by  Rep. Bruce Poliquin

My normal schedule is four days working in Washington while sleeping in my office, and three days traveling from Fryeburg to Fort Kent, from Jackman to Eastport -- the largest congressional district east of the Mississippi River -- meeting with thousands of fellow Mainers.

My 35 years of running small businesses taught me you haveto work with everybody to be successful. The same is true in Congress. Working with both Democrats and Republicans gets stuff done. And I do.

Though we are a long way out from the next election cycle, the campaigns of several Maine candidates are already picking up momentum. As of September, a full 15 people have declared themselves as candidates for governor, seven new candidates have declared for Angus King’s seat in the senate, and seven new candidates for Bruce Poliquin’s seat in the house. 

An employee of Walmart in Calais stepped out of her way to assist me in a very bad situation on Sunday, Aug. 20.  I cannot guess what her help prevented from happening.

by Ruth Leubecker

In the years of my youth, there is no movie that stands out as poignantly and thought-provoking as Rebel Without a Cause. 

My sister and I were among a record crowd of young teenagers -- mostly girls -- excitedly jammed into Emma’s Colonial Theatre at the head of Main Street in Machias. I can still remember the shouting, screaming and many flashes going off as we all tried to capture Dean at his slouchiest, brooding best on our cameras. 

As parents and grandparents, we know that car seat safety is a top priority for families, yet four out of five car seats are used incorrectly.  That’s an incredibly high percentage of misuse, especially when 96 percent of parents surveyed believe they have installed their child’s seat safely and correctly.  

Now is the time to make sure that everything about your woodstove is operating properly. Clear away all those newspapers and other flammable things that have piled up around the stove over the summer. Get your chimney cleaned and inspected by a professional. If you are installing or using a wood stove for the first time, do all these things plus talk with your local fire department to make sure your stove meets installation codes.

I own a small business in Washington County, and I have to say, it’s abouttime someone took the bull by the horns when it comes to the federal tax code! I work hard to take care of my customers, employees and family—that’s part of my American dream. It is so frustrating and expensive for businesses to comply with the federal tax or code over 74,000 pages of complicated and sometimes outdated loopholes and regulations.

The Friends of Fort Knox will be staffing the Penobscot Narrows Observatory, Saturday evening, Oct. 7, from 7:30 p.m. until 9:30 p.m.  (arrive by 9), to offer visitors an opportunity to view the area in the moonlight. This will be the only time this season that the observatory will be open during a full moon and those interested in this unique experience are encouraged to take advantage of it. Admission to the moonlight viewing in the observatory is $5 per person and tickets may be purchased the evening of the event. Clouds or rain will result in cancellation.

Governor Paul R. LePage issued a proclamation on Friday, Sept. 29 calling the full Legislature to Augusta for a special session on Oct. 23.

“I am calling a special legislative session to address two time-sensitive issues,” stated Governor LePage. “First we must amend the recently passed food sovereignty law to ensure compliance with federal requirements. The second critical issue is the need to fund the Maine Office of Geographic Information Systems, which was left out of the final version of the budget by the Legislature.”

by Nancy Beal