Covers towns roughly within 50 miles of Augusta.

Support Keep ME Warm fundraiser

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image from: keepmewarm.org

Each year, thousands of Mainers are faced with choosing between heating their homes and purchasing basic needs like food and medicine. As a result, the Keep ME Warm fund was established in 2005 and is a statewide partnership of Maine’s United Ways and Community Action Agencies. Keep ME Warm provides emergency heating assistance and is the only statewide fuel assistance fundraising effort in Maine.

To help support the fund, seven Maine State Farm agents recently partnered and donated money to Keep ME Warm. “I can’t imagine not having a warm home in the winter,” says Augusta State Farm Agent Dennis Keller. “I’m very proud we are able to bring warmth and a sense of security to our neighbors in need.”

The State Farm agents’ donation totaled $4,400. Half of that funding came from the individual agents themselves and the other half was matched by State Farm.

“State Farm encourages all associates to be good neighbors by giving back to the communities where we live and work,” says Dennis. “I encourage anyone who can to also support the Keep ME Warm fund. Let’s create a state where no Mainers ever have to choose between heating their homes or feeding their families again.”

For more information on the Keep ME Warm fund, please visit keepmewarm.org.

Scouts receive patches

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The Boy Scouts Pine Tree Council operates four properties: Camp William Hinds, in Raymond, Camp Bomazeen, in Belgrade, Camp Nutter, in Acton, and Camp Gustin, in Sabattus. Recently, Augusta Scout Troop #603 received commemorative “Four Camps Challenge” patches from Pine Tree Council for having adventures at all four camps. (contributed photo)

Waterville Creates celebrates Black History Month by highlighting Maine author

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Four-year-old Naomi creating a Beautiful Blackbird collage.(Contributed photo)

In honor of Black History Month, Waterville Creates, together with the Colby College Museum of Art, Kennebec Montessori School, Waterville Public Schools and the Family Violence Project, has created a special Art Kit for All to celebrate the artwork and legacy of Maine artist, Ashley Bryan. The February art kit is inspired by Ashley Bryan’s award-winning book, Beautiful Blackbird, a copy of which will be included in each art kit.

Ashley Bryan is an American artist, writer, and illustrator of children’s books, and the majority of his subjects are derived from the African-American experience. “Beautiful Blackbird is a wonderful representation of Bryan’s spirit,” says Shannon Haines, President and CEO of Waterville Creates. “His captivating storytelling and vivid collage work make this book a treat for all ages, and it is our hope that these art kits will inspire families to not only read and create together but also to learn more about Bryan’s work.” The Beautiful Blackbird art kit will be distributed on February 25 at the Alfond Youth and Community Center, located at 124 North Street, in Waterville, at 4 p.m. as long as supplies last. A number of kits will also be available for the Alfond Weekend Backpack Program and the Waterville Public Library’s “Library To Go” program.

“Ashley Bryan is such a beloved artist, and we are thrilled that young people in Waterville will be able to draw inspiration from his beautiful book to make their own art. It’s exciting for children and families know that an artist and writer of Bryan’s stature lives right here in our state, and we are honored to have his work represented in the Colby Museum collection to share with our community,” said Jacqueline Terrassa, Carolyn Muzzy Director of the Colby College Museum of Art.

To complement these special art kits, Waterville Creates and the Maine Film Center will highlight and promote streaming information for the 2016 award-winning documentary by filmmaker, Richard Kane, entitled I Know a Man…Ashley Bryan, throughout the month of February at www.mainefilmcenter.org. The film was featured as an official selection at the Maine International Film Festival in 2016. A long-time resident of Cranberry Island in Isleford, Maine, Ashley Bryan is deeply committed to using his artwork and writing as a vehicle to create unity and understanding around his African heritage.

For this month’s art kit, Waterville Creates is especially grateful for additional sponsorship provided by the Colby College Museum of Art and the Children’s Book Cellar. Ongoing funding for the Art Kits for All program has been generously provided by Waterville Creates’ annual sponsors MaineGeneral Health, Kennebec Savings Bank, Colby Center for the Arts and Humanities, Bangor Savings Bank, New Dimensions Federal Credit Union, and Back Office Solutions.

In direct response to the COVID-19 public health crisis, Art Kits for All is an innovative, collaborative program designed to keep our community’s families engaged and connected to the arts. By providing free art supplies and instructions, this program offers high-quality, accessible art experiences in a completely re-imagined way. The first art kits were distributed on April 8, 2020, and to date, over 3,000 kits have been distributed as part of this innovative response to the pandemic.

Polar Bear Dip challenge takes new twist

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A photo from last year’s 2020 Polar Bear challenge: AYCC Childcare leadership team, Chrissy Johnson, Bobbi Pelletier and DJ Adams, take the dip. (photo by Missy Brown, Central Maine Photography staff)

As top earner for the Annual Polar Bear Dip for the past six years in a row, Tony Tuell and his team of Silver Streen Tavern heroes have raised over $35,000
to help the AYCC provide meals to kids and families experiencing food insecurity.

This year’s virtual event, Shiver yer Shamrocks, requires Dippers to create a challenge, film and post it, then raise funds.

Anthony Tuell is Colby College’s Supervisor of Mechanical & Electrical Services and Polar Bear Dipper Extraordinaire!

The Shiver yer Shamrocks event will be held Saturday, March 20, at noon.

LETTERS: Community refrigerator: What a fantastic idea

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To the editor:

I have just read an article on CentralMaine about the book club ladies in Skowhegan. They are modeling an idea of having a Community Refrigerator, that started in New York. It seemed to come to fruition pretty easily. What a great resource for that town.

I’d really like to see more towns do this. Most of the towns that The Town Line serves have both a need for this type of resource and wonderful people that could make it be successful.

If there were to be a free Community Refrigerator near the town office in my town, I will gladly donate as often and as frequently as I’m able to. There may also come a day that I may need (and be thankful to be able) to grab a carton of eggs or a tub of butter.

I’d like people to bring this idea to their town officials or town meetings and I hope to see some of these refrigerators soon. I’m positive that they would be appreciated.

Thank you for the time you took to read this through.

Danielle Foster

Mid-Maine Chamber to offer Takeout Challenge again

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The Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce will once again be holding their Takeout Challenge Contest to help out restaurants, cafés and eateries at a time when they need us the most.

We all enjoyed eating outside on decks and patios, or frequenting our favorite places while the weather was nice. Now that the temperatures have cooled off, our restaurants and eateries are hurting – many have had to curtail hours, or staff to align with the amount of business coming through the doors. So, it is not as easy to find places to eat outside our homes.

If you can still get food at your favorite hangout and feel a comfort level to do so – by all means, help them keep on keeping on. But for those who may not be comfortable eating inside for the next few weeks and would rather be in the comfort of your own home, please consider ordering takeout to continue helping those who kept you fed in the past.

We all must eat, even during the pandemic – the chamber would simply like to reward you for doing so.

For the next eight weeks, you can enter to win a $25 Damon’s Beverage gift card simply by sending in your takeout receipts for food ordered at any of the Chamber member eateries. It’s easy to enter, and win – just scan, email, snap a photo, mail or drop off a copy of your receipt.

Emails and scans may be sent to cindy@midmainechamber.com. Entries may also be mailed or dropped at the Chamber office – 50 Elm St., Waterville. Be sure to include a contact number, in the event you are a winner. Weekly winners will be drawn at random each Wednesday and notified by phone or email.

Check for Chamber member restaurant/eateries take-out hours and website information here: www.midmainechamber.com/takeoutchallenge.

(This list will expand as the chamber receives additional information as to eateries offering takeout.)

Join the Takeout Challenge 2021 – and eat your heart out – while you show some love to our local businesses!

PHOTOS: Central Maine Youth Hockey in action

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Central Maine Youth Hockey Hornets Tier 3 Squirts, from top to bottom, Zaiden Thoopsamoot, Jace Poulin and Chase Lawler, saw action recently against the Tier 3 Maine Moose, in Rockport. The Hornets fell, 5-0.

(Photos by Sarah Fredette, Central Maine Photography staff)

 

Zaiden Thoopsamoot of Central Maine Youth Hockey Hornets Tier 3 Squirts. (photos by Sarah Fredette, Central Maine Photography staff)

Jace Poulin of Central Maine Youth Hockey Hornets Tier 3 Squirts. (photos by Sarah Fredette, Central Maine Photography staff)

Chase Lawler of Central Maine Youth Hockey Hornets Tier 3 Squirts. (photo by Sarah Fredette, Central Maine Photography staff)

Northern Light begins Covid-19 community vaccinations

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Connie and Ray Winship, a retired Waterville couple, were among the first to be vaccinated at the January 26 clinic. photo courtesy of Northern Light Inland Hospital

Northern Light Inland Hospital kicked off its first community vaccination clinic on January 26 for community healthcare workers and people age 70 and older in collaboration with Kennebec Valley Community College (KVCC) in Fairfield. 92 doses were administered on the first day at the KVCC vaccination site. Ongoing clinics will be added as the hospital learns of its vaccine allotment from the state each week.

“We are very excited to be moving into this phase of community vaccinations,” said Terri Vieira, hospital president. “We have started dose two of the vaccine with our own staff, and we’re pleased to be moving onward to vaccinate more people in the communities we serve. It’s progress, it’s hope. At the same time, we have to be patient as the vaccine supply is still significantly lower than we had hoped.”

To be able to make these mass vaccination clinics a reality, Inland Hospital needed a community partner to provide a large space, and KVCC stepped up to the plate in a big way.

“We are very grateful that KVCC is giving Inland, and our community, the support that is needed for these clinics,” noted Vieira. “They have long been our partner in healthcare, training many of our staff who work at the hospital and our medical practices.”

The college has opened its Carter Hall Multi-Purpose Center for the location of the community clinics.

“KVCC is so pleased to become part of the solution to the pandemic in our region,” stated Richard Hopper, KVCC president. “Besides providing the space, we are looking at how our students and faculty can play a role in helping at future vaccination clinics for second-round doses and the expansion of Northern Light’s program. Northern Light has been and continues to be a trusted partner of KVCC.”

Connie and Ray Winship, a retired Waterville couple, were among the first to be vaccinated at the January 26 clinic. Connie said, “We’re getting vaccinated because we want to be able to visit our kids and grandkids this summer – it’s been more than a year since we were together.” Ray commented, “Getting the vaccine gives us hope and makes us feel good that we are doing our part to get things back to normal.”

Vaccine Registration

Individuals must pre-register to take part in a vaccination clinic. Due to the high demand as well as the logistics around handling the vaccines, walk-ins cannot be accommodated. Community members should not show up at the KVCC site without an appointment. Each week, after receiving their vaccine allotment from the Maine CDC, Inland will open new clinics at KVCC based on that availability. The hope is to hold at least one clinic each week, but vaccine availability will determine how they can proceed.

Registration is available at covid.northernlighthealth.org/publicvaccine. For those who do not have internet access, call 207.204.8551 to reach the Vaccine Registration and Information line seven days a week from 9 am to 5 pm. Due to the strong community interest and very low vaccine supply, slots are few and filling up very quickly.

Preparing for Registration

When preparing to register, whether by phone or online, people are asked to have their insurance or Medicare information ready, and the name and phone number for an emergency contact person. The vaccine itself is free but a small charge to cover the cost of administration will be billed to people’s insurance.

At this time, community clinics will be for those 70 or over and community healthcare workers only per Maine CDC guidance.

For More Information

Community members are encouraged to visit covid.northernlighthealth.org/publicvaccine each Monday to learn about clinics that may be scheduled for the week. Or visit the Maine CDC website (www.Maine.gov) to see all vaccination sites across the state and any open appointments.

Inland Hospital leaders are asking individuals to please not call their primary care office or the hospital to try to register. The two options for registering at this time are on the website or the special registration phone line.

Submitted by Sara Barry, Director, Regional Marketing and Communications

Oak Grove School Foundation offers grants

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The Oak Grove School Foundation is accepting applications for grants to support the education and cultural needs of students and nonprofit organizations in the greater Central Maine area.

Recipients must be educational, charitable or religious organizations that are tax exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service Code.

Grant requests should be received by April 2, 2021. Funding decisions will be made in May and shortly after the funds will be distributed in July. Recent grants have ranged $500-$5,000. The OGSF has also provided seed money for initiatives that last up to three years.

Groups interested in obtaining application forms and guidelines should contact Joann Clark Austin, Oak Grove School Foundation, P.O. Box 150, South China, ME 04358-0150, or Susan Briggs at briggsusan@gmail.com or https://sites.google.com/site/ogsfoundationorg/.

Maine ranks first in personal freedom

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(photo by Eric W. Austin)

Falls to 39th in overall freedoms

Freedom in the 50 states, published by the Cato Institute, scores all 50 states according to how their public policies affect individual freedom.

The Cato Institute recently released the latest edition of Freedom in the 50 States, which ranks each U.S. state by how its public policies promote freedom in the fiscal, regulatory and personal freedom spheres. To determine these rankings, authors William Ruger and Jason Sorens examine state and local government intervention across a range of more than 230 policy variables – from taxation to debt, eminent domain laws to occupational licensing, and drug policy to educational choice.

Ruger and Sorens score all 50 states on their overall respect for individual freedom, and also on their respect for three separate dimension of freedom: fiscal policy and regulatory policy (which are combined to create the economic freedom score) and personal freedom. The index ranks Maine as the 39th freest in the nation in the overall rankings. By individual category, Maine scores 40th in fiscal policy, 44th in regulatory policy, and first in personal freedom. You can view the state’s full rankings, a descriptive analysis of its freedom situation, and policy recommendations to increase its freedom rankings at www.Freedominthe50states.org/overall/maine.

Maine has long been one of the freest states in the country personally and one of the least free economically. Between 2011 and 2014, the state declined even further on fiscal policy, which contributed to a relative decline in overall freedom.

Maine’s taxes have long been high, crushing taxpayers overall at 11.7 percent of adjusted personal income and earning the state rankings in the bottom 10 for both state and local taxes. Fortunately, government debt is low, at 14.7 percent of income, and government employment is down to 11.8 percent of private employment (from a peak of 12.9 percent in 2010).

Maine has been a consistently poor state on regulatory freedom since 2000, always staying in the bottom 10. It is one of the most regulated states for land use, and also has one of the most extreme renewable portfolio standards in the country. Different measures of occupational freedoms give a conflicting picture of that policy, but there is no doubt that Maine allows more scope of practice to second-line health professions than just about any other state. Freedom from abusive lawsuits is above average in Maine and has improved steadily over time.

Maine is a leading state for criminal justice. It has very low incarceration rates and a better-than-average civil asset forfeiture law. Maine is a progressive state with sound gun laws (including concealed carry without a permit), marijuana rights (recreational use became legal for adults over 21 years of age in 2017) and same-sex marriage (legalized by ballot initiative in 2012). It is, in brief, a very civil libertarian state.

To improve on its freedom ranking, the authors suggest several remedies, including: cutting spending on public welfare and housing and community development. Maine is one of the most free-spending states on public welfare in the country, and it also spends much more than average on housing and community development; cutting individual and corporate income taxes; rolling back exclusionary zoning ordinances that limit housing supply; selling off the state liquor stores and replacing the markup with a transparent ad valorem tax, as Washington has done. Maine will never be able to compete with New Hampshire prices anyway; perhaps it can compete on convenience.

Nationally, Florida, New Hampshire,, Indiana, Colorado and Nevada sit at the top of the rankings. New York again has the dishonor of being the least free state, preceded by Hawaii, California, New Jersey and Vermont.

The Cato Institute is a public policy research organization — a think tank — dedicated to the principles of individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and peace. Its scholars and analysts conduct independent, nonpartisan research on a wide range of policy issues.