I agree with you completely in regards to the entitlement mindset of the people here. You are right, we were spoiled by the paper mill and it's high paying jobs but there are many here now who have never worked in or for that mill. I think you'll find that, with the exception of people over 35 who have either had jobs there or had parents who worked there, the mentality that people are entitled to $30.00 an hour is a thing of the past. Younger people would be willing to put in an honest day's labor for an honest day's pay. And then, there are the welfare people...
I think that your assertion that minimum wage jobs provide a stepping stone to bigger and better things is way off base. The people who are collecting welfare checks see those "benefits" docked as soon as they start pulling in actual money, so that in many cases they are less well off than they were not working. For those that didn't collect any state monies, a minimum wage job is a step up but only if they continue living at home with their parents or share a room with someone to help defray costs. To support one person in Rumford, living alone with no frills and no subsidies, requires at a minimum a 40 hour per week job at $9.00 per hour. Why should you bust your behind working a minimum wage job when the government is more than willing to pay you to sit at home and and not work.
My own son recently took a job for somewhere in the neighborhood of $11.00 an hour. It is backbreaking manual labor in dirty conditions with long hours but he was honestly amazed and grateful to get a job for that kind of money. He had worked for the local mega-store before that and couldn't make ends meet on the wages he was being paid, which were a scoche above minimum wage.
One last point. You say that there are 11,000 vehicle passing through Rumford each day but you fail to say how much of that is repeat traffic. How many of those vehicles are actually driving through on their way to someplace else and how many are just people from this poor river valley going about their daily routines. 11,000 vehicle bumping over air hoses in the road doesn't mean that it's all through town traffic.
I will stop now, and will withhold judgement about your service industry plan for the time being. You may, in the end, prove me wrong and I truly hope that you do. I love this town, I've lived here in the river valley all of my life and I don't want to see it fall apart. But I'm afraid, really afraid, that we are witnessing the swan song of the whole area.

Mr. Blampied, Rumford is already a ghost of it's former self. You are a relatively recent immigrant and did not see us when we were at our livliest. We were a vibrant and bustling community with 2x the population that we have now and a budget surplus that other towns were envious of. Look at us now.
We are a welfare community who's infrastructure is crumbling, who's best and brightest are leaving for greener pastures to be replaced with TANF recipients in section 8 housing, and who's community leaders tilt at windmills by bringing in service industry jobs that pay minimum wage. This is like trying to plug a hole in a dike with a straw.
The paper mill was the mortar that held this community together and now that mortar has significant cracks in it. Of the 800 or so employees who work there, more than half of them live in other communities so their pay checks aren't spent here. Within a few years, if they are still open, the mill will be devalued again and we will lose even more in the way of taxes that property owners will have to cover. The selectman's board seems to be under the impression that if they continue whistling past the graveyard that all will be well. We need more than service industry jobs here in town. You know this, I know this, everybody knows this yet all we seem to get are pizza joints.
With the national and world economies headed downhill, personal discretionary spending is going to dry up and then those service industry jobs will dry up as well and we will be left with even more shuttered store fronts. Find us a large, polluting, politically incorrect manufacturing plant to put in out at the industrial park. There is a power plant right there for them to draw from and a work force here that, having never had the benefit of huge wages, would be willing to work for decent living wages (as long as unions are kept out).
I laud your efforts, but places like Amato's, that pay minimum wage to teenagers are not the answer. And giving them tax breaks such as they have received is a sign of desperation on our part. Give the tax breaks to a business that will actually make a difference here, if we haven't scared all of them away with our decidedly business un-friendly attitude.

may not be as good in Canada as it is here, but when those Canadians are coming here for treatment, that national health care is still covering the procedures done in the U.S.
That's my only disagreement with your statement and then it's more of a clarification. Other than that you're completely right.

The Preamble to the Constitution
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
Notice in there, that word "promote". It doesn't say "provide". Social Security and medicare are paid for by working people, like ourselves, and are to be used as a SUPPLEMENT to other sources when we reach retirement age. Neither of them were ever intended to provide complete support for retirees. No, Doug, I wouldn't be happy to see them go, because they are doing exactly what they were intended to do and are paid for by working people. I do, however, take issue with people who have never worked being able to collect from those pots (and I won't even get into the non working horde at Hannaford, an entirely different subject) which brings me to the point of my letter. Get people off of the dole, make them pay for themselves.
I should not have to pay for medical coverage for somebody who chooses not to have any, even when they can afford to have it. If a person can pay they should be paying, and should they choose not to pay, they should be considered, as you said, chaff, and denied medical coverage, if for no other reason than being an idiot.
As far as a return on my social security investment is concerned, it's too late for me but anyone under 40 should be able to get whatever they have paid in transferred to an IRA of some sort so that they will have enough to retire on. Me? Well I have 15 years or so until I can retire and I think Social Security will still be solvent then and it will SUPPLEMENT my IRA nicely.

development is needed, but I fail to see how we can make it happen. Rumford is far enough away from anywhere to make it economically appealing to a new business that might want to relocate. It is also far enough away from any real social center to make it appealing to people who would have to relocate to staff any new business venture that came here.
Rumford, Mexico, and Dixfield/Peru need to take a lesson from Norway/So.Paris. They have no real industry, are roughly the same distance from any municipal center as we are, and are only slightly larger in terms of population and yet they have a vibrant economy based on everything but industry.
The new, proposed, hotel is a great idea but unless there is something in Rumford itself to draw those guests into town, all it will be doing is lining the pockets of the owners. There is nothing in Rumford to draw visitors here. Even Black Mountain, for all of it's delusions of grandeur in hosting national events, still needs to beg money from the town to stay afloat. And those events don't make any real difference to the towns people as a whole. I have heard a number of proposals thrown around about bringing business here but in the end it always comes down to one thing; Nobody wants to move to Rumford. And, those businesses that do are driven away by the negative attitudes of the selectpersons that we have sitting at present. They are anti business, unless it happens to be a business that they personally endorse, or that the local gentry endorse.
65% of voters polled favored the wind initiative yet moratoriums were passed and an ordinance written that was restrictive enough that the company no longer wished to do business here. It cost some landowners literally Millions of dollars over the length of the lease for their lands. Some of these landowners closed their properties to recreation in response.
Rumford cannot attract REAL business interests, not pizza shops and hotels, with the attitude that currently exists. Money will continue to be spent on workgroups and economic development boards and proposals that will never amount to anything because the people in charge don't want any ripples in their pond. You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs.

The Rumford Board of Selectmen prove themselves to be idiots. Free work, free upkeep, and free cosmetic improvements in an area that desperately needs it shot down because the majority can't get their heads out of their posteriors.
GOOD JOB!!! Sorry, Mr. Blampied, that you have to live in a place like this.

Veritas. Even though we disagree on most things, I agree with you here.

If they are guilty or even convicted of murder somewhere else, we just shoot them on sight here????? Why take the chance???
If they are guilty of dealing drugs somewhere else, they do their sentence here and we make it an automatic third strike sentence, hard labor.
If they are wanted in another state, for ANYTHING they don't get extradited, they get convicted in absentia and they get to serve their time here, hard labor. Then we charge the state issuing the warrant/conviction for their care.... For a Llooonnngggg (very long) time.
A criminal is a criminal no matter where he or she comes from. A zip code or different state shouldn't mean a damned thing.
By the way, in case you're wondering, I WASN'T being at all sarcastic.

don't back the OWS protesters is because, in reality, most of us don't give a sh!#.
We have to work for a living and raise families and don't have the spare time to join an opposition movement that doesn't even have clear goals.
It's hard for someone to care about a cause when the people who are out there complaining are wearing LL Bean jackets and UGG boots while those of us who really need the help shop at wal-mart.
The really sad thing is that, in spite of all the crap that we see going on every day, most of us are going to go out and vote the same way we've always voted when the time comes. We'll do this because, in reality, we are afraid of change. We'll do it because we are sheep.
Yes, there will be some who will buck the system, but not nearly enough to make a change. And even if there is a small hiccup in the numbers, it won't be enough to change the way things are done in either Augusta or DC.
This train has a full head of steam and the brake handle is missing.

people copy and paste things here all the time. Was it because I didn't use an APA format in citing my source??? Next time I will.

it took 5 posts before you decided to chime in. Here are your answers:

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But unfortunately, the only one with even half a brain out of all of the Repub contenders is Ron Paul, and nobody takes him seriously. The rest of the field can't stop talking long enough to keep their feet out of their own mouths and that will be their undoing.
I'm afraid that (barring total economic collapse and global apocalypse) we will see the USA start down the road to becoming the SSA (socialist states of America)in 2012.
I really hope to God that you're right though.

Only educated Americans will be able to fulfill the legacy that their parents left them. If we, as Americans, fail to provide future generations with an education that enables them to compete with the rest of the world, then we have failed in our duty as "Keepers of the future".
Most other industrialized countries, and even some that aren't, provide a free education to the students that wish to go beyond the basics. 1 year of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan would pay for all outstanding student loans in this country.
Which is worth more, a war in a country that doesn't really matter, or the education of our citizens? Personally, I'm in favor of nukeing the whole middle east and having done with the entire mess so don't try to peg me as a peacenik.

As far as your question about holding politicians accountable is concerned, if you have a voter whose education isn't good enough to enable him/her to tell the registrar who the secretary of state is, they shouldn't be allowed to vote to begin with. maybe then we wouldn't have idiots holding public office. And once again, I'll defend myself before the slam, I'm not a bigot or a Jim Crow kind of guy. I just want people to have something like a CLUE before they can cast a vote and not base it on fancy words and clever hairstyles.

another NIMBY heard from. You don't want to depend on foreign oil but you don't want to depend on domestic production either. You also don't want to admit that any kind of alternative energy source is going to take 20 years to get up to speed.
What do we do in the mean time? Give me a reasonable answer that provides us with a source of sustainable energy, in any form, that will get us through until then and I'll agree that you have a point. Until then, we make do with what we have and pray that the NIMBYs don't cause our downfall while we wait.

and this is not because I am either pro or anti wind. The ordinance effectively undercut any landowner from using his property as he/she saw fit and this, to me, seems like the act of a government gone insane.
The idea that a municipality would produce an ordinance so restrictive that it would prevent any Industry, that didn't involve pizza and sandwiches, from setting up shop in town seems self defeating. Given the fact that the local paper mill has declared bankruptcy, one would think that any industry would be welcomed here. Yeah, I know all about the TIFs and other crap that says the wind farms wouldn't actually pay any taxes, blah, blah, blah. So you write the ordinance so that they WOULD pay taxes, and so They WOULD pay part of the electric bills. If Byron and Roxbury can figure out a way to make it pay for them, I would think that the selectpersons in Rumford would be able to figure out how to make it work for us.
All of you voters who were against this, I want you to ask yourselves, seriously, what real difference did it make to you? You talk a big game about the environment but when was the last time that any of you REALLY spent time out there? I'll be honest and say I don't remember, but I do know that the wind mills, when, I do look up and notice them, don't look any worse than the clearcuts that I used to see all over the sides of the mountains. And better than that, the windmills are at least generating an income for somebody, even if it's not you.

For effectively shooting our town in the foot. In 3 or 4 years, when the paper mill goes under because it can't compete, you'll be wishing that you had thought this through a little better.
When your property tax rates are at 50 mils instead of 22 mils because the paper mill closed and doesn't pay half of the town taxes but the selectmen still want the same services that Auburn has, maybe you'll look back and say 'Gee, that was dumb.' Then it will be too late.
The mountains won't be so pretty when having them instead of cash in your pocket hits home and tourism doesn't even come close to matching the lost income.
Aren't we all lucky, we get to see how a ghost town actually comes into being first-hand.

That the Republican party attacked Obama for failing to follow through on a war that a large percentage of Americans feel is a waste of time, lives and money. Not to mention that it's the same timeline the last president subscribed to. Shut The hell up already!!!
I know that I lean right on most matters but in some I lean towards the left,and in this matter I tend to lean left (sort of).
We, as Americans,have tried stuffing the idea of democracy down the throats of these people for years and have failed miserably at it.
I favor getting out of the middle east and saving American lives, but probably not for the same reasons as most liberals. Personally, I favor the idea of letting them blow each other up (if that is how they decide to settle matters), protecting our borders at all costs, and then going back to mop up the mess and use the resources that those before were either unable or unwilling to use to better themselves.
Yeah, I know there will be some of you who want to try and label me as anti Muslim but nothing could be further from the truth. I have a great respect for the nation of Islam. The Muslims once controlled most of the European continent, long before there was a USA or a Great Britain,and in fact came close to taking Rome and western Europe entirely before internal fighting condemned the effort. It is this fear that is still ingrained in the normal Christian psyche, that all Muslims are out to kill Christians. What most people fail to understand is that the Muslim that you see on the news is not the same Muslim that lives in your neighbourhood.
The ordinary one who lives next door to you is a law abiding citizen who worships God (the same God as the Christians do), pays his/her taxes, and is a part of the community. I respect their beliefs and also tend to adhere to the Sharia "Eye for an Eye" philosophy that is central to their system. They are, for lack of a better term, "Old Testament" adherants.
Muslims worship GOD as he was originally intended to be worshipped. Christians worship a watered down version who preached the exact opposite of what his "Father" did.
Now, to get back to the original idea (regarding the Middle east), letting them kill themselves off and then going in to mop up after the fact seems like a perfectly acceptable way to let the situation diffuse itself.
Allow the Iranian/Pakistani/Iraqi/Afganistani folks to decide amongst themselves who should be the leader. Use NATO to keep it all contained,of course,but let them fight it out betwixt themselves and when all is said and done, go in and say "You're the winner, now you have to conform like the rest of us so we can all live together."

There isn't another Democrat stupid enough to throw his hat into the ring. They'd be eaten alive by not only the press but the public as well. I don't blame them for opting out. It's the first sign of political intelligence I've seem from either side in a long time.
I'm not even going to get into the other stuff with you. Watch all of the news stations, read all of the commentaries, and put together an informed opinion based on a variety of perspectives rather than just one.

should read- "we can make the materials here but CAN'T make..." 3rd paragraph

I'm one of those people who had to stop taking classes because of the increase in tuition costs. I will be paying for (forever) those classes that I did take, as well as for the classes and benefits of those government welfare recipients who refuse to go out and do an honest day's labour because it is "beneath them".
The old saying goes "Those who can, do. Those who cannot, teach." If the staff of the University of Maine system were the best and the brightest, they would be out there making names for themselves in the fields of their choice or working at a big name school or research facility.
As far as "Taliban Paul" goes, his ideas are sound. Paying teachers who fail to educate is sort of like paying CMP for failing to deliver electricity. We don't have much of a choice with either one. Cmp is the only provider and all of the teachers belong to a union that has the state over a barrel. Pay the people who are producing actual results, not just teaching to the test, and stop funding those who are not. if the instructors teaching in the UMaine system cannot provide the same degree of education that teachers at BC or MIT are providing, then they shouldn't be getting the same pay. And even if they can, they shouldn't expect or receive the same pay due to the simple fact that this is Maine.
Oh, as far as the Occupy Wall Street thing goes, They've gotten all the coverage that they deserve. You'll notice that president Obama has raised 45 million dollars in corporate and private monies and the republican nominees have managed to raise about 25 million altogether. Guess where the corporate funding is going??? it's going to the person with the weakest spine.

"Congress has an obligation and responsibility to work to improve the lives of Americans while they have the opportunity to do so."

Nothing that I've read anywhere says that it is the job of Congress to improve the lives of Americans. I can't recall reading anywhere in the Constitution that it was the job of congress or the government to "PROVIDE general welfare". It says "PROMOTE the general welfare, which is a completely different thing.
The only people responsible for improving the lives of Americans are Americans themselves. Quit whining and expecting someone else to make your life better.

Once upon a time, unions had their place. There are enough rules and regulations in place now that unions have become obsolete. Except of course for those people that are reaping the benefits of membership. Greater pay and benefits than their non-union counterparts.
None of the people working today for a union contributed a damned thing to any of the benefits that everyone enjoys today. Union membership today is a moneymaking scam. This is proven by the fact that unions are fighting right to work laws. They don't want anyone working in a union shop who they can't collect money from. Do your homework Dan.

to make the first Monday of September a national holiday. But I will accept the extra pay that is offered for working on that day, that is simply being practical. A hypocrite is a person who dares to condemn somebody else for the path they choose when they haven't walked it themselves. I'd say you fit that bill.

I don't belong to a union so I don't get the day off as part of my contract agreement. If I want it off, I have to use one of my limited earned time days. I do get paid extra for working the holiday, but there are people out there who get paid for NOT working on that day.
When everyone is paid the same amount for doing the same job regardless of whether or not they belong to a union, Then there will be a reason to celebrate Labor Day. Until then, it's just another day at work.

but I have yet to hear, from any of you, what you have to offer as a viable alternative to wind energy. None of you naysayers want wind in their backyard because it might, MIGHT, be noisy, cause flicker, kill birds, reduce tourism, blah, blah blah.
I guess you'd rather have coal,or oil (which are both environmentally unfriendly but you can't really see them), or hydro (which has been around for years and killed how many millions of fish?). There is also solar energy, which in this neck of the woods is even more sketchy than wind power but isn't an option because you need acres of land for solar farms too.
What you people fail to realize is that humans are slowly killing themselves and their only planet because of their insatiable need for electricity and power. Personally, I think that a little noise is a small price to pay for even an unreliable source of power that keeps us from suffocating ourselves with carbon monoxide. So some birds die and some animals are displaced!! Big deal!!!
I would much rather have a planet that is a little less hospitable to wildlife and more hospitable to humans than the other way around. And for the humans that complain about noise but run a fan or AC unit all the time, STFU. There's no difference in the noise factors if the setbacks are followed.
Last but not least, most of you who are doing the complaining are not property owners who will be affected if the windmills are put in. A property owner should be allowed to do whatever he wants with his property, up to and including nuclear reactors if that's what he wants to do.
It's simply the fact that they are visually unappealing to you that is the most offensive. I personally think they are majestic and beautiful works of engineering and I know a lot of people who agree with me.
By the way, I'm going to take this opportunity to advocate for moths, mosquitos, and other nocturnal insects in asking for a ban on Bats and those annoying electric bug zappers that I hear going off all summer long. They keep me awake and cause me distress with the deaths that they are causing.

to the property owner, who was wise enough to find a use for his property that generates a continual income for him/her. I wish I had thought of it myself.

Thinking about sweaters if you're low income. Personally, I've always been just above the income level that qualifies me for Liheap, so I know all about it. Looks like more of you might be joining me this year. Welcome!!!

that, in the 21st century, you insist on retaining this puritanical mindset. This is because you have been drinking from the poisoned well of radical Christian culture. According to Christian lore, every person will go before the throne to be judged. You, sir, are not the throne. "Do not pass judgement lest you yourself be judged" (Book of Matthew, I think).
The world has moved on from when the Catholics put the Bible together and most Christian sects have managed to mature with the world. It's unfortunate to see that there are still some that haven't.

"For the life of me I cannot understand why parents who want to teach their children compassion, tolerance and acceptance would read these books to their children. Throughout the Potter books and movies there are many mean and hateful statements such as “I hate them," "stupid," "shut up.” Characters wish pain on people and even go so far as to cast a paralyzing horror spell on another character. Even the good characters lie, call names, steal, imply profanity and break rules.

The books are filled with witchcraft, rebellion and vengeance."

Stay out of mine.

and not what Stalin, Lenin, Mao, and Castro turned it into, then communism is an ideal society. No rich, no poor, everybody treated exactly the same. Of course there are people out there who feel that they deserve to be treated more equally than others.

Communism (kŏm'yə-nĭz'əm)
n.
A theoretical economic system characterized by the collective ownership of property and by the organization of labor for the common advantage of all members.

is not spending eternity, after your Death, living in a dream world where everything is happy all the time.
Give me an everlasting life that I can look forward to, with all of the chaos and tribulations that I have right now and I might look forward to it. In my opinion, what Christianity offers as Heaven, is actually a lite version of Hell. The same old, same old, forever. Why would you even want to wake up in the morning if that's all you had to look forward to?
If there is a God, and he wants to grant life everlasting, at least make it one where people can enjoy all of the things that they passed up because they were too busy trying to curry God's favour the first time around.

should be a representative of both sides of the coin. Their duties should be to match employer with employees and vice versa. They should not advocate for either and should strive to be neutral in all adversarial disputes between labor and employer.
I can see why, given this interpretation of the Dept.'s mandate, that the mural needed to be removed. It gave visitors the impression that the dept was biased towards labor when, in fact, there wasn't (or at least shouldn't have been) any kind of bias at all. I can see why people could interpret the mural as being pro labor and anti business, but I can also see that unions made a big difference in the way business was conducted in Maine.
I don't dislike the mural, I just feel that there is a better venue for its display than in a state run dept. whose business it is to attract business.

Who doesn't have to worry about job security or the effects that unions are having on the rest of the population who are trying to get any kind of wage. A lot of folks can't get even minimum wage jobs because unions in the places where they apply say that unless you join, you can't work. And then if they do join the union, the dues are so high that they might as well have stayed unemployed. Unions are a dinosaur whose time has come and gone. There are enough laws and rules in place now that the abuses that people keep harping about couldn't happen in a workplace. And even if they did, the courts would step in and avenge the victim with inordinate amounts of cash fines.

can no longer bear the financial weight that it has in the past. The census figure came out yesterday and the population of Rumford now stands at 4218 people many of whom are not taxpayers. There are 2461 housing units in town of which only 1989 are occupied and the ones that aren't occupied are probably either unfit for occupancy or are for sale with the owner living elsewhere.
http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview....
Follow the link and choose Maine from the dropdown menu and then look for Rumford.
To quote an old C&W song " we have champagne tastes and a beer budget". Department heads are going to have to find a way to provide services with less money. If they don't want to cut jobs, then employees are going to have to accept reduced hours to accommodate keeping those extra people on the payroll. There are no longer any sacred cows here. Everything should be on the block including the staff in the town office, the police and fire departments, and the town garage. As far as the retirement fund goes for the police and fire depts, between the both of them there are 22 full time employees and 6 reserve employees who are getting an average of $4600 a year put into their retirement accounts by the town and I can't afford to put $1000 a year into mine. Aren't unions wonderful???

On a completely different subject, I understand that the much ballyhooed gateway business that the selectmen have been angling for is now a done deal. Guess what, I hear tell it's an Amato's restaurant. That's really gonna make people and businesses want to flock to Rumford. We already have 7 or 8 pizza places in a three mile radius now. Good job!!!

Is that the census figures you used were from 2000. The new 2010 census figures for Maine aren't due to be released until 3/24/11 and I think they will be lower than what you have stated. If they are the same or higher, it sure as hell won't be because we had an influx of homeowning, taxpaying citizens. It will be because Rumford has become a haven for section 8 renters where the apartment owners make all the money from the state and pay crap in taxes. Money, which, by the way, Taxpayers are paying for. It's all a big racket.
An employed person can't afford a rent in Rumford but a welfare recipient can. How does that make sense???? Personally, I think that there ought to be a rent control program in Rumford (and for that matter, everywhere in Maine) that makes it illegal for a landlord to charge $750 a month for a 3 bedroom dive apartment on Cumberland St to a working stiff just because the State is willing to pay Portland prices for a Rumford apartment.
Let's see how many Section 8 renters we have when they have to pay 50-60 % of their income for an apartment like the real working people do. There, Now I've gone off on a rant.
There is a place down south where a fire dept let a persons house burn because he hadn't paid his taxes and thereby hadn't committed his due share to the fire dept. Attach a services tax onto all section 8 apartments that THE TENNANT or LANDLORD is REQUIRED to pay to the town (or be evicted) and we might be able to afford all of these services that people are worried about. Those people who pay their rent with cash or check, in full every month, would be exempt. If it sounds like I'm picking on welfare cases, yeah, I am.
Let's not go into disability. That's a whole different kettle of fish and not someplace you want to go with me.
As far as the recreational facility that's been here for years, if they can't make it conform to the ADA requirements regarding accessability, it needs to be closed. I don't care if it's a local landmark and my grandparents went there. It's another dinosaur that needs to be killed off if it can't be self sufficient. As I said before, If it's not self supporting, kill it. Rumford can no longer afford charity.

Just because a group's political views disagree with yours doesn't mean that all of their information is bad. Everyone has a spin, political or religious or personal. Even you do.
"The Maine Heritage Policy Center has made a large collection of searchable pension information available there."
If all they are doing is presenting facts, it's kind of hard to spin that.

Both were supposed to read 20%, not 205. Sorry

Just trying to make that sound the way I wanted it to is what gave me the headache

Maine reps in the capital receive $10,815.00 the first year of a term, and $7,725.00 for the second year. Across the border, in NH, reps and senators, at state level, receive $200.00 per 2 year term, not per year. There is also one rep for every 3300 people, meaning that the people in NH are better represented at the state level, for less money, than are the folks of Maine. You're right, it needs to change
Stupid bills and overpaid representatives are just a few of the problems facing this state. Now, if only our Governor could learn to keep his mouth shut and focus on the job at hand, we might just make some headway

How do I go about ordering Items #27 and #32 from your bookshelf? When I click the email link I get a dead page.

As far as the union thing goes. I worked in a closed shop where I didn't have a choice but to join. Then they used my dues to support causes that I didn't believe in but I couldn't tell them not to. After Paying my dues for a year, I refused to do a job that wasn't safe and when I was fired for insubordination, my union left me to fend for myself. I've never trusted them since and never will again.
As far as the rich vs. the poor thing goes, we're just going to have to agree to disagree, I guess. I'm keeping my opinion and your keeping yours

On these posts even read them??? I see clicks to posts that have the same thought as either me or Ronald yet the numbers don't add up. People, you can't agree with both or disagree with both. Pick a side or stay out of the conversation. Don't just do stuff to egg people on.
I enjoy arguing with Ronald, He's one of the few that can carry on a good argument, even if he is wrong :)
We're perfectly capable of pi$$ing each other off without outside help.

that 10% of it's service are abortions. So, one must assume that 10% of federal funds are being used to pay for abortion services. Unless the PPA can provide documentation that federal funds were not used, at any time to fund abortions then the feds are in the right.
Personally, I don't have a take on this (abortion) either way except to say that if you can't manage to keep your pants on then you shouldn't get any help at all. Forcible rape is one thing, but drunken, drugged, or consensual sex that results in a child should be the responsibility of the people involved in the act or their parents (if the people were underaged).
I don't want to have to pay for somebody's unwanted mistake. I paid for mine and loved them, still do with all of my heart, but they both know that if they become parents without a means of support for that child they can't come to me to get it.
Kind of harsh by todays standards, I know, but once you have a child you don't deserve the luxury of being treated like a child anymore.

anybody who has been convicted of DUI, OAS, getting into a fight with a spouse or domestic partner, self committed themselves for mental health reasons, been committed against their will due to state regulations, and any of a number of other possible sins, can be judged incompetent. They broke the law and are therefore mentally incompetent since ignorance of the law doesn't excuse breaking it in Maine.
While I am sure that the number of people in Maine who shouldn't own guns is probably in excess of 25 people, determining who those people are is another problem altogether. Constitutionally, every person has the right to vote, regardless of mental capacity. If a candidate went to every home where legally registered MR adults lived and was nice to them, who would they remember and vote for??? The person who came to meet them. Do you deny them the right to vote???
The same applies to the right to own guns. It is constitutionally guaranteed. Do you deny them that right because they are sightly skewed mentally???
My point is that, once given proper instruction, which Maine demands, unless a person has proven him/her self to have homicidal or suicidal tendencies there really is no cause to refuse them the opportunity to buy a firearm. That is where Maine has a sticking point with the reporting requirement. How do we, without a doubt, prove that someone is unworthy of possessing a firearm. It's a legal hellhole that they don't want to crawl into.
The solution is to require everyone to own a gun, know how to use it, and to carry it with them at all times. It would be a safer world.

that raising taxes on just the people who make the most money will fix the problem. You're carving out solutions as well. This is a case of the pot calling the kettle black. It's hypocrisy at its finest.

You're beginning to sound like Chicken Little. The same old saw over an over again. I bet you'd be willing to give up all the money you had for the sake of the little people if you were in that top 10% tax bracket, wouldn't you,, Well, we'll never know, because you're not. But you want them to pay for the slackers who collect every year and pay nothing.
However, if you ever do win the lottery, and your name gets published, I'll make sure to tell the tax man that you'll happily give up 75% of your winnings instead of 50% to help your fellow man and to ease the burden on the system.
How bout we ask every American to give up his tax return for two years to help balance the budget. The Fed pays an equal amount in returns every year as they collect in taxes from individual taxpayers. The last year that I could find information for, 2007, stated that the IRS collected $2.7 trillion in taxes. Of that, $249 billion was from individual tax payers. Refunds for that year were $248.8 billion to 117 million individual taxpayers which averages out to $21120.00 per individual who paid taxes. Individuals broke even.
If you look at this and do the math, corporations and businesses paid right around $2.5 TRILLION dollars in taxes for that year. So you tell me where the lions share of the US tax revenue came from. Looks like the rich people pay more to me or am I the only one who sees this???
Personally, I don't care who has 80% of the wealth or who has 7%. If, as I said in another post, everyone paid a flat tax and there were no deductions or refunds, the point would be moot. The budget would be balanced and then you couldn't keep screaming about us and them like a stuck record.

You keep beating the same dead horse with this "they" and "we" stuff. Real Mainers work for a living, or at least most of them do. Some of us have been luckier than others and have been able to amass wealth that the rest envy. That doesn't mean that we think they should foot our bills just because they have more money. It just doesn't work that way here. It might have where you came from but that is not here.
Stop already, it's getting boring.

An estimated 5,695,950 residents. Only 30,000 of those work for the state. The average state worker makes almost as much in benefits as in salary. It averages about $100,000.00 per year per employee when you combine wages and benefits. Multiply that by 30,000 employees and look at the figure. This is what Union labor does to a state.
Should those 30 thousand people be able to hold a state of more than 5 million people hostage. I don't think so. If you don't like my figures, look for yourself
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870340860457616429071772495...

I look at taxes the same way I look at insurance. If I pay my policy every month and have an accident, then I'm covered. If I live next to somebody who's house burns down, and mine does in the process, I don't want to have to pay for their house too just because they didn't keep up with their payments. If you can't pay the premium, you shouldn't own a house.
I shouldn't have to pay for people who are unwilling to contribute out of laziness.
Don't even go there.... I know that there are people who CAN'T contribute due to extenuating circumstances. However, if you can sit at a computer and type you can be productive. If you don't drool on yourself, and can speak coherently, there is something you can do to contribute. The trouble is that society doesn't want to let them contribute. Most of the so called handicapped people would jump at the chance to be able to do something constructive and fulfilling. The real drain on the system are those "disabled" people who don't have a damned thing wrong with them that a swift kick in the pants wouldn't solve. Those are the people my insurance plan comparisons are about. If you've never paid into the system, the system doesn't owe you a damned thing.

I knew there had to be somebody here that saw the logic

in front of 100,000 live people, not to mention the countless millions that were watching on television, many of whom were just waiting, in fact betting, on you to make a mistake.
I don't care how professional you are, the pressure is enormous and she knows that she screwed up. She (Christina) doesn't need your sorry butt reminding her of the fact. It will haunt her for the rest of her life.
Shut up.

But that's just you being you so I'll leave it alone.
Yes, 92% of Maine students do take the SATs, and that alone should mean that, just because of sheer numbers, our scores should average higher than they do. Even if the more populous states have smaller percentages of students taking the tests that still doesn't explain why, with 92% of ours taking them, the scores are so low. The only explanation is that our education system lacks something. Our students aren't dumb, they're just, comparatively, less educated.
That fact all by itself will lead businesses to look elsewhere. And it's not just Maine. The whole country is falling behind the rest of the industrialized world in education and that is in spite of all the money that is thrown at our schools. And before you go off on a tangent about school spending here's a site that gives per capita spending in this country versus others

http://nces.ed.gov/pubs/eiip/eiipid43.asp

what it isn't, is a good place to run a business. Tourists don't move to Maine, they come here to take advantage of the beaches and lakes and ski areas during their vacations and then go back to their homes where they have jobs with incomes far above that of the average Mainer.
Those people that do actually relocate here are retirees who are wealthy enough to bear the tax burden, or welfare recipients who have reached the limit in their own state and come here because there are no limits. Our children leave for greener pastures as soon as they can.
I don't rely on tourists for my income, and while it's true that many Mainers do, they can't be the only ones with a voice. Opening up areas that have been closed in the past to development will provide jobs in housing construction, the service industry, and if done correctly, the tourism industry.
Sooner or later, hopefully sooner, Maine is going to have to get past the idea that the way we are living right now is "The way life should be". We were listed as the worst state in the country to do business in and then, a month later, by the same magazine, as the dumbest state. That needs to change. Governor LePage realizes this and hopefully will be able to make some changes before it's too late to reverse the rest of the country's opinion of us.

-See post disclaimer on profile page-

not willing/unable

About company policy, but you couldn't be further from the truth. As a matter of fact I went and verified it again last night just to be sure.
Any employee is allowed to post whatever they want as long as they don't drag the employer into it as well or pass along information that is restricted to personnel only. And if the employer does happen to come up, that the same disclaimer that I posted on my profile should be displayed with the post.
They are aware that there are services like facebook and twitter and that employees will use them in their off hours. The NEW policy, dated August 2010, takes these things into account so as not to infringe on peoples free speech rights. All they as is that you be respectful in any and all postings so as not to mortally offend anyone. If you'd care to meet IRL I'll show you a copy. Didn't think so.
One more time, How the he## do you know where I work. I must know you, in which case I'll eventually figure out who you are.
And again, I've used my real name on this forum and on EVERY other one that I belong to and have for YEARS and not once have I had any weirdos bother me or mine. It's the normal people who are the ones you have to watch. My children, when they did get beaten, were usually attacked by someone older and bigger who had been brainwashed by a radical parent to think that their way was the only way. Sort of the same way children of racists hate because their parents do, because they've been molded. Or Republicans, or Democrats, or Catholics, or any garden variety American who has never met a Muslim but thinks they're all terrorists.
Also, I noticed that the two things that you pick out of my post were the employer issue, where you were wrong, and my family again. I have chosen, and they have agreed that it is better to face the world with their heads held high rather than cowering in the shadows , afraid to say anything that might be in the least bit offensive unless it can be done anonymously.
Last point, you didn't address anything else I said. How can you be a proponent of free speech when you're afraid to speak freely?

and drag my family into this, as well as disclose my place of employment which as far as I know I've never posted here (something I would never have done to you), I feel obligated to return the favor. At some point in time, I will.
As far as the crazies go, I have lived and worked in places that would make your toes curl up. I know all about them, they're predictable. It's the normal ones who scare me. Some of the people who post here that wouldn't say boo if you met them on the street but become rabid when they can comment behind a computer. Those are the truly crazy people. If people would just ignore them they'd probably go away, but nooooo!
People get dragged into their little political or religious frenzies without even meaning to and it descends into chaos from there. All semblance of civility is gone because people don't know enough not to engage in a battle of words with a fanatic. Nobody wins.
Right now however. I have a simple question to ask. This question is for everyone. When and why did you become such paranoid people and have you made any children you might have this paranoid too?
My family knows that I sometimes lack tact and tend to tell it like I see it no matter the consequences. My two oldest boys usually settled these matters, when they came up, with somebody bleeding. Sometimes it was them, sometimes it was somebody else. Usually, if you're willing to back up your mouth with your fists, people back down. Not everyone is willing to fight for what they hold to be the truth, at least not in this day and age.
My youngest is a little more tactful and when her friends mention something that a parent may have said, she asks them to prove me wrong. If the parents themselves say something she gives them my phone number and tells them to take it up with me. She learned this from her mother.
Never be afraid to stand up for what you believe to be true. Be willing to listen to opposing viewpoints and be willing to admit you're wrong when you are but above all, be true to yourself and be proud to say, I am "whoever" and this is what I think. It's what this country was founded on and what I see now is a populace that is afraid to speak out for fear of being tagged as a dissident or rabble rouser.
Ask yourself this question and answer it honestly. If someone stopped you on the street and said "Hey, aren't you "------" from the Sj? I thought your comment on --- was wrong and I'd like to talk with you about it." would you be man enough to say 'sure, lets talk" or would you tell them they have the wrong person? Then think about your answer. I think you know where I'm going with this.
What has this country come to when people have to fear that what they say might offend somebody? Where is it going when people have to hide behind false names in order to be unafraid to speak their minds. Whatever and Wherever that place is, I don't like it and I'm not going to go.

* Please see my profile by clicking on my name for a disclaimer regarding my employer* Once again, thank you CommonSense for making it necessary for me to take this precaution.

those people who think that any inmate in state custody has a right to anything beyond meals and a bed. Send them to college??? Are you insane??? There are working people who can't afford to send their children to college and you think that the state would be better served by sending inmates there than releasing them into the world.
All you get from an educated criminal is a smarter criminal. I will admit that there are some who have rehabilitated themselves but it was something that THEY wanted to do. They didn't do it because they were given a college education.
Personally, I think that sheriff down in Arizona or wherever it is has the right idea. Work farms so they can support themselves and not be a burden on the state. Breaking rocks and growing gardens and raising and slaughtering your own livestock. Maintaining the prisons and state highways,etc. That will either teach them that they don't want to go back to jail or how to not get caught again when they do get out.
Out sourcing them to other places is depriving the State of Maine of potential labor that could help cut costs right at home.

when people could speak their minds without getting all paranoid about somebody stalking them or their family members. It is a sad thing that the people in this forum are that paranoid.
We have liberals and conservatives, left and right wingers. republicans democrats libertarians and socialists, and everything in between in this forum and aside from some snide remarks about income sources and intelligence, there has never been a threat of physical violence that I've seen.
The way I see it, if you can say it here, you shouldn't be afraid of saying it publicly on a soapbox. If you can't say what you believe in while showing your face, you really don't believe in what you're saying.
I'm not afraid and those of you who have always used their real names here apparently aren't either. I applaud those of you who are still here after 2/01/11. Those of you who hide from Big Brother, if that's what you're afraid of,only make him stronger by hiding.

You blew it when you said 98% since only around 65% of working people pay taxes, if that many. The rest of them actually get money back because they don't make enough to pay taxes. How does that work????
Also, if I worked for my money and made millions and then die, why should my heirs have to pay 50% of what I've left to them to the Gov.? The Gov didn't work for the money. This is the problem with a tax and spend system. The Gov spends all of the money, even after it's citizens have told it to stop, and then wants the same citizens to foot the bill for the mistakes that it's made. Again, how does that work????
As far as extending the current tax laws goes, it wasn't intended to knock down unemployment. It was intended to allow Americans to keep money in their pockets at a time when most of us could use it to pay bills. If the people out there on unemployment would belly up to the bar and say,"hell yeah, I'll work at McDonald's" then unemployment rates would drop and save taxpayers some money. Before you start bitching, Unemployment compensation will make up the difference if you make less when you're working than you collect.
Last, but not least, I praise the men and women who both gave their lives and/or risked them during the 9/11 attack, but, those people who worked for public services such as the Fire Dept. and the Police Dept. and National Guard and whatever other civil services were involved should have had insurance that was part of their compensation package to begin with. Why the government needs to compensate them for their injuries or illnesses above and beyond what their insurance companies do is beyond me. No civil servant should expect to be compensated above and beyond normal for injuries that happen during the course of their duties. They joined the force to do what they did and, unexpected or not, saving people at the risk of their own live is part of that job. Where would small town America be if every fireperson or police person in the country sued their town because they were injured on the job?
As far as congress working the last week of the year, I have to work that week, so should they. Actually, for what they're paid, they should work without rest for the whole week.

It was kind of clever of Snowe and Collins to include the weight limit extension in the omnibus package. 99% Republicans didn't vote for it (the omnibus, I watched the vote) but it was almost a sure bet that it would pass anyway simply because of the Democrats voting power right now. If it had passed, the republicans could have gotten their earmarks and add-ons passed and still blamed the democrats for voting for this huge spending package.
Where the plan failed was in that 5 or 6 democrats voted against their party and defeated the omnibus bill (who'd a thunk it??).
So for all of you grousers out there, you've got your panties all in a bunch about nothing. The new congress hasn't even begun and already you're throwing rocks.

Sob stories should be thrown out. If you were born deaf, dumb and blind then you're deserving of help. Born mentally disabled to the point where you can't take care of your own bodily functions, you deserve help. If you're a drunk, or your back hurts, or you get nervous in crowds, and any number of other lame excuses, you shouldn't get free money. There is something out there that you can do to earn that check, insurance, and food stamps that you get from the government every month.
I have just had a wonderful idea!!! Train the halt and lame to do the work that the govt. workers do and they can earn their monthlies that way!!! It would cut down on govt. spending by having necessary work done by people that are already getting paid for doing nothing.

to another letter just a minute ago??

but I personally can't afford to see my income taxes jump even $1000.00 per year. That's Almost $100.00 per month that's gone from my wallet and that could be used to support my family. I don't know about you, but I work for a living and don't get govt. handouts and I'm about as taxed as I can stand to be right now.
If the taxes are going to be cut for some, they should be cut for all. The rich people worked to earn their money just like I did. If you want real reform, take a look at the tax code.
Make it a flat income tax across the board. Do the same for inheritance taxes, same tax for everyone. Make everyone, even those with private retirement funds, pay into social security and make it a law that only people who have paid into the medicare/caid system are allowed to collect unless you were born with a disability that precludes you from working in any position. If you get hurt on the job, it's the responsibility of workers comp to take care of you. If you can't live on that then it's time to change your life style.
People took care of their own years ago, before there was SSI and those families may not have had much, but they had family.
To some degree, the Republicans have the right of it. The less gov interference in my life the better. On the flip side of the coin, the Dems have a point too , the gov should help those TRULY in need.
Obama making deals is what a real President needs to do. Find a half way point that the whiners and hypocrites in Congress and the Senate of both parties can meet at, and go from there. He's not perfect. He gave in on some things to get others. It's called compromise and he seems to be getting better at it. He might prove me wrong yet.
As far as distinguishing between the parties, I gave up a long time ago. All of them are hypocrites and none of them do what the people who put them in power want them to do. They're all the same no matter what party they claim to represent. They're there for the money and the hope of a lucrative private sector job when they are termed out.

for being brave enough to post a real reply rather than just disagreeing with me.
As for the rest of you, I don't mind that people disagree but at least have the stones to put down a reason for disagreeing so that we can debate the point in a rational manner. You may have points that I hadn't considered and I may have the same for you. This is supposed to be a forum, and the last time I looked, a forum was a venue through which all people could voice an opinion and be able to defend it. Attacking or disagreeing behind a curtain of anonymity is just cowardly.
Again, JMO.

The voters speak and the Selectmen ignore them. Why am I not surprised? Monique Aniel isn't, as far as I know, even a resident of Rumford. What right does she have to put her two cents worth in at a Rumford meeting?
Greaney at least have good reasons for his concerns but Shurtleff apparently doesn't get the fact that that First Wind wouldn't be looking to build if they didn't have the financing to do it.
The idea of an ordinance that is understandable to the common person is a good one, just make sure that it is fairly implemented and not developed to regulate a single industry.

but we are a nation in a hurry. It wouldn't matter which party was in power, the people of this country have a short memory span and want results NOW. What they don't seem to get is that we have two separate parties in control of the Govt. at all times and neither one of them can agree with the other on what should be done to fix the problems. It's one of the paradoxes of democracy. Nobody agrees with anybody else about anything but HEY, let's run a country.
Instant fixes can't be done, but everyone wants instant gratification. The Republicans now control the House, or will in January. You can bet that if something isn't done by March, the people that voted them in will be screaming for their heads.
Obama was handed a mess, and Bush had a war he had no business running dropped in his lap. Neither one of these men are at fault for the problems we're facing now. They both did the best that they could based on the information that they have to work with.
Blame the advisors who have their own agendas. Blame Congress and the House who can't seem to get their SH*& together long enough to enact a real piece of legislation that matters to the rest of us.
The POTUS has no real power anymore. He's pretty much the Queen of England in a mans suit.

Voters cast their ballots and made the decision. Give it a rest.

Would have require them to shut down the towers. 45Db is a person talking in a quiet room.. Can you hear that 1/4 mile away??? I can't, and neither can the landowners around the development because of the setback requirements required by state law, end of need for nighttime shut down. The whole thing was BS to begin with. Lots of outsiders trying to influence Rumford voters. It's done now.

that pays minimum wage??? Do you have any jobs to offer at all???
If people are numb enough, or addicted enough, to blow entire checks on gambling then they have problems and need help. Gambling establishments are required to divert funds to gambling addiction resources. If that's your only argument, it's a poor one.
Would you prefer that people collect a welfare check that is paid for by taxpayers or make money on their own??? Personally, I prefer the latter option.

is an increase in property, sales, and income taxes which will directly effect how much money they will have to spend, then by all means, elect another democrat.
I have always voted my mind, whether it be democrat or republican, based on what the state needed at the time. What we need right now is a fiscally responsible governor, legislature, and senate.
Cutting state expenditures is the first place to start. There are many programs that have been mandated by the federal govt. that have not been federally funded. Those should be the first to be dumped.
Highway and transportation should go next. Keep the state routes in good condition for goods transport but the smaller roads should be left to the municipalities that they are in. If that means going back to groomed gravel, so be it (it might actually slow people down some).
Education is next. Maine averages $13,000+ dollars per year per child in education costs for public schools and we're still behind everyone else. Offer parents who are able to educate their own children $8000 per year to home school them. Imagine the savings.

I had the opportunity to leave but stayed because it was home. Never worked for the mill, didn't want to. I love my state and only want the best for it and the people who live in it.
It's unfortunate that our children have to leave in order to find work because of the "Keep Maine Beautiful" mentality when it should be "Keep Maine Solvent". Tourists aren't enough to support this state and most of the people who live here are middle class working stiffs who can't support the exorbitant spending practices of either the state or town governments.
It's not just my town that's in the dumper, the whole state is and everybody knows it. We have to make a decision about whether we want to be a service based state that relies on the whims of tourism to support it, or whether we want to be a state that is business friendly.
As I said in the first post, I could care less about wind power. What I want is a business that will come into this community and stay for longer than 6 months and either employ more than 4 people or make a sizable impact on the property tax rates. That business at present happens to be wind power. If you have another solution waiting in the wings we'd all be happy to hear about it
What really gets me is that nobody raised a fuss when they ran the gas line through town and built a power plant. That thing could leak or explode and wipe out half the town. Mention a wind mill and knocking down some trees and the place boils like an anthill. The difference is that you can't see the pipe line and the power plant is all on one spot.
I happen to think that the wind turbines are beautiful, graceful pieces of architectural engineering that would add to the beauty of the landscape rather than detract from it, but then maybe seeing something modern as beautiful is considered heresy if you're in Maine/ NIMBYLAND.
I'm done now. I have to get ready to go to work. Yeah, you read that right.

to own a home, a camp, 100 acres to build a retirement home on and have family that will leave you a home on Penobscot Bay. How's all that silver in your mouth taste??
You're one of those people who don't worry about money because you've never lacked for it. You don't worry about how the taxes will be paid. You talk about ghettos, and subways and trash but you've only seen it as you drive by it.
You support causes because it's fashionable, not because the effect you personally. Your the worst kind of hypocrite, spouting of about wind and oil, and coal and probably have stocks in all of them.
Oh, my little house is a 2200 Sq foot brick federal built in 1894. It's listed in the National Registry of Historic Places. Far from little.

But after reading some of your other posts, it appears that you are one of those "from away" people that think they have a voice in a community where they don't live. If you live here FULL TIME then sure, comment. If you don't, keep your opinions to yourself, we don't need them. If you're one of those people who feels that they have to comment on everything that goes on regardless of whether or not it directly affects them or their community, get a life.
Oh, by the way, you're right. I did choose to live where I do. I bought a home that is NOT currently worth thousands less than what I paid for it or on the verge of foreclosure. I bought a home that I could afford no matter how bad things got. I like my home.
I don't like being surprised with 22% increases in my tax bill because people are blind to the fact that beautiful scenery doesn't pay the bills. Neither God nor Mother Nature pay taxes on that land you're so worried about, and unless it's developed, neither do the tourists that everyone is so concerned with. If the land isn't being used it's useless.
I don't care if it's pretty with foliage and trees. I've looked at those wind turbines and I like the looks of them, they're pretty nice to look at and you get used to the noise ( the little that there is compared to the paper mill). Besides that, they bring in money. The only way trees or mountains make money is if you cut down the trees for the pulp or for lumber or cut them down to put up ski slopes put up ski slopes.
There's a thought!!! Use the roads that are cut to put up the turbines as ski slopes in the winter!!! Kill 2 birds with one stone. Genius.

"To make this a reality, it will take entrepreneurs and investors with insight, vision and patience, not grand, get-rich-quick schemes and wild speculation touted as fact."
Who are these people that you speak of?? Those that I am familiar with have all taken off for greener pastures than we have here in Maine. I hear lots of talk from all kinds of people about how they want to attract businesses here and then they raise the tax rates and draft ordinances that make it impossible for companies to do anything progressive because it might upset the out of staters who have land here.
This is not forward thinking. This is economic suicide and the year round residents are going to be the people who are forced to drink the kool-aid.

but I have two sons in their twenties who would give their teeth for a steady job that pays 8 or10 bucks an hour. For this area, that actually is pretty good pay. No, it's not paper mill grade wages but it's definitely better than flipping burgers or picking eggs.
And who says that House keepers and janitors are menial??? Who keeps your hospitals, schools and hotels clean? Get over yourself bud, any paying job is better than no job, or worse, welfare. If more people thought that way rather than relying on the state to support them this would be a much happier society.

Closing the schools from December through February so that there are less heating costs and putting A/C units in each of the class rooms and sending the kids through the summer? No worries about snow days, or bus accidents due to slippery roads. Or maybe even 1/2 days year round with a two week vacation in the summer.
There are all kinds of ways that schools could save money and still meet the needed requirements for children. It's the inconvenience to the parents that's the biggest problem.
Personally, I'd love to see my kids in school year round for three years rather than part of the year for four. They wouldn't have to spend the first two month of every school year relearning what they lost over summer break.
Better yet, how 'bout we reduce military spending, quit being the worlds policemen, and put our money into the education of our children? Imagine it, not being ranked 10th (or lower) in the world as far as student education goes!!! What a novel idea.
Now, if only some intelligent person in the Government would think of that. Wait, did I just say intelligent and government in the same sentence??? Best we forget about that ever happening.

but it obviously wasn't in this country. Here we have what is called TANF, which is supposed to be Temporary (stress that word) Aid to Needy Families. It's anything but temporary. I know people who have been on the state dole for the better part of thirty years, getting free health care, food, and reduced rents while my tax dollars subsidize it. If you're naive enough to think that illegals won't have babies in this country just to get the free money when our own citizens do, you need to take a closer look at the world.

is that the Muslim religion follows the same God as the Christians and Jews do. For those Christians out there who don't get it yet, Christ is NOT God.
Nowhere in the Old Testament, that I can find, does God say that I'm sending my child for you to torture and maim so that you can worship him later, so his validity as the Son of God is called into question from the start. Christianity, in my book, isn't the worship of God but the worship of a not God, which the original God expressly forbids. Talk about conundrums.
That being said, Muslims (especially the radical ones) follow the God of the Old Testament and his rules, and they are of a far more vengeful nature than those of Christianity. Most Muslims try to follow the more docile teachings of God as given to them by the prophet Muhammad. They only go "Old Testament" on people when they're backed into a corner.
The radical Muslims are always in vengeful Old Testament mode.
There is a difference between the two and since there are just as many (if not more) Muslims in the world as there are Christians, we had better learn to get along in a hurry.

but it seems like the rest of you have made all of the arguments that I would have. The only exception is the legalize it, sell it, bail out the govt. argument which I stand behind also.

thank the hospitals and doctors who provide the care that you are given through Mainecare. They are the ones who are doing this for you for what amounts to no charge.
The State of Maine is currently hundreds of millions of dollars in arrears to most medical providers in this state because of Mainecare.
Take some of that money that is left over from TARP or that has been repaid and pay the hospitals who provide the care.

if I seemed a little bit defensive.

where you can put your suggestion. As an employee at Rumford Hospital I have to say that closing either Rumford or Bridgton is one of the most foolish ideas I have ever heard, and not just because I work here.
Both hospitals care for people from a large rural area, and while no, our rooms aren't always full, there are many people who rely on us for care that doesn't require an overnight stay. The ER is always busy, there are many local patients who use our oncology dept. as well as our physical therapy facilities. Visiting specialists make it possible for people to avoid the necissity of traveling to Lewiston for care, and the Ambulatory Surgery Unit allows people to have small surgeries performed without the added burden to both patient and family of having to go away from home.
Your suggestion that nurse managers are the cause of the fiscal problems faced by these hospitals is also misguided. Each dept. has a nurse manager that is trained to deal with the particular needs of that dept. and to give all of the duties to a single manager would result in lower quality of care.
No, the problem here is, as was stated in the article, the fact that Maine and the Federal Govt. have failed to live up to their responsibilities to pay the hospitals for services that they mandated we provide.
I have another suggestion as well. Take the leftover money from the TARP debacle and use it to pay hospitals nationwide what they are owed from state and federal insurance programs and quit giving it to companies that put them selve in the predicaments that they are in. Rewarding bad behavioe simply leads to more bad behavior.

it's own power generating plant, and since that plant's valuation has dropped substantially, maybe the citizens of said town ought to demand free or reduced electricity from said power plant and CMP in return for the tax breaks that they get. Even if they don't get any tax breaks, shouldn't our rates be lower anyways just because they are right here in town and the transmission cost is drastically reduced for CMP? Make the transmission rates go up incrementally the further from the source you get. That seem the right thing to do.
The power company on the falls is no longer owned by the mill, which now generates most of its own power through natural gas and steam and as a utility they should be made to come to the bargaining table just like wind generators do. I have friends in the south who have hydroelectric plants close to them who pay a fraction of what we do because the people voted to tax them at a lower rate in exchange for lower electric bills. Of course they don't have a monopoly like CMP to contend with either.
The 3 power plants in Rumford now generate more power than the grid can handle and need to be shut down at times so as not to overload things. If that is the case, why are we paying anything at all for electricity? Transmission costs yes, but electricity, no. I'm beginning to get to the bottom of this wind tower thing in my own roundabout way. Give me time.

The way the town budget book reads, it looked like overseer of the poor was a part of the town officers and paid from that part of the town money. Thanks for correcting my mistake. I still don't believe that a full time person is needed, and, if the state reimburses towns at the same rate that they reimburse the medical facilities, we're in trouble.

that wind turbines do cause problems for some people, and only some people, you fail to mention the harm caused by coal and oil fired power plants to ALL people. you also don't mention the horrible effects that hydro electric plants have on migratory fish species, not only from blocking their routes but from the leeching of industrial lubricants into the water. All of you who are complaining about the wrecked view and the devastated landscape fail to come up with a solution that gets us away from our dependence on fossil fuels. Any little bit that reduces our need to rip giant holes in the earth to satisfy our energy needs helps.
It's really amazing what people can get used to if they have to put up with it for long enough. I live right in the center of Rumford and the only thing that still bothers me is the Mill letting off steam. I've even gotten used to the big trucks and Harleys going by my house. I think that most people would not even notice the wind towers after 6 months or so and the birds, bats, and bees that it might interfere with would eventually find a flight path that took them around the towers.
You're one of those people that ignores the penny that you see lying on the ground because you don't think it's worth bending over to pick up, all the while forgetting that eventually they add up to dollars. Until you have a viable alternative that will actually work, here, now, in Maine, stop complaining and start reaching down for those pennies that the wind towers provide. And as for your complaint that most of the power generated by the towers would go out of state, So What!!! If we, or anyone else is producing something that makes this country as a whole less dependent on what is currently killing us, then that's a good thing. The whole idea is to make the country less dependent, not just us. And as far as the environment goes, and the views, the wind towers, in my humble opinion are majestic and nice to look at and if the forest can survive the clear cutting done by the paper mills it will sure as heck survive this. Get off of your high horse and quit preaching.
I'd like to see another Nuke plant built here as well, and solar arrays spread over every acre of open, non farm-able land. Every home should have them on the roof too ( solar panels, that is). How about geothermal energy? Make it mandatory for every new home built, subsidize it even . Small land plots can have vertical set ups and large plots can have horizontal ones. Mandatory solar panels on all new homes too. Put that in instead of the pool and the granite counter tops.
There are ways to save besides the towers, yes, but all journeys begin with a first step. Let's not be afraid to take this one.

would adjust their rates to the area that the rental property is in then the landlords wouldn't be able to charge as much to regular tenants. Regardless of whether or not heat and hot water is included, no apartment in Rumford is worth $950.00 a month, even with 3 bedrooms.. You can buy a home here for half as much. It's a scam and everyone knows it, especially the landlords. The tenants who live in section 8 housing, meanwhile, reap the benefits of paying $30.00 per month for an apartment that a working person can't afford without having to make a choice between food or rent. The majority of non section 8 apartments in town aren't fit for habitation but if you're a working (stress on working) person who can't get a mortgage it's the only option you have.
Sooo... until there is some equity between what an apartment is actually worth and what the state will pay we are at an impasse. I do like the idea that someone has to be a resident for 6 months before they are eligible for aid from the town but it would be preferable if that aid had a time limit or at least a monetary limit of say, $500.00 per applicant in both food and rent help and a maximum number of cases (100).
I'll admit that I have taken advantage of the town welfare office myself, back when there were dinosaurs. There was a limit and people had to work at minimum wage for the town for as long as it took to pay what you received in aid.
I don't believe that a town the size of Rumford warrants a full time employee to handle welfare cases. If the requirements were made clear about who was eligible to apply and that all others would be summarily rejected, I'm sure that the case load would be dramatically reduced. Besides that, by her own admission, she only had 173 applications, of which 95 were rejected. 2080 hours per year as a full time employee is a lot of time to spend on paperwork for 79 people. That's probably around $30k a year in wages, so the actual cost of running the welfare office in Rumford is closer to $100,000.00 a year.
Finally, if you want to see a really messed up set of regulations that favor the applicant( no matter who it is or where he/she is from) rather than the municipality, take a look at these, right from the Maine. gov website: http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/OIAS/services/general-assistance/index.html

a little radical with my comments and I appreciate both your support and allowing me to vent without verbally abusing me for it.
Karen, my issue with the NIMBY crowd is that a large majority of them have problems with development going on around them but are perfectly content for it to go on somewhere else, as long as it's NIMBY. It doesn't seem to matter whether it's wind, solar, nuclear, or hydroelectric, someone always has a reason to oppose it. Everywhere is somebody's back yard and if everyone takes that stance then nothing will get done.
Angel, as far as the long term goes with wind towers, I do agree to some extent. But, wind towers can be dismantled a lot more quickly than, let's say, an oil or coal fired generation plant. The scientific concern regarding climate change and wind towers is that too many of them may actually change weather patterns. Look at the weather now and tell me that it hasn't changed dramatically already.
As I said earlier thanks to you both. As long as there are folks like you out there, this kind of forum is worth the time.

if we budgeted $70,000 last year, and were reimbursed for more than $20,000, how we managed to spend $53,000. The math doesn't add up. Also, who does Thelma Giberson think she is? If I have to work part time I'll quit???? Quit then!! I'm sure that there's some other deserving person who would accept a part-time position. It's not like you're being asked to work for free. Even at part time you'll make more than a lot of people with a full time job and you'll still have the $5k a year from Mexico.
Maybe the town ought to get into the rental business. Put some money into these buildings that they're closing and rent them out as section 8, The local landlords think it's a really lucrative opportunity.
Use that income to finance the welfare Dept.

But you're wrong. The only valid point that you make is the one concerning the parent's attempt to turn this debacle into a reality show. The profit motive was wrong, but their faith in their daughter's abilities wasn't. There was no compelling reason for Hillary to climb Everest either but he did it. There is no compelling reason for somebody to jump out of a perfectly good airplane but people do it every day.
As a matter of fact, there is no compelling reason for people to do most of the things that they do in the name of sport because there is the possibility of injury or even death involved in most activities that strenuous physical activity.
This young woman was aware of the risks, was capable of the task she undertook and had it not been for bad weather would probably have completed it. I'm not advocating sending an unprepared child out into the world to try for the South Pole but this society has reached a point where sheltering it's children has led to their inability to face the challenges of the real world unless their is some kind of support system in place to catch them if they fall.
150 years ago a war was fought in this country that saw young men, and some young women too, younger than this Sunderland girl, sacrifice their lives for a cause that they believed in. Now their parents won't let them walk to school because they might hear or see something bad or be , OMG, approached by someone they don't know ( and don't give me the child abduction line, statistically speaking kids are more apt to be attacked by family members than by strangers).
My two oldest children were given pretty much free range when the hit eighth grade and knew that they were pretty much allowed to do anything that wasn't illegal without fear of repercussions from me. Sometimes they got hurt, sometimes they got hurt badly and I would pick them up and dust them off and when they were ready would set them loose into the world again. I worried at times but I never told them no and they are strong, unafraid young men now who know how far they can push themselves before the get into trouble. Most of their associates are afraid to try. That is saddening.

afraid to post the results. It would be great if the budget was sent back and some incumbents ousted. We need some new blood with new ideas.

I have to agree with Mr. Anastasio that a merger would probably require some study to see if it would be a good idea, but I'm afraid that the time to consider it is long past. With the devaluation of Rumford's two biggest properties, and the resultant increase in homeowners property taxes, we have a large strike against us. The fact that the current selectman's board can't seem to manage the budget for the town because they'd have to make some hard decisions as far as funding goes is another strike. The fact that the people who make the decisions in both towns are of the mentality, and from the generation, that Rumford and Mexico were separate and rivals, is probably the third strike.
With that we have an out folks. Maybe in 10 or 12 years, when the people in their 30's now are deemed responsible enough to run things by their parents, we'll have a chance at it but for now it will remain status quo.