Perhaps, in 50 years, historians will look back and call this the Era of Shrinking Pie. Local, state or federal level, it doesn’t matter. Fewer services, fewer programs, more poorly performed government services all around. A growing pie leaves everyone full and satisfied. A shrinking one leaves people bitter and disillusioned. All of which helps […]
Our View
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Chaos was predictable in new ride system
Call it a test, or call it a pilot project. Sometimes it’s better to dip your foot in the water rather than diving right in. Which is what the State of Maine did Aug. 1 when it switched local coordination of rides for poor people to a Connecticut company. The switch away from local control […]
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Surprise over tax hike shows public’s apathy
It’s said that the price of liberty is eternal vigilance. But vigilance is impossible unless people make an honest effort to stay informed. We were prepared to deliver a stern rebuke to the uninformed and apathetic this morning, but that would be pointless. That you are reading a newspaper likely shows you are an informed, […]
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A spoonful of sugar in Lewiston
There was a meeting scheduled Thursday night at Lewiston City Hall that promised to be a doozy. The city’s Historic Preservation Review Board was supposed to consider a proposal by Central Maine Healthcare to demolish the 159-year-old St. Joseph’s Church to make way for parking off Main Street. Dozens of people were expected to speak […]
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LeBlanc set higher standards at Lewiston High
Running a large high school is a big job, and it’s a job made even more challenging in Lewiston by poverty and immigration. Gus LeBlanc, Lewiston High School principal since 2006, has tackled that job by firmly insisting on high standards and giving students the support they need to achieve them. LeBlanc is leaving after […]
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Toy pistol incident says a lot about guns
We can’t imagine why a 20-year-old man was carrying around a toy gun Thursday night in Farmington, but he must have had his reasons. Instead of a night on the town with his toy pistol, John Cushman ended up at the Franklin County Detention Center charged with terrorizing. Cushman “made lots of people nervous,” according […]
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New ways to write right, but not in cursive
The handwriting is on the wall: Cursive is going the way of the hieroglyphic. The third-grade subject that more than a few adults would flunk if given the test today is disappearing from schools across the country; being pushed out by two seemingly indomitable forces: time and technology. Future 8-year-olds all over the country are […]
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Let’s go after surplus goods
There is, quite literally, billions of dollars worth of military equipment that we have bought and paid for being stored in warehouses and bases across this country. All of it is available to local, county and state police departments for the asking. The best part? The equipment is already paid for. Departments just have to […]
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Who should sponsor events in our schools?
Senate President Justin Alfond has loudly and repeatedly criticized the Baxter Academy for Technology and Science for hosting a luncheon on school choice last Wednesday. The event was sponsored by the uber-conservative Maine Heritage Policy Center, thus Alfond described the luncheon as an “inappropriate” partnership between the public charter school and a “fringe political group.” […]
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In aviation, simple mistakes have consequences
There was probably tension in the cabin of a Cessna T41C last April when it made a surprise landing on the Maine Turnpike in Litchfield, but no one has said so. “I heard the engine quit, and then I heard the sound of wind over the wings,” Randall Greenleaf, who was on the ground, told […]