If you work, your taxes will be going up at the end of the year even if Congress slams on the brakes just before the national bus plunges over the much feared “fiscal cliff.” That’s because neither party — and neither presidential candidate — has shown a bit of interest in talking about, let alone […]
Our View
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We live in a unique nation of differences
It’s the foundation upon which this country was built, and from which all other rights extend. If we believe that our government is a government of the people, conversely that means that our government officials have protection from “we the people” infringing on officials’ free speech. Right? That’s the dramatic irony about the dustup over […]
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OUR VIEW: Access to care determined by income and race
The latest compilation of U.S. Census figures confirms the embarrassing truth about our health care system, that the poorest and sickest often get the least basic care like checkups and dental exams. The findings come from a report titled Health Status, Health Insurance and Medical Services Utilization: 2010. The good news is that two thirds of […]
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Clarification on petition signatures
Stavros Mendros says he was a registered Democrat in 2008 and 2009 when a woman working for his signature-gathering firm filed phony election petition signatures. Mendros says he reported other falsifications to authorities and that he was defrauded of hundreds of dollars by the woman. He also points out that a 1999 U.S. District Court […]
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Burning issue in education: Wearing hats in classroom
With a nod to Sports Illustrated’s popular feature, could the following be a sign that the educational apocalypse is upon us? Nashua High School North, according to the Associated Press, will relent on its rules and allow students to wear hats in class. The no-hats policy strained student-teacher relationships and kept students out of class […]
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Auburn should end limitations on private signs
The Auburn City Council needs to re-examine its political sign ordinance after legitimate doubts were raised in Lewiston about the constitutionality of similar rules. Monday night the Auburn Council heard a proposal from Councilor Tizz Crowley to forbid political signs on city medians and other public property during elections. Crowley — who posted political signs last […]
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Registration scandals taint election process
Try as they might, election officials have been unable to identify vote-casting fraud anywhere in the United States. But petition signature and voter registration fraud are alive and well, the latter cropping up most recently in Florida. Election officials in 10 counties there have found either suspicious or fraudulent voter registration forms collected by a […]
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Shortened day will shortchange Auburn students
Editor’s note: Since the Auburn School Committee has resurrected a plan to institute late start Wednesdays for grades seven through twelve, we have resurrected the editorial we ran July 1 opposing the idea. Our opinion — that reducing instructional time for students is contrary to educational trends and a bad idea in a district with […]
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Mayor needs to reframe his ideas on culture
Try as we might, we find it difficult to reconcile Lewiston’s two mayors. There’s the one who told us in an interview Thursday he is not asking refugees from African turmoil to worship or dress differently, that he feels they have a strong work ethic and that their “children are very bright.” Then there is […]
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Study shows less educated dying earlier
Experts have been saying for several years that it could happen, that at some point Americans could expect shorter life spans than their parents. And now, for a certain segment of the U.S. population — the poorest and least educated among us — it has. A recent study reported on in the journal “Health Affairs” found that white […]