Sunday morning’s front page contained a bit of unintended irony. A story about the Affordable Care Act website sat atop a story about how each generation of Americans is less trusting than the one before. The site’s disastrous beginning has certainly damaged faith in our government’s competency; in effect, it has chipped away at our […]
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Training a Mrs. Deegan in every school
Alice Deegan is a hero. She is a wife. A mother. A sixth-grade teacher at Paris Elementary School. And, on Monday she was recognized for saving the life of a student who had swallowed a water bottle cap. Just before the Thanksgiving recess, Mrs. Deegan was in the school cafeteria when she noticed a sixth-grader […]
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Aspirations, leadership and helping PALs
On Thursday morning, a group of Auburn children and their parents gathered at the Auburn PAL Center to cook, pack and then deliver steaming hot Thanksgiving meals to 18 local families. The families were joined by volunteers and members of the Auburn Police Department, including its chief, Phil Crowell. While hundreds of other local children […]
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Thanksgiving and gratitude for every day
Today we are thankful. We’re grateful. We’re pleased to have our families and friends around the dining table and we embrace the hectic pace and noise that results from large gatherings. It’s a special day, and there is much to be thankful about. We are living in a time of tremendous technical advancement, of exploding […]
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Ohio case alleges adults covered up rape
A decision to charge several Ohio high school officials with trying to cover up the rape of a 16-year-old girl is a stunning example of how adults sometimes put their own interests above those of young sexual assault victims. In March, a judge convicted two Steubenville High School football players of raping a drunken girl […]
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Have we traded the tyranny of the minority for the tyranny of the majority?
Threats of exercising the so-called “nuclear option” turned to action this week when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., led the move to change from 60 to 51 the number of votes necessary to cut off a filibuster over judicial and executive appointees. By a vote of 52-48, the move effectively stripped the minority party […]
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A season of giving, thanks and sharing
We won’t pretend this Thursday’s Thanksgiving Day celebration is the start of the holiday season. That traditional mark has long faded, or maybe it was simply crushed by retail glee. Radio stations have been playing Christmas tunes for weeks, holiday decorations have been on store shelves for months and shoppers have long been making layaway […]
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Governor adds pricey consultant to political staff
Taxpayers get suspicious when they hear the words no-bid contract because, well, that’s not the way government normally works. Detailed specifications are usually followed by multiple bids, which usually result in the highest quality work at the lowest price. Failing to seek bids invariably means paying top dollar for the work to be done. And […]
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Infringing on the public’s right to know
On Nov. 4 the New Gloucester Board of Selectmen voted to go into executive session to discuss an organizational change at the Town Office to help ease entry for a new, not-yet-chosen town manager. Once the secret discussion ended, the board voted 3-2 — in public — to trim the bookkeeper’s position from 40 hours […]
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A legacy more real than Camelot
As we approach Friday’s 50th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, an act that remains as shocking and sad today as it was back then, Americans are actively sharing our memories of the Kennedy administration’s idealism and glamour. But, let’s be real. Camelot it was not. In 1960, more than 20 percent of […]