DOWN EAST NOTES

According to the Guttmacher Institute, the lowest teenage pregnancy rates are in New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Minnesota and North Dakota, while the highest are in such proudly Christian states like Texas and Mississipi, along with New Mexico, Nevada, and Arizona

WGME - Investigators say they may never know what caused a fire that killed 72,000 chickens in a barn in Belfast. The fire early Thursday morning destroyed a three-story, 500-foot poultry barn in the mid-coast town. The owner of the farm says he probably won't rebuild because the cost would be much higher than his insurance coverage. He said he has two other chicken barns with a total of 142,000 birds.

Morning Sentinel - If Maine is vacationland, then Somerset and Kennebec counties are pit stops.. . . Of the eight regions of Maine, the Kennebec and Moose River Valleys region -- which includes the hubs of Augusta, Waterville, The Forks and Jackman -- ranks second-to-last in visitation numbers, behind only Aroostook County. . . Tourism supported the equivalent of about one in six Maine jobs in 2006 and one of every $5 in sales. . . The number of tourists visiting the state has been down by 2.4 percent to 5 percent over the past couple years, said Pat Eltman, director of the Maine Office of Tourism.

NO MORE PLANES AT THE BRUNSWICK NAVAL AIR STATION

FOLLOW THE MONEY: A STUDY OF WHO GETS WHAT IN MAINE POLITICS

FLOOD WATERS RECEDE

ICEBREAKING IN THE KENNEBEC RIVER

THE FIRST DECADE OF SOMALIS IN LEWISTON

Maine Public Broadcasting - Eight years ago, it was the former Lewiston mayor's open letter to the Somali community that made national headlines. In it he expressed concern about the effects of the in-migration on city and school services. "We have been overwhelmed and have responded valiantly," Mayor Laurier Raymond wrote. "Now we need breathing room. Our city is maxed out financially, physically and emotionally.". . .

At the time, there were several hundred Somalis living in Lewiston. Now there are about 5,000, and new mayor Larry Gilbert says the city is a different place. "I look at the apartment buildings that they're living in and I say, 'What if they weren't here? Those buildings would be empty and what would our tax revenue be?' So I really think they're adding to the economy. And I think that that's something that that's people just don't realize. They think that the system is being drained, when in fact, they're contributing to it."

Gilbert says welfare assistance for Somali immigrants makes up only about ten percent of the city's entire welfare budget. And when you look at Lisbon Street, the primary artery running through the downtown, about two blocks are now made up of Somali-owned businesses.


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WHAT'S HAPPENING TO WINTER IN THE NORTH

National Wildlife Federation - Global warming is having a seemingly peculiar effect on winter weather in the northern United States. Winter is becoming milder and shorter on average; spring arrives 10 to 14 days earlier than it did just 20 years ago. But most snow belt areas are still experiencing extremely heavy snowstorms. Some places are even expected to have more heavy snowfall events as storm tracks shift northward and as reduced ice cover on the Great Lakes increases lake-effect snowfalls.

Even as global warming slowly changes the character of winter, we will still experience significant year-to-year variability in snowfall and temperature because many different factors are at play. Milder winters disrupt ecosystems in some surprising ways. Bitter cold temperatures naturally limit the spread of pests, diseases, and invasive species.

The absence of extreme winter cold across the mountainous West has enabled an explosion of mountain pine beetles and caused a massive die-off of pine forests. Some important plants-for example, walnuts, peaches, and cherries- require a certain exposure to cold in order to flourish. Plants and animals also can be caught unawares when milder conditions are punctuated by severe winter weather. Across the Great Plains and Southeast United States, a cold snap in early April 2007 caused more than $2 billion in crop losses after an unusually warm March led to premature crop growth.

Large economic uncertainty and potential losses are in store for many communities, especially in regions where winter recreation provides significant tourism revenue. Many ski resorts will see shorter, rainier seasons, which will negatively impact the $66 billion dollar industry and the tens of millions of Americans who ski each year. Lakes across the Midwest are freezing later and have thinner ice, often leading to ice conditions too dangerous for safe ice fishing. Roadway snow removal and wintertime flood management also will be complicated by more erratic winter weather; government agencies may have to account for much more year-to-year variability.

Sally Stockwell, Maine Audubon - Warmer winters mean we could see populations of moose, lynx, and pine marten all decline, as these species are adapted to cold temperatures and heavy snowfall. U Maine scientists also predict populations of our state bird, the black-capped chickadee, will become less common or even disappear from much of the state except western and northern Maine. . .

In northwestern Minnesota the moose population has dropped precipitously in the past two decades from 4,000 to 100 moose. After 7 years of study, biologists from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources suspect the ultimate cause of the decline is climate change.

Moose become stressed from the hot weather and die from diseases like brainworm or from heavy. Warmer winters increased deer populations, which carry a brain worm that is harmless to whitetails but fatal to moose. Warmer weather also increases winter ticks that bother moose so much they rub off both the ticks and their thick protective hair, leaving them vulnerable to death from exposure.

Warmer weather along with healthy populations of deer in southern Maine is already leading to a rapid spread of the deer tick and Lyme’s disease throughout Maine.

More southern species like the Carolina wren and opossum are moving into Maine and surviving our winters where they never could before. Other species that are more common south of the border will likely expand north into Maine.


Heavy rainfall on top of snow will lead to increased problems with ice jams and flooding, and washouts of culverts that can’t handle the increased flow, interfering with travel of fish and other aquatic animals up and downstream. This could be especially problematic for our prized wild native brook trout and salmon.

DOWN EAST NOTES

Maine Public Broadcasting - Sales of existing single family homes in Maine were more than 10 percent higher in 2009 than in 2008, according to the Maine Association of Realtors. . . The association says 10,486 homes were sold in Maine in 2009, compared with 9,502 in 2008. Meanwhile, the median price of those homes fell over the year by nearly 9 percent.

CMIO - Hospitals rated in the top 5 percent in the U.S. have a 29 percent lower risk-adjusted mortality rate and are improving their clinical quality at a faster pace than other hospitals, according to a study issued Jan. 26 by Health Grades, a healthcare ratings organization. . . Thr following states had no hospitals in the top 5 percent: Alaska, Arkansas, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, D.C., and Wyoming.

Kennebec Journal - An ice jam more than a mile long flooded Augusta and Hallowell's downtowns and had authorities in other riverside communities on edge wondering if they could be next. . . Some vehicles in Hallowell and Gardiner were trapped and submerged in the floodwaters. . . Officials said water levels in Augusta and Hallowell reached more than 17 feet -- more than 5 feet above flood stage. In Hallowell, Front Street was completely underwater Wednesday, as were the basements of waterfront buildings. A camper and commercial truck were partially in the water. . . A sign on the door of Dancewear House, which was closed, read: "Flood level store hours: zero feet, open for business, 10-5; two feet, cash only; four feet, wading boots are not dance attire; six feet, Oh my God." Next to the 8-foot flood level, the sign had a simple drawing of what appeared to be bubbles.

Portland Press Herald - Maine's two U.S. senators say the state is going to get $35 million to extend the Amtrak Downeaster passenger train from Portland to Brunswick. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins say the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority will use the money to rehabilitate the 30 miles of tracks between the two cities.

SWEETHEART DEAL FOR TELECOMS PENDING IN AUGUSTA

This is a good example of the sort of corrupt legislation we can expect in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling on campaign financing.

Maine Public Broadcasting - A bill crafted to protect private sector interests in the expansion of broadband service attracted an afternoon's worth of attention today at the State House, where supporters and opponents of the legislation squared off on what some critics were referring to as a FairPoint bill. FairPoint Communications supports the measure, which would prohibit state agencies from providing telecommunications services to other state agencies or their tenants.

State Rep. Stacey Fitts, a Pittsfield Republican, insists that his bill is simply an attempt to level the playfield for telecommunications in Maine. . .

In a hearing before the Legislature's Utilities and Energy Committee, Fitts made it clear he was uncomfortable with the University of Maine's telecommunications network that connects the university with the Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor. Fitts says the proposed legislation would preserve that link, but would prohibit any further expansion by the university -- something that the lawmaker says would obstruct efforts of companies like FairPoint to expand high-speed Internet service to rural Maine. . .

"We believe that this legislation actually creates a clear directive to the state entities, and essentially what's being asked in this bill is that state funds not be used to inhibit private investment in broadband infrastructure," says Beth Ossler of the Telephone Association of Maine.

Ossler says telecommunications providers have to be assured that they won't have to compete with a large state entity like the University of Maine System.

BUCKS FOR BALDACCI FOLLOWED BY SALES TAX EXEMPTION

Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting - Dozens of organizations and businesses pleaded for exemptions from tax increases in the tax reform bill that was approved last June.

Thanks to Gov. John Baldacci, only two got what they asked for: Realtors and the ski industry.

Realtors persuaded the governor to reverse a tax increase on the sale of luxury homes.

And the ski industry was slated to collect a sales tax on lift tickets - until the governor intervened.

A two-month investigation of the governor's decision, including a review of campaign finance reports, shows that the realtors and the ski areas have supported Baldacci politically and financially and have easy access to him to make their case.

Other groups, such as auto repair shops, had no strong connections in the State House and were not rescued from a new sales tax on their services.

. . . The ski areas are represented by lobbyist Severin Beliveau, a longtime political and financial supporter of the Democratic governor. Their case was also helped by a plea from another longtime Baldacci friend and supporter, Saddleback Maine's general manager, Warren Cook.

Beliveau said the governor's decision "was not a function of our relationship," adding that Baldacci has been opposed to taxing outdoor recreation since he was in the state legislature 25 years ago.

Cook said he spoke to the governor about exempting ski lift tickets and that when the Berry family bought Saddleback in 2003, "Bill Berry went to the governor and the governor pledged to him at the time that he wasn't going to support a tax on ski tickets."

When the proposal to tax lift tickets came up again last year, Cook said, "I just went in and said to the governor, we need your help in this area.". . .

Beliveau gave $1000 to the last two Baldacci gubernatorial campaigns and a total of $4500 to Baldacci congressional campaigns.

In the 2006 governor's race, lawyers in Beliveau's firm, Preti Flaherty, gave $25,000 to Baldacci's campaign. Twenty attorneys in the firm, where he is listed as a founding partner who "directs the firm's Legislative and regulatory practices in Augusta and Washington, D.C. , gave the maximum of $1000 each.

Baldacci's total campaign contributions in 2006 were $1.3 million.

Baldacci's Republican opponent in 2006 was Chandler Woodcock, whose campaign was publicly financed and who received only small contributions as seed money. None of those came from Beliveau or his law firm, according to state records.

In 2002, the records show Baldacci's GOP opponent, Peter Cianchette, received a total of $1,100 from three Preti Flaherty attorneys. In contrast, the same records list more than 20 lawyers from the firm giving Baldacci's campaign $14,000.

In 2009, Beliveau is listed as the registered lobbyist for 23 business and organizations, from Anheuser-Busch to Catholic Charities of Maine to FairPoint, the troubled communications company that the state approved to take over Verizon's phone business.

More. . .

PHOTOS OF KENNEBEC RIVER FLOODING

REPORT TRACKS CASCO BAY CLIMATE CHANGE

Maine Public Broadcasting - Maine's Casco Bay watershed region has grown warmer and wetter over the past century, according to a new report released today by the Casco Bay Estuary Partnership.

The report, titled "Climate Change in the Casco Bay Watershed: Past, Present, and Future," concludes that the region's average annual temperature has increased by two degrees Fahrenheit in the past 100 years. That's resulted in earlier ice-outs on Sebago Lake, and 20 percent more rainfall each year in Portland.

The report also claims a host of other effects, including an increase in extreme weather events, a decrease in snow cover days, earlier spring run-off, longer growing seasons and rising sea levels.

The trends are expected to continue, the reports authors say. Temperatures are projected to increase by as much as three to eight degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century, with summer temperatures rising as much as 10 degrees. Under that scenario, floods and droughts would be more likely, according to the report.

 

CLICK ON CHARTS FOR LARGE VERSIONS

From the Report - Overall, the region has been getting warmer and wetter over the last century, and these trends have increased over the last four decades. Detailed analysis of data collected at four meteorological stations in the region (Farmington, Lewiston, Portland, and Rumford) show that since 1965 the region has warmed 1.5 to 3.0 degrees F, with the greatest warming occurring in winter (1.6 - 4.9 degrees F). Overall annual precipitation and extreme precipitation events (both 1" in 24 hours and 2" in 48 hours) have increased in Portland.

The number of snow covered days is decreasing (especially on the coast), and winter snowfall is decreasing. Data collected from ships, buoys, and other observational platforms shows that sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Maine are warming. Tidal gauge data indicates relative sea level at Portland is continuing to rise.

Finally, analysis of phenological data indicates that ice-out dates on Sebago Lake are occurring earlier.

MAINE REALLY BACKS NATIONAL POPULAR VOTE

Nattonal Popular Vote - A 2008 survey of 800 Maine voters showed 77% overall support for a national popular vote for President.

By political affiliation, support for a national popular vote was 85% among Democrats, 70% among Republicans, and 73% among others.

By gender, support for a national popular vote was 82% among women and 71% among men.

By age, support for a national popular vote was 79% among 18-29 year olds, 67% among 30-45 year olds, 78% among 46-65 year olds, and 82% for those older than 65.

By congressional district, support for a national popular vote was 78% in the First congressional district and 76% in the Second district.

By race, support for a national popular vote was 79% among whites (representing 94% of respondents) and 56% among others (representing 6% of respondents).

DOWN EAST NOTES

Enrollment at the Northern Maine Community College is up 15 percent, the highest since the mid 1990s.

A Skowhegan man caught a record-setting rainbow trout on Lake George in Canaan, according to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. Michael Thebarge of Skowhegan landed the trout that weighed 7 pounds on a certified scale. It wasn't until this week that Mr. Thebarge decided to contact IF&W and the Maine Sportsman, which maintains that state record book, to see if it was a record.

Morning Sentinel - A nationwide initiative to elect the president of the United States by popular vote has reached Maine, and will be considered by the House of Representatives this week. "I think that most Americans feel strongly that we ought to be electing a president by popular vote," said Rep. John Martin, D-Eagle Lake, sponsor of the legislation, L.D. 56. "We've had at least three instances where we elected a president (with a minority of the popular vote), and the popular vote was ignored because of the Electoral College method." The bill would require states that enact it to commit all of their electoral votes to whichever candidate wins the national popular vote. If the bill had been in effect in 2000, Al Gore would have become president instead of George W. Bush.

Representative Michael Shaw is practicing the growing political mis-craft of pretending you're doing something useful by either banning it or fining it. Shaw wants to boost the penalties for writing bad checks. . . Maine Public Broadcasting - For example, he suggests that a bad check of $500 or more be made a felony and that those convicted pay triple damages as well as court costs and attorney fees. Jack Comart, an attorney for Maine Equal Justice, a low-income advocacy group, says requiring people to spend more time in jail for writing $500 worth of bouncing checks is the wrong solution. "The bill makes no distinction between those who, through no fault of their own, are not able to tender the amount of the check and fees within ten days," Comart said. "We often deal with people living on fixed incomes such as social security. . . nd many times they don't get their direct deposit check through no fault of their own but through a bureaucratic mixup.". . . And, says John Pelletier, executive director of the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services. . . when low-risk offenders are subjected to stiff sanctions for behavior that is an anomoly they can become high risk offenders. He says making bad check writers pay simple restitution to merchants is probably a more effective sentence. Others say uniform enforcement by district attorneys across the state could also help.

ANOTHER VICTIM OF SCHOOL CONSOLIDATION LAW

Morning Sentinel, Pittsfield - The local school system is already facing several budget "whammies" this year, Superintendent Michael Gallagher says, amounting to a projected $300,000 to $400,000 shortfall. And under state law, School Administrative District 53 is set to take another $185,000 hit. The district needed to hold a vote on merging with another school system by the end of this month to avoid that. But school officials are lobbying to be absolved of a state penalty, saying they've exhausted all options to comply with the state's school consolidation law.. . .

CO-HOUSING IN BRUNSWICK

Two Echo - Cohousing communities like Two Echo are by the people, for the people — which makes them unique among residential developments. Instead of being developed for profit by builders or real estate speculators, these communities are designed and managed by their own residents, whose privately-owned homes cluster around a common house and community-owned open 22 space.

Two Echo - The cohousing concept originated in Denmark over 20 years ago. Today, more than 150 cohousing communities are in various stages of development throughout the U. S. Formed in 1991, the Two Echo group wanted a parcel of land with woods and fields, away from busy roads, noise and air pollution, large enough to provide space for recreation and some possible agricultural uses such as gardening, farming, and raising animals. In 1996, after exploring more than 25 sites, we found a beautiful 92-acre parcel of land that met all our criteria. Off Hacker Road in Brunswick, it has about 15 acres of fields and more than 75 acres of woods. We're just 10 minutes from downtown Brunswick, the home of Bowdoin College. A thriving community, Brunswick offers good schools, a variety of cultural attractions, and proximity to the famed Maine coast.

BALDACCI PLANS TO JOIN THE TEST TYRANTS BIG TIME

Maine Public Broadcasting - Gov. John Baldacci plans to introduce legislation in the coming weeks that would link teacher evaluations -- and possibly teacher pay -- to student performance. He outlined his proposal in his State of the State speech last night. . . State law currently bars school administrators from evaluating teachers based on how their students do on measurements such as test scores . . . The Baldacci administration wants to get rid of the prohibition to make it more competitive for federal grant money for education through the so-called Race to the Top program. . .

Says Mark Gray, executive director of the Maine Education Association, whose members are compensated by school districts based on their longevity and educational attainment. . . "If I'm a high school math teacher and I've got four, five sections of math, and I might have a couple of algebra 2 classes, I might also be teaching a calculus class. How does my effectiveness as a teacher get matched up to the fact that I'm teaching a large number of students and I'm teaching students at different levels? Is it an average of all of the test scores of all the students that I see during a semester or during a grading period?"

DOWN EAST NOTES

Green Independent Party gubernatorial candidate Lynne Williams called for to create an economic climate based on sustainability. Currently, Williams said, neither the state's budget process, its economic development efforts or its tax structure reflect a sustainable model. "Farmers understand this concept," Williams said, "and they budget based on multi-year averages of their yields. That way, they can often ride out bad years and use strong years to build up a surplus - a surplus they use only when yearly revenue falls below the average. Municipal governments often work the same way"

Maine Biz - Portland has moved up five places in an annual Portfolio ranking of the best places for small business. The annual small business vitality assessment in 2009 ranked Portland No. 10 in the country, but this year the city moved up to No. 5 in a field of 100 metro areas. The ranking is based on population, employment and small business growth, for businesses with fewer than 99 employees, according to the Conde Nast website. Portland took the No. 5 spot based on its number of small businesses in 2007 (17,747); change in private sector employment between 2004 and 2009 (-2%); 2008 population (514,065); small businesses per 1,000 people in 2007 (34.64); and change in population between 2003 and 2008 (1.61%).

DOWN EAST NOTES

Maine Public Broadcasting - Civil libertarians and religious groups are lining up in support of a bill that would limit the amount of time prisoners in Maine can be put in solitary confinement. LD 1611, sponsored by Rep. James Schatz, a Blue Hill Democrat, would also prevent authorities from placing prisoners with "serious mental illness" in solitary confinement. The measure has the support of the Maine Civil Liberties Union, as well as the Maine Council of Churches. The Maine Psychological Association and the Maine Association of Psychiatric Physicians are also supporting the measure. The groups are outlining their reasons at an Augusta news conference this morning.

WCSH - Employees of the Front Room restaurant in Portland and members of the Restaurant Opportunities Center of Maine have filed a federal lawsuit against the owner of the restaurant, Harding Smith, for violations of labor laws. In the lawsuit, workers claim they were forced to pay a portion of their tips to management, were not paid appropriate minimum wages or overtime, and alleges a culture of disrespect at the Front Room. The suit, which asks for $160,000, seeks back wages for misappropriated tips. Eight former employees are taking part in the legal action.

Maine Owl - I understand the desire of a reporter to cover a story like the earthquake in Haiti, and an editor's desire to send them there, but knowing the severity of the devastation, unless there is some truly compelling local angle, is it really necessary for a Maine based reporter to go? Multiply this hundreds of times - won't how much these "local" reporters get in the way far outweigh what they learn? It reminds me of when authorities ask folks to stay home during a blizzard - those that venture out often end up creating more work for the road crews.

Maine Public Broadcasting - Advocates in Augusta are backing legislation that would prohibit health insurance companies from placing caps on the amount of benefits their clients could receive over a lifetime. While the elimination of these caps is included in national health reform bills being considered in Congress, backers of the Maine bill say they don't want to wait. . . . According to a report issued by the Augusta-based organization Consumers for Affordable Heath Care, more than half of those people covered by employer-sponsored health plans are subject to some type of cap, such as an annual or lifetime limit on what insurance companies will pay out in claims.

Maine Public Broadcasting - Maine is one of the oldest states in the country, with more than a quarter million patients covered by the federal Medicare program for the elderly and disabled. So a plan to slash Medicare reimbursement to doctors by 21 percent in March is sounding alarms here. Opponents say this will affect doctors' ability to serve people on Medicare. . . . AARP Maine director Nancy Kelleher urges lawmakers to consider the difficulty that seniors already have trying to find a doctor that accepts Medicare, which reimburses at a lower rate than private insurers. . . Kelleher says she's heard of seniors waiting a month to six months to see a doctor -- a problem exaggerated in rural areas, where there is a shortage of primary care physicians. But even in the state's largest city, many seniors can't see a doctor when they want. Intermed, one of Maine's largest private practices, reports having a waiting list.

Maine Politics - Republican 2nd District congressional candidate Jason Levesque has announced a campaign tour with a name that seems to perfectly fit this kind of political theater. From a campaign email: "Jason Levesque will be kicking off his 2010 campaign with "The Blah Blah Blah Tour", beginning January 21st in his hometown of Auburn. The 6 week tour will take Jason through several parts of Maine's 2nd District." . . .

It was a draft sent out as a final release and Lavesque sent out a corrected version calling it the Kick Off Tour. But then a reporter got this message from a campaign aide: "We got such an awesome reaction to what was seen as Jason's portrayal of what's coming out of DC right now we changed it back and that is now the name. If you cover him today or on other parts of the tour, you just miight hear him say it."

ZERO TOLERANCE AND THE SCHOOL TO PRISON PIPELINE

From the state legislative testimony of Alysia Melnick of the Maine Civil Liberties Union

Our concern stems from research which shows that zero tolerance policies and disproportionate or inappropriate use of suspensions and expulsions contribute to the trend known as "the school-to-prison pipeline." This pipeline refers to the growing practice of criminalizing, rather than educating, our nation's children, and is one of the most important civil rights challenges facing our nation today.

Zero-tolerance disciplinary policies are often the first step in a child's journey through the pipeline because they impose severe discipline on students without regard to individual circumstances or the long term consequences. Under these policies, children have been expelled for giving Midol to a classmate, bringing household goods (including a kitchen knife) to school to donate to Goodwill, and bringing scissors to class for an art project.

Further, there is no evidence that zero-tolerance policies or overuse of suspensions and expulsions make schools safer or improve student behavior. On the contrary, research suggests that these practices may actually increase the likelihood of later criminal misconduct. . . .

Students of color are disproportionately represented at every stage of the school-to-prison pipeline.

Students with special needs are particularly likely to be pushed out of mainstream schools and into the juvenile justice system, despite the heightened protections afforded to them under law. . .

Students who fit within both of these groups - minority students with disabilities - are most vulnerable.

CHARTER COMMISSION LEANING TOWARDS WEAK MAYOR

Tom Bell, Portland Press Herald - The Portland Charter Commission has drafted a job description for a popularly elected mayor. . . Under the commission's proposal, the mayor would be a voting member of the council and have no power to hire or fire anybody. The mayor would chair the council meetings and be assigned the job of managing the budget process for the city and the School Department in a "consensus-building" manner, Plumb said. Any additional power, she said, would come from the political authority of having won a citywide election. The mayor would serve a four-year term. . .

LOBSTER WARS ESCALATE

DOWN EAST NOTES

FWIX - According to the census bureau, the "Portland-South Portland-Biddeford Metro area" comprises three counties and about 60 towns.

Rep. Melissa Walsh Innes, Yarmouth - I spent 9 hours straight today working on my responsible recycling bill, mostly from my couch and computer. I think if they worked out a Maine State legislator's pay rate, over the year, it would be about five cents an hour, so it's a good thing I enjoy this so much.

Village Soup - On Saturday, while many Belfast residents were hauling the week's corrugated cardboard to the transfer station, a dozen local youth, mostly members of local scout troops, were putting their repurposed boxes to use as sleds. The Belfast Parks and Recreation Department sponsored the Cardboard Sled Challenge in part to celebrate the recent reopening of the city ski area, located off City Point Road. . . Volunteers timed the runs with stopwatches and lined the course, ready to give a helping heave-ho to sleds that stuck in the snow, but beyond the trappings of competition - awards were given for fastest time and the most creative design - keeping score took a back seat to having fun.

Maine Public Broadcasting - The owners of more than 240 miles of rail line in northern Maine are planning to abandon the tracks this spring, citing losses of as much as $5 million a year. According to some observers, the last hope for the only rail service in northern Maine rests with the state. The Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway, formerly known as the Bangor and Aroostook, operates nearly 750 miles of rail line in Maine, Vermont, Quebec and New Brunswick. The problem, however, involves the 230 or so miles that operate from Millinocket up into Madawaska and Houlton. Robert Grindrod, President and CEO of MMA Railway, says the biggest problem has been a marked decline in demand for forest products. . .

Laurie Schreiber, Village Soup, Mt Desert - The state's attorney general was unable to get convictions in two trap-molestation cases that went to court last year, despite eyewitness accounts by Maine Marine Patrol officers who said they saw buoys being cut. As a result, the state Department of Marine Resources' Lobster Advisory Council is looking at alternative models to deal with trap molesting. . . It is unlawful for anyone except the gear's licensed owner or a Marine Patrol officer to raise or molest a lobster trap, warp, buoy or lobster car. Conviction for a violation carries a mandatory three-year loss of license. Some ideas that have come up for a different model include setting up a licensing review board, establishing a jury of peers, or giving the DMR's commissioner the discretion to impose a milder penalty for a first offense.

Maine Politics - Al Diamon has made his predictions for this year's gubernatorial race: "I think it'll come down to Abbott and Rowe in November, with the Republican taking the Blaine House by a narrow margin, thanks to Cutler and Williams siphoning votes from the Democrat." Diamon was spot on in 2006, but that wasn't exactly a hard race to forecast.

MAINE DEMOCRATS' WAR AGAINST THE GREENS

PORTLAND CHARTER COMMISSION EYES INSTANT RUN-OFF

Portland Press Herald - The city's Charter Commission is considering significant changes to the way Portland voters elect their officials.

Instead of voting for one candidate, voters would be asked to rank their candidates in order of preference.

Rank choice voting, also known as instant runoff voting, would be used to elect Portland's next mayor.

Some commissioners who spoke at the group's meeting Thursday night said the system could be expanded to other elective positions, such as City Council.

Supporters say rank choice voting is gaining popularity, with cities such as Burlington, Vt., San Francisco and Minneapolis using it in some fashion.

"I'm a big supporter," said Benjamin Chipman, a charter commission member.

Commissioners said they plan to deliberate and then vote on the issue when they meet on Jan. 28. . .

On Thursday, the commission heard from election experts who are familiar with rank choice voting. Several residents also weighed in. Nearly everyone who spoke on the issue urged the Charter Commission to endorse rank choice voting.

REPORT SAYS COMPANY RENEGED ON PRESERVING DEER HABITAT

Ethan Wilensky-Lanford, Morning Sentinel - The company involved in the landmark 2006 Katahdin Lake land swap cut trees on nearly 40 percent of deer habitat it promised the state it would preserve, according to a report prepared for the governor by a top state land regulator. In response, Gov. John Baldacci said he plans to meet with the attorney general to discuss possible penalties, and with officials of the company involved in the alleged cutting.

The agreement between the state and Lincoln-based Gardner Land Co. was voluntary, yet crucial to sealing a heralded land swap involving more than 35,000 acres in property and easements. In the deal, the state gave a number of parcels previously managed by the Bureau of Public Lands to Gardner as part of a complex swap to join the Katahdin Lake area with adjacent Baxter State Park. On these tracts, 728 acres were designated as potential deer-wintering habitat.

DOWN EAST NOTES

Maine Public Broadcasting - The field of candidates vying to become Maine's next governor stretched to 22 today. Enter Steve Abbot, a former top aide to Sen. Susan Collins, and William Beardsley, the former president of Husson College in Bangor.

Morning Sentinel - Starting next week, [Madison] students are going to get more exercise, up to two miles of walking a day. School Administrative District 59 board members voted unanimously Monday night that students in grades 5 through 12, who live within a mile of Madison Junior High School, will walk to that school . . . School board members made the decision, which affects 25 students, after discussing the health benefits, the potential cost savings and the possibility that it could lead, in the future, to younger students walking to designated pick-up points.

PRINCIPAL BANS HIGH SCHOOL DANCES BECAUSE OF GRINDING

John Clark Russ, Bangor DaIly News - Norris Nickerson stands in one of the main hallways at Bangor High School where he has been the principal for more than 20 years. Nickerson says there will be no more dances affiliated with the school until students agree to stop simulating sex as they dance, also known as "grinding."

BHS Principal Norris Nickerson said students at the dances were refusing to comply with the school’s rules regarding the hip-hop dance style known as grinding and other forms of “dirty dancing.”

“We’ve tried to take care of the problem, but the inappropriate behavior has continued and, in my opinion, has become worse. The decision was made that dances would be stopped until this behavior is under control,” Nickerson said this week.

Grinding, a dance style that generally involves a boy grinding his crotch into a girl’s behind, is a national trend and schools across the country are dealing with the issue, Norris said.


A GUIDE TO APPROPRIATE GRINDING

DOWN EAST NOTES

Maine attorney general and gubernatorial Steven Rowe proposed a law to deny mentally ill prisoners psychiatric care until they had completed their sentences. - Solitary Watch

WCSH - The Portland International Jetport is preparing for a major face lift.Plans were presented to the Portland City Council Finance committee on Monday night. The renovation is ambitious. There will be a 137,000 square foot addition to the existing terminal, doubling its size. Three new gates will go in, which will allow another carrier to fly out of the Jetport. Highlighting the project will be four additional security screening lanes, bringing the total to eight, and new explosive detecting equipment will be provided through a 9 million dollar grant from the Transportation Safety Administration. . . The last major renovation of the Jetport took place in 1995, and there have been several smaller projects since. In those 15 years, Jetport usage has gone up by more then 60%. The numbers continue to climbing. While cities like Boston and Manchester have seen a 10% drop in air traffic over the past several years, Portland is up by the same amount. . . The price tag is high, about 75 million dollars -- but none of that money comes out of the city budget.

Maine Public Broadcasting - South Portland police became the first police department in the state to incorporate a controversial license plate surveillance system, which uses cameras mounted on top of a cruiser to search for stolen vehicles and traffic violators. The Automated License Plate Reader has sparked criticism from civil liberties groups and others, who say the system raises privacy concerns. . . "This system is yet one more piece in a growing trend toward a surveillance society," says Shenna Bellows of the Maine Civil Liberties Union. One thing that worries her about the Automated License Plate Reader, she says, is the fact that all the data collected by it is stored for 30 days. "In a free society we have a right to be left alone, a presumption of innocence, and this system is part of a greater trend toward greater surveillance of individual citizens' daily movements," Bellows says.

Art Daily - The Portland Museum of Art finished 2009 with the second-highest attendance in Museum history and the highest attendance in a decade. With 161,000 visitors, the Museum had an increase of 11,000 visitors over the previous year. The highest attendance record was set in 2000 with 188,000 visitors with the success of two exhibitions by legendary artists Ansel Adams and N. C. Wyeth. The Museum's 2009 success was due to the extremely popular exhibition Backstage Pass: Rock & Roll Photography, which broke attendance records for the months of January and February. Records were also broken for this exhibition on Free Friday evenings with more than 3,000 people visiting the Museum between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. each Friday night.

THE TORTURE OF SOLITARY CONFINEMENT

James Ridgeway, Solitary Watch - Most Americans' knowledge of the Maine prison system probably ends with the grim, gray penitentiary depicted in The Shawshank Redemption. But the prison of Stephen King's imagination is a benign place compared with the current reality of incarceration in Maine's state prisons–especially its 100-man solitary confinement unit. Conditions in the lockdown unit have become the subject of public debate in recent years, and of a bill now making its way through the state legislature that would restrict and closely monitor the use of solitary confinement. If the bill is passed, Maine would become the first state in the union to directly confront this form of domestic torture through the legislative process.

One hundred out of some 900 cells at the Maine State Prison at Warren comprise what is euphemistically known as the Special Management Unit where prisoners live in 23-hour-a-day solitary confinement (24 on weekends), allowed out only to take a shower, make a phone call, or exercise alone in what looks like the run in a dog kennel. About half of the inmates in the unit are there for disciplinary reasons, the other half because of special problems, mental or physical illness. . .

In 2005, Lance Tapley, a freelance journalist for the Portland Phoenix, began writing about what he called "Torture in Maine's Prisons." Tapley treated the good people of Maine to a series of articles documenting conditions in the SMU. In one article, accompanied by a video, Tapley describes guards dragging a prisoner out of his cell, naked and screaming, forcing him into restraint chair (an excerpt appears at the end of this post). In other articles, a mentally ill inmate is transferred from a state mental hospital, where he was undergoing treatment, to prison, where the treatment is stopped. An inmate who is found hanging in his cell is mocked by a guard who says "you can do better than that," and drags his feet in reporting the death to authorities. A sex offender with diabetes confined to a wheelchair is beaten to death in his cell. Supermax prisoners stage a hunger strike to protest conditions in the unit. One prisoner, Deane Brown, who speaks openly with Tapley and also reports on prisons for a community radio station, is harassed by corrections officials and then shipped off to a supermax in Maryland, in what his supporters call "punitive exile."

Tapley's reporting helped fuel a campaign by the Maine Prison Advocacy Coalition and other reformers for a bill restricting the use of solitary confinement. They have organized themselves into the Maine Coalition Against the Abuse of Solitary Confinement. Last fall, Representative Bill Shatz, who serves on the criminal justice and public safety committee of the state legislature, introduced a bill that would limit use of solitary, ban brutal forms of restraint, and provide due process for inmates sent there. "Since Guantanamo, we keep seeing that the use of segregation and solitary confinement is not so much a treatment as a punishment and a control aspect. That just doesn't make any sense to me," Schatz told the Bangor Daily News. . .

POSTCARD JACK FINALLY IDENTIFIED

Morning Sentinel - Postcard Jack, the enigmatic world traveler who sent thousands of postcards to a] [Madson Main Street restaurant over the span of three decades, and inspired the name of the winningest, standard-bred racehorse in Maine history, has died. John "Jack" Garbarino, died Dec. 15 in New York City. He was 67. . .

Postcard Jack, a management consultant with ITT, Dun & Bradstreet and McKinsey & Co., sent an estimated 8,000-9,000 postcards from all over the world to the Oasis Restaurant -- sometimes posting 100 cards in a single month. . .

Although he visited the restaurant, now called River's Edge, several times over the years, he never revealed his identity. The mystery of Postcard Jack remained just that -- a mystery -- for more than 30 years

Until now. .

DOWN EAST NOTES

According to the Muskie School, juvenile arrests have decreased by 64% since 1997, but arrests for drugs including alcohol have increased. Recidivism rates are also rising.

About 18 percent of Maine is now under conservation easements. That's 3.3 million acres and three times as much as was under easements in 2003.

Town of Yarmouth - Yarmouth is home to New England's largest American Elm Tree, known since the 1950s as "Herbie." Like so many American Elms, Herbie is finally succumbing to Dutch Elm Disease, an introduced fungus that is spread by bark beetles. After decades of diligent effort by volunteer Tree Wardens Frank Knight and Debbie Hopkins, Herbie will be removed in January 2010. Yarmouth has lost nearly 800 American Elm trees to this disease in the past fifty years, though none so grand as Herbie.
. . . On Monday, January 18th at 8am at the corner of East Main Street/Rte. 88 and Yankee Drive, the removal of the tree will begin.

MPBN - An artist known for his abstract expressionist style known as "Color Field" painting has died at his home in Port Clyde. Kenneth Noland, 85, died yesterday of cancer. Noland was one of the best-known painters in the Color Field style, which features large blocks of solid color. Noland painted concentric circles, chevrons, stripes and diamonds in vibrant hues. One of his works, a 1992 piece titled "Flares: Aside," hangs over the admissions desk at the Portland Museum of Art. . .

Bangor Daily News - The 2004 presidential election may seem like ancient political history to many by now. But if former candidate Ralph Nader has his way, some of the nasty, behind-the-scenes campaign tactics in the 2004 race for the White House will be re-aired later this year in, of all places, a courthouse in rural Washington County, Maine. Nader has filed a lawsuit in Washington County against the Democratic National Committee and its former leaders, the Maine Democratic Party, the Kerry-Edwards campaign and others alleging the defendants used illegal and malicious tactics to attempt to keep Nader off the ballot in Maine and more than a dozen other states.

State park attendance was up about 8 percent in Maine last year.

Photos of Maine child labor in the early 20th century

Kennebec Journal - Medical-marijuana supporters came to the State House to urge a task force to remember patients as they recommend changes to a voter-approved state law. Holding signs that said "Maine caregivers say no to agribusiness" and "Patients rights, not task force ignorance," they expressed concern over what they perceive to be heavy-handed proposals or foot-dragging by state government. Jonathan Leavitt -- who led the citizen initiative that voters approved with 59 percent of the vote on Nov. 3, 2009 -- said he would like post-traumatic stress disorder to be added to the list of conditions for which marijuana can be recommended by a doctor. . .And a woman from Starks who accompanied a 12-foot-tall puppet said small farmers should be allowed to grow the marijuana for the dispensaries or for patients. She declined to give her name, but described herself as a "radical criminal puppeteer."

REACTION TO ANTHEM'S PROPOSED 23% FEE INCREASE

David Carkhuff, Portland Daily Sun - Greg Howard, spokesman for Maine Change That Works, called the insurance carrier's request the equivalent of "Anthem ransom," blasting the proposed rate increase during [a] press conference. "It's amazing and galling that a company like Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maine, while the people of Maine are suffering through the ends of a recession, with problems in terms of job creation and things like that, it is amazing that Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maine would come back to these same people and hit them with a 23 percent rate increase so shortly after increasing their rates 11 percent last year," Howard said. . . But Maine Change That Works pointed to $3.35 billion in 2007 profit made by Wellpoint, Anthem's parent company. "In 2007 and 2008, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maine sent to Indianapolis $152 million in profits to its parent company Wellpoint," Howard said. "

BUDGET BATTLE

MPBN - One of the issues that the Appropriations Committee will take up next week are proposed reductions to mental health services. The Baldacci administration says it is looking at cutting close to $20 million for adult and child mental health care. Consumers and advocates alike say that if the state keeps cutting funding for services, people will end up in emergency rooms and jails. They're recommending that the state find savings in other areas, ranging from administration to hospital beds. . . A new report by the advocacy group NAMI Maine . . . questions, among other things, whether the state can afford its two psychiatric centers, Riverview in Augusta and Dorothea Dix in Bangor.

MPBN - The Legislature's Appropriations Committee was deluged with complaints about the Baldacci administration's plan to cut more than $1.25 million from the state's natural resources agencies. Critics derided it as a thinly-veiled attempt to consolidate Agriculture, Conservation, Marine Resources and Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. Under the governor's $438 million supplemental budget, a working group would be charged with finding savings and the group would be largely drawn from the governor's staff. . . "We've discussed this with our members and with other people, and it's really the first step of consolidation, which we're very much opposed to -- regardless of what is being presented here, this is the first step of consolidation of the natural resources departments," said Jon Olson, Executive Secretary of the Maine Farm Bureau Association. . . "I really kind of resent the way this is going around," Cousens said. "As I looked at that list of people that were going to be on the working group, I didn't see any industry people, and I didn't see any natural resource people. That's like me coming in and telling you how to do something, when I have no clue about how your agency works. I don't think that's the way to go. I look at that as kind of blackmail -- 'you do it or we'll do it for you.'"

REACTION TO ANTHEM'S PROPOSED 23% FEE INCREASE

David Carkhuff, Portland Daily Sun - Greg Howard, spokesman for Maine Change That Works, called the insurance carrier's request the equivalent of "Anthem ransom," blasting the proposed rate increase during [a] press conference. "It's amazing and galling that a company like Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maine, while the people of Maine are suffering through the ends of a recession, with problems in terms of job creation and things like that, it is amazing that Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maine would come back to these same people and hit them with a 23 percent rate increase so shortly after increasing their rates 11 percent last year," Howard said. . . But Maine Change That Works pointed to $3.35 billion in 2007 profit made by Wellpoint, Anthem's parent company. "In 2007 and 2008, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maine sent to Indianapolis $152 million in profits to its parent company Wellpoint," Howard said. "

AND NOW THE ROCKWEED WARS

Robert Tomsho, Wall Street Journal - Coastal Maine is known for its wars among rival lobstermen, but now hostilities have broken out over a far less prestigious fruit of the sea: rockweed.

Sometimes a slippery nuisance to beach walkers, the brown seaweed thickly blankets the rocky shoreline of nearby Cobscook Bay, a remote 40-square-mile body of water near the Canadian border known for its powerful tides.

Frugal Mainers have long used rockweed to fertilize home gardens or help make and retain steam at clambakes. But in recent years, dried rockweed, rich in minerals and nutrients, has caught on more broadly as an ingredient in fertilizer, cosmetics and nutritional supplements. In Maine alone, nearly 11.7 million pounds of the weed, Ascophyllum nodosum, was harvested in 2008, more than twice the 4.8 million pounds taken in 2001.

That has made rockweed a hot commodity in the job-hungry Maine counties closest to the Canadian border. There, paper mills and logging operations have been in decline and decades of overfishing have depleted stocks of everything from cod to sea urchins. Washington County, which encompasses Cobscook Bay, is the state's poorest, with 20.1% of residents living below the federal poverty level, compared with a 12.6% average for the state.

The result has been a war of wills between those who think rockweed could give a small but needed boost to the local economy and those who fear that commercially harvesting the stuff could damage the habitat for other harvestable creatures living on or under the weed. Young lobsters, flounder, cod and clams all depend on rockweed for cover from predators.

. . . Harvesting opponents are a loosely organized group that includes university scientists, the Washington County commissioners, the local fishermen's association and Maine's Passamaquoddy Indian tribe, whose reservation abuts Cobscook Bay. While lacking data that would definitively prove rockweed harvesting's negative impact on fish and other sea creatures, many believe it is inevitable. Researchers at the University of Maine have found that when harvesters leave 15 inches or more of the plant intact, it often fully regenerates within a year, but regrowth is much slower when it involves shorter cuts and older plants.

ALLEGED TEEN AGED DRUGGIE FACES MORE TIME THAN MURDERER

Here's a good example of the madness of the war on drugs. A teen aged-alleged druggie faces up to 30 years in jail for using a drug of approximately the same danger to an individual as alcohol. Cocaine use has a far lower death rate than either tobacco or alchohol.

In the same week and the same state, however, a man got 20 years for the strangulation of a woman, which suggests that Maine considers the use of cocaine 50% more repugnant than murdering someone. 


Times Record - A Freeport woman was arrested in Westbrook on Sunday afternoon and charge with aggravated trafficking of scheduled drugs, a Class A felony that carries a potential sentence of 30 years in jail.

Abigail Autumn Shipley-Rega, 18, of 6 Stagecoach Road in Freeport, was arrested with 18-year-old Christopher Grover of 93 Woodford St., Portland, during a traffic stop just before 3:30 p.m., according to a release from Westbrook Police Sgt. Thomas Roche.

Police searched the vehicle, which Grover was driving, per order of his bail conditions from two prior arrests, During the search, officers allegedly discovered 63 grams of crack cocaine with a street value of $6,300.

"Also found in the vehicle and on the occupants was $1,220 in cash and various drug paraphernalia items associated with the sale of drugs," the release states.

Grover was charged with aggravated trafficking of scheduled drugs, possession of drugs and violation of bail conditions. . .

63 grams would keep a typical coke addict going for about two weeks. There are 298 million grams of cocaine consumed in the U.S. each year.

WGME - 62-year-old Roger Bernier of New Hampshire was sentenced Tuesday to 20 years in prison for the 1986 strangulation of Mary Kelley in Portland. Bernier pleaded guilty to manslaughter in October in the death of Kelley, whose body was found in the bathtub of her downtown Portland apartment.


Wikipedia - By the turn of the twentieth century, the addictive properties of cocaine had become clear, and the problem of cocaine abuse began to capture public attention in the United States. The dangers of cocaine abuse became part of a moral panic that was tied to the dominant racial and social anxieties of the day. In 1903, the American Journal of Pharmacy stressed that most cocaine abusers were "bohemians, gamblers, high- and low-class prostitutes, night porters, bell boys, burglars, racketeers, pimps, and casual laborers."

In 1914, Dr. Christopher Koch of Pennsylvania's State Pharmacy Board made the racial innuendo explicit, testifying that, "Most of the attacks upon the white women of the South are the direct result of a cocaine-crazed Negro brain." Mass media manufactured an epidemic of cocaine use among African Americans in the Southern United States to play upon racial prejudices of the era, though there is little evidence that such an epidemic actually took place.

In the same year, the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act outlawed the sale and distribution of cocaine in the United States. This law incorrectly referred to cocaine as a narcotic, and the misclassification passed into popular culture. Cocaine is a stimulant, not a narcotic. . .

Cocaine was not considered a controlled substance until 1970, when the United States listed it as such in the Controlled Substances Act. Until that point, the use of cocaine was open and rarely prosecuted in the US . . .

In many countries, cocaine is a popular recreational drug. . . . Cocaine use is prevalent across all socioeconomic strata, including age, demographics, economic, social, political, religious, and livelihood.

The estimated U.S. cocaine market exceeded $70 billion in street value for the year 2005, exceeding revenues by corporations such as Starbucks. . .

In 1995 the World Health Organization and the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute announced in a press release the publication of the results of the largest global study on cocaine use ever undertaken. However, a decision in the World Health Assembly banned the publication of the study. In the sixth meeting of the B committee the US representative threatened that "If WHO activities relating to drugs failed to reinforce proven drug control approaches, funds for the relevant programs should be curtailed". . . .

HEALTH INSURER WANTS 23% FEE INCREASE

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maine are asking for a 23% increase in fees for individual health insurance plans. The filing follows a 11 percent fee increase still awaiting a judge's ruling. 11,000 Maine residents would be affected.

DOWN EAST NOTES

Press Herald - Verrill Dana LLP, a Portland-based law firm, ranks 8th in the country for the percentage of female partners, according to a national survey of law firms with more than 100 attorneys. Law 360, a news source for lawyers, conducted the survey this fall.

Washington Post restaurant critic Tom Sersema, asked by a reader which small city has the liveliest/best dining scene, replied: "Thinking back over the past year, I think I'd give the honor to Portland, Maine (which is where I'm getting my fabulous smoked salmon and mussels for tomorrow night)."

Down East - If you take the average debt incurred by a student obtaining a four-year degree at a public institution in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia last year (for Maine the average is $23,792) and compare it to their 2008 median household income (Maine's is $46,581), you find that Maine is the fourth least affordable jurisdiction, behind only Alabama, Iowa and Mississippi. Maybe this financial burden is one of the reasons why new figures out this week show Maine to be one of only three states in the nation with a shrinking population.

Press Herald - An astronomical high tide coupled with a powerful snowstorm caused widespread flooding and road closures along the Maine coast Saturday. Meteorologists say it was the 14th highest tide recorded in Portland's history. Portland's tide reached 12.92 feet, which is 1.42 feet above the predicted high tide and almost a foot above tidal flood stage, which is 12 feet. Meteorologists said this ranks as the 14th highest tide since Portland began keeping records in 1912. The record for the highest tide was set on Feb. 7 during the blizzard of 1978. It reached 14.17 feet and had a storm surge of 3.5 feet.

Forecaster - The Regional School Unit 1 superintendent said that a projected 84 percent cut in state subsidy in the next few years might actually be optimistic. . . RSU 1 is already coping with a state subsidy loss of nearly $600,000, the impact of a $63 million state spending curtailment ordered this fall by Gov. John Baldacci that includes a $38 million cut in Education Department funds to support local schools. Shuttleworth and his staff planned to cover much of the loss through staff development cuts and not filling vacant positions.

Independent Eliot Cutler says that, if elected governor, he wll end Dirigo and Maine Care and instead provide "essential health care services for all Maine residents through a new statewide framework."

Susan Cover, Kennebec Journal reports that the last time a Maine Democratic governor succeeded another one was back in 1850, when John Hubbard of Hallowell succeeded John Dana of Fryeburg. . . "Since then, we've had long strings of Republican governors, the most recent of which was from 1937 to 1955, when Democrat Ed Muskie broke that run. Muskie has been credited with fathering a new era of Democratic politics in Maine, but since he left office in 1959, we've had only four Democratic governors: Clinton Clauson, Ken Curtis, Joe Brennan and John Baldacci.

The League of National Bicyclists lists Maine as the third most bike friendly state.

TAX CHANGE LAW HEADS FOR REFERENDUM

Kennebec Journal - Voters in June will decide whether to repeal a state tax-reform law. Lawyer John Paterson said his client -- Charles L. "Wick" Johnson III, of Hallowell -- does not want to appeal last week's decision by Justice Donald Marden that there are enough valid signatures to call for a people's veto vote.

...That clears the way for a campaign on the merits of the law passed by majority Democrats earlier this year and signed by Gov. John Baldacci.

...The law reduces the top marginal income-tax rate, from 8.5 percent to 6.5 percent, for those making less than $250,000; and creates a second tier, 6.85 percent, for those who make more than $250,000. It also eliminates deductions and exemptions by replacing them with a credit system that Maine Revenue Services estimates will lower the income tax for 95 percent of Mainers.

To make up for the lost revenue, the law expands the sales tax to dozens of additional goods and services, such as car repairs and movie tickets. It increases the tax on meals and lodging, candy, prepared food, rental cars and liquor served on-premises.

Once those new taxes are added in, Maine Revenue Services estimates 86 percent of Maine taxpayers will see an overall reduction in taxes.

...But opponents don't believe the changes will be permanent. Nor do they think Democrats want to reduce taxes.

THE ECONOMICS OF A POOR LOBSTER TRADE

Bernard Simon, Financial Times, UK - At a time when prices for commodities such as tea, cocoa and sugar are soaring to their highest levels in years, lobster, a delicacy associated with luxury living, is selling at bargain prices.

Prices have sunk so far over the past two years that some mass-market restaurant chains have added lobster to their menus. Tennessee-based Ruby Tuesday, with about 850 outlets in the US, offers lobster tails, as well as lobster carbonara and lobster macaroni and cheese

Hannaford Supermarkets, a New England chain in the heart of the US lobster industry, has the crustacean on special this week at $4.99 a pound, half the price of halibut.

The lobster fishery's woes are closely tied to the global financial crisis, which has shrunk demand for a delicacy long associated with celebration.

The credit crunch has also deprived North American and European processors of working capital. Icelandic banks, among the most prominent casualties of the meltdown in the markets, were big lenders to the seafood industry.

Bank of Montreal, a big lender to Canada's east coast fishery, urged Canadians this week to make lobster part of their New Year festivities.

"Canadian lobster fishers need your support," the bank said. "You'll be having a treat and helping out your fellow Canadians at the same time."

The Canadian industry, which makes up the bulk of the North American catch, employs about 30,000 people, with exports last year of close to $950m. . .

"It's not easy to get into the business, so it's not going to grow," says Bob Bayer, director of the University of Maine's Lobster Institute.

"The problem now is that the stock market is picking up, but casual dining is most affected because people are still losing their jobs," said Michael Tourkistas, chief executive of a large Maine-based distributor. "We're not out of the woods yet.". . .

TRAFFIC ADVISORY

IMGUR