Maine Public Radio has always been an example of what’s right with public broadcasting. They have gone the extra mile to invest in their programming and to tailor their product to the people of Maine – locally produced public affairs, news and music leavened with a good balance… Read More
I find it interesting that the University of Maine at Presque Isle is so enthusiastic about building a field house with a pool. We already have one underutilized pool facility in Presque Isle and I question why we would need another. The city of Presque Isle is supporting… Read More
In regards to “Father pleads guilty in attack; Man blames son’s sexual habits,” is this world going to get any sicker? Sometimes I think it can’t get any worse, but something pops up and proves me wrong. I do not approve of violence, but Philip… Read More
Regarding the story “Father pleads guilty in attack” (BDN, Dec. 7), it is amazing that the father is being prosecuted. This father’s act of anger was precipitated by his son’s “lifestyle” of having sexual intercourse with his dog! Parents, just consider for one moment how… Read More
From everything that has been written recently about the troubles of McGovern Ambulance Services and its closing Dec. 7, one would get the impression that all of Washington County was faced with an ambulance blackout. This is unfortunately true for the eastern end of the county but it… Read More
The BDN article about the purchase of Spencer Lake by John Malone (“The man who bought a lake: conservationists, sportsmen fearful that purchase of property may further erode public access,” by Susan Young, Nov. 27) provides valuable insights into the changing face of the Maine Woods. Timberland sales… Read More
It was quite a year for politics. A close election. The media declares the Republican the winner. Democrats object. Votes are locked in state offices and can’t be counted. Party lawyers appeal to the Supreme Court. There is a hand count. Mobs march on the street. Read More
A healthy sense of skepticism — and the ability to add and subtract– should be two well-worn tools in any news reporter’s old kit bag, as a story in Thursday morning’s newspaper aptly illustrated. The Associated Press dispatch told of a group of gung-ho World… Read More
Dec. 2 will be remembered by me – it was our 56th anniversary and when I read our Bangor Daily News, I was very pleased to read David Walsh’s article on Chris Lawlor. As a native of Southwest Harbor, I well remember Chris and… Read More
When Georgia Baptists held their state convention in 1955, they hurled charges against the state’s legislature, accusing lawmakers of betraying the church to the state’s liquor interests. “The Yazoo fraud was mild by comparison,” declared one minister. The action by Maine Public Radio to turn… Read More
Slipping into a state of dudgeon (thank you, Tom Weber) applies to the current affairs in Florida as well as to the prospect of opera-free airwaves. Who can’t feel indignation over whatever hand is on “the hilt of a dagger” (from the French en digeon) when Americans being… Read More
The Dec. 6 Bangor Daily News stated that a new 800-megawatt gas fired power plant is being built 25 miles from the Maine border in Saint John, New Brunswick. The plant cost is $300 million, will employ 250 workers with high paying jobs and provide property taxes to… Read More
The unnecessary closure of our clam industry was totally avoidable and the state’s lack of notification to the industry is to blame. As a result we in the industry have lost thousands of dollars, lost business to Canadian competition, upset the buyers who depend on… Read More
I want to commend the Belfast City Council for extending their moratorium on big box development. Our community of Bangor is in a similar situation with Wal-Mart intending to build a 224,000 square ft. superstore on Stillwater Avenue adjacent to the Penjajowac Marsh/Stream complex. This development would have… Read More
Am I the only victim of Maine’s Public Broadcasting System with a memory and an IQ with three digits? If not, I’d suggest the rest should band together and vastly cut expenses by halving its administrators. Please, start from the top The arrogance of repeating… Read More
Who will decide the election? The answer to that is still up in the air. Should it be just Florida? I think not. Last time I looked there were 49 other states. Maybe their votes need to be recounted. After all, they are now trying to figure out… Read More
WASHINGTON – Federal spending helped keep Maine and the rest of New England on solid economic footing over the past several years, and during much of the Clinton administration, two new private assessments show. The Tax Foundation found that Maine ranked second in the United States… Read More
Like an Atlantic salmon on the end of a fishing line, he has fought every step of the way. Through speeches and lawsuits, Gov. Angus King has challenged federal efforts to list the fish as an endangered species. Now that the federal government has done just… Read More
WASHINGTON – A senator’s power has traditionally been defined by the title he holds. Except for this year. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, lacks the trappings of a plum chairmanship, but is nonetheless emerging as one of the Senate’s power brokers thanks to her efforts to bring… Read More
WASHINGTON – The federal government should test children yearly in math, science, reading or writing – and pay for much of it – a panel of lawmakers, educators and businessmen said Thursday. Two days after a study showed that U.S. students were just average compared with… Read More
BANGOR – The annual campaign for the United Way of Eastern Maine reached its goal by raising more than $2.5 million, according to Deborah Carey Johnson, the organization’s campaign chair and senior vice president. Johnson announced Wednesday night that the annual campaign raised $2,589,976. An additional… Read More
OLD TOWN – It was a ceremonial turning of the valve Thursday that formally brought natural gas to the Georgia-Pacific paper mill here. To Bangor Gas, however, the distinct buzzing of its product flowing through the bright yellow pipes was more of a sigh of… Read More
WASHINGTON – Nearly 100,000 scooters are being recalled because of handlebar problems that caused riders to lose control, the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced Thursday. About 90,000 Kent Kickin’ Mini Scooters are being recalled because the handles can come out of the steering column. About… Read More
SCARBOROUGH – The chief operating officer of Hannaford Bros. Co. has a new title: president. Ronald Hodge was named president on Thursday of the 117-year-old company that operates 107 supermarkets across Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York and Massachusetts. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot… Read More
WASHINGTON – The lame-duck Senate on Thursday sent President Clinton a bankruptcy overhaul bill he has promised to veto because he believes it would hurt working families that fall on hard times. Senators, by a 70-28 veto-proof vote for the bipartisan legislation, approved the most sweeping… Read More
BANGOR – In an apparent management shakeup Thursday at Great Northern Paper Inc., the president of the two mills resigned and the parent company, Quebec-based Inexcon, named a new president. Both changes were effective immediately. A press release issued by GNP Thursday evening did not… Read More
Representatives from more than 100 nations today are expected to finish negotiations that will implement the 1998 Rome Treaty on an International Criminal Court. Though the United States was reluctant to become full partners in the treaty that emerged from extensive talks two years ago, President Clinton should… Read More
At first, it seems contradictory that the Maine Attorney General’s Office would seek to expand voting rights by expanding the conditions under which voting rights can be denied. Given the contradictory way society deals with the mentally ill, it may be one of the few things that makes… Read More
This year’s presidential election will likely have many consequences. It has certainly raised significant questions. Should the Electoral College be eliminated, or does it continue to serve a useful purpose? Are vote recounts more accurate when performed by machine or by hand? What role should courts play… Read More
Making changes to Maine Public Radio’s schedule has been a much more thoughtful process than has been suggested by many in this newspaper. We are continually trying to refine our schedule to increase the value of it to our listeners, while satisfying the needs and… Read More
PORTLAND – A Chicago law student filed a misconduct complaint against a Portland probate judge linked to the release of information about George W. Bush’s 1976 drunken driving arrest in Kennebunkport. The complaint, filed with the Maine Committee on Judicial Responsibility and Disability, alleges that… Read More
AUGUSTA – Maine Senate President Michael Michaud urged his 34 colleagues Wednesday to respect each other’s differences and set the standard for civility in a legislative session where the political divisions are razor thin. After four years, Democrats lost the majority last month in the… Read More
KAMPALA, Uganda – When the dreaded Ebola virus struck northern Uganda, Dr. Matthew Lokwiya was among the first to treat victims. And he stayed on, often taking the worst cases and risking infection. On Tuesday, the shy, determined doctor became the latest victim of the outbreak. Read More
ORLANDO, Fla. – Stepping into a morally charged debate Tuesday, the American Medical Association called on the Food and Drug Administration to consider making the “morning-after” pill available over the counter. The AMA’s policy-making House of Delegates approved the resolution without discussion during a convention in… Read More
Al Gore suggested Tuesday that even a rejection of his Florida Supreme Court appeal might not drive him from the presidential race, though many Democrats said that would be the limit of their loyalty. George W. Bush confidently declared himself ready to “seize the moment” as the nation’s… Read More
WASHINGTON – Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, worried about the economic threats posed by rising energy costs and plunging stock values, signaled that the central bank stands ready to cut interest rates to ward off a recession. His comments Tuesday triggered a powerful rally on Wall… Read More
WASHINGTON – In these households, it has crept out of the bedroom and slithered over the breakfast table, settled into the TV chair and filled the salon with its constant nattering. Pity them, for they are the couples coping with chad. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define… Read More
WASHINGTON – America’s eighth-graders still are largely outperformed by children in industrialized Asian and European nations, scoring only at average levels on the latest round of international math and science tests. Despite more than four years of efforts to improve American student performance in science and… Read More
BANGOR – Maine’s decades-old law prohibiting those under guardianship for mental illness from voting also should apply to those incapacitated for other reasons, such as mental retardation and Alzheimer’s disease, according to the Attorney General’s Office. State attorneys, in a motion filed this week in U.S. Read More
Daily numbers: 282-1164 WinCash: 5 7 17 21 24 34… Read More
The Senate’s most senior senator says he’s not letting his 98th birthday on Tuesday slow him down. Sen. Strom Thurmond (photo), R-S.C., the oldest and longest-serving senator in U.S. history, attended a Republican Senate organizational session, and went to a Supreme Court dinner. As Senate president pro tem,… Read More
BRUSSELS, Belgium – Defense Secretary William Cohen got tough with his European colleagues Tuesday, telling them if they don’t start spending more on their military and work out a new EU-NATO relationship, the alliance “could become a relic of history.” The 15-nation European Union is developing… Read More
WASHINGTON – Newly elected party leaders in the Senate promised Tuesday that the new 50-50 era will be one of cooperation, but they already appeared to be heading for a fight over the issue of power-sharing. “We are absolutely committed to reaching out and working together,”… Read More
WASHINGTON – Republican leaders in the lame-duck Senate forced a final vote on legislation to make it harder for people to erase debts in bankruptcy court. President Clinton has promised a veto if the bipartisan bill reaches his desk without changes. Senators voted 67-31 Tuesday to… Read More
LIMESTONE – Reuse officials at the Loring Commerce Centre have a chance to attract a major aircraft maintenance company that could create up to 350 jobs. However, the commerce center also needs $3 million to get a 145,000-square-foot building – referred to as the arch hangar… Read More
WASHINGTON – Factory business turned in its weakest performance in three months in October as a big drop in demand for transportation equipment and electronics helped depress orders to American manufacturers. The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that factory orders fell 3.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted… Read More
BANGOR – Most Mainers expect to be spending as much on holiday gifts this year as they did last year, when retailers experienced growth of about 6 percent. The majority of Mainers also expect consumer prices to go up within the next six months, according to a survey… Read More
SAINT JOHN, New Brunswick – NB Power and two private companies are negotiating with the province to build an 800-megawatt natural gas-fired generator that would sell most of its output to New England. The development follows the collapse of a similar deal between the provincial government… Read More
WASHINGTON – The Environmental Protection Agency Tuesday announced it has reached agreement with the pesticide industry to phase out the nation’s most widely used lawn and garden bug killer because it poses unacceptable risks to consumers, especially children. The agreement requires that the manufacturing of retail… Read More
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Two spacewalking astronauts ventured outside Tuesday for the second time this week and completed electrical hookups for the international space station’s new power-producing solar wings. They also provided flight controllers with up-close pictures of the right wing, which is too slack. googletag.cmd.push(function… Read More
WASHINGTON – President Clinton on Tuesday named former U.S. Sen. George J. Mitchell, who helped broker the shaky Northern Ireland peace agreement, to lead an international investigation of the five-week outburst of violence in the Middle East. White House spokesman Jake Siewert said the five-member… Read More
PORTLAND – Most mornings, Don Nech trucks down to the rusty piers skirting this historic fishing town. After the boats come in, he loads up 90-pound cases of lobster, their feelers protruding from the boxes like needles from a pincushion. It’s hard work. It’s cold… Read More
Merely a suspicion that a person is a sexual abuser of children is generally not enough for police to investigate, Knox County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Todd Butler says. As many specifics as possible are needed, particularly the names of suspected victims. googletag.cmd.push(function () {… Read More
There is a chill in Echo Lake [in western Maine], the subtlest hint of next week’s frost in the breeze. The trees are beginning to ripen with colors, one of nature’s miracles, and with apples, one of humankind’s delights. Winter is on the way and, like the light… Read More
You sit in a boat on a smoky evening 16 miles from the Quebec border and across from you is your 12-year-old daughter and in the stillness – in the deep, unfathomable stillness of dusk – the strongest urge you have ever felt is to shake her by… Read More
Editor’s Note: Bangor Daily News reporter Roxanne Moore Saucier and photographer Anthony Robert La Penna were invited to ride with the USS John F. Kennedy as it makes its way from New York City to Boston. ABOARD THE USS JOHN F. KENNEDY — At 0700… Read More
University of Maine hockey coach Shawn Walsh has had to overcome adversity throughout his career. But he now faces the most formidable of opponents: cancer. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var… Read More
The mammoth cultural and economic event named Lemonwheel rolled into Maine on Friday, but not without hitting a few bumps en route to its weekend destination at the Loring Commerce Centre in Aroostook County. While most of the estimated 70,000 fans of the musical band… Read More