Perhaps the 126th Legislature will be remembered as the legislative session all about welfare reform that resulted in no legislative welfare reform. And, while welfare is often portrayed as a giant rolling snowball in Maine, the program that drew the most legislative attention in the last session is actually a shadow of what it was […]
Our View
Posted inOur View
Our View: Home teams: Shriners, 1; Pirates, 0
The wisecracks and chuckles that broke out Tuesday over the scheduling conflict at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee on Saturday night were instant. “What a circus.” “Game on.” “I had tickets for a hockey game and a circus broke out.” You get the picture. But, as easy a verbal target the scheduling conflict was, the situation […]
advertisement
Posted inOur View
Most fires are not arson fires
Fear is predictable. It distorts facts. In the shadow of Thursday’s arson fires, a lot people asked, “What’s with all the fires in Lewiston?” What they really meant was, “What’s with all the arson fires in Lewiston?” Last year’s weeklong spree of arson fires and then Thursday’s spate of the same have caused the perception […]
Posted inOur View
Our View: City trash is a real threat to public safety
On Thursday, just weeks before the one-year anniversary of a spree of arson fires in downtown Lewiston, police and fire officials responded to four fires. All four had been set. Even though city officials declined to discuss the looming anniversary, people on the street are thinking about it and talking about it. The fear that […]
Posted inOur View
Our view: Raids of Maine’s Revenue Sharing Fund must be stopped
Look at the chart above. Really, really look at it. It shows the amount Maine municipalities get from the state every year from taxes generated from Maine’s economy. What’s missing: the amount the state has decided to keep in recent years to pay its own bills. Every month, the state controller is legally required to […]
Posted inOur View
A battle for political points? Or real reform
Democrats want to preserve the safety net of social services for Maine’s neediest families. As do Republicans. Republicans want every dollar budgeted for those families to be spent where intended, and not lost to greed and fraud. As do Democrats. If they’re so agreed on these points, and they say they are, why the sound […]
Posted inOur View
Bigger is better is not the best policy for Maine
It’s highly likely that the ordinary motorist on the Maine Turnpike has no idea that the size, shape and placement of signs indicating points of interest or nearby recreational areas are not aligned with federal rules that require each state to have sign standards. Last year, the Legislature’s Transportation Committee directed the Maine Department of […]
Posted inOur View
Animal abuse often a tip-off to family violence
Experts say there is a new trend in the U.S. — police, prosecutors and judges are working harder to put animal abusers behind bars. They say that’s because repeated studies have shown beyond doubt that the people who hurt animals either have the potential to abuse humans or are already doing so. District Court Justice […]
Posted inOur View
Amanda Dempsey: A woman of strength and grace
Friends and family of Amanda Dempsey gathered yesterday to celebrate her life, her love and the legacy she leaves behind. Tomorrow, and for decades to come, her presence will continue to be felt at the Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing in Lewiston. Thousands of people, some of whom may have known Amanda, […]
Posted inOur View
Our View: Pointless posturing in the Legislature
It’s sad to see Maine’s legislative leaders imitating our dysfunctional Congress by pushing legislation that has no hope of passage just to bank talking points for the next election campaign. We point to two bills that everyone in Augusta knows are dead as door nails yet partisans keep arguing about them as if they are […]