(page 1 of 3)
We’ll find out Thursday, July 17, whether those opposed to higher taxes on beer, wine, soda and insurance premiums have gathered enough petition signatures to force a referendum to repeal those levies. This past week, leaders of the People’s Veto campaign expressed confidence they’d submit well over the required 55,000 names needed to block the tax hikes and put the issue on the November ballot.
They say Maine can’t afford the additional taxes. Supporters of the new revenues are already organizing to save them. They claim repeal will cost 18,000 people covered by the Dirigo Health program their insurance. Both sides should probably keep in mind this profound insight from author and former Texas gubernatorial candidate Kinky Freidman. “Health,” he said, “is merely the slowest possible rate at which we die.”
I bring up Kinky not just because I needed to quote him in order to write off the cost of his latest book on my income tax, but also because out-of-staters figure heavily in this week’s news. Let’s start with the most famous of them.
On July 12, the Boston Red Sox announced that designated hitter David Ortiz would likely be making three rehab starts with the Portland Sea Dogs.
Ortiz has been on the disabled list since May 31, recovering from a torn tendon sheath in his wrist. He’ll play three games with the Sox’ Triple-A affiliate in Pawtucket, R.I. If all goes well there, he’ll come to Maine for Double-A Dogs games on July 21, 22 and 23, before joining the big club.
Don’t worry about the petition drive on Dirigo Health affecting Ortiz’ visit. He has his own insurance.
As long as I’m on the subject of baseball, let’s get that armpit story out of the way. For much of the past week, the network sports shows have carried video of the minor-league manager of the Wichita Wingnuts throwing one of the … er … wing-nuttier tirades in the history of organized play.
The manager let an umpire know what he thought of him by pulling off his shoe and comparing its odor to the object of his scorn. Then, he pulled up the sleeve of his jersey, pointed at his pit and made a similar observation. The Bangor Daily News recognized that armpit. It belongs to Kash Beauchamp, who managed the independent minor-league Bangor Lumberjacks in 2003 and 2004. Beauchamp has been suspended for his antics.
One more tale of flatlander foibles, before I get back to serious news. A Maine State Police trooper was stationed at the Maine Turnpike’s Gardiner toll plaza recently, when he saw a car from Kentucky pull up. The driver was paying scant attention to the road, because she was watching a re-run of “Gilmore Girls” on her laptop.
Stopped by the cop, the woman explained she was sleepy, and the show helped keep her alert. Here’s something even stranger: It’s not clear if watching a laptop while driving is against Maine law. A few years ago, the Legislature banned TV viewing while operating a motor vehicle, but the wording of that statute might not apply to computers.
Posted on Monday, July 14, 2008 in Permalink
Views expressed in this blog are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect either Down East's editorial stance or the views of Down East Enterprise. We ask that comments be civil; anyone who refuses to self edit runs the risk of being banned from commenting on Down East.com content.
Reader Comments:
Interesting numbers on turnpike usage, Media Mutt. It would be good to see if the numbers for Amtrak use over the same period.
Seems as if all of those people who questioned the merit of widening the turnpike and who hoped for more commuter options were not so wrong after all....