Jeers to whomever scheduled street sweeping on the downtown streets in Auburn this week.
Instead of doing this when the streets are void of traffic, like in the early morning hours, they decided to sweep during the commuting hours of 8-9 a.m.
It would be safer and more efficient to clean these travel routes in the early morning hours when they are far less congested.
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Cheers to the collaboration between the Oxford Hills Middle School and Crazy Horse Racing owner Mitch Green. Green is giving the students, many of them at-risk, some hands-on training building a race car for the Oxford 250.
Perhaps that experience will one day lead to a job working on cars or even a career with a NASCAR team.
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Jeers to the unidentified administrator in charge of the Maine Republican Party’s official Facebook page.
After breaking news last week that Maine Housing Executive Director Dale McCormick, a Democrat, had been forced to resign, the Party’s webmeister couldn’t resist a snarky comment:
“Nah nah nah nah
“Nah nah nah nah
“Hey Hey Hey
“Goobye”
That is, of course, the chorus of the 1969 hit single that is now most frequently heard at baseball games to taunt batters who have just struck out.
The lyrics certainly reflect the bitter, partisan nature of the attack on McCormick.
But the official party Facebook page should have at least a modicum of dignity.
McCormick, meanwhile, may be having the last laugh. She walked away with a year’s pay and health benefits until next September.
Eventually an adult Republican must have thought better of the gloating and the lyrics were struck from the site.
Bravo, meanwhile, to Auburn Mayor Jonathan LaBonte, himself a Republican, for criticizing the boorish behavior.
“Classy. Real Classy,” he wrote on the group’s Facebook page. “Why not a post of the new policy direction Republicans can now take this agency in rather than a childish, petty post like this?
Exactly.
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Cheers to Gov. Paul LePage for supporting the Marketplace Fairness Act, which would allow states to collect taxes on Internet sales, according to the Bangor Daily News coverage.
We cannot count how many times we have urged governors and legislatures to tackle this problem.
Internet commerce is growing, and should not enjoy such a significant advantage over local retailers.
LePage, who shuns tax increases like a vampire shuns sunlight, is apparently in favor of fairly collecting taxes that are already on the books.
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Jeers to state Rep. John Martin who has introduced a bill that would allow the Irving company to open a mine in the state while simultaneously negotiating a bankruptcy settlement with the company over a convenience store he co-owns
The story was first reported by the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting.
Martin argues that Irving is a big company and that mining and retail gas stations are in different entities.
Still, a veteran like Martin should know that elected officials must avoid even the appearance of impropriety.
The opinions expressed in this column reflect the views of the ownership and the editorial board.
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