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The Town Line Community Newspaper, 575 Lakeview Drive, China, ME (2025)

07/02/2025

The online edition of The Town Line newspaper for Thursday, July 3, is now available on our website!

Web edition is available at: https://townline.org/issue-for-july-3-2025/

Print edition can be found at your favorite local business: https://townline.org/distribution-drops/

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Give Us Your Best Shot!To submit a photo for this section, please visit our contact page or email us at townline@townlin...

07/02/2025

Give Us Your Best Shot!

To submit a photo for this section, please visit our contact page or email us at [email protected]!

CAPTIONS:

LUPINE SEASON ‘25: Gary Mazoki, of Palermo, photographed this lupines.

UP CLOSE: Barbara Doody took this selfie while holding a pileated woodpecker.

MORE LUPINES: Lindy Sklover, of Vassalboro, snapped these lupines in a field in South China.

07/01/2025

Winslow High School fourth quarter honors

Seniors:

High Honors: Emma Barlow, Adeline Blackstone, Emily-Lynn Carlson, Cameron Lavallee, Kyri Meak, Katherine Nichols, Ki Opacki, Tucker Pomerleau, Ava Prickett, Kalia Reffett, Liam Scandore, Adelinn Sillanpaa, Sophia Sullivan, Maya Veilleux, and Dillon Whitney.

Honors: Madyson Achorn, Richard April, Seth Bard, Kiley Barron, Malyn Beaster, Kaylynn Beaulieu, Stella Brunelle, Abigail Chartrand, Leia Cleaves, Jessi Dunn, Tyler Folsom, Amy Jones, Crowe MacQuarrie, Connor Mahoney, Kylie McCafferty, Abigail McCaslin, Ethan McCaslin, Paige Owen, Riley Palmer, Kaelyn Pappas, Brady Poulin, Braden Rodrigue, Maximilian Spicer, Micah Waldie, Tealah Ward, Tayia Ware, and Brody Willette.

Honorable Mention: Kyrah Denis, Meghan Mahoney, Liam McPherson, Sierra Sharp, and Emma Waterhouse.

Juniors:

High Honors: Raneen Ali, Addison Benavente, Charles Byers, Brody Davidson, Awsten Jordan, Shawna Martin, Sakura Page, Mylee Petela, Amara Rioux, and Kathryn Wahl.

Honors: Tabetha Ahlgren, Moria Bevan, Andrew Bryant, Isabella Carrero, Mikaylah Carter, Emily Daigneault, Ashton Darrell, Mary Grace Day, Aspen Dearborn, Abby Doughty, Makayla Ellis, Zane Erickson, Lucas Fisher, Liem Fortin, Jenna Furchak, Isabelle Giguere, Morgan Haywood, Hassan Hobbi, Jacob Humphrey, Bretton Lambert, Colby Leathers, Dylan Letourneau, Paige Littlefield, Jocelyn Lizzotte, Karleigh Marcoux, Aubrey Moors, Tyler Palmer, Madisyn Pendexter, Bryanna Prentiss, Ethan Rancourt, Lexi Reynolds, Jolie Snipe, Kamrin St. Amand, Lillian Stafford, and Briana Veilleux.

Honorable Mention: Ibrahim Al Subaihawi, Nolan Barbeau, Astra Cutten, Hannah Delile, Jaimeah Derosier, Kennedy Dumond, Addison Duplessie, Katelyn Gibbs, Liliana Parsons, Alexandria Raymond, Angeline Steeves, and Rachel Stone.

Sophomores:

High Honors: Minx Erickson, Delana Ferran, Ava Fortuna, Abigail Harrington, Kaydence McKenney, Mirra Meak, Renton O’Toole, Kelty Pooler, Reese Siodla, and Max Willigar.

Honors: Evan Barlow, Taylor Bellows, Kera Bilodeau, Meadow Bradbury, Carter Calvo, Breana Castagnetto, Madison Cochran, Jameson Delile, Peyton Dowe, Dawson Dutil, Caden Giroux, Donovan Hamlin, Nevaeh LaCroix, Myah Latham, Isabella Loubier, Quincy Morin, Henry Olson, Julia Ortins, Elaina Rioux, Chassidy Shorty, Eliott Stepp, Benjamin Thomas, Ethan Ward, and Stella Wynne.

Honorable Mention: Sophie Bernardini, Zoe Brann, Emma Charleston, Landon Davis, Olivia Giroux, Davanee Kimball, Harley McEachern, Tenley Nadeau, and Camdyn Turmelle.

Freshman:

High Honors: Olivia Coldwell, Emma Fales, Belen Farnham, Frank Farnham, Jack Flaherty, Kayla Giroux, Natalie Lagasse, Katherine Martin, and Quincey Nesbitt.

Honors: Piper Banda, Haleigh Blackstone, Gabriel Bovee, Cassidy Chartrand, Liam Darrell, Kolby Gibbs, Cruz Hamilton, Noah Harding, Livia Hayden, Natalie Hussey, Jacob Jordan, Jonathan Kesaris, Jaxon Lizotte, Caleb Marden, Brooklyn Michaud, Maria Moumouris, Brinlyn O’Toole, Silver Picard, Bentley Pooler, Aiden Powell, Benjamin Powell, Abigail Prickett, Nixon Souviney, Alana Wade, and Noah Whitman.

Honorable Mention: Mikayla Achorn, Maryuri Avila Cruz, Leah Bates, Melody Beaulieu, Abigail Bertone, Juliet Boivin, Brody Brockway, Jason Burrow, Bode Carlson, Hunter Ferran, Giovanni Garcia, Zachary Kinrade, Cooper Lajoie, Scott LeClair, Adrianna Lombardi, Aria Markes, Eva Nadeau, Oliver Olson, Kayden Renna, Aiden Reny, Bailey Richard, Cody St, Pierre, and RaeLeigh Starkey.

07/01/2025

PHOTO: Knowledge Fair project

Benton Elementary School fourth grader, Jackson Reynolds, loves law enforcement. For his knowledge fair project on social studies, his subject matter was, naturally, law enforcement, and he chose to center his project around Corporal Eugene Cole. Jackson even dressed in his own Deputy uniform for his project presentation. Jackson did an excellent job, and I want to thank him for focusing his project on Corporal Cole, said Sheriff Dale Lancaster. (contributed photo)

06/30/2025

Vassalboro conservation committee discusses two parks

by Mary Grow

Vassalboro Conservation Commission members spent most of their June 11 meeting discussing the two parks they supervise, Monument Park, in East Vassalboro at the China Lake outlet, and Eagle Park, on Route 32, north of East Vassalboro.

For Monument Park, they agreed on committee member Steve Jones’ earlier suggestion of adding a buffer along the water, with low plantings that would hold back runoff but not block the view.

Chairman Holly Weidner said planting the buffer might qualify for a grant from the New England Grassroots Environment Fund. The organization provides up to $4,000 for projects that promote volunteerism and protect the environment, she said.

The next round of applications is due in September, with funds awarded in December for work in 2026. Jones and Matt Pitcher volunteered to prepare a grant application.

Commission members further agreed to add three trees along a small stream in the park, using money remaining in the current year’s budget. Jones, owner of Fieldstone Gardens, in Vassalboro, offered to provide the labor and equipment to plant the trees.

Weidner accepted with pleasure, saying to Jones, “When you plant trees, they don’t die.”

Weidner reported that Kennebec Water District has informally offered to help with run-off control on its side of the stream.

Commission members praised Vassalboro Public Works Director Brian Lajoie and the public works crew for their additions at Eagle Park. Crew members built a pavilion and installed three picnic tables from Maine Adirondack Chairs, in Vassalboro, one handicapped accessible; and improved the lawn and the parking area.

Other additions include a second fishing pier and a granite bench – the bench under a tree for shade, Weidner noted. She and Jones favor adding more trees.

Minor projects remain, like installing appropriate handicapped signs. Commission members intend to have an outhouse built to use the septic tank already on the property. Jones offered to talk with Lajoie about plans and costs.

In other business, Weidner reported that the China Region Lakes Alliance has hired Riley Field as head of the 2025 Courtesy Boat Inspection program, intended to keep invasive plants out of area lakes. Vassalboro will have inspectors at three boat landings, on China Lake, Three Mile Pond and Webber Pond. Town meeting voters approved $10,000 for this project.

Weidner said Paul Mitnik has resigned from the commission; it now has five members, instead of the authorized seven. Vassalboro residents interested in serving are invited to contact the town office.

On Weidner’s recommendation, commission members took a summer recess, scheduling their next regular meeting for Wednesday evening, Sept. 10.

06/30/2025

EVENTS: Winslow library hosts summer kick-off event

The Winslow Public Library will host its first summer reading kick-off party since 2019, as it launches a slew of new engaging programming for children, teens and adults, headed by its new programming staff.

The library kicked off this year’s summer reading program, on June 16. This summer’s theme, Level Up at Your Library, is all about play for both kids and adults – think games, puzzles, mazes, scavenger hunts, and more. On the 16th, patrons can sign up for the reading programs and participate in a variety of games and activities, include pieces from the Children’s Discovery Museum Mobile Museum, and enjoy snacks.

Children’s Area patrons can look forward to steady and regular programming, including a regular weekly Littles Story Time started earlier this month on Wednesdays at 10 am.

For older kids looking for more to do this summer, they’ll have the Big Kids Summer Club, running as a drop-in session on Mondays from 4 – 5:30 p.m., starting June 23 with rotating games and activities.

Kids will learn about the aerodynamics of flight by creating their own paper airplanes and testing their designs on June 25, part of a new STEAM series for school-aged kids, led by one of our amazing volunteers.

The talented Mr. Gene, a retired science teacher and children’s librarian, leads a monthly story time throughout the summer, with engaging hands-on learning about topics like light and color, magnetism and seed germination.

With the hiring of two new staff members, this is the first time the library has had designated staff for all-ages programming.

“The library staff is excited to welcome Catie and Matthew to the library,” Library Director Lisa Auriemma said. “Having staff whose primary focus is programming is important for a small library. Our patrons have already started to see the benefit of our new staff’s creativity and work ethic.”

Adult and Teen Services Coordinator Matthew Gregoire was hired in April. He studied writing, publishing, and history at Saint Joseph’s College and brings experience working as both a freelance writer and a personal care assistant.

“Ever since childhood, I’ve loved exploring stories and the ways they can bring us together and help us to grow. The public library has an essential role in supporting and facilitating this process, and I’m so glad to be a part of it in Winslow,” said Gregoire. “It’s been a joy to meet our patrons, and I’m excited to start hosting programs which give the community a space to gather, share, and learn.”

Children’s Services Coordinator, Catie Joyce-Bulay was hired in May and brings nearly two decades of experience working with children of all ages as a speech therapist. She has also worked for the Children’s Discovery Museum and as a freelance writer.

“Working as Winslow’s children’s librarian feels like a dream job,” said Joyce-Bulay, who moved to the area shortly before the pandemic. “It’s been so wonderful meeting the kids, and I’ve already got a bunch of fun ideas for the fall I can’t wait to share.”

Winslow’s children’s summer reading program works a little differently than most. When children, ages 3-18 come in to sign up, they are given an activity tracker with a list of 15 activities ranging from reading, to crafting, to a family walk. Once they complete it, they can turn it in for their first prize bag. Kids can complete up to four trackers for a total of four prize bags loaded with fun goodies.

Each week during the 10-week program, kids can also pick up a new take-home craft bag and discover a new self-serve activity.

The teen and adult summer reading programs require participants to read 10 books total. Adults must read at least two books from the Maine Humanities Council reading list, all of which can be found at the library.

Prizes were generously donated by 23 area businesses.

The Winslow Public Library is located at 136 Halifax Street. Library summer hours are M-Th, 9 a.m. – 6 p.m., and, starting in July, also Fridays, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. As always, library programs are free. For details, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or sign up on our website for our newsletter.

For more information contact Library Director Lisa Auriemma at 207-872-1978.

06/29/2025

Up and Down the Kennebec Valley: Early land titles

by Mary Grow

The lawyers discussed in this series earlier this spring were undoubtedly important in the lives of European settlers in the central Kennebec Valley. Before the lawyers, and equally if not more important, were another group of professional men: the surveyors.

Several surveyors’ names appear in 18th-century records, usually because the men were hired by the Plymouth Company/Kennebec Proprietors, the Boston-based companies with deeds to large parts of the area. Those most often mentioned include, in birth order, Ephraim Ballard (May 6 or May 17, 1725 – Jan. 7, 1821), John McKechnie (about 1730/1732 -– 1782), John Jones (c. 1743 – Aug. 16, 1823) and Nathan Winslow (April 1, 1743 — ? [after January 1807]).

Ballard is named as the surveyor of part of Albion, an area Henry Kingsbury, in his 1892 Kennebec County history, said the proprietors had given to Nathan Winslow; and part of Palermo. He was the husband of Martha Ballard, whose diary was made famous by Laurel Thacher Ulrich’s 1990 book titled A Midwife’s Tale.

McKechnie also surveyed part of Albion, in 1769; and the Town of Winslow.

Jones surveyed the west side of Sidney, beyond Winslow’s riverfront lots, in 1774; the area east of Vassalboro, including what became China, in the fall of 1773 and spring of 1774, with Abraham Burrell or Burrill (who became one of the first settlers around China Lake).

Nathan Winslow laid out lots in Vassalboro, including the part on the west side of the river that became Sidney, in 1761.

Among other surveyors mentioned less often in histories of the settlement of the central Kennebec valley are Paul Chadwick, General Joseph Chandler, Isaac Davis, Charles Hayden, John Howe, Josiah Jones, Bradstreet Wiggin or Wiggins and Dr. Obadiah Williams.

* * * * * *

Alice Hammond included in her history of Sidney a summary history of land titles in the area that became Maine, and more specifically in the valley of the Kennebec River. A summary of her summary might help readers sort out who owned what when.

The Augusta lawyer named Wendall Titcomb who wrote the chapter on Sources of Land Titles for Kingsbury’s Kennebec County history said that “…the Crown of England is the source to which trace all lines of title to lands within the county of Kennebec.” Hammond agreed.

She started with King James I’s 1606 grant giving the London Company the southern part and the Plymouth Company the northern part of North America between latitude 34 degrees and latitude 45 degrees.

The 45-degree line runs east-west through Maine north of present-day Skowhegan and Bangor. The 34-degree line runs through the southern United States, including Georgia, South Carolina and extreme southeastern North Carolina.

While the London Company settled Jamestown, Virginia, Plymouth Company representatives began trading with Natives and establishing fishing ports, but made no permanent settlements.

In 1620, Hammond wrote, a British stock company named the Council for New England, “successor to the Plymouth Company,” got a grant covering the territory between 40 and 48 degrees. Titcomb gave the full title: “The Council Established at Plymouth in the County of Devon for the planting, ruling and governing New England in America.” This company sponsored the 1620 Pilgrim settlement at Plymouth, Massachusetts.

One of the colonists, William Bradford, served as the colony’s governor for part of the time. He petitioned the Council for more land to support the colony’s growing population, and on Jan. 13, 1629, got the Kennebec or Plymouth Patent.

This grant covered 15 miles on both sides of the Kennebec River from the coast inland beyond present-day Skowhegan, about 1.5 million acres. It included the right to establish three trading stations, the one farthest upriver at Cushnoc (later Augusta).

Profits from the Kennebec trade declined over the years. On Oct. 17, 1661, Titcomb said, Boston businessmen Antipas Boyes (Boyce, Boies), Thomas Brattle, Edward Tyng and John Winslow bought the land along the Kennebec, for 400 pounds. These men organized themselves as the Kennebec Proprietors.

(Kingsbury added a footnote: the deed for the 1661 transaction was executed on Oct. 15, 1665, and “recorded in the York County registry in 1719.”)

Mostly because of wars with the Natives and their French allies who helped them from farther north, the so-called French and Indian Wars (1688 to 1763), the Proprietors did not develop their holdings. Over almost a century, their shares in the organization were divided among heirs, some ending up with 1/192 of a share, Hammond wrote.

The first of four separate French and Indian wars historians call King William’s War; it began in 1688 and was formally ended by the 1697 Treaty of Ryswick. The second war, known as Queen Anne’s War, or Dummer’s War, started in 1702 and ended with the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht.

James North, in his history of Augusta, wrote that the group he called the Pejepscot Proprietors took advantage of the post-1713 peaceful interlude to hire Joseph Heath to survey 111 miles of the Kennebec, as far inland as Norridgewock. Heath’s plan is dated May 16, 1719, North said.

(Joseph Heath, sometimes called Captain or Colonel, worked as a surveyor in several parts of Maine early in the 1700s, before the British settlements in the central Kennebec Valley. On-line documents refer to his plans for part of Brunswick [1717]; the Plymouth Patent [1719]; and a 1719 map and description of Norridgewock. North said Heath was “probably” the first commander at Fort Richmond, built in 1719 on the Kennebec below Gardiner.)

In August 1749, after the third of the four wars (King George’s War, or the War of Jenkins’ Ear) had ended with the October 1748 Treaty of Aix la Chapelle, some of the hereditary proprietors met and re-organized themselves as, Hammond wrote, “The Proprietors of the Kennebec Purchase from the late colony of New Plymouth,” aka either the Kennebec(k) Company/Proprietors or the Plymouth Company.

(This organization is the subject of a scholarly 1975 book by Gordon E. Kershaw titled The Kennebeck Proprietors 1749-1775. Kershaw focused on the group’s financial and legal interactions with the British government, in Massachusetts and in London.)

These men thought permanent settlements on the Kennebec River would be the way to profit from their holdings. North wrote that an early step was to get an exact understanding of what they owned. They hired their first surveyor pursuant to a December 1749, vote; and a surveyor named John North (later identified as Capt. John North) in October 1750.

North was again hired in 1751, and in that year and the next made a plan of the river and its tributaries and laid out at least some lots to be sold, from the ocean to Cushnoc (that is, inland as far as southern Augusta).

North mentioned repeatedly that the native inhabitants of the Kennebec Valley, egged on by the French from the north, tried to deter the expanding British settlements. The Proprietors and the Massachusetts authorities cooperated to build two forts on the east bank of the river in 1754.

Fort Halifax, built by British troops under General John Winslow (see box) was at the mouth of the Sebasticook, near the native village called Ticonic. Fort Western at Cushnoc served as a supply depot for and link to the upriver fort.

The fourth and final of the French and Indian Wars (the French and Indian War [singular], or the Seven Years’ War) broke out in 1754. Fighting in North America was over by 1760, although the formal peace treaty between Great Britain and France was not signed until Feb. 10, 1763 (Treaty of Paris).

With the Kennebec valley at peace, more people were willing to move there, and skilled surveyors able to establish precise lot lines became even more important.

A man named Winslow who was not a surveyor
The Town of Winslow was named after British General John Winslow (May 10, 1703 – April 17, 1774), not surveyor Nathan Winslow. Your writer found no evidence the two were related.

General Winslow, according to Barry M. Moody’s article in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography (found on line), was a member of a prominent New England family, descendant of two former governors of the Plymouth Colony (Edward and Josiah Winslow).

Winslow was born May 10, 1703, in Marshfield, Massachusetts. In February, 1725, he married Mary Little, born in Marshfield in September 1704 (according to Wikipedia). They had three sons, Josiah, Pelham and Isaac. (Moody said only two sons; and added that Winslow took a second wife, Bethiah [Barker] Johnson [no date] – possible, since, according to Wikipedia, Mary died in 1772.)

Winslow’s first military experience was on an unsuccessful 1740 British expedition to Cuba, as a captain in a provincial militia company. He then joined the regular British army, serving in eastern Canada.

Moody said he briefly abandoned the army and returned to Massachusetts, where he represented Marshfield in the state legislature in 1752-53.

In 1754, Massachusetts Governor William Shirley made Winslow a major-general in charge of the 800-man force sent to the Kennebec to combat French and Native opposition to British settlements. There he oversaw construction of Fort Halifax.

Rev. Edwin Whittemore, in his 1902 Waterville centennial history, said Winslow left 300 men to build the fort and led the other 500 upriver as far as Norridgewock. In late summer, after the fort’s stockade and first buildings were finished, Whittemore wrote that Governor Shirley came north to inspect it “and highly commended Gen. Winslow and his men.”

(In a later chapter in Whittemore’s history, Aaron Appleton Plaisted commented on the varied spellings of “Ticonic.” Among them he listed Governor Shirley’s “Taconett” and General Winslow’s “Ticonnett.”)

The 1754 project in the Kennebec Valley “added greatly to his [Winslow’s] popularity, and he was thus a natural choice as the lieutenant-colonel of a provincial regiment raised by Shirley in 1755 to aid Lieutenant Governor Charles Lawrence of Nova Scotia in his attempts to sweep French influence from the province,” Moody wrote.

Winslow spent the spring and summer of 1755 in New Brunswick, Canada, where reducing French influence included heading the expulsion of the French Acadian settlers. Moody quoted from Winslow’s diary that the work did not please him; but “he carried out his orders with care, military precision, and as much compassion as circumstances allowed.”

Winslow returned to Massachusetts in November 1755. The next year, he “reached the high point of his military career” when Governor Shirley sent him to upstate New York to fight the French there.

On both expeditions, Winslow quarreled with his superior officers. Moody suggested both sides were to blame.

Back in Massachusetts by 1757, Winslow left the army. He again represented Marshfield in the Massachusetts legislature in 1757-58 and from 1761 to 1765.

Around 1766 Winslow moved about 15 miles to Hingham, Massachusetts. He died there in 1774.

***
Main sources

Hammond, Alice, History of Sidney Maine 1792-1992 (1992).
Kingsbury, Henry D., ed., Illustrated History of Kennebec County Maine 1625-1892 (1892).
North, James W., The History of Augusta (1870).
Whittemore, Rev. Edwin Carey, Centennial History of Waterville 1802-1902 (1902).

Websites, miscellaneous.

06/29/2025

LETTERS: Big not so pretty bill

To the editor:

The way to convey to you how utterly awful the so-called “one big beautiful bill” passed by the House [recently] actually would be to give you this short ten-question exam. (Answers are in parenthesis but first try to answer without looking at them.)

1. Does the House’s “one big beautiful bill” cut Medicare? (Answer: Yes, by an estimated $500 billion.)
2. Because the bill cuts Medicaid, how many Americans are expected to lose Medicaid coverage? (At least 8.6 million.)
3. Will the tax cut in the bill benefit the rich or the poor or everyone? (Overwhelmingly, the rich.)
4. How much will the top 0.1 percent of earners stand to gain from it? (Nearly $390,000 per year).
5. If you figure in the benefit cuts and the tax cuts, will Americans making between about $17,000 and $51,000 gain or lose? (They’ll lose about $700 a year).
6. How about Americans with incomes less than $17,000? (They’ll lose more than $1,000 per year on average).
7. How much will the bill add to the federal debt? ($3.8 trillion over 10 years.)
8. Who will pay the interest on this extra debt? (All of us, in both our tax payments and higher interest rates for mortgages, car loans, and all other longer-term borrowing.)
9. Who collects this interest? (People who lend to the U.S. government, 70 percent of whom are American and most of whom are
wealthy.)
10. Bonus question: Is the $400 million airplane from Qatar a gift to the United States for every future president to use, or a gift to Trump for his own personal use? (It’s a personal gift because he’ll get to use it after he leaves the presidency.)

Most Americans are strongly opposed to all of these.

Paige Schadt
Belgrade

06/28/2025

LETTERS: Disagrees with article

To the editor:

I was very disappointed in the uncredited May 22 article entitled “Local students go to state house to support girls’ sports and spaces.” Not only did it display a shocking amount of bias, but it was also poorly researched and nonfactual. It made the claim that, “most Mainers recognize these bills are commonsense policy that needs to be passed.” It fact, the vast majority of individuals who showed up to testify, including many female student athletes, were testifying against these anti-trans bills.

I won’t include numbers here for every bill (testimony available to all at https://legislature.maine.gov/Calendar on May 8), but just one of the bills, LD 1337, had 92 testifying for it and 477 testifying against, with two neutral testimonies. That is more than five times as many individuals who do not believe that these bills should be passed. I am not writing here to make an argument on the bills myself, but I strongly encourage readers to look at the words of their fellow Mainers themselves and check out some of the testimonies. The bills in question are LD 233, LD 868, LD 1002, LD 1134, LD 1704, LD 1337, LD 1432, and LD 380.

I have lived in East Vassalboro since I was six and have been an active member of the community, including stage managing a play at the local Grange with proceeds to benefit The Town Line. It is incredibly disheartening to me to see this paper, which should represent our community, showing blatant prejudice against myself and many other q***r members of the community.

Kala Freytag Wistar,
East Vassalboro

06/28/2025

COMMUNITY COMMENTARY: What we need is a third party

by Sheldon Goodine, China resident

We see the debt clock ticking away on TV and getting higher every day. We are told the interest on this debt is the largest expense in the U.S. government, and if allowed to continue the U.S. government could go into default and we could lose our country. This brings up a lot of questions, who do we owe this debt to? What is the interest rate and is there a plan to repay this debt? To me, the answer is simple. Stop spending, overspending. Stop spending more than we take in!

Just about everyone agrees the swamp in Washington needs to be drained, and spending brought under control. We agree there is a lot of waste, fraud and abuse in the federal budget, but no one can agree on how to fix it and stop this financial bleeding.

The two-party system of government in our country is not working. The problem is too many Republicans, too many Democrats and not enough Americans in Washington. When the Democrats get a couple more seats, they control the government without input from Republicans, and vice versa. The score is Democrats 100 percent and Republicans zero percent; Republicans 100 percent and Democrats zero percent; in both scenarios the American people’s score is zero percent.

It’s time to bring a third party into the mix. A party that will work for and vote for the good of America and Americans. It will be the “American Party”. Then we can reduce the number of red states, reduce the number of blue states and greatly increase the number of red, white and blue states.

Put an end forever to party-only politics, get our spending under control, reduce the size of government, stop sending our dollars all over the world, especially to countries whose motto is “Kill Americans”.

One last thought, term limits. Both parties will not vote to limit terms of their members. So, we must do it for them in the form of the ballot. Stop voting for and sending the career politicians back to Washington every election period. It’s time to start over again and get this new “American Party” up and running with the people in charge of working for the good of all Americans. A government of the people, for the people, by the people.

06/27/2025

LETTERS: CMP and the ospreys

To the editor:

My friend Marty and myself are convinced that CMP – Central Maine Power, is responsible for placement of the osprey nests on the power line poles. Have you ever noticed that these nests are typically adjacent to the road? You can look through the clear cut area and see multiple poles, but the nests are on the pole immediately next to the road. There are numerous examples of this on Turner Ridge Rd., the 105, and along Highway 95. south before Fairfield. With all these options … Why would an osprey build a nest on the exact pole next to the road ?

You may say that it’s close to the road to allow these birds to eat road kill. To my knowledge osprey catch live fish and it’s typically crows or vultures that eat road kill. My wife Margaret talked to the CMP crew that was installing new power poles about this question and they just had a good laugh at our expense. I have Googled the question and there are some examples of CMP intervention to relocate Osprey nests that could cause harm to the birds or cause power outages. It shows some type of human intervention but it still does not answer the question about CMP placement of nests adjacent to roads.

The purpose of this letter to the editor is to solicit feedback on whether it’s true or false that CMP is responsible for the placement of these osprey nests.

Okay, I know I’m retired and I have extra time on my hands to ponder these types of questions. So please if you have any facts on this subject please write your own letter to the editor to The Town Line with the information. Please help us in this debate!

Gary Mazoki
Palermo

The Town Line Community Newspaper

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