This month, a former Maine Medical Association president permanently gave up his drug prescribing privileges and another doctor received conditional reinstatement two years after a sexual misconduct charge was leveled at him. Both agreements, between the doctors and Maine Board of Licensure in Medicine, became… Read More
The three legs of Maine’s higher-education tripod have asked Gov. Angus King for increases in their baseline state funding ranging from 3.5 percent to 9 percent for each of the next two academic years. According to higher-education officials, however, King has told them he will… Read More
For Patti Pinkham of Seal Harbor, the body’s miraculous ability to heal itself is bittersweet. Pinkham and her husband, Larry Albee, have two daughters. Nine-year-old Sarah hobbles around their cozy wooden home with a walking cast and crutches, cheerfully nursing the final stages of a broken leg. Read More
BAR HARBOR – The key to treating fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva may be swimming around in the chilly Atlantic Ocean just outside Emma Albee’s back door. In 1993, scientists at the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory discovered a natural antibiotic that may be the anxiously awaited… Read More
BANGOR – Telford Aviation Services Inc. and Bangor International Airport on Friday afternoon announced a $36 million expansion at the company’s Bangor facility. The company estimated that 10 jobs would be added to its existing work force of 75. The project is part of Telford’s… Read More
PORTLAND – The company that used to own the Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram is being sued by two of the newspaper’s former employees. Lou Ureneck, a former executive editor at the paper, and Robert Rowell, a former vice president of operations, are… Read More
TOGUS – Physicians and dentists at the Veterans Administration Medical Center are joining the local union. “I never thought in all my years at the VA that I’d ever see physicians joining a union,” said nurse Helen Hanlon, president of the American Federation of Government… Read More
BANGOR – Filing a request for a stay of the new, higher electric rates proposed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Bangor Hydro-Electric Co. has asked the congressional delegation to help the state plead its case. Trying to encourage new power plant construction, FERC on… Read More
AUGUSTA – Maine consumers of home heating oil may be getting a little relief. The average statewide price for No. 2 oil dropped three cents per gallon this week, according to the State Planning Office. The average now stands at $1.49, 45 cents higher than… Read More
The Bangor Daily News’ front page on Dec. 26 featured a good article by Lauren Neergaard of The Associated Press about the strategy for pain being updated. I have read a lot in recent years by doctors, nurses and clinicians about pain and the management thereof. May I… Read More
Thank you very much for the editorial on Dec. 26 about quality of life in Bangor. We need to be on guard to protect our good things – nature, history, good waterfront, etc. Gwendolyn Shepard googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var… Read More
I am rather puzzled by Maine Public Broadcasting vice president Rus Peotter’s assertion that, “… we [MPB] have been asking for years that the Met allow us to offer the opera at another time.” (BDN, Dec. 8). Surely, a person in Peotter’s corporate position would know that, in… Read More
Hurray to Jym St. Pierre of RESTORE. We need to act soon to create a national park to save a part of Maine from over-development. The park would be a wonderful gift to present and future generations; a way to guarantee free access to the land forever. Read More
Your paper should not be printing reporters’ opinions on subjects. I have read countless articles and have ended up reading someone else’s opinion on the subject. A newspaper is supposed to print the news not editorialize. The news should be presented from a nonbiased viewpoint. Read More
Newly imposed federal charges against Maine electric utilities could cost consumers approximately $22 million monthly and achieve exactly nothing, according to the Maine Public Utilities Commission. The commission, along with Central Maine Power, Maine’s public advocate and the trade organization, the Industrial Energy Consumers Group, has asked federal… Read More
Maine, and the nation as a whole, is in a serious health-care crisis. Before long, if circumstances continue as they are, health care will bankrupt our nation. Let me explain. When my oldest brother was born in Fort Kent in 1962, my mother distinctly… Read More
Many people mistakenly think that Wal-Mart’s plan to build a superbox on Stillwater Avenue would bring economic opportunities to Bangor, and that conserving the Penjajawoc Marsh and its buffer zones would have a negative impact on the local economy. It’s a natural and understandable thought,… Read More
It’s not difficult to determine the work force pecking order in these final days of the year, this National Goof-Off Week between Christmas and New Year’s Day when absolutely nothing of any consequence gets accomplished in support of the gross domestic product. If you had… Read More
With the chance that Maine seventh- and eighth-graders will get portable computers they can use beyond the range of teacher or parent supervision, a rookie Republican state lawmaker has submitted legislation to force all school and library Internet connections to block access to pornographic sites and materials. Read More
WISCASSET – A man accused of gunning down seven colleagues at a software company near Boston worked for six years at the Maine Yankee nuclear power plant, and former co-workers were shocked to hear about the killing spree. Michael McDermott was a U.S. Navy veteran… Read More
WASHINGTON – Arizona, Texas, Florida and Georgia each gained two House seats and the Northeast and Midwest emerged as big losers as the government Thursday disclosed the first figures from this year’s census, which will be used to reassign the 435 House seats among the states. Read More
WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Clinton signed a bill into law Thursday introduced by Sen. Susan Collins to stem the availability of false identification obtained from the Internet. Collins, chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, conducted an investigation earlier this year that revealed the widespread availability on the… Read More
PORTLAND – A federal judge is giving BroadcastAmerica.com until next week to agree to a sale to an Alabama company or face possible liquidation. The company hopes to have a “firm offer” from Bowman Investments by Tuesday and a binding sales agreement by Thursday, Roger… Read More
PORTLAND – Workers at a poultry-packing plant have filed a lawsuit in federal court accusing the locally owned company of making them perform tasks for which they are not paid. The suit in U.S. District Court claims Barber Foods violated the Fair Labor Standards Act. Read More
We are working hard to pay off our credit cards so we can retire in two or three years. We are slowly but surely paying them off to be free of them. Our biggest gripe is the interest rate. On our MBNA bill this month… Read More
The success of “green” certification will depend on whether the public accepts certification programs as credible indicators of good forest management. It’s all about credibility. That’s why the Dec. 16-17 commentary by Catherine Johnson of the Natural Resources Council of Maine is so troubling. Once… Read More
Bravo to Congressman John Baldacci and his ironclad opposition to a Maine Woods National Park. As an article (BDN, Dec. 23) aptly noted, the National Park Service is having a hard time keeping up with its current obligations ($4 billion backlog of necessary improvements to existing parks). Read More
Barring the sort of miracle that seems to be the Holy Land’s past but not its present, Bill Clinton soon will join the club of former American presidents who tried and failed to advance peace in the Middle East. No president has tried harder or risked failure at… Read More
A potentially growing federal surplus would give President-elect George Bush room to enact the 10-year, $1.3 trillion tax cut on which he campaigned, especially if he is willing to put off plans for the partial privatization of Social Security. But how he passes such a tax cut –… Read More
Mainers who can’t stand to be alone with their own thoughts during the long winter now have plenty of talk talk talk and pop “culture” to distract them on Maine Public Radio. Its mission, according to MPR’s vice president Rus Peotter, seems to have changed and is no… Read More
Yes, I think we will rally around George Bush just as the Republicans did around Bill Clinton for eight years. Elizabeth Hull googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i… Read More
The Republicans seem to be pitching a shutout in the Electoral College, history-wise. It’s ironic that the first Electoral College decision involved a son of a former president. John Quincy Adams, in 1824, lost the popular vote to Andrew Jackson. (There was no Democratic or Republican Party per… Read More
In reply to George McCann’s letter (BDN, Dec. 22) concerning Tom Sawyer and Jane Saxl; Sawyer has an excellent record in the business field. He is a dedicated worker and before his retirement, his employees were treated with respect and kindness. The citizens knew him for his great… Read More
Since when did the expectations of guides and outfitters paying customers become the criteria by which the Allagash Wilderness Waterway should be run? (See Ashley Lodato’s opinion piece of Dec. 25.) The Allagash Wilderness Waterway is not an economic commodity like a loaf of bread… Read More
ORRINGTON – A group opposing the shipment of mercury from the United States to India announced Wednesday that citizen groups in that country along with American environmental organizations are protesting HoltraChem Manufacturing Co.’s sale of the toxic metal. Forty tons of mercury from the closed… Read More
The day after U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Donna E. Shalala aborted a new law that was supposed to allow broad re-importation of U.S. manufactured drugs from Canada, one Maine health care organization vowed to plow ahead with its own re-importation plan. Eastern Maine… Read More
As a result of an editing error, a story about the retirement of Washington County Building Supervisor Norris Manchester made it appear that Manchester accidentally locked a Superior Court justice in the restroom at the county courthouse in 1993. The justice was locked in the restroom when a… Read More
I would like to express my concerns regarding the power outage this past week. Again many of the citizens of Addison are not happy with the response from Bangor Hydro to restore service. More than half the town remained in the dark longer than most other areas. Some… Read More
Have you noticed that all your mail is stamped “Happy Wholiday”? I went to the post office and said, “If you don’t know who it is – it’s Jesus.” Then the lady said, “The who stands for the Grinch that Stole Christmas.” It’s sad when… Read More
Please, Uncle Sam, don’t give me a raise in my Social Security as every year I go behind instead of ahead as my insurances go up more than I get; the same goes for my husband. Maybe if I don’t get a raise my insurances won’t go up. Read More
I’ve no interest in Somes Sound, and don’t know any of the people involved in the latest size-matters dock fracas. However, I do detect a few logical lapses in your Dec. 20 editorial, “Pier without peer.” One of the Bangor Daily News’ greatest reporters, the… Read More
Carol Tiffin James of Ellsworth is definitely not alone in her concern for the deterioration of grammar and spelling. There are still many of us who avidly collect James J. Kilpatrick’s columns on language (which, unfortunately don’t yet run in this newspaper), still see the relevance of spelling… Read More
I am writing in reference to “Glaring media errors” (BDN, Dec. 23-24). No, Carol Tiffin James, your husband is most assuredly not right. Like you, I am appalled at the sloppiness that has crept into the media and into business correspondence. Today’s message appears to… Read More
Every year around this time, Mother Nature plays a cruel trick on unsuspecting fishermen, snowmobilers and other recreationalists who misjudge the thickness of the ice on Maine’s lakes and ponds, strike out, often alone, and plunge into water cold enough to cause hypothermia in minutes. Read More
Americans are an accepting people. No better proof of that comes in the aftermath of the presidential election. An election too close to call was called, there was unprecedented court intervention in the political process, the winner in the Electoral College is not the winner of the popular… Read More
On Dec. 21, the Bangor Daily News reported the death of a young woman in Orono. The reporter quoted a representative of the Maine State Police: “Whether it was a suicide or an accident, we have no answer for that, and we probably never will.” However, later in… Read More
I’d like to congratulate the city of Ellsworth. Of all the cities and towns in Maine that are grappling with the problems caused by growth, Ellsworth seems to be the only one addressing what causes it – people (population). Of all the recent articles in the papers about… Read More
SURRY – Friends and neighbors said Tuesday they were shocked that former Hancock County Commissioner Vern Crockett – a licensed Maine Guide, educator and conservation activist – was the man who died Christmas Day when his snowmobile broke through ice on Lower Patten Pond. Divers… Read More
AUGUSTA – Maine’s unemployment rate appears to be headed for a historic low in 2000 following a record monthly low in November, a state Labor Department official said Tuesday. Maine’s unemployment rate dropped to 2.5 percent in November, the lowest seasonally adjusted rate on record… Read More
George W. Bush’s nomination of John Ashcroft for attorney general probably will be confirmed, despite the controversy it has triggered and despite the knife-edge party division of the Senate. Presidents usually get their way with Cabinet appointments. The Senate usually respects the decision of a… Read More
For 13 years I have shared my home, life and many of my activities with a cherished dog. The idea of someone purposefully causing this loving companion pain or harm is inconceivable. The young people involved in the shooting of two horses, and those involved with torturing a… Read More
I would like to register my dissatisfaction regarding the current plans to locate a methadone clinic in Bangor. Our law enforcement authorities are correct when they state that the locating of this type of facility in our community will increase crime. The clinic has the potential for dramatically… Read More
I loved your Dec. 20 editorial, “Pier without peer,” which viewed the “rich fighting the rich” over rights in Somes Sound as one would a sporting event. It did not go far enough, however, in its analogy that “a big house or a big pier shows, among other… Read More
Here we are at year’s end, and riding out the storm of stock trades that have seen fortunes melted like snow on a poorly insulated roof. Many are wondering where all that wealth they built last year has gone. Priceline.com has lost William Shatner and… Read More
It is all my fault. Having been out of state for three weeks, I was unaware that my failure to return the member opinion form caused Maine Public Radio to cancel the Metropolitan Opera, “Pipedreams” and afternoon classical music. I would like to have my vote counted. Read More
I read the Dec. 23-24 letter by Carol Tiffin James, who is frustrated by grammatical and spelling mistakes in the media. She is not alone; I agree with her 100 percent. I complain to whoever is present each time I see these mistakes. What a… Read More
CALAIS – One night this fall, having reached the easternmost tip of the United States, an elderly stranger stepped off a bus and walked down Main Street. If Chester A. Doudey remembered Calais, it was only dimly, after a 20-year absence. His matinee-idol hair was… Read More
LISBON – No vacations. No days off. Early mornings. Backbreaking labor. Huge expenses. No pay. It’s a way of life for Janet Tuttle, who runs a shelter largely at her own expense for abused, neglected and unwanted horses. Old, blind, lame, unruly, sick, arthritic, she… Read More
HAMPDEN – A Christmas Day eclipse that came and went with little fanfare found University of Maine Planetarium director Alan Davenport jazzed up all the same. “You rarely get one object passing in front of another,” said Davenport as he sat at his kitchen table… Read More
When Congress mandated the nationwide conversion to digital television back in 1996, it was supposed to work something like this: The new standard would provide the public choices in free over-the-air broadcasts to rival cable and satellite; consumers would be so enamored of the lifelike pictures and sound… Read More
Now that a Wal-Mart developer has decided to withdraw, at least temporarily, its plans in Bangor for a Supercenter, the city has a chance to address the concerns from a large and growing number of residents about this and similar developments. A place to start is with the… Read More
I write to respond to Dr. Paul Romanelli’s comment during a public hearing at the Dec. 11 Houlton Town Council regarding $65,000 for the legal services needed for the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians’ litigation. Referring to the band’s efforts to establish a community on tribal lands, Dr. Read More
I found Jay Goldstein’s missive of Dec. 18, which attempts to defend the Jewish state and its record of human rights abuses, to be intriguing. His claim of ownership of Palestine based upon prior occupancy some 2,000 years ago is remarkably disingenuous. If this unique interpretation of real… Read More
After reading the letters to the Bangor Daily News’ editorial section on Dec. 20, it’s obvious the mainstream media are effectively getting out misinformation. Two of your readers were appalled at the outcome of the recent presidential election and couldn’t help but try and make the case for… Read More
If the Legislature is at all troubled by the Maine brain drain, the departure of 44 percent of college-bound high school graduates to institutions outside Maine, it might consider funding its own university at more than a make-do, do-without level. Elaine Ford googletag.cmd.push(function () { //… Read More
I applaud C. Robert Gridley’s letter (BDN, Dec. 20) apologizing for the years he worked to help collect pledges for Maine Public Radio, which has shamelessly betrayed its mission. The ultimate betrayal occurred the evening of Dec. 19, when, in the midst of the magnificent… Read More
It’s not usually considered good form for a director of a theatrical production to respond to the local theater critic’s review. The old adage, “It doesn’t matter what they say, as long as they spell your name correctly!” is the policy that I usually follow. Read More
Dear Santa, First, many thanks for the four- barrel potato gun – in my work I can use all the fire power I can get. What I really wanted to tell you, however, is what Maine needs for Christmas next year, that being health insurance… Read More
CHARLESTON – Some women at the Charleston Correctional Facility are devoting their talent and time while incarcerated to making a difference in the lives of some needy children. Several of the approximately 25 women inmates at the minimum security facility have created an assortment of… Read More
With only a week to go, Maine is on track to see a record low number of homicides for 2000, barring an unusual surge over the next few days. So far, the state has recorded 11 homicides, which is less than half the average of… Read More
MANCHESTER, N.H. – The fire that killed a firefighter and a teen-ager apparently was caused by an overloaded extension cord, the state fire marshal’s office said Sunday. The cord, loaded with appliances, was on the second floor of the building. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define… Read More
Every year thousands of Maine people discover that elderly parents or relatives have fallen prey to con games targeting seniors by mail or phone. The financial loss to Maine seniors is often catastrophic, wiping out lifetimes of savings, leaving the family inheritance in the hands of crooks. Read More
Since I was not afforded an opportunity to make my case in Jeff Tuttle’s article last Wednesday while celebrating my mother’s 80th birthday in Daytona (Winona says thanks to all her friends and well-wishers back in Bangor), please allow me that opportunity here. One question, in particular, was… Read More
Regarding our state university system, it’s common to speak of “The University of Maine” as referring to any of the campuses in general, when, in fact, it is the name of only the Orono campus. I bring this up in reference to last Tuesday’s article… Read More
I, too, decry the withdrawal of the Metropolitan Opera broadcast on Saturday afternoon. We in Maine are so accustomed to it that it has become a tradition. You just do not throw away tradition on a whim, plus it is the only weekly cultural activity of high standard… Read More
Our presidents appoint our Supreme Court judges. Our Supreme Court judges just appointed our president of the United States. Kind of cozy, right? I always thought that in any game, event, contest or race, the one with the most score, points or votes would be… Read More
It is nearing the end of the second millennium of the Christian era. The Roman legions once garrisoned in Palestine long ago returned to dust. But the passing of scores of generations of common men and of hundreds of kings and tyrants and presidents has… Read More
We have men and women who do not have the courage to express their Judeo-Christian values. There is an addiction in this country to sexual movies, books, magazines and pornography on the Internet. Go into any mom-and-pop store or department store, and at the checkout you will see… Read More
Thank you for the great article, “Programs help ease negative impact of divorce on children,” by Ruth Ellen-Cohen (BDN, Dec. 16-17). I, too, attended a program called “We still love our children,” offered by Washington Hancock Community Agency in December 1996. It helped me to understand the many… Read More
In the late 1980s, I began working as an Outward Bound instructor in Maine. I spent my first few summers with Outward Bound hiking in the Bigelows and canoeing on the Rangeley Lakes. While I was enamored of western Maine’s beauty, I couldn’t resist asking senior instructors about… Read More
AUGUSTA – It wasn’t exactly a lump of coal, but Central Maine Power Co. did not get its Christmas wish fulfilled by the Maine Public Utilities Commission on Friday either. The PUC will allow CMP to raise rates for its commercial and industrial customers during… Read More
When Gov. Angus King proposed creating a $50 million trust fund to generate enough interest to buy portable computers for every seventh- through 12-grader in Maine, he said a beautiful element of the plan was that if it didn’t work, the state would still have the $50 million… Read More
The mere talk of a Maine Woods National Park raises the ire of many northern Mainers. Several towns and a county have even passed resolutions opposing the idea, which has hung like a specter over the state’s continuing debates about land preservation and timber harvesting. Read More
WASHINGTON – The Navy will exercise a $77.7 million option for a planning yard class services contract with Bath Iron Works, U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe has announced. “Today’s announcement builds upon the yard’s previously awarded contract for lead yard services, further reinforcing BIW’s leadership in… Read More
PORTLAND – The Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram signed an agreement Friday with the newspaper’s press union. Members of the Portland Printing and Graphic Communications Union, Local 22, agreed to a five-year contract that will run until the end of May 2004. It replaces an earlier… Read More
AUGUSTA – Maine’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 2.5 percent in November – the lowest seasonally adjusted rate on record. State Labor Commissioner Valerie Landry said the previous low – 3.2 percent – was in August. Seasonally adjusted rates for Maine have been compiled… Read More
BANGOR – Mid-Maine Communications, which has provided Internet services to consumers and businesses in central and northern Maine since 1995, has expanded into York, Cumberland, Sagadahoc and Lincoln counties. Nicholas Winchester, vice president of sales and marketing, said the expansion of the company’s XpressDial Internet… Read More
PORTLAND – A BroadcastAmerica.com partner that is seeking to foreclose on the bankrupt company’s assets has asked a federal judge to consider liquidating the company. BA Funding has asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to use BroadcastAmerica.com’s assets to pay creditors. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define… Read More
WASHINGTON – A science museum in Maine, transportation agencies in Georgia, and an array of churches are among the 255 voices that will be allowed on the radio airwaves, despite congressional restrictions on a new low-power broadcast service. The Federal Communications Commission selected its first… Read More
A comment about C.E. McConnell’s letter, published in Friday’s newspaper, which stated, “… There are people in some areas [of Florida] who do not read or speak English. It is understandable why they would be confused in the voting booth.” It seems there are some people who do… Read More
This is a call to arms for the many who abhor Maine Public Radio’s trading in good music for more talk. Music lovers have written probably the longest sustained series of complaints ever published in the Bangor Daily News. Yet there is still no sign of… Read More
I want to thank you for having the online version of the Bangor Daily News available each morning. I am able to access it from Seacoast New Hampshire in seconds. I was a a BDN carrier as a youth in the late 1960s in… Read More
The closing paragraph in the article about the wind farm proposed for western Maine near Sugarloaf contains a factual error. The 30MW rating for “each” of the 45 wind turbines is incorrect. The figure may be correct for the total output of all 45 machines, but not for… Read More
That which I ask for Christmas/ is neither dear nor grand./ Please Santa, grant me brains enough, /electric rates to understand. Michael F. Garrett googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i =… Read More
The 2000 election between Anita Haskell and Lara Sanborn in District 137 is identical to the 1998 election between the two except that their final positions are reversed. In 1998, Haskell lost to Sanborn by a relatively small number of votes. Haskell did not ask… Read More
I’m puzzled by the fact that Dana McGovern, the central and only figure in the latest Down East regional health care scandal, is the only one named in a gigantic scam. In a nearly $1 million rip-off, I would expect this man would have to have some help… Read More
After 10 years and a near record-setting number of public comments, the U.S. Department of Agriculture last week released its final standards for organic food, an important measure for Maine’s many organic farmers. The standards are a welcome sign that the federal government listened seriously to the concerns… Read More
Experiments are valid only when they have a possibility of failure, so it is not so surprising when the results scientists hope for are not produced by their work. But when that work is with children and smoking, and the experiment goes over 15 years and costs millions… Read More
I’ve been watching WLBZ, Channel 2 news for most of my adult life. I like all their news people and weather forecasters, but I can’t understand why they need to be on the air for an hour and a half repeating the same news items over and over… Read More
My problem seems insignificant in the big picture, but I need to know if other people are frustrated by this trend. I am referring to the proliferation of grammar and spelling mistakes in the media and elsewhere. A Maine high school sent out graduation information… Read More