Editorial
Signs of spring?

The melting snow from the early part of this week may be the sign we are all hoping for (or at least many of us). The tulips, the robins and other harbingers of spring may still be buried under (or deterred by) the foot or two of snow covering most of the unpaved ground. But this weekend - the earliest point since the creation of Daylights Savings Time - we will be changing our clocks to spring ahead an hour.

Daylight Savings Time starts at 2 a.m. Sunday, making it 3 a.m. on Sunday in a matter of seconds. With this sign of spring there is also the ability to watch the World Champion Red Sox play their season's exhibition games and a chance to get outside and experience non-freezing temperatures.

In a year of presidential politics, the annual appearance of the town elections may have taken a back seat in many minds. But this should not be the case.

There are just more than 50 days until the annual town elections in both Ashburnham and Westminster, and just fewer than 60 days until the annual town meetings.

The Westminster Town Clerk's Office is processing the growing number of voter registration slips since the first of the year, and Ashburnham has 100 new voters since last year's election.

These new voters should use the next few months to spend some time talking with their town officials and other people involved in the town to learn about the issues.

Voters in Ashburnham will have to decide who they want leading the town as a member of the Board of Selectmen for the next three years, as Mark Carlisle and Margaret Whitney face off.

There are rumors of a contested race as three candidates may run for two Westminster seats on the Ashburnham- Westminster Regional School Committee.

The Department of Public Works in both towns are proposing large-scale road repair programs at the upcoming town meetings, which will each require a ballot vote. And the average driver traveling down most of these roads is well aware of the need for new pavement. The question now is, do voters support the plans?

Let us hope spring has sprung along with local politics.