Guessing the State of the State

Today I received this message from a reporter:


Representative Berry,

I'm writing an article today to preview this week's State of the State address.

What do you think the Governor has to accomplish Thursday? That do you think he'll talk about? What tone do you expect him to strike? What does his lame-duck status mean in terms of the speech?

I'd be very interested in your thoughts.



I have not talked to the Governor or his staff about the speech, and have no crystal ball, so this was strictly guesswork. My specialty. Here's my best guess.


I'd look for the Governor's remarks to focus on recovering from the recession, and making ourselves stronger in the long run by harnessing Maine ingenuity and resourcefulness. I hope he will remind the federal government of the need to preserve state and local services like schools, and remind us all that we are bound to assist those in need and to give every kid a chance to succeed.

I would hope that as a legacy speech -- his last State of the State -- this one will also put his eight years into historic perspective. By that I mean deeper historic perspective. Maine started as arguably the poorest colony, and the most war-torn over the first hundred years if not more. We have had a long, slow but continuing climb, sometimes in fits and starts, from that rocky beginning. We have had many waves of immigration, including the Governor's own Lebanese and Italian ancestors. How has our history shaped us as a people? What are our unique strengths the Governor feels we should build on? How must we redefine our relationships with government, prenatal-to-adult education, transportation, the energy grid, and so on to prosper more in the future?

I'm sure we'll hear about budget austerity, shared sacrifice in tough times, and preparation for a strong recovery. We'll certainly be reminded of our great energy opportunity, both with renewables and efficiency. My guess is we'll hear less about health care or protecting the environment, though I think these may in fact be some of this Governor's greatest legacies.

We'll find out at 7 pm Thursday how far from the mark I was!

Seth

Rep. McCabe helps to celebrate state parks

Proclamation recognizes 75^th anniversary of state parks

AUGUSTA - State Rep. Jeff McCabe, D-Skowhegan, joined Governor John Baldacci and Elizabeth Townsend, Acting Commissioner of the Department of Conservation, as the Governor proclaimed 2010 as Maine State Parks Year on Jan 14.

McCabe, a member of the Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee, congratulated the Governor and Townsend on thedepartment’s hard work and for the creation of the “Take it Outside” program, the first-time camper program and for being a leader in the Maine “Stay—cation.” “Take it Outside” is an initiative led by Gov. Baldacci to encourage Maine's children and families to reconnect with nature.

“We have 48 state parks and historic sites,” said McCabe. “We have created a park system where our families can enjoy a high level of service at each park – clean bathhouses, nice group shelters, and excellent camping sites at wonderful locations, all at a very reasonable cost. Our state parks are open, accessible and offer experiences to people of all abilities.”

McCabe currently serves as director of Lake George Regional Park, a 320-acre park which is located in the towns of Skowhegan and Canaan. Lake George Regional Park is a day-use park owned by the State of Maine and leased by the towns of Skowhegan and Canaan. The park offers swimming, fishing, picnicking, a public boat launch, a multiuse trail system, playing fields and group use facilities.

“I am very proud to be a member of the Maine Legislature, a group of lawmakers who, 75 years ago, looked into the future and saw that the people of Maine needed our state parks and acted to create them,” said McCabe. “I hope for my children and their children they will be here for at least another 75 years.”

For more information about Maine’s State Parks, visit the Department of Conservation’s Web site at http://www.maine.gov/doc/parks/index.html.

Source: www.housedemocrats.maine.gov

Rep. Cornell du Houx garners support from fellow legislators for clean energy jobs legislation in U.S. Senate

AUGUSTA – State Rep. Alex Cornell du Houx is asking all his fellow state legislators to join a nationwide effort calling for energy action now in the U.S. Senate. Cornell du Houx and over 100 Maine legislators signed a letter joining more than 1,000 state legislators from across the country calling on the U.S. Senate this week for action on clean energy jobs legislation.

The Coalition of Legislators for Energy Action Now (CLEAN) is working with the White House to support pending federal climate change legislation that will bring jobs and economic opportunity to Maine. The state legislators in Maine have called on the support of U.S. Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins in particular.

“The Maine Legislature passed legislation last year with the same goals as this federal legislation,” said Cornell du Houx. “The people of Maine are already experiencing job creation and the benefit of having more homes weatherized and thus lower energy costs due to our commitment to weatherize every house in the state. This federal legislation is necessary to help Maine and other states have the resources to create even more jobs and the types of energy assistance that will make the U.S. energy independent and secure.”

A letter signed by more than 1,000 legislators from states in every corner of the country will be sent to Congress and President Obama next week. Lawmakers from coal states, representing urban and rural economies, from the East Coast, the West Coast, and the plains states, raised one collective voice this week urging swift, decisive action from the United States Senate. Lawmakers say action is necessary for the future of America and the recovery of our economy.

“I am incredibly impressed, although not surprised, that Maine legislators have already signed on in large numbers. Maine has more signatories than any other state,” said Cornell du Houx. “Sens. Snowe and Collins can be comfortable knowing that the people of Maine will stand solidly behind them if they vote in favor of this common sense legislation.”

The letter calls on the foresight and innovative spirit of America’s top policymakers, reading: “The United States has never backed down from a challenge on this scale, and we urge you to again place our country at the forefront of innovation and prosperity. We, the undersigned state legislators, call on you to enact comprehensive clean energy jobs and climate legislation that relies on continued close collaboration between state and federal governments. We pledge our support in pursuit of a more prosperous, more secure, and more energy independent America.”

“This legislation is vital for both our economic and national security. We send over $1 billion a day in oil costs to foreign states that do not have our interests in mind,” said Cornell du Houx. “This is hard-earned American money that should be invested in our own communities.”

Cornell du Houx also announced a legislative resolution is being drafted in the state Legislature. The resolution calls on the full Legislature to support federal clean energy jobs legislation in order to bring new jobs to Maine, and make the United States a more competitive clean energy economy.

A Great Gift for Someone Special -- Thank a Teacher!

As a teacher for over 20 years, probably the best gift I could receive from anyone is a "thank you" like the message below I received the other day from a former student.

When I taught her, she was an inner-city, teenage single parent. Today, she is a Brown graduate pursuing a Masters Degree at the same university.

It is students like her who occasionally look me up, and let me know what they're up to, that makes my last two decades of work so satisfying. Here is what she wrote:

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Hi Seth, I know this is random but I was thinking about people who helped to motivate me and were positive influences in my life and I thought of Seth Berry. I was wondering if you had taught a summer at Brown's summer High School back in 1991? I still have the materials from my experience in my Literature of Hope summer course, and it still feels like just yesterday.

At the time I was a single teenage parent and returned to high school briefly hoping to graduate and pursue my dream of going to Brown University. Unfortunately my life became very difficult and I dropped out and recieved my GED, but went back to Brown to work at the Vdub and Ratty cafeterias, where my brother also worked and my father was a janitor for many years.

I fell in and out of formal education for many years but always remembered my summer at Brown and the encouraging words I had received from my summer teacher. More than 15 years later, now a single mother of four I finished my associates degree from the Community College of RI and found out about the Resumed Undergrad Program at Brown. I wrote my admissions application about the first time I thought about attending Brown during my summer experience in my Literature of Hope course.

Four years ago I was accepted into Brown and my dream from many years ago had finally come true, and you had come immediately to mind. I had searched your name several years ago in the Brown database but was not successful. Now that I am working on my Master's at Brown in Urban Education Policy, you had come to mind again and I wanted to thank you for my experience that summer and making it seem possible for a first generation college student, single mother, and high school dropout, has the ability to make it to an Ivy league institution.

I believe every personal contact one makes has a profound influence on one's life, and I wanted you to know that you have had an impact and played a major role in the continuence and successful completion of my undergrad education at Brown, and now while working on my Master's degree. I still wonder what my summer instructor is doing and where he is now. Hopefully this is the same"Seth Berry" (at the time longer hair, sandals, etc.)? If not, know there is someone with your name and went to Brown (huge coincidence :) ), that had a positive impact on one's future educational goals. This e-mail is very impromptu so I apologize for informal writing but I just needed to let you know the significant role you had played in my life almost 20 years ago and still today.

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Like this young woman, most teachers overcome significant challenges in their profession. Studies show that but for air traffic controllers, teachers make more decisions per hour than any other profession. They are paid less than their equally educated counterparts in other professions, tend far more often to be female (particularly in the all-important early grades), and generally work as many hours outside the classroom as they do in it. What makes all this worthwhile is not the pay, but knowing we shape young lives.

While it doesn't diminish the gift my former student gave me, I suspect her earliest teachers -- her parent or parents, other early caregivers, her early elementary school teachers -- were those who truly gave her the capacity to learn and to overcome the odds as she did.

Today, the odds are similarly stacked against the 1 in 5 Maine children who live in poverty. And before they are in school, many will be irreversibly and expensively lacking in what it takes to overcome those odds.

One of my favorite jobs right now is serving as a member of the Maine Children's Growth Council, as well as the midcoast area's Success by Six Advisory Council. In this role I am privileged to work with providers, business leaders, academics and others determined to help move Maine forward in its early childhood investments. Children from prenatal to age five, far more than the 9-18 year olds I have taught, are Maine's greatest opportunity for long-term economic growth. Their future success is the greatest gift we could give -- both to ourselves and to the next generation.

This is not feel-good econometrics. Neurologists now tell us that the brain's capacities to learn, love, and overcome adversity are 85% established by age 3. Nobel Laureate James Heckman has shown that within two decades, each dollar spent on proven early childhood strategies avoids sixteen or seventeen dollars spent later on for special education, remediation, mental health, crime prevention, and lost productivity. Students like my own formerly teenage single mother, now a Brown graduate student in education herself, are the proof in the Christmas pudding.

While you're doing those holiday cards, write a quick note of thanks to a long-ago teacher of yours. It may be the best gift you give this holiday season!

All the best in 2010,

Seth

Parks, Historic Sites See Attendance Increase To Date

Great news from the Maine Department of Conservation! What can Maine do to continue this trend?

Best regards,

Seth

AUGUSTA, Maine – Maine residents and visitors took to Maine’s state parks and historic sites with a passion this past season, according to year-to-date figures released by the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands (BPL).

Sixty days of rain this summer failed to dampen enthusiasm for day use and overnight camping at the state’s 47 parks and historic sites. Attendance to date has increased by an unexpected 6.7 percent over last year’s attendance figures.

Day-use at the state parks and historic sites has increased by a significant 7.4 percent, or 138,745 more visitors, through October over last year. Despite the bad weather, overnight camping stays at the 12 state parks that have campgrounds to date have increased by 1 percent, or about 2,000 more visits, over last year’s figures.

“This is excellent news; it confirms our belief that people love our state parks and historic sites and are returning again and again to their own special places,” said Commissioner Patrick K. McGowan of the Maine Department of Conservation, which oversees the BPL. “Such visits enhance personal enjoyment and well-being, create wonderful family memories and support our tourist and retail economy.”

“We are really happy with the way Mainers and our visitors continue to use our state parks and historic sites, especially when the weather is good!” Will Harris, Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands director, said. “We hope that they continue to make this a life-long habit of coming to our parks and enjoying them.”

Final year-end figures for camping, day-use and combined use will be available in January.

BPL counts show that through October, there were 2,022,070 visits to the Maine state parks and historic sites, making it the second highest attendance in the last five years. The year 2007 had the highest attendance so far in this century, with a year-end total of 2.3 million visits.

Camping figures this year show that some 221,536 overnights took place at the 12 state campgrounds, 1 percent more than last year’s to-date figure of 219,417.

The season started in April with very strong park attendance and high sales of park passes, but the subsequent rainy weather kept visitors away. Attendance through late July, August and into the fall months, however, picked up considerably when weather improved. In fact, all state park reservable campsites were completely filled for several weekends in row in August.

“People really came out at the end of the season, which shows there’s a strong desire to use our parks and historic sites,” Harris said.

The BPL director said he thought there were several reasons for the increased visits to the state parks and historic sites. He said many Maine residents are recognizing the value and importance of outdoor recreation through such initiatives as Gov. John E. Baldacci’s “Take It Outside.”

“People seem to be taking that to heart, and kids and parents are recreating outdoors, which is really what Maine is all about,” Harris said.

Visitors also seem to appreciate all the new facilities at the state parks, constructed with funding from the November 2007 bond referendum, which was overwhelmingly approved by voters. Six new playgrounds, new bathhouses, toilets, wheelchair-accessible camp sites and other facilities have been built with $7.5 million from the bond issue.

“We’ve heard anecdotally how much they are appreciated,” Harris said. “The new facilities have really helped to get people to the parks.”

The U.S. economy and the “stay-cation” concept also have played a part in attendance figures, the director said. People realize that state parks “still are a great value for Mainers for their recreation dollars,” Harris said. He noted that many people are using season passes, which offer season visits at reduced prices.

The BPL director pointed out that Maine’s state parks and historic sites also offer clean and safe facilities. “Even with a Spartan budget, our staff has maintained our parks in extraordinary order, which adds to their attractiveness,” he said.

The Maine state parks and historic sites offer a large variety of activities, from ocean-beach swimming to mountain biking to ATV-ing, as well as living history events and special performances. Ten of the parks are staffed year-round, and several of them will be offering family activities this winter. Visitors also have access to the parks, such as Range Pond and Wolfe’s Neck, during the off-season for walk-in use, Harris said.

“What we’re offering is something people seem to look for and what they want,” the BPL director said, “And we’ll continue to give them that in the upcoming season.”

For more information, go to: http://www.parksandlands.com