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Archive for July 2011

3rd Art Walk to showcase more local artists than ever

A grassroots group of community members, artists and businesses is spotlighting the downtowns of Lewiston-Auburn once more, this time with more art and more performances.

On Friday, July 29 “Art Walk Lewiston Auburn” will transform the downtown areas of Lewiston and Auburn into art districts for the evening.

The first two Art Walk Lewiston Auburn events of the summer have drawn in over 600 people to the downtown area to appreciate art, culture and community. For it’s third event this season, the Art Walk will be featuring all new artwork from over 30 artists and will include more performance art elements.

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Source to Sea Trek includes paddles on the Androscoggin

YPLAA to host Paddle After Hours

The Androscoggin Land Trust (ALT) and the Androscoggin River Watershed Council (ARWC) are announcing four paddling trips for canoeists and kayakers over the next week, as the 16th Annual Source to Sea Trek makes its way into Lewiston-Auburn.

The events will feature discussions ranging from efforts to conserve working farms in Maine to a recently launched planning effort to link the new Androscoggin Riverlands State Park to downtown Lewiston-Auburn via land and water trails.

The Source to Sea Trek is a multi-week event that starts at the headwaters of the Androscoggin River and ends at Merrymeeting Bay.

Beginning on Friday, July 29, Maine Farmland Trust staffer Nina Young will provide a brief presentation, “Conserving Working Farms in Maine,” about the on-going efforts of that organization to protect working farms throughout Maine. The paddle during this day, from Twin Bridges/Googins Island in Leeds to Center Bridge Road in Turner, is fitting for this discussion given the recently conserved River Rise Farm trekkers will pass in the first couple of miles of this trip. The farm was conserved at the end of 2010 through a partnership with MFT and ALT.

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Mayor’s Corner: Lewiston Youth Advisory Council is a big plus for the city!

By Laurent F. Gilbert Sr.

Mayor of Lewiston

After a couple of weeks of touching on a controversial subject, I thought I’d keep it light this week and talk about a lighter, but very important, subject for the City of Lewiston. I write this week about the Lewiston Youth Advisory Council (LYAC) and the contributions these students have delivered to our community and the state in general, as they have had a positive impact statewide.

LYAC was first established by the City Council in 2001. Prior to it being established, municipal staff looked to other cities in New England and nationwide for models of such youth councils. They also sought input from the community, both youth and adults, as well as elected officials.

With youth input it was decided to use an application process, rather than an election process, to become members. That way, it didn’t become a popularity contest. With community support evident, a St. Dominic’s Regional High School student and a Bates College intern developed by-laws to launch the concept, with the understanding that the charter group could modify them.

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LETTER: Mayor Gilbert is a Catholic in name only

To the Editor:

Thank you, Larry Gilbert, for showing us your true personality: “Why would a local mayor support Gay Marriage?” (“Mayor’s Corner,” TCT, July 14, 2011).

Week after week Gilbert preaches tolerance and understanding for others’ beliefs in front of any media outlet that will give him face time in an attempt to raise his public stature. But, like every sanctimonious liberal, they occasionally let their guard down and expose their true nasty personality.

Gilbert’s trashing of our Catholic Church, its clergy and the Catholic faithful went well over the line of civility. When one calls themselves a Christian, a Jew or a Muslim, it means they adhere to fundamental beliefs set forth in their religion.

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LETTER: What would happen if our schools decided to be honest?

To the Editor:

Our public schools are failing, but our teachers, our school principals, our school superintendents and even our school boards assure us that things are not as bad as some believe and promise things will improve and all that is necessary is more time, more highly certified teachers, more parental involvement and more school funding.

Because they are experts, it is difficult for ordinary citizens to challenge them; for undereducated poor and welfare parents, the parents of the children most at risk, challenging or parental involvement is impossible.

But there is convincing evidence of school failure. Because public school officials lie, exaggerate or deny the failure of their schools, our national government mandates the employment of commonly agreed upon annual standardized testing to provide a means to compare schools and students.

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“Sun-Drying Handmade Noodles”

These vermicelli-like noodles are commonly used to make a traditional Taiwanese noodle dish and are also used as an offering in religious festivals. This photo by Huang Ting-sheng is part of “Taiwan Sublime,” a selection of large-format photographs on loan from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Boston that is on exhibit through August 12 at USM’s Lewiston-Auburn College. See page 11.

Op/Ed: Eliminating the estate tax is the right thing to do

By Tim Lajoie, Chairman

Lewiston Republican City Committee

The Democrats are at it again—this time through their chief apologist from Lewiston, Mayor Laurent F. Gilbert Sr.

Mayor Gilbert submits testimony given by Dan Coyne, policy analyst for Maine Center for Economic Policy (MECEP), before the Joint Standing Committee on Taxation as the foundation of his argument against eliminating the estate tax here in Maine.

The usual fear tactics are employed in arguing against eliminating the tax. It is argued that Maine’s economic recovery will be in danger and less investment in K-12 education, higher education, health care, environmental safety and public safety will hurt Mainers. Those dastardly Republicans will cut off funding for your children’s education, threaten your health, pollute your drinking water and make your communities less safe!

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Griffiths on The Need to Govern from a Broad Middle

By Dave Griffiths

TCT Columnist

Greetings, good people. I’ve been traveling a lot on business (if you ever get to Memphis, try the barbecued beef brisket at the Rendezvous restaurant, but don’t buy the local brew), so I’ve got an excuse, sort of, for not writing any columns since April.

Now it’s July and it’s hot, and we’re all wondering how our creaky old democracy will manage the latest budget fight in Washington.

I have no idea, but I do know that in some 40-plus years of news-conscious adulthood—both as a consumer and practitioner of journalism—I’ve never seen distrust of all levels of government at such a depressingly high pitch.

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ALT, Verso Paper to conserve riverfront land for recreation

Verso Paper Corp.’s Androscoggin Mill and the Androscoggin Land Trust are thrilled by a recent state decision to support a project that will conserve more land along the Androscoggin River for recreational use. The mill plans to donate or sell nearly 1,300 acres of land along the river under a proposal submitted by ALT and the Town of Jay to the Land for Maine’s Future program. LMF decided to grant $259,000 toward this valuable project.

“We are very happy with this outstanding show of support from Land for Maine’s Future,” said Androscoggin Land Trust Executive Director Jonathan LaBonté. “While the grant is shy of our original $425,000 request, we are pleased that LMF recognized the importance of this project and used limited funds to support such a key project for the Androscoggin River community and the Atate of Maine. Increasing recreation along the river corridor will not only allow Maine to take advantage of such an incredible resource, but will also have economic benefit to the state as it increases tourism to the area.”

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Ryan Pare wins Bronze at SkillsUSA Championship

Ryan Pare, a recent graduate of Lewiston High School, was awarded the Bronze medal in the Medical Math competition at the annual National Leadership and Skills Conference and SkillsUSA Championships. Ryan has participated in the state level competition and was the gold medalist in both 2010 and 2011, earning a trip to the national conference both years.

He represents the Lewiston Regional Technical Center, and his advisor is Pamela Abzan. Ryan will be going to the University of Maine at Farmington this fall and will be majoring in Mathematics. He is the son of Scott and Cindy Pare of Lewiston.

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