The Maine Department of Marine Resources has presented the Legislature with a plan to overhaul the state’s aquaculture leasing program. It is a document of considerable size, somewhat more readable than such documents usually are and is full of good ideas to make aquaculture, especially finfish aquaculture, a… Read More
As they struggle with a $250 million budget shortfall, a growing doozy of a debate over Medicaid and a perniciously high tax burden, Senate President Rick Bennett and House Speaker Michael Saxl took an eminently sensible step by inviting John Wallach, founder of Seeds of Peace, to speak… Read More
If you are one of those folks around here who can’t seem to attract birds to their feeders this winter, here’s some advice:t ttYou may have missed the boat, says Dr. Rebecca Holberton, an assistant professor of biology and a specialist in bird migration at the University of… Read More
As the nation observes the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday as a federal holiday for the 17th year, all people in every state should read this defining speech, delivered in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 28, 1963. I say to you today, my friends, that… Read More
Cynics will see all sorts of hidden motives behind Pfizer’s announcement this week that it will offer a steep discount to low-income seniors for prescription drugs. It’s a ploy to distract from the company possibly overcharging on Medicaid reimbursement, they will say. It’s a way to keep Congress… Read More
Even if you don’t have a map of Afghanistan on the refrigerator door, you can’t help but follow events in that small country for a long time as it remains a key site in America’s campaign against international terrorism. And the excellent columns by Whitney Azoy will continue… Read More
Sen. Edward Kennedy’s speech Wednesday at the National Press Club gives both parties plenty to argue about as Congress reconvenes next week. And while the political opportunities in the senator’s call for rescinding parts of last year’s tax cut are obvious, serious questions about the nation’s priorities, the… Read More
The Bangor City Council was correct this week to give a nod to authorizing $35 million in pension obligation bonds to pay off its unfunded liability to the Maine State Retirement System. The move follows other Maine communities interested in lowering the amount of interest it pays on… Read More
Three connected measurements jump out of the new Maine Innovation Index. The amount of venture capital in Maine increased a stunning 479 percent between 1999 and 2000, and is still pathetically low compared with the national average. The proportion of Maine adults with four-year college degrees is up… Read More
Shortly after learning that their son would be tried in a civilian court, rather than a military tribunal or court-martial, and that he would be charged with conspiracy and aiding terrorism, rather than treason and face a possible death sentence, the parents of the American Taliban said they… Read More
There are no public buildings in Maine that produce as much constant consternation as county jails. The cause of all the commotion is rarely the inmate population, largely content with their three hots and a cot, but those on the outside – legislators, county and municipal officials and,… Read More
You are one of the 600 or so people being detained by the federal government as a result of the September 11 attack and the first thing your attorney tells you is the Justice Department has allowed the Bureau of Prisons to monitor communications between people like you… Read More
When Enron executives approached the Bush administration for help in staving off the energy company’s financial collapse, they were told nothing could be done. The execs then sold off more than $1 billion in stock they held, while prohibiting tens of thousands of employees from… Read More
Maine legislators last year made a big deal out of shortening the length of time Maine had to pay off the unfunded liability in its state retirement system – dropping it by just two years lopped off hundreds of millions of dollars in the interest payments. The added… Read More
Read the fine print next time you see a report about consumer confidence. This monthly index, put out by the Conference Board, a non-profit outfit once known as the National Industrial Conference Board, showed a sharp rise in December. The related “Expectations Index” rose from 77.3 to 91.5,… Read More
Americans trying to access the National Park Service’s Web page during the last month to, as many try to do this time of year, reserve a campsite for next summer, have gotten an error message instead. Most Americans no doubt have written this inconvenience off as a glitch,… Read More
A giant energy company with the most clout Washington has ever seen files for the largest bankruptcy in the history of capitalism. The retirement funds of thousands of innocent employees are wiped out while top company officials cash in. One of the largest and most respected accounting firms… Read More
The National Science Foundation’s latest account of research and development investment shows Maine leading the nation in the percentage of increased funding since 1993. It’s an effort that hasn’t moved this state up the ranking much (from 50th to 49th in academic R&D) but shows that Maine is… Read More
Osama bin Laden is either dead or on the run, but the thousands of terrorists who trained in his camps remain a continuing threat. Their “sleeper” cells have blended into community life in countries around the world, including the United States, awaiting only directives and financing to strike… Read More
Before September, when the U.S. Army had time to think of things besides terrorism and war, the big military story was the conversion to black berets for all Army personnel. The story was big because, in its haste to acquire 5 million berets, the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA)… Read More
After nearly four months of providing steady, inspiring leadership to a nation in need, President Bush’s “over my dead body” remark last weekend regarding Democratic plans for tax increases was regrettable for at least three reasons. It was, though certainly unintentionally, a shockingly insensitive cliche to use in… Read More
The Maine Legislature is likely to discuss if not actually act on a bill this session to extend health insurance to all residents of the state through single-payer reform. Opponents of this change say the cost is too high and, besides, the uninsured get care, just not through… Read More
Municipal officials have been seeing inclement weather since the state’s Rainy Day Fund grew from $5 million at the beginning of Gov. Angus King’s first term to a peak of around $140 million in 2000. The response from Augusta, however, was always the same: The rain in Maine… Read More
The printouts of what each community would receive under next year’s General Purpose Aid to Education aren’t due out until Friday. But lawmakers following this crucial funding source for local schools know the planned 2.3 percent boost over the current level is going to look dismal once cranked… Read More
The Northeast will be directly affected if a plan by the Bush administration to ease rules for Midwest power plants goes through without significant reductions in the amount of pollutants the plants are allowed to produce. If Maine’s senators, who have been steadfast in their support for strengthening… Read More
When the federal government listed wild Atlantic salmon as an endangered species in eight Maine rivers just over a year ago, Gov. King promptly sued, alleging that the listing was based upon faulty science. When a National Academy of Sciences panel was convened last summer to sort through… Read More
Fairy Reed, a 41-year-old Waterville woman, had been receiving disability benefits since 1993, when she claimed a back injury on her job as a hotel housekeeper. The payments came to an end after insurance investigators learned that she had been seen dancing on a pool table in a… Read More
When Congress passed the Magnuson Act of 1976, a key intent was, in addition to reducing foreign commercial fishing activity in U.S. waters and promoting the development of a domestic fleet, to bring fishermen into the resource-management process by creating eight regional fishery councils. Amendments passed in 1996,… Read More
When lawmakers last left school funding for 2003, the state’s share of General Purpose Aid to Education stood at an increase of 2.3 percent, which everyone admitted was too low to make progress in either catching up with earlier losses or meeting the financial demands of the impending… Read More
The Maine Legislature returned to session Wednesday and one of the first questions for it was whether it would adjourn on time. House Republican Leader Joe Bruno answered that question succinctly, if not exactly eloquently when he said, “If people really suck it up and make the cuts,… Read More
The anguish of World War II was still fresh in Americans’ minds in 1946 when Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita was tried by a secret military tribunal and hanged as a war criminal. To Americans he was among the best known of Japan’s military leaders, famous as the “Tiger of… Read More
If the final signature count on a petition to limit property taxes qualifies it for the ballot, Maine voters should be leery of the measure not only for its effects on communities but for the state constitution’s effect on it. That the petition has made it this far… Read More
While the attention of much of the world, and certainly of nearly all Americans, was focused upon a war that began with the most rudimentary of weapons, India and Pakistan came terrifyingly close to one that could have ended with the most sophisticated. The link that connects box… Read More
Perhaps it was the meltdown of Enron that exposed to four members of the House the link between politics and the big money of financing campaigns. The representatives who just last week signed on to a soft-money ban that had been languishing in the House were Alcee Hastings… Read More
With the holidays now past, today is the first day at work for the euro. From France to Greece, Portugal to Finland, 12 of the world’s developed economies now are joined together by a common currency. It is the biggest such conversion in history, one… Read More
Once again, just like clockwork, it’s New Year’s Day. Once again, in a wave sweeping across time zones, the world has counted backward from 10. Celebrants have wished each other the best and meant it, at least for as long as the cup of kindness brims. Parades march… Read More
The happy people at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank in Washington, D.C., last year issued a book of lists that shows just how good you have it. There’s no better time, at the end of the difficult, at times tragic year of 2001, for just such… Read More
Consider for a moment an incident at graduation ceremonies at California State University in Sacramento. The speaker was Janis Besler Heaphy, publisher of the local newspaper, the Sacramento Bee. Instead of delivering a typical inspirational address about entering into adult society, she warned against sacrificing civil liberties while… Read More
Among the many large challenges for Sen. Peter Mills and Rep. Bernard McGowan as they try to overhaul the way Maine funds its schools are the following: persuade an uncertain public that this is not a reprise of the defeated uniform property tax of the 1970s; amend the… Read More
Last year, when it was learned that eight of the 10 hottest years since 1860 had occurred since 1990, Congress was provoked into paroxysms of indifference over the prospect of a climate changed by people. Now, with the announcement that 2001 will join the list of the 10… Read More
Mainers who suffer from morbid obesity are increasingly turning to a surgical operation called gastric bypass. They learn about it from their physicians, by word of mouth, and through national publicity including the story of Carney Wilson, the popular singing star, who says it slimmed her down and… Read More
One of the lessons from the arrest last week of a bomber on American Airlines Flight 63 is that a man apparently with explosives in his sneakers can walk on an airplane undetected. A more encouraging thought is what happened to him once he tried to detonate the… Read More
Toward the end of two legislative investigations into the state Department of Human Services and its responsiveness to parents, Karen Westburg, director of the DHS’ Bureau of Child and Family Services, released a general accounting of the last 40 cases her bureau had seen. The cases are a… Read More
With the Justice Department’s release of the criminal charges that could be brought against an American fighting for the Taliban, the case of John Walker begins a necessary and inevitable transformation. The initially all-consuming question of why this son of affluence went to war against his county for… Read More
Bangor city officials for the last three years have gone about the process of finding a solution to an inadequate auditorium and civic center in a thoughtful and deliberate way, including the public at each step. The council, city manager and the regional committees undertaking this project deserve… Read More
It is the beginning of the third 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 made… Read More
The comments by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld from Brussels last week made it clear that the United States will press ahead with the war on terrorism long after the fighting stops in Afghanistan. But the Bush administration has yet to make a case for attacking… Read More
To hear the Maine Turnpike Authority tell it, the planned upgrade of its electronic toll system is just a case of advancing technology, of the latest thing five years ago becoming, as technology will, today’s obsolescence. To some degree, that is true. To an equal… Read More
There’s a world of difference between the lunch-bucket atmosphere of Maine’s harness racing tracks and the affluent ambiance of New York’s Saratoga Springs, but the concerns are the same – fading interest in the sport of kings has led to declining revenues. There, as here, one remedy under… Read More
Maine’s adventures in energy deregulation have only just begun so it may be too early to draw conclusions about its chances for success, but a question of how small energy users (homeowners and some small businesses) in a low-population state are to attract enough major competitors to lower… Read More
For now, the U.S. State Department is every bit as enthralled with Pakistan as it was when the United States first needed its cooperation in Afghanistan. But as members – perhaps hundreds of members, including leaders and perhaps even the top leader – of al-Qaida and the Taliban… Read More
The word “affordable” has a special meaning in a resort community where summer people have bid up the prices to the point where Maine working people can’t afford a place to live. The Cranberry Isles, off the coast of Mount Desert Island, have been gradually losing year-round population,… Read More
With his recent buying spree of American movie and television companies, Jean-Marie Messier has turned Vivendi from bit player to entertainment superstar. The sudden emergence of this French media powerhouse could have repercussions for American consumers far beyond the possibility of an all-Jerry Lewis channel. Read More
The state-of-the-art building is there. The students and faculty are there. The interest is there. So what’s missing from the University of Maine department of theater and dance, which was cast in September in the preliminary stages of “academic program suspension”? Last year in a… Read More
The fact that a major education bill is near receiving approval, in a season of war and recession, is remarkable in itself. That a bill with bipartisan support that significantly increases federal education spending just five years after the Republican platform wanted to eliminate the department entirely shows… Read More
President Bush gave notice last Thursday that the United States will withdraw from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty; scrapping the Cold War relic is necessary to move testing of the National Missile Defense program to a more rigorous level. As if scripted by those critical of the treaty… Read More
Congress can look at rising budget deficits and a costly tax cut and pretend not to see the connection, so don’t expect its members to make the link between energy independence and improved gas mileage. New fuel-efficiency standards may not go this year, but when the Senate next… Read More
Business bankruptcy rarely is associated with optimism – more often than not, the long legal process it describes ends with closed doors, out-of-work employees and harmed creditors. Although the bankruptcy of the Bangor & Aroostook Railroad could go that route, it has the potential to emerge from reorganization… Read More
The 36 percent drop in the number of teen smokers over the last four years is an encouraging but unexciting statistic until you consider that the drop represents more than 10,000 Maine teen-agers. About 60 percent of smokers eventually succumb to smoking-related diseases, so it’s fair to guess… Read More
Having found no satisfaction in their recent passage through the state and federal court systems, the Penobscot Nation and Passamaquoddy Tribe now confront the unwelcome but widespread interpretation of the 1980 settlement act: Except in narrow cases of internal tribal matters, they are considered municipalities, and this designation… Read More
One of the fundamental questions a state asks before selling bonds to get money for a project is whether the project will outlive the payback time on the bonds. This is not asked out of mere frugality but because the assumption is that the project… Read More
President Bush’s decision to try the suspected 20th hijacker in a regular federal court is good news for those who feared the broad sweep of his harshly drafted Nov. 13 order authorizing military commissions or “tribunals” for the trial of any non-citizens thought to be involved in terrorism. Read More
Mammograms – X-ray screenings for lumps in breast tissue too tiny to be detected by self-examination – have been a staple of women’s health care for nearly 20 years. Although the recommended frequency and age guidelines have undergone several revisions, the premise that the earlier breast cancer is… Read More
Though it is too early for a victory parade, the war in Afghanistan is proceeding at a dizzying pace that should have marching bands on high alert. The oppressive, inhumane rule of the Taliban is over, al-Qaida’s fierce fighters are begging for mercy, and in just over a… Read More
Health and nutrition specialists from all over Maine have taken aim at two factors in the current obesity epidemic: soda and television. They agreed soda and other sugar-loaded drinks are a leading cause of obesity. As for television, they declared that the average 3.7 hours a day of… Read More
Here is a passage from the Department of Education’s proposed rule changes to Chapter 125, titled Basic Approval Standards: Public Schools and School Units: “Each school administrative unit shall have a written curriculum aligned with the system of Learning Results specified in Me. Dept. of… Read More
Though the 36 days it took to resolve the election for president last year felt at the time like an eternity, Congress could easily turn voting reform into a multi-year bickering extravaganza that will make the vote count seem like swift, sure justice. It doesn’t have to, however,… Read More
According to the airline Air Transport Association of America, the number of airline passengers has dropped by one-fourth since Sept. 11 yet sales at airport bars are up nearly 10 percent. Some experts say this may be the result of nervousness on the part of the flying public,… Read More
Pakistan, renewed friend of the United States, has been a valuable ally over the last three months, providing both airfields and intelligence in the fight against al Qaeda. But its new cooperation is being tested by an old conflict, going back to its independence in 1947: the enduring… Read More
For Bangor and a good many other Maine cities and towns, the waterfronts have long been scenes of trash piles and overboard sewage lines, at best the backyards of businesses. But change is coming. What once were regarded as useless liabilities are now being converted into civic assets. Read More
Maine’s latest attempt to explain and possibly solve the problem of homelessness is a thoughtful, dense and thorough look at how to improve the complex interplay of various state agencies, local shelters and nonprofits that serve the homeless population. But the new state report leaves out an important… Read More
When winter comes, everything changes, and that goes for the wonderful Acadia National Park. With winter close at hand, the park has now closed the road up Cadillac mountain and most of the Park Loop road, except for the portion from Sand Beach to the Otter Cliff road,… Read More
When Willard Carleton Orr graduated from Bangor High School in 1939, this is how his yearbook described the ambitious 19-year-old: “Debater par excellence, Carleton can also put his thoughts on paper. Witness his senior essay. And he’s already established in something unusual – a steady… Read More
After more than two decades of lurching from bloody tribal warfare to Taliban oppression, Afghanistan now has a chance at freedom without anarchy, order without fascism. The interim government cobbled together in Bonn after nine days of furious negotiations is not perfect, but it is a miracle. Read More
A person could live many years in Bangor and not know of G. Peirce Webber. He was not well-known among those who go about their day-to-day routines outside of the world of philanthropy, although astute residents might have wondered at the coincidence of having a doctor’s visit at… Read More
Short of making Maine’s chickadee license plates less attractive (perhaps by drawing the bird, like the red lobster on the previous plate, to look cooked) demand for the alternative and environmentally supportive loon plate will continue to decline. This is especially true if all the state does is… Read More
It has been nearly two years since Gov. King unveiled his exciting plan to provide laptop computers to every Maine junior high student. From the start, the governor has promised that being the first in the nation to go statewide with a comprehensive publicly funded program to integrate… Read More
In most places in the world, conventional wisdom says that everything changed on Sept. 11. In the Middle East, where irrationality is the norm, nothing has – Israelis and Palestinians continue their horrifying cycle of attack and revenge, as if something that has failed a thousand times will… Read More
Federal and drug-company officials are describing some shortages of children’s vaccines as the temporary result of manufacturing changes. But a more long-term reason may be that fewer companies are producing these important drugs, pushing Congress toward the conclusions in a recent report from the Institute of Medicine. Read More
Long before Gov. Angus King leaves office, his administration will face a powerful environmental challenge over the Allagash Wilderness Waterway. If they are smart, administration officials will start talking in depth now with adversaries and save the state lengthy fights later. At issue is the… Read More
Rob Gardiner, head of Maine Public Broadcasting since 1992, announced his resignation Thursday. Mr. Gardiner says he has no immediate plans other than to spend more time with his family… . googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes =… Read More
Everyone knows that Interstate 95 begins in Houlton, Maine, and ends in Key West, Fla. Now, there’s a chance to prove it – or there would be a chance if drivers could accept Maine’s highway numbering system being a bit different. The Department of Transportation… Read More
If you are a newcomer to Maine, that flurry/drizzle the other day was your notice that winter is about here. Here are some tips for coping: Sacrifice style for warmth when it comes to clothes. A good lumberjack or padded coat is essential, with sweaters… Read More
Gov. King recently provided useful perspective on a debate over which of the forestry-certification systems should be widely adopted. At a certification conference this week googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var… Read More
The scientific significance of the announcement Sunday by a small Massachusetts biotechnology company that it had taken the first steps in creating human embryos through cloning is debatable – after all, the techniques used broke no new ground and all the embryos died. The political significance, however, is… Read More
A recent agreement between St. Joseph Hospital and Eastern Maine Medical Center that speeds St. Joseph’s plans for a cardiac catheterization lab was an important event for the region’s medical care and a step forward in the relationship between the competing hospitals. The public benefits from both. Read More
A Spanish judge has exposed a “sleeper” terrorist cell in Madrid and cast unique light on the worldwide radical Islamic conspiracy that has attacked the United States and other countries, threatens further assaults, and triggered military response starting with the invasion of Afghanistan, headquarters of the conspiracy. Read More
Parking lots at Wal-Mart, The Home Depot and the malls were jammed over the weekend. Friday was the country’s biggest shopping day, and people had to make up for the closings of the big stores on Thursday and get started with purchases for the year-end holidays. Read More
In the spirit of the season, the people at Public Interest Research Group in Massachusetts last week brought dangerous toys to Bangor, set them in front of children and told anyone willing to listen not to buy them. The toys were said to be able to choke, strangle,… Read More
The U.N.-sponsored negotiations that begin today on creating a post-Taliban government will bring together some of the world’s most experienced diplomats with leaders of at least four of Afghanistan’s major ethnic groups. The pre-conference moods range from optimism about a new, unified Afghanistan to gloomy predictions of further… Read More
Everything has changed for us all – especially for George W. Bush. When he was elected president, the country enjoyed peace and prosperity, the twin goals of every presidential candidate. He could look forward to what seemed to an endless economic boom and continued peace in the wake… Read More
Politicians and politicians-to-be began (early) the 2002 race much the way races for the last dozen years have begun – with promises to reduce Maine’s high tax rate and make the state more attractive to businesses. It is a promise most people hope is kept, but for the… Read More
Federal budget officials have given preliminary approval to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s commitment of $16.4 million over two years to aid Maine salmon farms in fighting infectious salmon anemia, a swiftly spreading disease that is deadly to the fish and potentially devastating to the people Down East… Read More
Christmas season is officially here, though the long, warm fall has hardly made it feel like winter. Before the shopping and partying frenzy overtakes you, please remember those who cannot afford the presents that most people take for granted, who struggle to put food on the table, let… Read More
Almost casually, the United States is slipping into a major decision to trade freedom for security. An emergency presidential order has authorized secret, summary military trials for suspected terrorists. The attorney general is letting the FBI intercept telephone messages and mail between prisoners accused of terrorism and their… Read More
Harriet Beecher Stowe moved to Maine in 1850, with her husband, Calvin Ellis Stowe, a professor at Bowdoin College. In Brunswick, she wrote her famous “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” and many stories about New England life, including “The Pearl of Orr’s Island” (1862) and “Oldtown Folks” (1869). The latter… Read More
There’s nothing like success to firm up old friendships and attract new ones. In the last week, France, Germany and Japan have clamored to join the United States and Britain in the military end of the war on terrorism. Their support is important, of course, but the United… Read More
Kind of a tough break for the 250 peace activists who held a demonstration in Kennebunkport Saturday at the summer home of George and Barbara Bush. The group met at a local church near the summer home for a series of speeches before embarking on a short walk… Read More
Gov. Angus King estimates Maine needs $31 million this year to combat terrorism, a modest portion, if figured per capita, of the $40 billion set aside by Congress and the White House for this purpose. New York Gov. George Pataki says his state needs $56 billion from the… Read More
Laura Bush’s radio address Saturday was an unprecedented use of presidential air time by a first lady with an appropriately powerful message. As the Taliban flee and the brutal oppression of women in Afghanistan is exposed, we see, Mrs. Bush said, “the world the terrorists would like to… Read More