Wow, what a storm (Jan. 13)! With weather like this, I am glad that I live and work where I do.

Almost anyone in the Twin Villages knows or knows of the Lee boys, Zander and his brother Whitney. They grew up here. They went to school here. If one or the other may have been rambunctious at times in their younger days, they both grew into upstanding family and businessmen.

For what it’s worth here are my thoughts on the Wiscasset bypass; forget the bypass and do these simple solutions:

1.) Stop ALL on street parking in Wiscasset.

I can understand why Doctor Falconer appreciates the “revelry and lawlessness of Saturnalia,” especially in light of his indifference to the secularization of Christ’s Mass. So have Saturnalia on the solstice, and there will be no confusion. (Say…wasn’t Kwanzaa supposed to have solved this problem?)

Governor-Elect LePage will be sworn Jan. 5 and I presume he would have us believe his order that there be none of the customary inaugural whoop-de-doo is a signal confirming he’ll be turning over every stone in his effort to cure the state’s budget woes.

Recent letters to the editor in the Dec. 30 and Jan. 6 The Lincoln County News contain emotionally charged brouhahas about whether to “keep Christ out of Christmas” (H. Falconer) or “keep Christ in Christmas” (M. Bourland and R. Crabtree). Their thoughts on the subject are interesting, provocative and sometimes absurd.

The handwriting is on the wall. The economy is horrible. Federal and state budgets are going to be sliced, which will have a major impact on small towns. Newcastle’s administrative budget has exploded in the last few years and is out of line with other small towns its size.

On Jan. 13 the RSU 12 School Board shocked the Wiscasset community and nearly everyone else who had been watching, by voting to “immediately” and “permanently” remove the term “Redskin” from any and all schools within the district.

For some reason, we have received quite a few comments, pro and con, written and verbal, regarding our placement of Rev. Kevin Haj’s Christmas message on the front page of The Lincoln County News Dec. 23, 2010 edition.

I hope that you’ll accept a criticism from a loyal reader.

I found the headline that you attached to Dr. Falconer’s letter last week to be very eye-catching, but not very descriptive of the content of his letter. (“Let’s take Christ out of Christmas”) It was unnecessarily inflammatory and maybe even offensive to many mainstream church-goers. (LCN, Page 13, 12/30/10)

We would feel remiss if we did not join the chorus of concern regarding the attempted assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson, Ariz., Jan. 8.

If you want a cause to chuckle, and who doesn’t need one these days, try giving some small children a simple cardboard box and watch what they do with it. In short order, they could turn it into a fort, or a plane, a boat or a place to hide.

The Dec. 5 Christmas Town & Craft Fair hosted by Jefferson Fire & Rescue was a great success. A record number of crafters and artisans filled the apparatus bay at the firehouse, as children enjoyed Christmas Town and a visit with Santa.

One would think, at my age, I would have learned not to be surprised at the human propensity for parochialism. Yet, I was amazed at last Wednesday night’s spectacle at the urgently reassembled Midcoast Bypass Task Force meeting at the Edgecomb Eddy School.