A year ago the 150 foot setback was voted in at the town meeting. The main concern obviously was to provide more protection for the waterfront as well as the four ponds that are in or are part of Bremen. One does not need scientific data to know that every foot counts.

The Newcastle Selectmen article in last week’s Lincoln County News had several inaccurate or misstatements that need to be addressed.

The position of Fire Chief is not a new position. The Newcastle Fire Company has elected and had a Fire Chief since its founding in March of 1876.

I would like to bring to your attention what you will be voting on March 31.

Because there were not many people at the March 19 Public Hearing, I want to make sure that residents know what they are voting on, as the language on the town warrant is so misleading.

The Queen is gone; our Muriel, Queen of Jazz and the coffee shops, friend to all of us in the Kingdom. Though with a heavy heart, we want to shout, “Long Live the Queen!” from the rooftops, looking around we ask, “Who is there to replace her?” Indeed, it will take a big soul to fill those tiny slippers.

We need to appreciate what people do for the community, and how hard they work. Dr. Christine Welch, she’s the best.

When you think about the history of the Jazz Idiom, few musicians have exemplified this way of expressing a quintessential “natural swing” the way that Muriel Havenstein did.

Next week, famed mountaineer Ed Webster comes to Skidompha Library in Damariscotta for a talk and book signing. The amiable Webster will discuss his five years in Tibet and highlight his pioneering of a never-before-climbed route up Mt. Everest.

To read the national headlines, it seems 2009 could be the year that the newspaper industry goes the way of the Dodo.

However, now would be the time for us to raise a shaky finger and say something like, in our best Monty Pythonesque voice, “But we’re not dead yet.”

It’s hard to tell how fitting it is that we lose two local icons within days of each other this past week, but our losses are certainly in keeping with the tone of the current times.

Each week I pick up the paper and see another article about the CLC YMCA, including photos of members, class schedules, and upcoming events. And each week I think, wow, they are sure doing a wonderful job for the community.

I have never written a letter to the editor before but felt compelled to after riding the Rt. 66 snowmobile trail system this past weekend. I want to thank all that are responsible for an excellent job.

There is something about the earliest stages of a power outage that can bring out the little kid in even the most jaded Yankee. At first there is the scramble for the candles, the flashlights, and then the board games and snacks.

To the Editor:

Healthy Kids had a full house at Skidompha Library Saturday night for the 8th Annual Chocolate Fest.

I guess I should take my own advice, and be more vigilant.

It seems the Village Center Ordinance change I have been arguing against is on the Annual Town Meeting Warrant after all. It was part of the Shoreland Zoning Ordinance amendments that the selectmen put off.