This week’s edition!
Mayor’s Corner: Obama should plan progressive approach to a “New Deal”
By Laurent F. Gilbert Sr.
Mayor of Lewiston
In my column last week, entitled “It is high time for another ‘New Deal’ to create jobs,” I pointed to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal” that brought us out of the “Great Depression” as a means of putting people back to work by creating jobs that built a number of projects that are still in use today. People who were poor and had lost hope began to regain their dignity that they felt they had lost.
Last week, I also pointed out the infrastructure needs of Lewiston, which are mirrored all over the country. Certainly we have the needs; all we need is a bold effort to work to satisfy those needs. Of course it won’t be cheap. Anything worthwhile never is. As I mentioned last week, it takes money to make money. Once people begin to work at jobs that pay a decent living wage, they will spend it thus circulating those dollars for the benefit of all.
So how do we begin with a progressive approach to a “New Deal” that I believe President Barack Hussein Obama should employ?
Residents, officials lend a hand for “Community Tree”
(See photos in Aug. 25, 2011 Digital Edition, pages 6 and 7)
Painted colorful hands became leaf imprints for a wooden “Community Tree” on Tuesday, August 9 in Lewiston’s Kennedy Park. The project was the brainchild of Lewiston Recreation Kennedy Park Drop-in Summer Worker Ali Butler, who was assisted by Kaitlin Cornelio and Megan Beliveau.
Butler said that she’d heard a quote about people being like a box of colorful crayons. “Just like what’s in a box of crayons, we are all different shapes, sizes and colors but we’re one community,” she said.
LETTER: School policies should be judged by jury
To the Editor:
It is generally agreed that a good education is the key to future success and wealth. What is forgotten is that the opposite is also true: an inadequate education leads to unemployment and poverty.
Accordingly, the signs are obvious—and so is the future. Our public schools are failing. But because the community is generally unaware, because the failure is denied by school officials, it will be difficult to confront and solve.
NECAP testing in October and the identified failure of Park Avenue, Sherwood Heights and Washburn Elementary Schools in Auburn and Farwell in Lewiston provided the warning signs. School officials admit to low test scores, but remain reluctant to admit schools are failing. Accordingly, they are unable or unwilling to identify the causative problems and therefore unable to solve them.
LETTER: 250 days to register to vote
To the Editor:
The Legislature passed a law that stated registration for voting on Election Day and the day before will not be allowed. The opponents of this law are proclaiming that thousands of voters will have their right to vote removed because of the legislature’s action. What happened to the other 250 days of the year that are available for voter registration?
If there was ever an opportunity for voter fraud to occur, it would be when the town election clerks are distracted by the management of the voting process and cannot thoroughly check the eligibility data of a potential voter.
Great Falls Balloon Festival lifts off Friday
(See Balloon Fest schedule, starting on Page 7, in TCT’s Digital Edition)
The 19th Annual Great Falls Balloon Festival lifts off tomorrow along the Androscoggin River with hot-air balloon launches scheduled twice a day at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday—weather permitting—from Simard Payne Memorial Park in Lewiston.
The festival kicks off Friday morning, August 19 and will run through the early evening of Sunday, August 21. This year’s theme, “Critters in the Clouds,” refers to three special-shaped balloons that are scheduled to appear: Whooty the Owl, Annie the Ladybug and Bud E. Beaver.
A full slate of entertainment and activities will take place at both Simard Payne Park and Festival Plaza in Auburn. Local favorites Denny Breau, Terry & The Telstars and The Don Campbell Band will join more than 20 other musicians, local organizations and other entertainers to provide three days worth of enjoyment to crowds expected to exceed 100,000 people.
Maine military women deployed for beauty makeover mission
The Real Combat Cougars in Maine are beyond fabulous! On Saturday these beautiful women—presently serving in the military, veterans and military spouses—got the royal treatment, compliments of Impulse Salon in Auburn. The owner, Jennifer Foster-Kritzer, a veteran herself, pulled out all the stops to provide new hair styles, color, cuts, manicures, makeup and Reiki healings.
The event was a stop on a national tour of duty for Shining Service Worldwide. The national organization, newly formed in New York City, supports and appreciates women in the military. The founder, Linda Franklin, partnered with local business owner and veteran Jennifer Foster-Kritzer at Impulse Salon to stage the first Maine military makeover.
Franklin writes a blog called The Real Cougar Woman, but it’s not about older women chasing younger men.
Join ALT Paddling Society to watch balloon launches
Paddlers of canoes and kayaks invited to join the Androscoggin Land Trust for one of the most unique paddling experiences available in New England
The Great Falls Paddling Society, a promotional program of the Androscoggin Land Trust (ALT) begun in 2009, will have its third “meeting” this weekend as part of the 18th Annual Great Falls Balloon Festival.
Intended to be a creative way to better connect the Androscoggin River to this premier New England Festival, kayak and canoe enthusiasts are being invited to get out their boats and meet other paddlers during each hot air balloon launch during the festival.
Mayor’s Corner: It is high time for another “New Deal” to create jobs!
By Laurent F. Gilbert Sr.
Mayor of Lewiston
When we encounter a problem in our lives and we are in search of ways and means to solve it, we look for what has been tried and true in solving it. The same holds true in government; when we encounter an economic and jobs problem like we are in with our current recession, we need to look at our history for a means of solving it.
I firmly believe that we need another “New Deal” type of problem solving. With the current unemployment rate and our infrastructure needs in our country, we need a jobs-creating new deal. President Franklin D. Roosevelt with his “New Deal” brought us out of the “Great Depression.” We need bold leadership such as his to bring us out of our current depressed economic situation by creating a jobs recovery program. We also must not go back to what got us in this mess to begin with.
The infrastructure of our country is in dire need of help. Below I will demonstrate the deplorable state of Lewiston’s infrastructure—and we may even be in better shape than many major cities in our country. How then do we fix our infrastructure before it completely falls apart? Well, in my opinion, there is no better time than the present. You might say we can’t afford it, and I say we can’t afford not to do it. Americans need jobs; we have a dire need for infrastructure improvement, therefore, it can be a win/win that will get our dollars circulating again for the good of all. You might say it is naïve, but hey, it worked before and it can work again.
LETTER: Washington “lets the robber barons rob”
To the Editor:
Apparently, State Treasurer Bruce Poliquin has spent so much of his life counting beans that he now is full of them. (“Treasurer: Maine is—thankfully—unlike Washington,” page 1, TCT, August 11, 2011.)
Granted, his assessment of the situation in Augusta, which constitutionally must balance its budget, seems to be essentially accurate, if bloated with praise for his own administration. I want to address two of Poliquin’s more gaseous talking points, made in last week’s piece about the imminent beatification of the LePage administration.
1. “This is the third year in a row that Washington spent at least $1 trillion more than it collected in tax revenues.” True, sadly. But the GOP’s answer is to rob from the poor, who are, we have been told and told, “given” too much already. Hence, the debt deal idea: cut military spending, cut programs like heating fuel assistance and Medicaid and raise all the boundaries on Social Security.
Baxter Brewing, DaVinci’s, Squid Jiggers join for fundraiser during Balloon Festival
Baxter Brewing Co. is partnering with mill neighbors, DaVinci’s Eatery and Maine’s premier folk duo, The Squid Jiggers, in bringing Lewiston-Auburn an entertaining and tasty way to experience the first night of the annual Great Falls Balloon Festival, while raising money for another mill neighbor, Museum L-A.
On Friday night, August 19, a $30 ticket provides: a BBQ feast provided by DaVinci’s; two beers from Baxter (additional beer and wine available); a private tour of the Baxter facilities; free parking; and a concert under the night sky from the Squid Jiggers. A portion of proceeds from the event will benefit Museum L/A, which will also be hosting a benefit raffle during the evening.
