This week’s edition!
Events
Lewiston seeks photos for new web site
Got great photos of Lewiston and want to share your civic pride?
In preparation for a new, more user-friendly municipal web site, the City of Lewiston’s Web Site Steering Committee is seeking professional and amateur photos of various aspects of Lewiston. The deadline for submitting photos is March 3.
It is expected that 15 to 20 photos will be selected by the Steering Committee and then submitted to CivicPlus, the web firm that Lewiston is working with to design and build the new site. Photos that are used for the site will have online photo credits.
Dempsey Challenge registration opens March 1
Registration for the third annual Dempsey Challenge presented by Amgen will open Tuesday, March 1 at 9 a.m. through the event website: www.dempseychallenge.org.
The run, walk and cycling event is scheduled for October 8 and 9 in Lewiston, Maine.
Registration fees remain unchanged from 2010: the 5K or 10K run/walk is $35; cycling is $75; and $100 for participants wishing to take part in both events.
The 5K and 10K run/walk will take place on October 8, followed by cycling rides on October 9. Cyclists will have a choice between five distances consisting of 10-, 25-, 50-, 100- and a new 70-mile ride. Participation will be capped at 6,500 for the weekend: 4,000 on October 8 and 2,500 for October 9.
Snowe: Prioritize our nation’s budget for small businesses
U.S. Senator Olympia J. Snowe
(R-Maine)
On Monday, Feb. 14 President Obama released his Fiscal Year 2012 budget, which fell far short of setting fiscal priorities to create jobs, grow the economy and reduce the nation’s burgeoning debt burden.
As our gross federal debt exceeds $14 trillion and is projected to reach 100 percent of our Gross Domestic Product by the end of 2011, the most significant task for the 112th Congress is to rein in these unsustainable deficits and return the federal budget to fiscal sanity.
Regrettably, the President’s proposal—which includes $8.7 trillion in new spending and would double the debt held by the public by the end of his term and triple it 10 years after he was sworn in—falls woefully short when it comes to prioritizing policies and fulfilling our economic imperative to reduce federal spending and shrink the nation’s unsustainable debt.
Mayor’s Corner: “Union busting” is alive and well in America and now Maine
By Laurent F. Gilbert Sr.
Mayor of Lewiston
We’ve all seen the tens of thousands of state workers in Wisconsin demonstrating in and around the State House in Madison.
Republican Gov. Scott Walker working with his Republican majority in both houses is planning to revoke their collective bargaining rights. The recently elected governor had the backing of Republican members of the Tea Party.
In Maine, some Republicans, but not all, are proposing legislation that would make Maine a “right to work” state. In other words, this legislation would bring us back to the days of Gov. Barry Goldwater and his “right to work” State of Arizona. I remember my father telling me about his opposition to such a law and how it was anti-worker.
Weekly Review: Waiting for MobileGov; “Report It;” and Weights and Measures
By Glenn E. Aho
Auburn City Manager
For 142 years the City of Auburn has operated essentially the same way: each city department working independently from one another, and all departments reporting to the City Manager. Having so many departments report to one person and with each department working independently, it’s very inefficient and difficult to sustain accountability.
The lack of efficiency and accountability are not only two of the public’s greatest pet peeves with local government, but they must also be the two areas local government works to improve.
I’m sure you’ve heard the adage, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” Though there are many things local government does right, what citizens have always “got” from local government is inefficiency and a lack of accountability.
Father/Daughter Ball
Alina Laliberte busts a move at the Annual Father/Daughter Ball, a fundraiser for The Public Theatre held on Feb. 5 at the Ramada Inn in Lewiston. To see photos, click on Digital Edition at left and go to pages 8 and 9. Or pick up a copy of TCT today!
Auburn Winter Festival winners announced
The results are in, and once again the Auburn Winter Festival was a great success! The Auburn Winter Festival was held January 28 to February 6 with a wide variety of activities and fun for all ages.
The winners of the following events were:
“3 on 3 Pond Hockey,” sponsored by Tim Horton’s & Auburn Youth Hockey
Men’s Division:
Gold Medal: “Shake and Bake” (Randy Geoffroy, Scott Geoffroy, Craig Poulin, John Poulin, Jake Hall and Tom Guay)
“Lucifer’s Child:” Epstein’s book recounts horrific murder of little girl
By Rachel Morin
TCT Columnist
The room in the Auburn Public Library was abuzz as folks gathered early to hear Elliott Epstein discuss his recently released book, “Lucifer’s Child,” which recounts the horrific murder of a little girl who was stuffed in an oven and burned to death.
Several people stood in clusters waiting for the author’s arrival, recalling where they were when they first learned of little Angela Palmer’s tragic death.
The first thing you notice about “Lucifer’s Child” is the dramatic cover photo of the mustard-colored tenement building at 317 Main St. in Auburn, where four-year-old Angela Palmer was stuffed into an oven and burned to death by her mother’s live-in boyfriend, John Lane. The photo alone summons the horror and unspeakable events leading up to the horrific crime.
Mayor’s Corner: CDBG funds are of tremendous importance to Lewiston
By Laurent F. Gilbert Sr.
Mayor of Lewiston
According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development: “the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program is a flexible program that provides communities [like Lewiston] with resources to address a wide range of unique community development needs.”
Beginning in 1974, the CDBG program is one of the longest continuously run programs at HUD. The CDBG program provides annual grants on a formula basis to 1,209 general units of local government and states. Lewiston is one of those units, as we are an entitlement community.
A letter dated February 10, 2011 to members of Congress, sent from a coalition of the United States Conference of Mayors and nine other national organizations representing various forms of community development, offered the following facts:
Weekly Review: Customer service; logging in; and 5 more weeks of winter!
By Glenn E. Aho
Auburn City Manager
Reducing the city’s tax burden is a goal of the Auburn City Council, and it’s the job of city administration to work toward meeting that goal.
It’s not easy, as government’s usual response to complaints is to simply add more money and more manpower to the budget to make those complaints go away. That doesn’t work any longer.
With the City Council’s goal of reducing the tax burden, our response to complaints must be a greater effort toward managing what money and manpower we already have. To make matters more challenging, we actually have fewer employees to address complaints and to work toward the City Council’s goal. City employees have worked exceedingly hard these past two years, and I’m pleased to say that we are doing a lot better than we were two years ago.
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