Middle of the day, Monday, a busy day at the Maine Coast Book Shop, some sleazy no-account idler, probably someone who frequents the place and maybe hangs out in the café, someone who probably didn’t have a job to go to or at least some good purpose to occupy himself (yes, probably a “he”), who also probably doesn’t read this newspaper much and so has me wasting my time trying to help him reform and undo his crime, has stolen a bike parked just outside our back door.

Maine cannot afford higher taxes and reckless government spending and neither can our country. Washington’s fiscal irresponsibility and poor economic policy has not worked.

This is a familiar refrain, isn’t it? In light of $8 billion in the operating losses last year, the United States Postal Service is considering closing some 3600 locations across the country.

Throughout his legislative career, District 20 Sen. David Trahan has established himself as a fiscal conservative who works like a dog for his constituents. Starting as a pea green legislator, who as a freshman in the House would automatically vote ‘no’ on any piece of legislation he hadn’t read, Trahan has worked hard to learn the ropes in Augusta, so much so that, as a Senator in his sixth term in Augusta, (counting four in the House) he has become one of the respected Republican voices in state government.

Planning is hard work, make no mistake. There are no shortcuts, but our quality of place is our best economic asset, both now and in the future. It is worth protecting.

On one hand, we empathize with the desire of Damariscotta town officials to revisit the SmartCode with an eye toward bringing it back for another vote. A lot of time, effort and money was spent developing the ordinance language and bringing the issue to a vote June 14, the outcome of which was a stinging defeat for the code’s supporters.

Well it turns out the odds are about 1 in 400 here in Maine. I am talking about MS. You are 10,625 times more likely to be diagnosed with MS then you are to win the Megabucks.

Bruce Bartrug’s letter about the wonderful socially responsible governments in Europe was really something. He sure put a smiley face on it all. How is it working out for Greece these days, paying people all those generous benefits he spoke of? What country was it, Mr. Bartrug, that liberated Europe twice in the last century so that with their short memories they could become the socialist utopias you’re so fond of?

This being the 27th week of the year; we are now officially on the back half of 2011. For Lincoln County’s resident summer lovers, we are about to enter the stretch run of it being about as good as it seasonally gets around these parts.

Recently the voters of Waldoboro decided to not approve some department’s budgets in an effort to trim the tax burden of homeowners. Nobody likes to pay taxes but the problem with this vote is it was up or down for each department with no compromise on the dollar figure.

Do you remember Pine Grove drive in? If you do, we, the Ward family, Pine Grove’s former owners, need your help. Our family is constantly amazed at the nostalgia surrounding Pine Grove. We still hear the longing for our fried clams, Gram’s rolls and barbeque chicken.

I’ve spent the last few days reading the proposed “Smart Code.” I am not impressed. The rush to install a new ordinance was started not by the citizens of Damariscotta, but by a nameless, faceless gentleman from away who paid the town to hire a drafter to create a new ordinance that would allow the development of the so called Piper Village.

If a little girl was tortured and murdered in Maine today would the state’s response be very different from that which followed the 1988 murder of Sarah Cherry?

I am of two minds about President Obama’s proposed return of our troops in Afghanistan. Naturally, I am overjoyed and relieved that at least one-third of our brave young combatants will no longer be in harm’s way, but what are they coming back to?