Jeers, in general, to crooks who take every opportunity to connive and steal. Now, we have to worry about them knocking on our front doors disguised as Census takers.

The U.S. Census, which has just begun its national count, has — along with the Better Business Bureau — issued a frightening warning to Americans: Be cautious when dealing with anyone who appears at the door claiming to be a U.S. Census worker.

In this early stage of the count, legitimate workers will knock on doors to verify address information and the number of people living in the home. Nothing more.

They will have a badge, a handheld scanning device, a Census Bureau canvas bag and a confidentiality notice. All of these items may be easy to mimic, so people need to be cautious about sharing information.

These early Census workers will not ask for names, Social Security numbers, credit cards, bank accounts or other personal information. If someone does, they’re not a Census worker. They’re a crook.

Successive rounds of Census taking will seek more about race, occupation and other basic information, but right now the only information being sought is address and number of people in the home.

And, the Census will never seek information by e-mail, so if you get an e-mail questionnaire, delete it.

The visibility of the Census, and our legal obligation to answer questions for the national count, offers a real opportunity for identity thieves to get to work. Beware.

Cheers to Maine students and their “sound” performance on the New England Common Assessment, the replacement to the grinding, multi-day Maine Educational Assessment used to assess student performance since 1985.

According to a story in the Portland Press Herald, 70 percent of Maine students in grades 3 through 8 tested proficient in reading, and 61 percent of students tested proficient or better in math. That’s not quite as well as Vermont or New Hampshire students performed, so there’s more work to do to be competitive with our neighbors.

This first year of testing with the New England Common Assessment establishes a baseline performance for Maine students. The only direction now is up.

Cheers to Presque Isle for employing former Lewiston City Administrator Jim Bennett. He’s agreed to start there in March, and will focus — as he did in Lewiston — on economic development, job creation and public service. He also managed a fair facelift at the entry points to the city’s downtown, championed consolidated services and streamlined government operations, developing skills that will benefit Presque Isle.

Bennett will replace Tom Stevens, who served as Presque Isle’s manager for 17 years, which is a very long time to hold a municipal management position, so Bennett can hope for the same loyalty from his new employer.

Thrilled to be able to stay in his home state instead of taking a job elsewhere, Bennett said he’s looking forward to the task in Aroostook County. We hope he still visits Lewiston on occasion, maybe through his work with the Shriners, and sees some lasting value of his work here.

editorialboard@sunjournal.com

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