It is reassuring to know the Maine Legislature can act swiftly in the face of an imminent crisis. Like when we can’t get a drink before 9 on St. Patrick’s Day morning. In order to preserve the “public peace, health and safety,” Rep. Barry Hobbins would move happy hour back to 6 a.m. when St. […]
alcohol
Posted inConnections
Sticker Shock program raises alcohol awareness
MEXICO — Shoppers in the River Valley may have noticed something different about the packaging of their favorite spirits as they were preparing for the New Year’s celebration a few weeks ago. Collaboration between the River Valley Healthy Communities Coalition, Mexico Police Department and the Mexico Explorers meant the return of Project Sticker Shock to […]
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Posted inOur View
Alcohol-sensing devices may be next safety step
It is amazing to think how much safer our roads and highways have become over the past 50 years. Most of the thanks for that goes to better-designed cars and highway systems that have made accidents much more survivable than decades ago. With each new model, automakers seem to add standard equipment and options designed […]
Posted inRiver Valley, The Franklin Journal
Free retail beverage service training course offered at Mexico PD
MEXICO — Oxford County area businesses are invited to attend a free retail beverage service training from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 17, at the Mexico Police Department at 3 Recreation Drive. It is being held by the River Valley Healthy Communities Coalition. The “Seller Server Training for Off-premise Licensees” is designed to […]
Posted inBusiness, Nation / World, sj-web
White House seeks to cut funding in peculiar places
BELTSVILLE, Md. — Deep in a secure laboratory just outside Washington sits the federal government’s heaviest smoker. It is a half-ton hulk of a machine, all brushed aluminum and gasping smoke holes, like a retrofit of equipment used on an Industrial Revolution production line. It can smoke 20 cigarettes at once and conclude which are […]
Posted inFranklin
Man pleads guilty to sex, alcohol crimes
FARMINGTON — A Weld man pleaded guilty Friday to two counts of unlawful sexual contact and four counts of allowing minors to possess or drink alcohol. James Lundy, 46, was initially indicted on three felony charges of unlawful sexual contact and three misdemeanor charges of unlawful sexual contact. He was also indicted on four counts […]
Posted inMaine
Details emerge on state’s plan to capture more revenue from liquor contract
AUGUSTA — Lawmakers got details Friday on a plan to bring cheaper booze to residents and agency liquor stores and a chance for the state to recapture as much as $10 million. State Finance Commissioner Sawin Millett and Maine Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery Operations Director Gerry Reid briefed the Legislature’s Appropriations and Financial Affairs […]
Posted inOur View
OUR VIEW: Cut the cost of booze? Let’s not do that
But we should speak loudly and clearly that cutting the cost of hard liquor in order to boost state revenue would be foolish and counterproductive. Gary Reid, director of the Maine Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery Operations, told a state legislative committee Wednesday that reducing the price of alcoholic beverages would benefit consumers and […]
Posted inMaine
Plan for liquor contract could increase Maine’s cash flow by $41 million
In an informal briefing before a state legislative committee, Gerry Reid said increased cash flow to the state’s coffers would come from ending a contract the state awarded in 2003 allowing a private company exclusive rights to import and distribute hard liquor in Maine. That contract, which expires in 2014 and is expected to be renegotiated […]
Posted inOur View
Drugs driving crime rates up in Maine
Crime in Maine is up. So is the cost of fighting crime as Maine grapples with technology-savvy crooks and increased investigative costs, according to Public Safety Commissioner John Morris. The Department of Public Safety released 2011 crime statistics on Tuesday, reporting a 5.4 percent increase in crime compared to 2010. That’s the biggest single-year jump […]