After a week's worth of news, a wealth of questions

Would it be dead in the water?

Milton Selectmen Chair Tom Gray has pledged to put a New Bridge Road bridge funding appropriation on next year’s ballot.

Under the current formula Milton must pay 10 percent of the total cost to replace the span that was removed last fall.

A transportation bond agreement has been reached in Augusta heartening hopes Maine will have more in the transportation coffers for projects like replacing the bridge that used to connect Lebanon and Milton.

But the elephant in the room no one wants to talk about, the question no one wants to ask is, “What if Milton voters reject town funding of the span?”

With Milton Fire and Rescue bound to try again to fund a $2.7 million fire station and town government’s operating budget being soundly rejected last year, will town voters be ready to stomach another major project that will ultimately cost taxpayers some $140,000?.

A dangerous road to go down

Route 202 in Lebanon is the scene of a large percentage of area car crashes. This weekend the Portland Press Herald reported that the state Department of Transportation said it is on the borderline of an official “dangerous road” classification, stating that since 2007 the area between Creamery Hill Road and Upper Middle Road in East Lebanon has been the site of two to three crashes a year.

Any more than three crashes a year puts it over the top, the DOT spokesman said.

The Lebanon Voice, which brought this concern to selectmen several months ago, hopes the town will take a more proactive approach to find ways to mitigate the dangers.

The Lebanon Voice suggested a “headlights on at all times” option, but it could also be a blinking yellow light at Trains Quickstop, scene of Thursday’s accident that injured seven as well as last July’s multi-car crash that killed 102-year-old Lebanon native Walter Rand.

If the two motorcyclists involved in Thursday’s crash hadn’t been wearing helmets, it could have been much worse.

Other dangerous intersections along Route 202 include at Center and Long Swamp roads where the electronic sign does more harm than good and at River Road across from Salmon Falls Café.

Will they see common ground on clean air?

On Tuesday Rochester Mayor T.J. Jean will discuss the possibility of making Rochester Common smoke-free

Rochester Common has long been a favorite spot for families, softball players, joggers and walkers.

It seems only fitting that with such a history the area should be smoke free.

So sad

Does anyone’s heart not break at the sadness and despair beloved Sox broadcaster Jerry Remy must feel after his son was charged with the murder of his girlfriend? 

Freedom fighters or terrorists?

Watching events unfold this week in Egypt, does anyone have any doubt that the Arab Spring is Democracy’s fall? That much of it is fueled – financially, fanatically and logistically - by Al Qaida and the Taliban?

And this gives one paws

By now you may or may not have seen the absurd new trend in the Big Apple, which has certainly gone to the dogs with this latest madness: doggie handbags.

No, they’re not handbags festooned with pooch pictures. They’re handbags festooned with real pooches.

Animal rights activists are decrying this latest rage, saying it deprives dogs of exercise, socialization outlets and reduces them to ornamental value to the detriment of their physical and mental well being.

We say any city that won’t let you buy a Giant Slurpee but lets dogs be worn as fashion accessories has lost its moral compass. We say to New Yorkers: Put a leash on it.