Morning Sentinel from Waterville, Maine • 1

1T lV Jrt( iA MHiiw4 i' fw i' i 50 Cents THURSDAY NOVEMBER 6 2003 ounded March 3 1904 A A I A Copyright 2003 Serving Northern Kennebec Waldo Somerset and ranklin county communities ull steam ahead Waterville mayor elect vows to trim spending By AMY CALDER Staff Writer Waterville Mayor elect Paul LePage that are necessary will be funded but going to cut the fat time to go on a make some The general manager for Discount Stores LePage is the first Republican mayor to be elected in Waterville a predominantly Democratic city in more than 20 years He says being a man ager is what he loves most what I do he said not a politi cian I really am a AS a former two term city councilor LePage said he knows all the players in the city During his first term as a councilor he shared his knowl edge of financial accounting and financial agement which he says has been missing from the city in the last few years During his second 4 Council term he urged his peers to curb spending 7 and practice fiscal restraint I was very he said were the highest tax increases had in 7 decades with incredible increases of a mill a City officials must make decisions that are in the best interests of taxpayers LePage said He also said City Hall must have an open door policy 7 is power and in the wrong hands 7 sometimes it can be he said believe if you put all the information on the table you abuse anything out People know People are going to find a very straight forward no non Please see MAYOR A2 WATERVILLE Mayor elect Paul LePage sees the city as no different from the companies in distress he worked with when he was a financial consultant from 1983 to 1996 did turn he said worked with troubled companies Waterville a nonprofit entity but in the same kind of shape as most companies I worked In that vein LePage on Wednesday morning the day after he was elected mayor with 40 per cent of the vote made a phone call to City Ad ministrator Ronald Singe) was the first call I made LePage said asked him to give me a list of all the employ ment contracts labor contracts and job descrip tions He said he can get them to me in a couple of days LePage plans to spend the next two months scru tinizing those doc uments before his inauguration Jan 6 and the begin ning of the budget season to find out what works and what can be im proved he said not going to go in and just start cutting he said want to see if a cohesive system I will certainly jT'' '7 tJ' 7 7 Staff photo JE POULAND Waterville Mayor elect Paul LePage stands outside City Hall on Wednesday afternoon LePage beat Donald Dufourjand Charles Kellenberger In mayoral election 4 4 1 4 1 'fe 'Tk hi 4 1 1 wlw 1 7 7 7 fewi' 1 4 'Hl iBMB Jn 7 7 I IB 7 i if £Si sa die? M7 i '7 77 WKf 777X I 7'7' 77gj 777 success tied to tracks I Staff photo DAVID LEAMING Ron Caouette of Winslow looks over horse racing forms on Wednesday near a wall of monitors at John Martin's off track betting facility In Waterville 'WATERVILLE The results of Tues" state vote for were cold comfort to Peter Martin even though the future of off track wagering facilities such as those at John Manor which Martin owns depends on the survival of harness racing Martin had supported Question 2 which sought to introduce slot machines at two harness racing tracks Question 2 passed with 53 percent of votes TUesday but its celebra tions were muted by the failure of Scarbor ough Downs race track to secure local ap failure to get racino approval may hurt betting parlors By CHUIN WEI YAP provalforthemeasure Staff Writer It was the second time in three years that me issue nau oeen presenieu io Maine vot ers who rejected a similar proposal in 2000 bv a 2 1 margin Tuesday voters approved a $30 million 7 gaming and entertainment complex at Ban Bass Park but turned down slot ma chines at Scarborough Downs by 56 percent to 44 percent 77 of the reasons OTBs supported Question 2 was because having a healthy live harness racing makes sure that the OTBs stay jn Martin said realize that if there live I Please sfe'OTB Ai 7 7 7 at 5 Inside Maine news B5 68 WEATHER Calendar B5 Obituaries B4 Classified DI 47 8 Opinion A7 ComicsD6 SportsC1 8 Crossword C8 Stocks DS Entertainment C8 TV listings C8 Local news B1 7 World news A68 Sunshowers B8 II I III II 7 6' 16198 20050 President Bush signs bill banning late term abortions 7 Bv JENNIER LOVEN Associated Press Writer WasHTNCTON i President Bushsigned into law the most far reaching abortion restrictions in three decades Wednesday an emotionally charged measure al ii ready challenged in three federal 1 courts A federal judge in Nebraska 7 called the law and issued a temporary order blocking it from applying to four abortion rights doctors who filed suit After years of frustration legal setbacks and two presidential ve toes hundreds of anti abortion leaders rose in applause when Bush promised to vigorously de fend the constitutionality of the law known by its supporters as a birth ban 5 years a terrible form of vi olence has been directed against children who are inches from birth while the law looked the other Bush told religious leaders members of Congress and other abortion foes at a sign ing ceremony at the Ronald Rea gan Building at last the American people and our govern ment have confronted the vio lence and come to the defense of the innocent Abortion rights groups said the law was overly broad lacked any exemption for the health of a woman seeking an abortion and could outlaw several safe anff common procedures They also contended it was the first step in a larger campaign to ban all abor tions for the first time since the Supreme 1973 landmark decision legalizing the procedure bill marks a concerted ef fort to set back decades of progress in achieving reproduc tive said Gloria eldt Please see BAN A2 Runoff election debate begins Baldacci legislators want more time to work on a tax plan By SUSAN COVER Staff Writer AUGUSTA The next big tax relief debate when to hold the next election Because neither Question 1A nor Question IB got more than 50 percent of the vote on Tuesday Mainers will have to revisit the tax relief question proposed by the Maine Municipal Associ More election ation coverage on Whether that will be in B1 6 7 ebruary June or Novem or town ber has yet to be decided voting tables Unofficial results with 97 see B6 7 percent of the precincts re or election porting show the MMA plan analysis garnered 38 percent of the see A2 v0 while the competing measure got 35 percent The remaining 27 percent went to 1C a vote for neither plan Gov John Baldacci said Wednesday that he favors placing the question on the November 2004 ballot thought is you want as many people as he said got a new Legisla ture that will be seated It seems to me it goes in synch Question 1A directs the Legislature to fund education at 55 percent which is estimated to cost $246 million in the first year It also tells lawmakers to put a long term plan into place to ease the tax burden and provides incentives for cities towns and schools to work together Question IB proposed to phase in increased school funding over five years until it reaches the 55 percent level It also put into place a new school funding formula capped the amount locals have to contribute to education and put more money into two existing proper ty tax relief programs Please see DEBATE A2 ederal plan could hinder central Maine air travel By LARA JAKES JORDAN Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON Cash strapped rural air ports in 10 states including Maine New Hampshire and Vermont could be forced to ground commercial flights under a little no ticed plan that could be approved by the Sen ate as early as this week opponents say The plan tucked into a massive federal aviation spending bill would require 10 air ports chosen from a pool of 29 airports in 18 states to pay part of a government sub sidy to commuter airlines that fly in and out of rural communities But the airports largely located in rural economically barren areas have the said Rep John Peterson Pa who co chairs the Congressional Rural Caucus and is leading the fight to defeat the airport plan could prevent a rural airport from continuing to have Peterson said forcing the poorest among us to pay And losing rural air service is a mqjor loss to future economic Among the airports listed are those in Au gusta Waterville and Rockland Maine Lebanon NH and Rutland Vt The US Transportation Department pilot program would require airports to pay 10 percent of the federal Essential Air Service subsidy for four years It would only select one airport in each of 10 states and would only apply to small airports located within 100 miles of a larger airline hub The airports and the surrounding com munities that govern them can appeal their selection if they can show they cannot afford the 10 percent copay Both the House and the Senate originally rejected the pilot program but it was quietly added back into an aviation compromise bill that passed the House late last week It is not expected to prompt much opposition or con troversy when the Senate takes up the entire bill which could happen by the end said Senate Majority Leader Bill rist spokesman Nick Smith Please see AIRPORTS A2 ms.