LEWISTON — The National Weather Service is predicting snow for Thursday and that makes Paul Lapointe happy. “Every time it snows, it puts a smile on my face,” said Lapointe, who owns Lapointe’s Lawn and Garden Center on Sabattus Street. “A storm makes my business busy. One good snowstorm gives us several weeks of work. […]
Maine
Posted inOur View
Students need more information on likely debt load
A college degree is supposed to give young people the wings to fly. For too many young Mainers, however, the debt that accompanies that degree has become a millstone around their necks. The average Maine college student emerges with $29,000 in debt, the third highest average debt load in the nation. And that’s the average, […]
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Posted inOxford Hills, sj-web
House burns in Greenwood
GREENWOOD — Fire departments from several towns were at the scene of a house fire at 19 Bird Hill Road early Tuesday morning. A dispatcher at the Greenwood Fire Station said ambulances were at the scene, but there were no reports of injuries. The Greenwood Fire Department was called about 11:30 p.m. Monday, and called […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
College debt drowning dreams
PORTLAND — Recent college graduate Chelsie O’Connell, 23, loves her administrative assistant job at Port City Music Hall. “It’s amazing,” said O’Connell, a graduate of Mountain Valley High School in Rumford. The job is everything she wanted, she said. “I’m in the industry, learning everything I can.” But achieving the dream of a college degree […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Maine college debt among the highest
Maine college graduates are carrying among the highest student loan debt in the country, according to the Project on Student Debt. Maine’s statewide average debt for the Class of 2009 for four-year degrees was $29,000, the third-highest in the nation. Higher than Maine were the District of Columbia ($30,033) and New Hampshire ($29,443). States with […]
Posted inOur View
Single-stream big step forward for Lewiston
We are happy to see the city of Lewiston switching to single-stream recycling, something we have advocated for both cities for several years. When Lewiston began its recycling program in the early 1990s, it urged residents to separate their recyclables within the container or in several containers. Some people still do, but many do not. […]
Posted inOur View
Whoopie pie bill doesn’t fit Maine
What would a session of the Maine Legislature be without the occasional nutty, pointless, irrelevant bill making its way through committee and into law? Well, it would be more productive, more focused and less expensive, that’s what. Despite the dire challenges the state faces, and Gov. Paul LePage’s desire to restructure state government, Rep. Paul […]
Posted inOur View
Methadone clinic would be good for L-A
When the Lewiston City Council adopted a special methadone clinic ordinance in 2006, it made locating one here difficult. Difficult, but not impossible. The council set intentionally tough standards. Among them: a requirement that a clinic must be more than 1,000 feet from churches, schools, day care centers and parks. That’s about the length of […]
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
Waterford’s Millett endorsed for top finance post in Maine
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — H. Sawin Millett Jr., a former teacher who has decades of service in two branches of Maine state government, gave lawmakers both a history lesson and a peek into the future on Monday before they unanimously endorsed his nomination as finance commissioner. The Appropriations Committee’s 12-0 vote, with one absentee, virtually […]
Posted inOur View
Casino plan had phases all along
Anyone surprised that the Black Bear Entertainment casino complex will be completed in phases simply wasn’t paying close attention from the start. In January of 2010, nine months before voters decided to approve the project, Black Bear was saying its resort would be built in phases over three to five years. Last week, Oxford Planning […]