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Patti Gagne of Allstate Insurance tries to sell raffle tickets to Dan D’Auteuil of Isaacson & Raymond at The Chamber of Commerce Annual Awards dinner, held Feb. 9 at the Ramada Conference Center in Lewiston. See photos in Digital Edition on pages 1, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 16. (TCT photo by Laurie A. Steele)
Ron Paul wins GOP vote in Androscoggin County
Romney declared winner of Maine GOP Caucuses
Maine Republican Chairman Charles M. Webster and Vice Chair Ruth Summers issued statements on Saturday announcing Mitt Romney as the winner of this year’s Republican caucus process. They declared that Romney won Maine caucuses with 39.2 percent of the vote.
“We would like to congratulate Governor Romney on his win in the Maine caucuses, and thank Ron Paul and Mitt Romney for making stops in Maine over the past several weeks,” said Maine GOP Chairman Charlie Webster. “Maine People were excited to cast their first vote against the Obama agenda and we look forward to working with our Republican presidential nominee to defeat Barack Obama in Maine
“We owe many thanks and congratulations to our volunteers across the state who worked so diligently organizing these caucuses,’ said Maine GOP Vice Chair Ruth Summers. “These caucuses would not have been possible without our State Committee, who promoted this concept. It was wonderful to see so many Maine people turn out to vote in the presidential straw poll and participate in the caucus business. We are truly a grassroots party and the work they started is critical to moving our party forward and winning in November.”
Spending Spree: Gift cards, catering and travel top list of hundreds of thousands in questionable Maine Housing expenses
By The Maine Wire
http://www.themainewire.com/
Documents obtained by The Maine Wire show the Maine State Housing Authority has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars per year on extraneous expenses – including gift cards, catering, travel, education, and consultants.
Data show MSHA made several high-dollar expenditures to Hannaford between 2008 and 2010, totaling $59,000. According to a source at Maine Housing, these payments were for gift cards that were handed out to employees, and many of the gift cards remain unaccounted for.
While an estimated 6,500 Maine families sit on a waiting list for affordable housing, and while federal cutbacks in low-income heating assistance mean needy families face a cold winter, Maine Housing, the agency in charge of mitigating both of these issues, has diverted a considerable amount of public money elsewhere.
Expenditure data released Tuesday gives a more detailed view of the massive amount of money spent by the quasi-state agency. It also raises serious questions about the financial management of the organization.
Enough is Enough: Lewiston legislators pit taxpayers against taxtakers
By Robert E. Macdonald
Mayor of Lewiston
A bottle of gin, a pair of dice and a straight razor, issued along with one’s monthly welfare check, was a popular solution designed to reduce welfare in the working-class neighborhood that I grew up in.
Wisdom, born of the street, it reflected the attitude of the average working man and woman towards those who expected to live by the fruits of their labors.
After reading the Sunday edition of Lewiston’s daily paper, it is clear that welfare reform is long overdue. (Stories included “The ins and outs of EBTs,” “Benefits can buy booze, cigarettes, anything legal” and “Welfare cheats: Maine ramps up battle against fraud.”)
Our career politicians in Augusta must immediately be replaced by people with a practical understanding of our problems and a clear, simple, common-sense vision of how to solve them.
“Bands on the Run” races to benefit Museum L-A
Museum L-A invites the Twin Cities to a challenging way to have fun with a new event being planned for Sunday, June 24. Combining music with athletic competition, “Bands on the Run Half Marathon & 5K” will encourage participants and spectators to join in on the activities to benefit the museum’s work in the community.
Popular local bands of various genres will be stationed along a running course designed to offer spectacular views and varying terrain.
A military-style Kids’ Obstacle Course, immensely popular at last year’s L-A DU, will spur youngsters to test their fitness. The event will also showcase Museum L-A’s future location at 1 Beech Street, adjacent to Simard-Payne Park, where a festival-like atmosphere will prevail with live music, food and a variety of vendors. Competition gets under way with the Half Marathon starting at 8:30 a.m., followed by the 5K at 9 a.m. and the Kids’ Obstacle Course at 10 a.m.
LETTER: GOP discredits potential votes
To the Editor:
It is an absolute outrage that the Maine State GOP thinks that with only 83% of Maine’s votes for the 2012 Presidential Preference Poll, that they can discredit the potential votes of 8,000 members of their party, especially with only 194 votes between first and second place.
It is even more of an outrage that the Maine State GOP can ‘call’ a winner based on only that 83% reported. At a time when the GOP needs to come together more than ever to clear out the current Obama administration, and at a time when the GOP needs to gain strength and the trust of it’s members, it has made a blatant and irreversible mistake.
“Piano Men” to perform Elton John, Billy Joel songs
The L/A Arts annual fundraiser on March 17 features a revival of the best songs from the 1970s by music legends Billy Joel and Elton John.
L/A Arts will host the fundraiser reception and performance at the Franco American Heritage Center, 46 Cedar St., Lewiston. Following the 6 p.m. reception will be a fantastic performance of the best songs of the 1970s by musical legends Billy Joel and Elton John in a performance of Piano Men featuring Joe Boucher, Chris Eastburn and the Southern Maine Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Robert Lehmann.
Elton John and Billy Joel have combined to sell over 350 million records worldwide. For four decades they have been a large part of the musical landscape, topping the album charts and playing to sold out audiences while continuing to receive heavy airplay on classic rock radio.
Maine State Housing Authority payroll jumps 30% since 2005
The Maine Heritage Policy Center has released data showing that the total payroll cost of Maine State Housing Authority has increased 30% in just five years.
MaineOpenGov.org, a MHPC website that shows the pay of state employees, has been updated and expanded to show five years of salary and benefits data for employees of the Maine State Housing Authority.
The data from Maine Housing was provided in response to a Freedom of Access Act request made by The Maine Heritage Policy Center. The data shows that in the past five calendar years (2005 to 2010), total payroll and benefits costs of Maine State Housing Authority employees grew by 30%, from $7.1 million in 2005 to $9.4 million in 2010.
Enough is Enough: L-A needs money for market-rate housing, not more Section 8
By Robert Macdonald
Mayor of Lewiston
There are two new sheriffs in Lewiston-Auburn. We have heard your anger and concerns. We are now in the process of addressing them.
Auburn Mayor Jonathan LaBonté and myself have agreed to work together, like conjoined twins, to start the process of transforming Lewiston-Auburn into a prosperous, vibrant community that will transform from mere exits on the Maine Turnpike and dots on a map into a desirous destination for Mainers and out-of-staters to live, work and establish a business.
This was underscored at a recent meeting with the director and staff of the New England area U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Department. After the HUD director and staff introduced themselves, we were advised that they had come to Lewiston-Auburn with funds to help us in developing our communities.
They were then bluntly advised that if the money they intended to give us was earmarked for additional Section 8 housing—or whatever it is now called—they had wasted a trip. Read the rest of this entry »
“Cool Happenings on Lisbon Street”
The 2011-12 Lewiston Youth Advisory Council will debut its 24-minute video, entitled “Cool Happenings on Lisbon Street,” on Saturday, February 11 at 2:30 p.m. at The Downstage at LA Arts, 5 Canal Street Alley, Lewiston. Members of the public are encouraged to attend the free event.
Why film what’s happening on Lisbon Street? LYAC members have heard about Lisbon Street bustling with activity years ago. They wanted to remind residents and visitors alike that today’s Lisbon Street is being rejuvenated one storefront at a time and wanted to capture that activity as an image booster for Lewiston. The video was both filmed and edited by youth council members in partnership with Great Falls TV.
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