The Lewiston Police Department is taking a positive, proactive approach to a task they would have rather avoided.

After the state eliminated its liquor enforcement division, those responsibilities fell to local police departments. There was a lot of grumbling, as well as legitimate concerns, about how the duties would be absorbed.

Lewiston has devised a plan that will encourage ongoing contact between the police and the bars and restaurants that serve alcohol. Police will meet with owners and managers every three months to discuss complaints, concerns and possible solutions.

In addition to stepping up compliance with liquor laws, the contact will promote a positive relationship between the police and the industry. It also will allow police to provide the City Council with more detailed information when an establishment’s liquor license comes up for renewal.

Under the old system, councilors could consider the number of police calls to a particular bar when considering a license. More calls were often viewed negatively.

Now, councilors will have access to more context. Not all calls to the police are equal.

The new system should improve enforcement, communication and the license renewal process. That’s a pretty good bargain for a job that nobody really wanted in the first place.


Farwell waiver


If there was ever a question about whether communities like neighborhood schools, it should be answered now.

At a meeting Tuesday night at Farwell Elementary School, residents of the neighborhood and other interested parties gave unanimous support to building a new $9.5 million facility on site. The vote? 65-0. That’s a safe majority for sure.

The city must now seek a waiver from the state to continue with the plan. Farwell sits on 4.6 acres, while Department of Education standards require 9 acres.

The 9-acre standard works fine in rural districts, where there is plenty of space. But in urban settings, it’s impractical. To find a site that big in Lewiston would move the school away from its neighborhood and the kids it should serve.

Farwell’s small lot size is not ideal. But the community has spoken. Keeping the school where it is matters to them and is the best solution available.

Maine’s Board of Education should support this waiver request.


Another strike


Utah has joined a growing list of states actively rebelling against the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

The Utah House approved legislation this week that forbids the use of state money to implement the controversial act. The bill must now go to the state’s Senate and the governor before becoming law.

Utah joins Vermont and Maine, among others, in the struggle to stop this new, underfunded federal mandate. But because Utah is solidly Republican, the rebuke of the legislation may resound more thoroughly among members of President Bush’s administration.

It’s time that No Child Left Behind was funded appropriately, that states were given more flexibility in implementing accountability standards or that the law was repealed.


[email protected]