Stories by Staff Aroostook Republican

11 years ago

Caribou native to retire from priesthood

PORTLAND, Maine — Effective June 1, Bishop Robert P. Deeley is announcing the retirement of Fr. Reginald R. Brissette, senior priest at St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Westbrook.
A native of Caribou, Fr. Brissette completed his clerical studies at the Grand Seminary of St. Sulpice in Montreal, earning baccalaureate degrees in philosophy and theology. He was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Daniel J. Feeney at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland in 1963.
From 1963 until 1979, Fr. Brissette served as assistant pastor at St. Joseph Parish, Eastport; Sacred Heart Parish, Auburn; Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish, Presque Isle; and Holy Family Parish, Lewiston.

11 years ago

County residents mark heritage day in Augusta

AUGUSTA, Maine — Senator Peter Edgecomb (R-Aroostook) recently welcomed citizens of Aroostook County to the State House to celebrate Franco-American Day.
Now in its 14th year, Franco-American Day is an annual celebration of the contributions Franco-Americans have made to Maine.
Aroostook County was well represented during the celebration. The day began with Melanie Saucier of Fort Kent singing the American, French, and Canadian national anthems, and Edgecomb leading the Pledge of Allegiance in both French and English in the Maine Senate.

11 years ago

Hypocrisy behind attacks on Sen. Willette

To the editor:
As a college student, I find this getting out of hand. I personally have spoken with people on this topic and they happen to agree. Interestingly enough, we all are Mike’s constituents and we still support him.
I find it hypocritical that people who are angered by Mike’s comments call it “offensive” and state that “This has no place in Maine politics.” These people failed to recall [that] State Sen. Colleen Lachowicz has stated some pretty controversial statements. She stated that she may have to go hunt down Grover Norquist and drown him in her bathtub. In addition, she also commented about Governor Paul LePage; she stated she had worked with kids and she had never known any 11-year-olds that can support themselves except through drug dealing or sex work. I found it odd we never heard any of this when he was the mayor of Waterville.

11 years ago

Playing the race card

In the fall of 1992 a colleague of mine from the English Department wrote a letter to the school newspaper demanding that all faculty undergo racial sensitivity training as a condition for “faculty contract renewal.” When I say “colleague of mine” I mean a weedy little whiner whose real career was not teaching English. His real career was being “black.” He had no following and nobody spoke up in support of his brainwashing proposal. What annoyed me was the fact that none of my faculty colleagues spoke up against a proposal that insulted them personally and professionally.
So I wrote a letter in response announcing that I would rather take a job cleaning chicken coops then comply with any such a demand. This was just the latest in a long string of professional annoyances, so this letter was just the start of a guerrilla war against Afrocentrism, affirmative action and the Ad Hoc Campus Task Force on Diversity. President Flora Mancuso Edwards also came under my fire when she endorsed the idea of a Campus Speech Code.
It pleased me that a half dozen black students approached individually to tell me they didn’t think I was a racist. One older student was a little more cautious, telling me that she didn’t know about racism, but I had always treated her fairly. These conversations revealed that there was a buzz on campus about my racist beliefs. Confirmation came from a former student who mentioned in one of our conversations that he had heard a student point out to me as the “biggest racist on campus.”
This pleased me most of all. I considered it a badge of honor. I still do. A man or woman who is a conservative, or even a moderate Republican, who has not had that epithet hung on him stands accused of timidity or paralyzing guilt.
This brings us to a discussion about left-lurchers “playing the race card.” They are well aware that the Black Vote, if split 50-50 or even close to 50-50, between Republicans and Democrats, they would have to kiss their hopes of a national majority goodbye. They also know that this part of their base generally turns out to vote in lower numbers than white folk, unless they find a way to stimulate fear and resentment.

11 years ago

Ending Alzheimer’s — supporting the search for a cure

Barbara Smith, also known as “B.,” is a well-known restaurateur, author and supermodel who was the first African-American to be featured on the cover of Mademoiselle magazine. In her own words, she now has the “most important job of all,” which is to make a difference in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease. In very moving and emotional testimony, Ms. Smith recently described her struggles with the disease before the Senate Aging Committee, which I chair.

11 years ago

Three queens crowned

    Naomi Cote, daughter of Ryan and Nicole Cote, sang “Over the Rainbow” in a Louis Armstrong style. By Joshua ArcherStaff writer    CARIBOU — In front of family and friends potential queens took the stage at the Caribou Performing Arts Center on March 21 to compete for the title of Teen, Junior, and Pre-Teen Miss […]

11 years ago

Interviewing Doctor Jessica Meir

 

By Riley McNeal
Grade 8,  Caribou Middle School
Caribou Middle School students had a unique  experience on March tenth. We were able  to Skype with Dr. Jessica Meir. Dr. Meir grew up in Caribou, and graduated valedictorian of her class and is now training to be an astronaut. We had a school-wide assembly where Dr. Meir told us about growing up in Caribou and her professional experiences. We were able to ask her questions developed by the students and the jazz band played for her.
To open our assembly, Mr. Caron, our principal, introduced Dr. Meir to the school. She told us all about her career aspirations and the biological research that she has been involved in. I then had the honor to go the podium and welcome Dr. Meir and thanked her for giving us this great experience. After my introduction, I asked the first question, “When was it that you realized that you were going to be able to go up in space, and how did that feel?”

11 years ago

‘Maine, the Way Life Should Be’

By Trinity St. Pierre
& Alicia Moore
Grade 7 and 6, Caswell
Maine is a great place to visit if you like or would like to try any outdoor activities. It is also a beautiful place to go sightseeing. A few outdoor sports Maine can offer are kayaking, hiking, and fishing. These sports are a good way to have fun during the warmer months. Unfortunately you can’t do these in the winter time, but luckily there’s places to go then. Places like Caribou rec provide skiing lessons, and there is also places to go snow tubing for example, Windham.

11 years ago

Ms. Hathaway, The Best Teacher

By Alec Comeau
& Danny Berentes
Caswell
Danny and I chose this topic because she is very awesome, nice and old. She lets us play on our laptops after school or if it is a fun day. One fun day my friends and I came to her room and played games together online. The way you can find the truth is if you look on your history and she knows how to check the history.
She talks to us about our problems and helps us get through them.

11 years ago

Bonny, Conny and Donny

By John Parisi
Grade 3, Connor
Once upon a time in a faraway land there were three bunnies. Their names were Bonny, Conny and Donny. They were little kids and they play together, at least Conny and Bonny do. Donny doesn’t play with his brothers and he doesn’t like his brothers. As they grow into teenagers, Donny still bullied Bonny and Conny. Sixteen years later, Donny’s car broke down and at the time, Conny and Bonny were working as mechanics.