The Harold Alfond Foundation announced a $10.85 million gift to the Maine Community College System (MCCS) and to the Good Will-Hinckley (GWH) school in Hinckley, Maine.

“Today begins a new era at our historic institution, one that will transform the lives of a new generation of Maine’s young people. I have no doubt that George Walter Hinckley would be proud of the stewardship of his legacy, which we are securing today,” said Glenn Cummings, Ed.D., President of Good Will-Hinckley. “We are so grateful to the Harold Alfond Foundation, Maine Community College System, Governor Paul LePage, and the State Legislature for recognizing the asset this campus is to the state of Maine and what it can mean for Maine’s future.”

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Governor LePage’s commented at a Capitol for a Day event in Lewiston that he would have to close schools April 1, 2012, to meet the budget needs.

“It is unconscionable that the Governor is using school children as leverage for his agenda,” said Sen. Alfond. “Maine’s Constitution is clear. The Governor does not have the authority to shut down Maine’s schools.”

According to the Lewiston Sun Journal, the governor specifically said, “If the Legislature didn’t ratify his proposed budget he would be forced to close the state’s schools.”

“The governor’s statements are not accurate, and they are not helpful in solving the problems we face,” said Rep. Emily Cain, D-Orono, the House Democratic Leader. “Making dramatic statements and presenting false choices distracts from real work and creates unnecessary fear in our communities. The Appropriations Committee is working hard to make incredibly difficult choices and find alternatives to the governor’s budget. These continued distractions will not put us any closer to solving the budget challenge. We urge the governor to focus on the facts instead of drumming up fear and blame.”

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U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced $77 million in grants to 22 University Transportation Centers (UTCs) to advance research and education programs that address critical national transportation needs. Each one of the selected UTCs will receive a $3.5 million grant which they must match with funds from non-federal sources. The 22 UTCs selected are all consortia, involving a total of 121 different universities.

“Transportation matters in everyone’s daily life. These research centers will help us solve the transportation challenges we face today and those that we know lay ahead of us,” said Secretary LaHood.

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President Barack Obama, photo by Ramona du Houx

History, as we know, creates many parallels. A favorite saying of people who promote the teaching of history is that “Those who ignore history are forced to repeat it.” Illustrations of this phenomenon are too numerous to quote in a single blog. Rather, I intend to focus on a single situation of the early 20th century, occurring in another country, which may offer lessons for today’s United States.

That country is France –the France that existed between the end of World War I and its collapse and surrender to the German Nazis and their fascistic French allies in 1940 – a dire situation that lasted until the Liberation in 1944.

The parallel with today in the U.S. involves President Barack Obama and the prominent French leader of the 1920’s and 1930’s, Leon Blum.

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Democrats say they want a bond package to create jobs this upcoming legislative session. photo by Ramona du Houx

Democratic minority leaders in the House and Senate answer questions about health care, welfare, the environment, voting rights, and the right-wing out-of-state agenda influencing in Maine. They also express their hope to be able to create a job package, working in a bipartisan way.

Representative Emily Cain —

The people of Maine overwhelmingly voted to restore same-day registration. Republicans even ran an extreme ad in the final days that pointed to a “gay conspiracy” theory. Why did they sink to such an outlandish concept?

The Republicans desperately reverted to their same-old campaigns based on fear and misdirection, after multiple failed attempts to create the perception of fraud in our voting system. The good news is that Maine voters saw through this deceitful campaign, rejected the change in the law, and restored sensibility and access to our elections. Democrats believe this attempt to roll back voting rights is just another example of Republicans pushing solutions in search of problems and trying to distract from the fact that they have not focused on job creation and improving our economy.

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“Realizing that we’ve discovered something no one else knows about is neat,” said Page Case, a UMaine research student. UMaine courtesy photo

A University of Maine engineer, Clayton Wheeler, and his student research team have discovered a revolutionary new chemical process that can transform forest residues, along with other materials such as municipal solid waste, grasses, and construction wastes, into a hydrocarbon fuel oil. One day some cars could be running on it, houses heated by it, and businesses powered by it.

“The process is unique,” said Wheeler, associate professor of chemical and biological engineering. “No one else in the world is doing this. With this new biofuel we have the potential in Maine of replacing 25 percent of our kerosene, diesel, and heating oil, while providing all the steam and power needs of processing plants.”

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"UMaine will have the ability to process cellulose nanofibrils in ways that open up applications for cellulose nanocomposites." said UMaine Hemant Pendse. photo by Ramona du Houx

“With development of new natural and functional nanomaterials, UMaine will be recognized as an innovator in novel cellulose nanofibril processing,” said FBRI Director and UMaine Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering Hemant Pendse. “UMaine will have the ability to process cellulose nanofibrils in ways that open up applications for cellulose nanocomposites. It will be at a scale that opens up markets.”

Last April UMaine, with scientists from six other educational institutions and the Forest Products Laboratory (FPL), began a research collaboration on the conversion of wood components into novel nanomaterials.

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“Over $8.2 million has been awarded in scholarship assistance to more than 1,800 Maine students,” said Senator George Mitchell about the Mitchell Scholarship Program. photo by Ramona du Houx

“The greatest honor of my life was to serve as a senator representing the people of Maine.
Beyond my family, my scholarship program is the most important thing in my life,” said Senator George Mitchell. “In America no one should be guaranteed success, but everyone should have a fair chance to succeed.”

The scholarship initiative that Mitchell referred to is part of and administered by the Mitchell Institute. In 1995 Mitchell founded the Mitchell Scholarship Program to increase the likelihood that students from every community in Maine will aspire to, pursue, and obtain college degrees.

“Over $8.2 million has been awarded in scholarship assistance to more than 1,800 Maine students,” said Mitchell.

Each year one graduating senior from every public high school in Maine is selected to receive a Mitchell Scholarship. The amount of each scholarship is up to $6,000, which translates to $1,500 for each year of college, for a maximum of four years.

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Chancellor Richard L. Pattenaude has appointed former Maine state official Ryan Low as Executive Director of Governmental & External Affairs for the University of Maine System.

“Ryan Low brings significant expertise in and knowledge of Maine state government,” said Pattenaude. “In addition, his outstanding work has been broadly acknowledged by people across the political spectrum. Ryan will be a superb addition to the System’s senior management team.”

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Office of Rural Development announced that it has awarded distance learning and telemedicine grants totaling $3,411,971 to seven Maine community agencies.

“I’m pleased that USDA Rural Development has awarded this important funding to our state,” said Congressman Mike Michaud. “These investments will improve access to health care and education services in rural areas throughout Maine.”

The Distance Learning and Telemedicine Program is designed specifically to meet the educational and health care needs of rural America. For more information on each project provided by the USDA click here.

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