This week’s edition!
Candidate questions, ballot questions and General Assistance costs
By Robert E. Macdonald
Mayor of Lewiston
In a recent Second District Congressional race debate, Pat Callaghan, TV news anchor and debate inquisitor, asked U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin if he supported Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump. Poliquin correctly refused to answer.
His opponent, perennial Democratic Congressional candidate Emily Cain, her voice rising to a “gotcha” euphoria usually heard from children, triumphantly shouted out that Poliquin was avoiding the question. Callahan tried to get Poliquin to answer before finally going on to another question.
The debate was held so that voters would hear candidates discuss the issues affecting the district—not to create a secondary debate about presidential candidates. Maine Senator Susan Collins was asked if she supported Donald Trump. Her answer, on slow news days, repeatedly becomes a lead story.
This is a Catch-22 question. No matter how it is answered, it will jump to the forefront taking time away from the serious questions plaguing our district. But if the Maine media insists that support of the party’s presidential candidate is a headline story, it’s time to start posing questions to Cain.
How does Cain feel about Clinton’s staff characterizations of Catholics and evangelicals? Wall Street cash? After all, Clinton is the Pied Piper of Wall Street cash.
Referendum questions could significantly impact job growth
By Jonathan P. LaBonté
Mayor of Auburn
On Tuesday, November 8, voters in Maine—and here in Auburn—have the potential to significantly influence the ability of our community to support job retention and job growth in local businesses, as well as sustain services based on growing property tax revenue tied to private sector growth.
That’s because, in addition to the state legislative races on the ballot, there are a handful of referendum questions allowing you to play legislator.
While the sound bites in radio and TV ads might not give you all the facts, I wanted to offer some information for what could happen locally.
Question 1 asks voters to legalize marijuana for recreational use. The pitch is that we should regulate it just like alcohol, take the windfall from tax revenue and divert law enforcement attention elsewhere. While the country may be moving in the direction of legalizing marijuana, it is still an illegal drug under federal law.
Poliquin has family ties to Lewiston-Auburn
Congressman Bruce Poliquin grew up in Central Maine, but he has a close connection to the Lewiston-Auburn area, too. His grandfather grew up in Lewiston.
If you turn on C-Span early enough, you can see a Congressman crisscrossing the House of Representatives’ floor, introducing himself to Republicans and Democrats alike. That Congressman is Bruce Poliquin.
A third-generation Mainer, Congressman Bruce Poliquin grew up in Central Maine, but he has a close connection to the Lewiston-Auburn area, too. His grandfather grew up in Lewiston. The Poliquins lived in the area where Lewiston High School now sits.
“It’s pretty exciting to represent the Lewiston-Auburn area in Congress, with my grandfather having grown up in the area. It makes me proud to fight for the families of L/A and all of Maine,” he said.
“Growing up in a working-class Franco-American family, my parents wanted me to understand our heritage and to instill family values. I worked the night shift at a Maine factory and painted metal roofs in the summer so I could afford college. Now I work just as hard in Congress.”
Enough is Enough: Legislators should focus on their constituents, not the Governor
By Robert E. Macdonald
Mayor of Lewiston
What will the Democrats think of next? Every day they seem to come up with another strategy which they hope will be successful in removing our Maine People’s Choice Governor, Paul R. LePage, from office.
It is sad when so much thought and effort is put into removing the Governor. It would be nice if this type of effort would be focused on a suffering constituency instead of a group of politicians uncomfortable with our current Governor.
The latest scam, in their repertoire of their ever shrinking bags of cons, is claiming the Governor’s recent actions will keep tourists from coming to our State. Please, give me a break! And just how was this conclusion reached?
Only Steps Forward: Auburn’s neighborhoods combine to form one city
By Jonathan P. LaBonte
Mayor of Auburn
What is Auburn? Is it the “Hub of Maine” as one former mayor coined it?
Is it Maine’s City of Opportunity? Or perhaps folks know us as the place that proudly states, “We want development,” as you can see prominently as you enter our planning and permitting office?
Each of those monikers has a particular stakeholder that fairs most prominently; is it a hub for businesses and goods or people as well? If so, is it a place where investors are courted and treated with the highest levels of customer service, what about citizens?
Only Steps Forward: We must keep the promises we made 15 years ago on 9/11
By Jonathan P. LaBonte
Mayor of Auburn
This Sunday, September 11, marks the 15th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the United States. Each year on this date, it has been commonplace for many of us to share our stories of where we were and what we felt and were thinking on that fateful day.
As we reflect back now 15 years later, we can ask ourselves what has changed since that day and did we keep the promise we made to never forget. One example I’m proud to offer for never forgetting 9/11 comes from the men and women of the Auburn Fire Department. Each year, a small ceremony is held in honor of those that lost their lives in those terrorist attacks. At the exact time the first World Trade Center tower was struck, they toll a bell.
The memorial in front of Auburn Central now includes pieces of mangled steel that were extracted from the wreckage of the World Trade Center that day. They serve as a reminder of the devastation felt by so many, from those working in the Towers or Pentagon that day to the first responders that risked their lives to save others.
Enough is Enough Over 100 blighted buildings have been removed in Lewiston
By Robert E. Macdonald
Mayor of Lewiston
Imitation is the best form of flattery. Well, at least most of the time.
When I read the local broad sheet last week I was shocked. Shocked, that is, until I took a step backward and processed what I had read. Then suddenly I broke into my happy dance.
Lewiston’s policies, over the past four years of removing blighted buildings, had worked and were now showing success. There is no longer anymore room in the Hotel Lewiston for those with low or no income. Unfortunately this means our out-of-town homeless will be heading to Auburn.
It appears that Auburn is on the brink of building 48 Section 8, er, I mean “affordable housing” units in an upscale part of the city. Where I come from, we call this a housing project.
When I arrived in Lewiston, members of President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society Brigade had gotten a firm foothold in Lewiston and were now branching out to other parts of the city. They slowly gobbled up Lewiston’s “Little Canada.”
IRS calls demanding a payment are a scam
Calls to the Maine Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division show an uptick in IRS and other phone scams targeting Mainers
The Maine Attorney General’s Office has noticed a recent increase in the number of Mainers calling to report they are the target of phone scams in which someone pretends to be calling to collect a debt owed to the Internal Revenue Service. Maine Attorney General Janet T. Mills is reminding people to be aware that these are scams and they should not give people credit card information or wire money.
“The IRS scam and others like it are the most common complaint we receive,” said Attorney General Mills. “However, we have noticed a recent spike in the number of people calling our office to alert us and to complain specifically about IRS scams. On Thursday alone we received 61 contacts from Maine people. These are often randomly dialed calls, but for some reason the 207 area code seems to be their target in recent weeks. People should not engage the callers and hang up the phone. Do not give them personal information and do not wire them money.”
Patrick Dempsey in Maine for Winter Fun
Join Patrick Dempsey for a day of Winter Fun at Black Mountain Ski Resort on Saturday, February 27.
An endorsed independent fundraiser for the Rumford Hospital Dempsey Challenge Team, the event will feature Alpine and Nordic skiing, tubing, raffles, food, entertainment, and a few surprises!
An all-day pass is $35. For more information click here.
Maine chef to appear on Food Network reality show
Shaun “Yaz” Yazbek will compete on “Chopped” on Tuesday, March 1.
Shaun “Yaz” Yazbek will compete on the Food Network reality show “Chopped” next month. Yazbek will compete with three other chefs in an episode titled “Truck Stop Stars,” pitting the four competitors against each other for a $10,000 prize.
The show, now in its 27th season on Food Network, gives four chefs a mystery basket of ingredients, which then must be turned into a dish. The show is broken into three courses: an appetizer, an entrée, and a desert. Chefs are given different mystery ingredients for each course. After each course, one of the chefs is eliminated by the panel of judges who base their results on creativity, presentation, and taste.
