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Welcome to the Sunrise Herald with Giselle Goodman, the place to go to get the news from overnight and onward...

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IN THE WEATHER:

SUNRISE: 4:59 a.m. SUNSET: 8:24 p.m.

At 9 a.m., it was 56 degrees in downtown Portland.

Here comes the sun. Doo doo doo doo.

It
will stay with us, ducking in and out of clouds at times, for the next
couple days. Temperatures will be seasonal, in the upper 60s to low
70s. A little chance to dry out until the weekend's weather ... which
is not expected to be so nice.

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springweather

THE SUNRISE HERALD WEATHER WATCHERS REPORT:

Bill in Rockland says: It's still foggy here at the
coast, though there are patches of blue overhead. No wind and 49
degrees; the effect is one of distinct
clamminess. Hard to wait for that promised improvement.
Jim in Cape Elizabeth says:
Good morning! The rain has moved on and the clouds are rising! It
looks as if the SUN may even make an appearance at some point today.
Currently in Cape Elizabeth it is 53 @ 0630 and once again it is
still. The countdown is to the weekend with a mere four days to go!
Enjoy your Tuesday, one and all!!
Mark in Brunswick says: Hey! It's not raining here in Brunswick and we have 53 degrees. There are a few clouds but they should be scattering soon.

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ON THE ROAD:

TODAY is the day the northbound lanes of I-295 between Topsham
and Gardiner CLOSE for the summer-long repaving project.

Traffic
will be detoured around the area with signage. But if you are heading
through that area, you should think ahead and really plan your route.

THIS LINK to the Maine Department of Transportation will help you plan your travels. Good luck!.

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IN BRUNSWICK --
Expect more traffic headaches
resulting from the Maine Street reconstruction, this time with traffic
on Longfellow Avenue down to one lane today, and coming to a complete
close on Wednesday and Thursday.

The construction: Laying down a storm drain line at the intersection of Longfellow Avenue,
Park Row and Maine Street.

People are encouraged to seek an alternate
route.

But the good news: Cars traveling along Maine Street should not be affected by the
construction work.

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ON THE OCEAN:

Eastern winds blow 5 to 10 knots, then come from the south this afternoon. Seas 1 to 2
feet. BUT, visibility WILL NOT BE hampered by downpours and fog for a change. Hooray!

IN PORTLAND: High tide at 5:17 p.m. Low tide at 10:56 a.m. and again at 11:23 p.m.

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IN THE NEWS:

MAINE -- You've probably noticed the price of gas going up and up.

And the news isn't much brighter when it comes to heating oil.

The
Governor's Office of Energy Independence and Security (OEIS) conducted
its weekly off-season oil survey and determined that the current
statewide average is 6 cents higher per gallon than last week.

That
puts the statewide average cost of a gallon of home heating oil at
$2.33. The highest price in the state was $2.55 and the lowest came in
at $2.08. Kerosene, meanwhile, is at $2.76 a gallon.

"So far this
year the price of crude oil has risen nearly $33 since the market's low
point in February," said OEIS Director John Kerry. "It is important to
prepare for next year's heating season today through careful planning
and budgeting."

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BIDDEFORD -- Today is the funeral for Debra Cole, a beloved firefighter and paramedic from South Portland, who died last week after suffering a stroke.

The service is expected to bring 1,000 to 3,000 mourners to Biddeford to pay their respects.

The funeral begins at 11 a.m. at the New Life Church, 551 Alfred Rd., which is directly off the Maine Turnpike Biddeford exit.

In
addition to serving as a firefighter for the past seven years in South
Portland, Cole also was volunteer fire captain in Goodwins Mills. Cole, 40, died Thursday afternoon after collapsing at the Western Avenue fire station Wednesday morning.

She
touched many lives and will also be honored by firefighters across New
England, who will make the trip today to Biddeford, even if they never
even met Ms. Cole.

"It is very important for us to attend these funerals en masse to show
the community that this was an important person who should be
recognized," Carl French said this morning. French is a paramedic/firefighter with the Sanford Fire department.

He
said he would not be surprised if 1,500 people or more attended the
service today. So many people are expected, in fact, that a a shuttle
had to be set up to take people from the Biddeford Ice Arena, where
there is enough parking, to the church.

Indeed, there will be a
lot of traffic in and out of Biddeford this morning. If you happen to
be stuck in it, and have a moment, send some kind thoughts in the
direction of Cole's family.

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FROM OUR NEWS PARTNERS:

The
Bangor Daily News today is reporting that a woman from Princeton
(Maine, not the school) chased off a would-be armed robber with a
weapon of her own. Click here to read the entire story.

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HAPPENING TODAY:

IN
PORTLAND -- A discussion about torture and its effects is scheduled for
7 p.m. today at the First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church, 425
Congress Street.

The discussion will focus on the moral and religious issues surrounding the use of torture for information gathering.

The panel includes a retired Air Force officer, Matthew Alexander, who wrote the book: How to Break a Terrorist: The U.S. Interrogators Who Used Brains, Not Brutality, to Take Down the Deadliest Man in Iraq.

The panel is co-sponsored by the Maine Council of Churches, Amnesty International USA and the Maine Civil Liberties Union.

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IN
AUGUSTA -- Governor john Baldacci today will welcome more than 350
technologists, financiers and policymakers from around the world to
Maine for the 2009 EnergyOcean Conference.

The Samoset Resort
in Rockland is the setting for this year's get-together. The focus of
the conference is pretty self-explanatory: It is a time where people
gather to discuss the future of energy production and how it might be
obtained from the world's oceans.

The events over the next two days are too numerous to list here. You can visit the EnergyOcean 2009 website with this link to see all the events, exhibitors and guests who plan on attending.

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