Money, a very wise man once said, is only important, not for baubles it buys, but for the thing it creates…

During this time of year, when town budget committees, boards of selectmen and town administrators are working diligently to craft a budget for their towns, Lincoln County Healthcare employees and administrators are likely to hear concerns that our organizations don’t pay property taxes.

The folks at the Lincoln County Communications Center are a daily part of life at The Lincoln County News. We hear their voices over the scanner as we go about our daily bustle. Most of the breaking news stories we write starts with them.

Lincoln Academy has been a pillar of this community for more than 200 years, and this Friday we celebrate the opening of two new buildings that will support our mission and greatly enhance our students’ experience.

I have lived in Waldoboro for over 27 years and have seen the Waldo Theatre open and close its doors under various directors. The first show I saw there was comedian Tim Sample.

On March 25, the Bristol School Committee and school administrators will convene a long range planning committee forum at the 1812 Farm on the Bristol Road in Bristol with the express purpose of discussing the educational direction of Bristol School in the next decade.

The derogatory “jokes” and statements expressing disdain for President Obama that Senator Michael Willette of Presque Isle has been posting on Facebook for the past several years have recently made headlines. The senator implies the president is a Muslim, is not a U.S. citizen, and is making common cause with ISIS, etc.

I will be retiring from the Newcastle Board of Selectmen after Town Meeting in June. Being on the board has been a very rewarding as well as challenging time in my life. I have greatly appreciated the support and encouragement that I have received from Newcastle residents.

Gov. Paul LePage’s move to withhold funds for conservation projects until the Legislature approves his plan to increase timber harvests on public land might otherwise have our support, except for one detail.

I commend Newcastle Selectman Pat Hudson for her political courage in speaking of the plight of town property taxpayers at a recent public meeting. Mick Devin, our State Representative, organized that meeting in February to discuss changes in our municipal property tax system.

To those Bristol voters who cast their vote for me to return to the Bristol School Committee for another three-year term, thank you. Those who run for office do so for a variety of reasons and my goal is to make a concerted effort to give our rural children of Bristol the best education possible.

We have almost made it. It’s March. We have survived the deepest, darkest doldrums of what, by most accounts, was an exceptionally dark and dreary winter. The clocks spring ahead this weekend, spring is on the horizon, and honest to God, these days you can hear birds chirping in the morning, if you are lucky.

Just a short response to a statement made in a letter from Craig Elliott in the Feb. 19 issue of The Lincoln County News. Maine does not have the most millionaires per capita of any state.

I am one of those terrible grammar grouses who deplore the sapping of strength from the English language.