and to make a stand for what you've trained for or what you believe in,' Moy said. She concluded her speech, 'This is about the sincere gratitude I have for those graduates who have allowed me to be a part of your lives and let me share the passions I have.' More: Kennebunk High School names top 10% students in Class of 2025 The day marked Kennebunk High School's 150th graduation. Tombleson, hired in August 2024, said he did not take lightly his role as one of about 20 principals who have led the school. Tombelson described the history of Kennebunk 150 years ago — how shipbuilding was in decline in Maine while tourism was on the rise. He spoke about how the first Kennebunk High School graduation might have had families in town for the graduation staying at the Ocean Bluffs Hotel on Cape Arundel, overlooking Walker's Point, 'having no idea the global significance that small spit of land would one day hold.' (It was and still is owned by the Bush family, who produced two presidents of the United States.) Tombelson said they could not have imagined the student body and its community gathering in 2025. At the time, 150 years ago, Alexander Graham Bell had only just invented the telephone. At the June 8 ceremony, students took photos with their cell phones. To build on his point about history, Tombleson asked everyone who graduated from Kennebunk High School to stand up. He then asked those who graduated before the year 2015 to remain standing, then continued to count back each decade until no more were standing. The numbers went back to the 1960s before every person was sitting, the last met with loud applause. 'Together, we can build across generations,' Tombleson said. 'Together, we can renew our hope and faith in the life that is yet to unfold.' Alexis Vetrano Lucia Collin Reigosa Shay Smithwick Tru Jarvis Melody Rousselle Lila Turley Nova Genest Megan Ames James Bertus Trudo Noah Richardson Emilie Barter Dominique Owen Willow Knowles Caroline Tabor Kathryn Manning Emilia Ilyas Logan Lefebvre Emily Dube Thomas Morin Mykyta Vykhodtsev Ella Beals William Turgeon Elijah Blanchard Collin Reetz Parker Plourde Ethan Burr Charles Majkowski Alexandros Cartwright Phoenix Williams Hank Flynn Ainsley Harden Philip Dyer William McMann Aaron Rosen Luis Roberts Jacob Ghans Ryan Clark Sarah Vargonen Alexandria White Gray Rogers Skylar Holder Emma Orendorf Katherine Orendorf Donovan Kendrick Jonas Adams Alexander Adams Benjamin Johnson Norah McLeod Sasha Altshule Taylor Giles Talia Kellum Juliann Pike Anna Fox Maximilian Prosenc Elan Keys Cooper Samson Samuel Haley Finley Knappe Mekhi Gillard Finneas Coldreck Jordann Gilpatric Eliza Herring Owen Swain Connor Therrien Riley Pelletier Novalee Page-Auger William Eagleson Amara Roberts Annabelle Welch Kylee Caron Otto Fontaine Declan McGlashan Eva Havey Kellyn Zambrano Alexis Snow Robert Pollard Isabel Esch Makena Garriepy Mikayla Kimball Kelsey Ewing Karla Hernandez-Vinajero Cindy Perez-Vinajero Eva MacDonald Summer Shea Simone Houdlette Hannah Keene Owen Snow Jacob Emmons Eric Schoener Wyatt Boulette Gabrielle D'Orso-Palmer Grace Mitchell Anna Smiley Madelyn Smith Delaney Hanson Camryn Houle Noah Hammond Andrew Johnson Owen Quitog Samuel Pietrowicz Charley Norton Ian Pentland Anthony D'Elia Kyle Barron Marcelo Pastora Caballero Bennett Webster Maya Kimball Elizabeth Torstensen Ella Pitchforth Abigail Jenannette Lorelei Ogden Maeve Noble Nicholas Vasquez Mario Real Christopher Smith Jacob Labrador Avery Rossics Elsa Liberatore Isabella Donnery Aubree Veilleux Kaden Stevens Jenna Wright Grace O'Neil Ryan Hansen Jackson Thombs Wyatt Hafer Bronwyn Parkhurst Mya Todd Tanner Wendle Ava Kane Mason Binette Meghan Taggart Nicole Axelsen Sonja Frederich Eliza Sayer Abigaile Santerre Molly McKinney Addison Carbone Cenzie Cunningham Audrey Madden Weston Church Blake Dallara Theo Pow Benjamin Urban Kellen Connor Gavin MacDonald Isaac Jensen Calvin Johnson Jack Mosser Brady Stone Jonathan Hines Cooper Thompson Cole Perkins Willard Kull Cole Seitz Aidan Lynch Max Andrews Noah Tarring Brady Holder William Camp Jasper Raymond Shane Woloszyn Ryan Cumiskey Autumn Shaw Aurora Crone Maxwell Stewart Maddox Ralls Caleb Auriema Jacob Eon This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Kennebunk High grads told to take risks and 'change the world'
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
With filing week over, election season in Spokane County asks if voters want to shake up their cities
May 9—Medical Lake residents will be asked whether to re-elect a mayor determined to see the city grow and further developed, or a former mayor worried growth is outpacing the city's capacity to pay for it and could start to price out current residents. Mayor Terri Cooper is running for her second term, touting the work her office has done to secure grants and other state support she believes has put the city on a path to revitalization. She highlighted the recent acquisition of Medical Lake Waterfront Park, for example, which the city had leased from the state for decades under terms set to become more expensive but that will now be transferred to the city outright in 2026 under an agreement secured with support from the state legislature. "I had a vision of creating Medical Lake as an outdoor recreation resort town that people would enjoy coming to enjoy the lakes and trails and beauty of our region," Cooper said in a brief interview Friday. "The city had basically been in a state of deterioration for many years." Cooper said she's proud of the work her staff and she have done to update local infrastructure and the city's economic development plan, and boost local festivals and park events, so she's seeking another four years to build on the foundation she feels she's laid in the first four. Cooper also came to regional prominence for her leadership in the face of a devastating fire in 2023 that destroyed dozens of homes in her city. A personal friend of former Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Cooper made a bid last year for that seat but dropped out before filing week. Her opponent this November will be John Higgins, who served as mayor for 12 years but declined to run for re-election in 2013. He also more recently served as a member of the Medical Lake School Board and worked as a local softball coach for decades before entering politics. Higgins praised Cooper's office's deftness in securing grants, but expressed concerns that the city didn't have the sales tax base necessary to sustain continued growth in the long term. He pointed to a pending 101-lot development and argued Medical Lake would have to expand its reliance on relatively costly water drawn from the city of Spokane, as well as the potential increase in area property values that would coincide. "It's pretty much a retirement community in Medical Lake; there's not a lot of young folks coming in, except the military," Higgins said. "I don't want to see folks pushed out of their homes. And when all this government money, like Biden's infrastructure stuff, when all that money's gone, there's not going to be much money left out there to keep up with all the people moving into Medical Lake." Higgins touted that the city had balanced its budget for 12 years under his leadership without raising local utility taxes, which he noted was one of the few levers the city had to increase local revenue. Last-minute additions in Spokane, Spokane Valley A few last-minute candidates for local races in Spokane and Spokane Valley mean real primary contests for more races. Races with only two candidates still appear on the August primary ballots, but only in races with three or more candidates is anyone eliminated before the November general. Justin Reed, co-owner of family business Great American Construction and freelance sports reporter for The Spokesman-Review, filed Friday to run for the Spokane City Council seat representing northeast Spokane against incumbent Jonathan Bingle and social justice advocate Sarah Dixit. The northwest Spokane council seat also has three candidates: incumbent Councilman Zack Zappone, private cigar lounge co-owner Cody Arguelles and Meals on Wheels board member Christopher Savage. In the final Spokane City Council seat up for election this year, Alejandro Barrientos, chief operating officer at SCAFCO Steel Stud Company, and Kate Telis, a former deputy prosecutor in New Mexico, are both seeking a seat being vacated by Councilwoman Lili Navarette, who was appointed to the seat in early 2024 and announced earlier this year she would not seek a new term. Three more candidates for Spokane Valley City Council also filed in the past two days, making that city's elections the most competitive in the county this year. Councilman Rod Higgins, the longest continuous serving member of the council, is not running for re-election this year. Four people have filed to try to claim his seat, including Kristopher Pockell, a software engineer and co-owner of Elixir Sauce Company; Mike Kelly, an entrepreneur who serves as chief financial officer for Salem-based KT Contracting; and Lisa Miller, a member of the Spokane County Board of Equalization. Finally, Adam Smith, owner of Smash Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, filed Friday as the fourth and final candidate vying for the seat. Smith ran unsuccessfully for the Spokane Valley City Council in 2019, 2021 and 2023. Councilwoman Laura Padden has picked up two opponents this week, including Brad Hohn, manager of the salvage yard High Mountain Horsepower. Joseph Ghodsee, a member of the city's Homeless and Housing Task Force and Gonzaga University student named Friday to the school's President's List, also filed for the position Friday. Spokane Valley Mayor Pam Haley received an opponent for her council seat Thursday in Realtor Catherine Nelson. Spokane Valley does not have a separate election for mayor, but rather the City Council appoints a mayor from among its members. Councilman Ben Wick, a councilmember from 2012 to 2015 before rejoining the council in 2017, has drawn a challenge from Daryl Williams, an employee of Fairmount Memorial Park who goes by "The Karaoke Guy" while operating his local karaoke pop-up business. The county's largest school district finally picked up a challenger Friday as well. All four Spokane Public Schools board members in seats up for re-election, Nikki Otero Lockwood, Hilary Kozel, Nicole Bishop and Jenny Slagle, have filed to retain their seats. Jessica Anundson, owner of Eye to Eye Advising, filed Friday to run against Kozel. A second Spokane municipal court position will also be contested. Judges Kristin O'Sullivan, Mary Logan and Gloria Ochoa-Bruck each filed for re-election Monday. As of Wednesday evening, Logan was the only to draw a challenge — from former Spokane City Attorney Lynden Smithson. On Friday, criminal defense attorney Sarah Freedman filed to run against Ochoa-Bruck.
Associated Press
27-01-2025
- Climate
- Associated Press
Earthquake rattles houses in Maine and is felt hundreds of miles away
SCARBOROUGH, Maine (AP) — A 3.8-magnitude earthquake centered near the Maine coast rattled houses in northern New England on Monday and was felt by surprised residents of states hundreds of miles away. The earthquake took place at about 10:22 a.m. on Monday and was centered about six miles (10 kilometers) southeast of York Harbor in southern Maine, the United States Geological Survey reported. It was reported at a depth of about eight miles (13 kilometers) the survey said. Officials reported that the earthquake could be felt in every state in New England, and some individuals as far away as Pennsylvania reported feeling shaking. In southern Maine, many residents reported feeling houses and buildings shake as the surprising earthquake interrupted a sunny winter morning. Earthquakes in the center and eastern U.S. are less frequent than they are in the western states, but they are typically felt over a much broader region, the survey said on its website. It's common for there to be two small earthquakes a year in New England, the survey said. 'People in New England, and in its geological extension southward through Long Island, have felt small earthquakes and suffered damage from infrequent larger ones since colonial times,' the survey's website said. The quake sent residents of Maine and New Hampshire looking to assess any possible damage. In most cases, residents and businesses reported confusion over what had happened. Many shared stories on social media that they initially felt there had just been a nearby car accident or possibly an explosion. In Kennebunk, school superintendent Terri Cooper assured parents via e-mail that operations staff was looking through schools for any damage and everything seemed to be fine. 'Our operations department has checked all district buildings and systems to ensure they are in working order and no damage has been discovered,' Cooper's e-mail said.
