By Governor Paul LePage

Maine’s progressives have been selling the benefits of the minimum wage increase using faulty analysis. Don’t buy the hype.Our businesses and our state budget will face significant challenges when the minimum wage rises to 11 and 12 dollars an hour over the next two years.

We’ve all heard the old saying about lies and statistics. Here’s the latest example: two recent blogs by the progressive Maine Center for Economic Policy incorrectly use workforce data to support raising the minimum wage.

In a January 8 blog, MECEP incorrectly attributes our 2017 wage gain to the increased minimum wage. According to economists at our Department of Labor, total wages paid were unusually low in the fourth quarter of 2016 and unusually high in the first quarter of 2017. This was not due to the minimum wage referendum. Rather, many employers delayed bonuses and other annual performance payments from December to January.

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Some of the Buccaneer Banquet Players are (from l.) Tony Morin, Jay Barrett, Dan Kane, Emily Flynn, Heather Marichal, and Sean Wallace. (Franco Center photo)

The Gendron Franco Center will once again produce one of Maine’s most unique, delicious, and hilarious experiences with its first ever Buccaneers Banquet on Friday and Saturday, May 4 and 5, beginning at 6 p.m. The center is located at the corner of Cedar and Oxford Streets in Lewiston.

Guests are invited to imagine themselves on the dock beside a huge pirate ship, awaiting the glorious arrival of the Pirate King, Captain Broadside, Iron Bottom, Low-Tide Jones, One-Eyed Ruby, Captain Morgan, and many others. They will join this merry band on the deck of the ship, filled with magic, color, and entertainment, where its wenches in service will serve a robust feast prepared by Chef John Pulsifer and his galley crew.

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Leonard “Lenny” Sharon is a defense attorney with a multi-state, federal, and criminal law practice centered in Androscoggin County.

The next program in the Curious Minds Lecture Series will feature attorney Leonard Sharon and activist Ray Luc Levasseur, who will discuss the intersection between the law and social movements on Tuesday, May 1 at 2 p.m. at Auburn Public Library.

In the 1960s and 1970s, when the civil rights and anti-war movements were in full force, the term “movement lawyer” was coined to describe lawyers and legal workers who not only represented protesters in court but were also active participants. The tradition of “movement” law continues today with projects such as the Black Movement Law Project. Come hear Leonard Sharon and Ray Luc Levasseur talk about their experiences during the 1960s and 1970s and the importance of legal protections for those who protest.

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High schools serving Auburn, Lewiston, Lisbon, Sabattus, Wales, Turner, Greene, Leeds, Poland, and Buckfield plan to send ninth graders to the event.

New Ventures Maine, in collaboration with Lewiston Regional Technical School, Central Maine Community College, and other community partners, is offering a hands-on, half-day conference designed to encourage girls to consider careers in fields traditionally populated by men. The Totally Trades Conference will bring together over one hundred ninth-graders from Androscoggin County schoolson Friday, May 25 at CMCC in Auburn.

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The show follows “pickers” Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz as they hunt for America’s hidden historic treasures.

The hit documentary series “American Pickers” is planning to film in Maine soon and is looking for people in the area who have unique antique collections with interesting stories behind them.

The show explores the fascinating world of antique “picking” on History by following Mike Wolfeand Frank Fritz, two of the most skilled pickers in the business, as they hunt for America’s historic hidden treasures.

As they hit the back roads from coast to coast, Mike and Frank are on a mission to recycle and rescue forgotten relics. Along the way, they want to meet characters with remarkable and exceptional items. Their goal is to give historically significant objects a new lease on life, while learning a thing or two about America’s past along the way.

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Americans paid their 2017 federal and state income taxes this week. Filing taxes isn’t a pleasant or easy task, but the lack of action by Democrats in the Legislature will make filing a nightmare next year.

Maine’s tax laws, as those of most states, piggyback on the federal IRS code. This is called “tax conformity.” States conform to avoid having two sets of laws – one for federal taxes and another for state taxes.

Aligning the state to the federal tax code usually requires minor fixes. But because the federal tax reform was comprehensive, we must make changes in a way that does not increase Mainers’ taxes. This requires the Legislature to pass a conformity bill.

Unfortunately, the failure of leadership by Speaker of the House Sara Gideon has made it likely that tax conformity will not happen this year.

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Members of the Labbe Family, with Sen. Eric Brakey and Rep. Kathleen Dillingham

The Labbe Family visited the Maine Senate recently to remember Normand “Blackie” Labbe, Sr. of Minot. Senator Eric Brakey (R-Androscoggin) recognized the family during the day’s session, presenting them with legislative memoriam remembering Blackie’s contributions to the community as the owner of Blackie’s Farm Fresh Produce in Auburn. The business was established in 1985, when Blackie opened a small, seasonal fruit stand on Minot Avenue, where he sold produce from his 120-acre farm in Minot.

“Blackie was a pillar of the community in Androscoggin County and an example of a life well-lived,” said Brakey. “Through his hard work and big heart, he touched the lives of many, and his impact will be felt for generations to come.”

Much in the style of television’s “Whose Line Is It, Anyway?” the troupe makes up comedy “on the spot,” based entirely on audience suggestions.

 Mainely Improv – On the Spot Comedy, one of Maine’s most popular improvisational troupes, will bring its madcap antics to the Baxter Brewing Company in Lewiston on Friday, April 20 at 7 p.m. Admission is free with no cover charge.

Much in the style of television’s “Whose Line Is It, Anyway?”, the troupe makes up comedy “on the spot,” based entirely upon audience suggestions.

“The one thing that is predictable about improv comedy is that it is totally unpredictable,” said Dan Marois, who, with his wife, Denise, produces Mainely Improv. “We have no idea what we are going to do when the show begins, and we rely on the wit and genius of the audience to give us outrageous situations to perform throughout the evening.”

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Friends of Pettingill Steering Committee members Bill Maroldo, Carolyn Court, and Ted Walworth (Photo by Gini Haines of Haines Photography)

If you don’t have any specific plans to celebrate Earth Day, you’re invited to join the Friends of Pettingill Park as they mark the day with a park cleanup event on Sunday, April 22, from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. The park is located on College Street in Lewiston. 

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Jake Jacobson

Maine Event Comedy will present Brownfield’s Jake Jacobson at Bear Bones Beer on Thursday, April 19 at 7 p.m. He’ll be joined by fellow comics Zach Griffith, Jamie Roux, and Dee Turcotte. An open-mic will follow the show.

Jacobson has seen the world and he’s not impressed. Born in Massachusetts, raised in Rhode Island, and enlightened in Africa, he now resides in Western Maine and writes intellectual-social-observational irreverence to be delivered wherever some good ol’ common sense is required.

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