For weeks, parishioners at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Auburn have responded to the call of a parish diaper drive by dropping diaper package after diaper package into baskets at Sacred Heart Church and St. Philip Church.

Evergreen Subaru of Auburn helped kick-off Tree Street Youth’s Project Graduation event recently by announcing how much the dealership was able to raise for Tree Street through its annual Subaru Share the Love campaign. After a thunderous hand-clapping drumroll by the staff and kids of Tree Street Youth, Evergreen announced the collective donation to be $31,450. 

Ten RSU 16 Adult Education students were honored at a cap and gown graduation ceremony recently for meeting High School completion goals. Over 75 friends and family members gathered in the gymnasium of Elm Street School in Mechanic Falls as six of the graduates marched single file to “Pomp and Circumstance,” played by pianist Lindsay Cook. 

Spectrum Healthcare Partners – OA Centers for Orthopaedics’ surgeon Michael O’Malley, MD will host this discussion in Portland on June 11th, 2019. His comprehensive presentation will discuss knee pain, how cartilage restoration may help and what to expect from the procedure. He will also discuss when this procedure may be right for you and will answer any questions you may have.

Dr. O’Malley is a board-certified, fellowship trained sports medicine surgeon, who performs procedures in our outpatient surgery centers and at local hospital partner sites. As with the entire Spectrum Healthcare Partners orthopaedic team, he uses leading edge technologies and practices to provide you with exceptional care.

This free community seminar will be offered on Tuesday, June 11th from 6:00-7:00pm at OA Centers for Orthopaedics on 33 Sewall St. in Portland.

Though there is no cost for the presentation, we do request that you reserve your spot in advance. For more information or to reserve your spot now, call 207-482-7854 or email Nikki.withrow@spectrumhcp.com.

This week, my Administration announced an investment strategy to improve our economy, address some of the critical challenges facing our state, and position us to succeed in the years to come. These are the goals of the bond package we submitted to the Legislature.

The first critical challenge facing our state addressed by this bond package is access to high speed internet. About 83,000 households in Maine do not have access to broadband, and ConnectME is currently able to fund only a few small projects at a time. With the availability of faster internet speeds, it’s time we change that. We can no longer be a slow-speed state in a 5G nation. 

During this year’s L-A Memorial Day Ceremony at Veterans Memorial Park in Lewiston, officials unveiled the park’s 31st granite monument, honoring more than 200 Lewiston-Auburn servicemen. Also unveiled at the event was a new bench honoring Shingo Douglass, who died aboard the USS Fitzgerald in 2017, when it collided with a cargo ship off the coast of Japan. The bench was donated by Douglass’ family. Douglass’ grandfather is a past commander of the Auburn VFW and serves on the L&A Veterans Council. 

The City of Auburn has announced the prize winners from its Memorial Day Parade and first annual “Art in the Park” juried art show. Winners in all categories received cash prizes in recognition of their achievement. 

The prize winners from the Memorial Day Parade were: 

Best in Show: 1st Place – Co A, 3rd Maine Volunteer Infantry; 2nd Place – Community Little Theater; 3rd Place – American Legion Post 153.

Best Band: the Riverwalk Blues Festival/Continental Shake Down.

Best Commercial Entry: 1st Place – Roundabout Farm Miniatures; 2nd Place – Cote Crane; 3rd Place – Community Credit Union.

Best Nonprofit Entry: 1st Place – Co A, 3rd Maine Volunteer Infantry; 2nd Place – Community Little Theater; 3rd Place – American Legion Post 153.

Best School Entry: 1st Place – Auburn School Department; 2nd Place -Franklin School.

Best Team: 1st Place – Auburn Cheering; 2nd Place – Auburn Special Olympics; 3rd Place – Red Eddies Football Team.

The Moxie Festival Committee has announced the winners of the recent Miss Moxie Pageant, the first held since the early 1990’s when the event was a staple of the annual festival. The winners across age categories were Junior Princess Lilith Surran (Gorham), Princess Antonella Jane Osnoe (Glenburn), Pre-Teen Miranda Torrey (Lisbon), Junior Teen Delainy Gillis (Glenburn), Teen Autumn Oxton (Nobleboro), Miss Erica Davis (Harpswell), and Ms. Alison Lee (Augusta).

The Class A State Championship-winning St. Dominic Academy Varsity Ice Hockey Team visited the Maine State House recently to receive a Legislative Sentiment honoring their championship season. They are pictured here with Senator Ned Claxton (at rear). 

Like most of you, I’ve known times when I was sick at work, or had to leave work to take care of a sick child, or had some other type of emergency that called me away from work. It’s not something anybody wants to do. We here in Maine have a good work ethic, we value our jobs, and we are proud of that.

But unexpected circumstances are a fact of life – and that is exactly why these emergencies should not break the bank for the working men and women in Maine.

So earlier this week, I signed bipartisan legislation to make Maine the first state in the nation to allow paid leave – not just sick leave – but paid leave for employees working for an employer with more than ten people.