President Clinton’s address to the American people Monday night was notable only for its brevity: Five minutes of the same old defensive, improbable insincerities that have marked his administration since its beginnings in the 1992 campaign. Instead of reassuring the nation that he is a flawed man whose… Read More
From the moment the last shot was fired in the Gulf War, reports of inexplicable illness and death among veterans, and of birth defects among their children, began to surface. As those reports have increased in the last seven years, so has public outrage over the Defense Department’s… Read More
The health care industry got what it wanted from legislation without Congress ever taking a vote on the issue. Good sense now would dictate that members of Congress shelve this issue while giving recent reforms a chance to work. The bill in question, the Health… Read More
Say cheesecake: Sony Corp. has revealed that certain models of its Handycam video camera, when placed in infra-red mode and equipped with a special filter, actually can allow users to see the underwear of lightly clothed people and right through swimsuits. This news is of particular interest to… Read More
The competing health care bills in Congress share enough similarities that it seems inevitable they will eventually be shoved together in some fashion — if members of Congress can decide what to do about liability for HMOs. One answer may please neither side but could work anyway. Read More
The state of Maine has not gone into the nursing home business. Nor is it about to. Nor is it on the hook for upward of $100 million should the recent financial failure of two nursing homes mushroom. That such concerns exist to the extent that two legislative… Read More
A 14-year-old Pennsylvania girl who helped torture and hang a playmate will spend six months in juvenile detention, then go free. Two Arkansas boys, ages 10 and 12, are convicted of five schoolyard murders and will be locked up until they’re 21 if their state builds a special… Read More
If Rep. Christopher Shays can rally 60 fellow Republicans in the House to pass serious campaign-finance reform, Sen. John McCain can get the additional half dozen senators he needs to override a filibuster and take this rare chance to get reform into law. But there is little time… Read More
When a do-nothing Congress collides with a president paralyzed by scandal, something does not necessarily have to give. But before this blame game over the stalled federal budget and the potential for a government shutdown goes into sudden death, both sides should give the country one thing at… Read More
Or maybe Nudeport news. Either way, this little Maine hamlet handled its moment in the national spotlight as The Town Where a Woman Took Her Shirt Off and Mowed the Lawn with commendable aplomb and sophistication. No reason to get all in a foofaraw, seemed… Read More
Back when telephones were a convenience, slamming was something employed to quickly end a heated conversation. Now telephones are a necessity and slamming is a business opportunity for thieves. A worthwhile bill that would stop it easily passed in the Senate last spring, but may not make it… Read More
If journalism learned anything about itself during the last six months of falsifications and assorted other embarrassments, the Boston Globe has yet to catch up. Its silly and confused suspension of well-known columnist Mike Barnicle is a disappointing example of lost perspective. Mr. Barnicle is… Read More
When this endless inquisition into real estate and sex ever ends and some of the mighty fall and some of the meek get buried in the rubble and the folks in the truth business have to explain their descent into rumor, at least one name will stand for… Read More
The tragedy in East Africa deepens as each body is disinterred from the rubble of the embassy buildings by emergency workers. Average citizens can feel little but helplessness as the number killed in Kenya and Tanzania exceeds 200, yet something could have been done — and could still… Read More
The case for an east-west highway builds. Vermont, New Hampshire, Quebec and the Maritimes are laying serious plans, showing this is not a parochial wish but a regional concern. State and federal employment data quantify the easily seen observation that what job growth Maine has enjoyed has occurred… Read More
In citing Janet Reno for contempt of Congress, the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee now has the attorney general right where they want her. Next step: Figure out what to do with her. Republicans who rule this powerful committee gave Reno an ultimatum —… Read More
Remember when streaking was fun? Katherine Tyrol doesn’t. The 18-year-old Bath woman says she wasn’t drunk, drugged or simply acting goofy when she scampered buck naked through L.L. Bean’s Freeport store the other night; she was making a political statement. It’s doubtful sophisticated shoppers were horribly offended by… Read More
Believe it or not, there are things the human race should be concerned about other than the grand jury testimony of That Woman. Iraq would be one. For the second time in six months, Iraq has defied the world — and violated the peace terms… Read More
Exactly one year after Maine Yankee decided to pull the plug, New England’s nuclear customers got something they’ve been looking for — good news about decommissioning costs. And Wiscasset got something that’s been in awfully short supply lately — hope for a troubled economic future. Read More
House Republicans say the Clinton administration so politicizes everything it touches that it cannot be trusted to conduct Census 2000 in any way other than by a simple head count. The Clinton administration says House Republicans so enjoy the political advantage of undercounting minorities that… Read More
Fifty-one House Republicans showed uncommon courage Monday night by defying party leadership and carrying the Shays-Meehan campaign finance reform bill to victory. Either that, or they showed common cravenness by voting for a crowd-pleasing bill they know doesn’t have a prayer in the Senate. For… Read More
The New England Fisheries Management Council meets Monday in Peabody, Mass., to examine the latest scientific assessment of cod stocks in the Gulf of Maine. Sifting through the ashes might be a better description. The mighty Atlantic cod has fallen. The fish that changed the… Read More
It was inevitable that the possible (emphasis upon “possible”) sale of up to 3 million acres of forest would spawn a conservation campaign of comparable size. The Wilderness Matters! drive launched Friday by a coalition of familiar environmental groups has the big names and the big plans. Now… Read More
The promotion of Bangor Police Lt. Don Winslow, deputy chief for six years, to replace retiring Chief Randy Harriman was good news indeed for the city. The 19-year veteran brings local experience and a sharp perspective to a job that is rarely easy. This isn’t… Read More
It may never be known whether the deaths from brain cancer of two University of Maine chemistry professors within three years is the result of a dangerous work environment or merely sad coincidence. The precautionary and investigative steps the university has taken — moving classes out of Aubert… Read More
Whether Mainers think Y2k is the end of the world or a simple computer glitch, most people can agree that it would be handy to know how to fix it — or if they even need to. Seminars around Maine this week, sponsored by Sen. Olympia Snowe, could… Read More
Advocates for an east-west highway both east and west of Maine are preparing for the day that the sizable chunk of land in the middle — Vacationland — wakes up to the benefits of this route. Now is the time for Maine to begin the long learning process… Read More
One of these days, the November election campaign will get under way. When that day comes — perhaps by Labor Day, certainly by Halloween — the voting public will want issues by which to sort out candidates for governor and the Legislature. There is no… Read More
During the past few years, PETA — People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals — and the Maine Lobster Festival have forged an unusual relationship. The more the animal rights group strives to convince a hungry public that lobsters are splendid human beings not to be eaten, the… Read More
Director of the FBI Louis Freeh and the Justice Department’s lead investigator, Charles La Bella, have both concluded that the law calls for Attorney General Janet Reno to appoint a special prosecutor to take over the department’s campaign-finance investigation of the White House. Ms. Reno’s refusal to do… Read More
From its modest beginning as a single-focus business school in a Bangor storefront back in 1898, Husson College has quietly transformed itself into a powerful educational and economic engine for Northern Maine. Today, as Husson celebrates its centennial, it certainly is entitled to trumpet a bit. Read More
In days of yore, when manners mattered and honor had a code, a gentleman who engaged in an amorous liaison with a lady not his wife kept the details, yea verily, even the slightest hint of a tryst, to himself. Friends and acquaintances whispered but did not blab. Read More
Here is the difference between gubernatorial candidates getting out their messages this year compared with 1994, and two groups that should be particularly concerned about it. Four years ago, Republicans were worried that candidate Susan Collins was grossly underfunded at this point in the race… Read More
Unless Maine’s major political races become anything but the snoozers they currently appear to be, voters will rely on local contests, habit and perhaps a sense of duty to impel them to the polls. The University of Maine System can add, if not excitement, at least interest by… Read More
Q: What’s dumber standing for hours in blocks-long lines today on 80.1-million-to-1 odds you’re not about to throw a buck down the Powerball rathole? A: Creating this Powerball frenzy and then urging the frenzied to restrain themselves — all the while denying anyone gets hurt,… Read More
Mainers don’t need to be told about the possiblity of eating unsafe food, but they do need assurances that swift, effective action can be taken when contaminated food makes its way to the market place. Legislation by Rep. John Baldacci would give the secretary of agriculture greater powers… Read More
The coffins of Jacob Chestnut and John Gibson will lie in the United States Capitol Rotunda today, an honor usually reserved for presidents and generals. The two slain Capitol Police officers were neither, but they are heroes and fully deserve this considerable yet sadly inadequate measure of respect. Read More
Like trying to sell a gas guzzler during an oil crisis, the Maine Oil Dealers Association chose one of the state’s smoggier summers to suggest that Maine drop out of the Ozone Transport Commission. It is not likely to find a lot of customers. It shouldn’t — the… Read More
For several years, Congress has been trying to get a grip on the Internet, trying — without success — to keep this valuable fount of information from becoming a sewer. The Senate’s recent vote to shut down the billion-dollar on-line gambling industry suggests lawmakers at last have found… Read More
The Board of Environmental Protection has plenty to consider as it decides the future of the Maritimes & Northeast pipeline through Maine. But it can shelve at least one concern that arose repeatedly at recent public hearings on the issue: the amount of natural gas off Sable Island. Read More
The citizen-initiated referendum is a device that should be used with great care, a tool to be employed only when lawmakers consistently fail to give a matter of importance the consideration it deserves. Death with dignity — physician-assisted suicide for the terminally ill — is such a matter. Read More
President Clinton came up with a fine idea the other day in a speech to the American Federation of Teachers’ annual convention — quell school violence by restoring respect and discipline in the classroom. Then, continuing a pattern all to familiar in this president who… Read More
Before Congress passed the Pregnancy Discrimination Act in 1978, nearly half of insurance policies did not include coverage of maternal care based on the argument that pregnancy was not an illness. That thinking, unfortunately, remains today when it comes to covering prescription birth control drugs and devices. A… Read More
An unexpected source of funding and a good deal of foresight from the Bangor School Committee have produced an excellent opportunity for the city. The committee’s plan to acquire 42 acres on Griffin Road as a site for a future school should be supported by the City Council… Read More
Bad: In the last 18 months, according to the Federal Election Commission, members of Congress avoided the hassles of commercial air travel and hitched 259 cut-rate rides on corporate America’s luxurious jets. Worse: The tobacco industry was the most accomodating, getting lawmakers where they wanted… Read More
With the November election looming, the congressional session waning and the legislative accomplishments all but missing, House Republican leadership hunkered down for a few days last week to plot a strategy that will define the GOP and set its candidates apart from Democratic opponents. Smaller… Read More
Franklin D. Roosevelt relished the summers he spent at Campobello, New Brunswick, teaching his children how to sail and kicking back in the marvelous 34-room cottage that was restored and opened to the public in 1964. But how pleased would our 32nd president be today… Read More
Three members of the Republic of Texas (the separatist group that remembers the Alamo but is otherwise pretty much in the dark) have been charged with plotting to assassinate President Clinton. Here’s how: Modify a disposable cigarette lighter to expel air instead of propane; glue a piece of… Read More
With a positive vote on a single amendment, Congress this week can end a harmful welfare program and fix up national forests. The amendment, by Rep. Elizabeth Furse of Oregon, would end taxpayer subsidies for logging in the forests and use the money for conservation and park maintenance. Read More
Hampden is a small town facing a big decision. The choice it makes regarding the proposed expansion of the Sawyer Environmental Recovery Facility — the SERF landfill — will have a profound effect upon not just this community but upon the entire state for years to come. Read More
In the four years since Congress rejected President Clinton’s health-care reform, the number of uninsured Americans has increased by 5 million to 43 million, the number of restrictions on those lucky enough to be covered has increased and the cost of health care has again headed skyward. Yet… Read More
The month-long conference on creating an international criminal court ends in Rome today and, to almost no one’s surprise, many of the problems present at the beginning of the conference remain in place. Rather than be discouraged, however, supporters of the court should remain confident that the momentum… Read More
Back during his State of the State speech in February, Gov. Angus King presented the unusual idea of having state prisoners upgrade donated computers for use in schools and libraries. It sounded like one of those things that worked on paper but nowhere else. It looks now, however,… Read More
At best, the lawsuit filed this week by four southern Maine lobstermen to block an imminent trap reduction only postpones the inevitable. Given the current regulatory climate, it may even be unwise. Regardless, it raises a point of crucial importance to those who toil in the state’s premier… Read More
Three little boys in three little caskets were laid to rest yesterday. In a gray, chilly churchyard, a priest struggled to find words of consolation and hope. At least for the day, orange and green gave way to funereal black. The world grieves for Richard,… Read More
The House has a final chance starting this week to pass a meaningful campaign-finance reform measure. For once, there is a small hope that something good might happen. The signs are encouraging. Dozens of poison-pill amendments that were introduced to stop reform have been defeated… Read More
For now, Mike and Sharon Balser are Maine’s most famous husband and wife. Soon, and for all the wrong reasons, they may become its most famous estranged couple. The Balsers, of Springvale, both are in their mid-40s and both are disabled due to a variety… Read More
The best thing about the panel on student life assembled by UMaine President Peter Hoff is that it exists at all. Its conclusions about opportunities for students when they are not in class should serve as an introduction to an extended debate on campus life. Read More
Though it defeated a Senate bill that would have cost $516 billion, the tobacco industry did not defeat the reason it began negotiations that led to the bill. The threat of state lawsuits keeps cigarette manufacturers at the bargaining table and is the best reason for Congress to… Read More
Even as the Maine Land Use Regulation Commission and the National Park System continue to work on rules that would restrict personal watercraft on many lakes and ponds here and across the country, Acadia National Park already has rules in place, giving the park a three-fer. Acadia is… Read More
On July 20, the Public Utilities Commission will rule on CMP Natural Gas’ application to become a distributor of this fuel new to most of the state. Since part of the proposal by the Central Maine Power-led consortium will put it right in the middle of eastern Maine… Read More
Certainly it is just a coincidence that the Bangor jury in the Dateline NBC case and this week’s Economist magazine arrived simultaneously at the same conclusion. The Dateline jury found that the news organization had promised Maine truckers Peter Kennedy and Ray Veilleux a positive… Read More
A recent comment neatly summarizes the distance between supporters and opponents of a proposed constitutional amendment to outlaw flag desecration, which passed in the House and is currently before the Senate. Sen. Susan Collins, a supporter of the amendment, recently observed, “There are countless ways… Read More
The Supreme Court’s landmark 1976 ruling on campaign finance reform has been abbreviated to the terse, “money is speech,” enabling lobbyists to continue to spread their speech lavishly among politicians. When it comes to paying a fee for oversight of their trade, however, free speech takes on a… Read More
Think of the money health insurance companies would make if nobody got sick or injured. Or, more realistically, think how much they could make if they could choose to cover only the healthy and strong. A law passed two years ago prevents insurance companies from doing that, but… Read More
When they return next week from running for re-election, members of Congress are going to predict what the weather will be like here in January. After that, they are going to set the heating-assistance budget based on their winter forecast. There must be a better way. Read More
The arson last weekend in Northern Ireland — as Sen. George Mitchell was receiving the Liberty Medal for helping to broker peace there — only shows how difficult it was to obtain any agreement at all. The senator’s words last weekend brought hope that this latest bout of… Read More
Not one of Kenneth Starr’s better weeks: Susan McDougall walks out of prison; the Supreme Court, in the Vince Foster case, rules that attorney-client privilege applies even to those who have passed to the other shore; a federal judge tosses the tax evasion case against presidential pal Webster… Read More
The Maine Public Utilities Commission, which three years ago crafted a thoughtful order to connect schools and libraries to the Internet, now is considering ending the program before it has been completed. Such an action would needlessly shortchange students all over Maine. The Maine School… Read More
A rule of thumb in journalism is that three of anything is a trend. Three losses by a sports team is a slump. Three mild winters is global warming. Three presidential affairs is … you get the idea. So what is three instances of journalistic malpractice?… Read More
Gun dealers and buyers are right to question the cost and scope of the new instant background check system coming later this year. The feigned surprise of pro-gun groups that it’s coming at all is a bit hard to take. As of Dec. 1, anyone… Read More
Below is a lengthy excerpt from the document this holiday is about. Two hundred and twenty-two years ago, representatives in the Continental Congress met in Philadelphia and adopted their Declaration of Independence. It expressed frustration and anger with the policies of Great Britain and its king. It argued… Read More
Advocates of campaign finance reform often cite the unhealthy effect big money has upon the political process. A new report released this week on the close relationship between the chemical industry and Congress suggests the effect may be downright poisonous. “Unreasonable Risk: The Politics of… Read More
Municipal planners in U.S. cities threatened with military base closings might want to pack their bags and spend a few days in Bangor this summer. They’ll learn what residents here have known for 30 years: that transforming a major government facility into a lucrative civilian airport doesn’t have… Read More
Maine’s opportunity to ensure the safety of its coastal waters was improved recently by the outcome of a case in the state of Washington. The ruling suggests Maine can keep its hand in the business of overseeing oil-tanker operations, while respecting the Coast Guard’s duties in this same… Read More
That faint rumbling heard yesterday wasn’t, for a change, thunder, but the sound of the Customs Service striking a blow for common sense as it hammered a little reality into Canadian lumber mills and American home builders. Yesterday, July 1, was the day Customs closed… Read More
Until now, people who went to a doctor might be called patients; Congress may soon call them rights holders. Three “patient bill of rights” proposals have emerged in a GOP-controlled Congress, demonstrating either a philosophical shift in the role of government in health care or another set of… Read More
As drug busts go, the one that just went down in Camden was pretty much by the book. Residents of Norwood Avenue complain to police about suspicious goings-on at apartment 9G. Police investigate for two months, determine that tenant David Clark, a newcomer from Philadelphia and no stranger… Read More
Soccer is the sport of the future, a wit recently observed, and it always will be. That potential unfulfilled certainly could be the case in this country if American soccer moms — and dads — see much more of the thuggery surrounding World Cup `98. Read More
It’s difficult to keep good news to yourself and, when you’re the governor and it’s an election year, keeping quiet is just about impossible. No surprise then that Gov. Angus King’s office last week was sending out notices on Maine’s falling unemployment rate. Too bad… Read More
In a rare moment of apparent candor, members of Congress today are openly embarrassed by the Supreme Court’s rejection of their long-treasured line-item veto. We, they admit, of all people, should know what the constitution says about how a bill becomes a law. If the… Read More
The United States Supreme Court may not know what is art, it may be a bit fuzzy on what is indecent, but it has an admirably clear notion of what doesn’t constitute censorship. And that includes withholding the taxpayers’ money from chocolate-coated nudists. The most… Read More
The Supreme Court Thursday erased any notion that the Americans with Disabilities Act was designed merely to help the wheelchair-bound navigate sidewalks or ensure that the disabled may continue to work. In ruling largely in favor of an HIV-infected patient and against Bangor dentist Randon Bragdon, the court… Read More
Given the dual job of policing itself and of entertaining the nation’s children, the television industry once again has shown itself to be an indifferent cop and a somewhat malevolent nanny. For each of the last three years, the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the… Read More
You want to join the neighborhood fat cats who invested their spare change in the stock market and are making enough now to buy all the yarn balls and catnip in Maine — on paper, anyway. But how do you get started? You could ask… Read More
It’s been a tough week for Department of Justice’s Microsoft trustbusters. Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit lifted a preliminary injunction against the software giant, a decision that not only allows the company to bundle its Internet browser with its operating system, but that… Read More
President Clinton’s visit to China beginning today is an opportunity to reframe the political lament of the 1950s — “Who lost China?” to a question of who helped save it. To play even a small part of such a huge event, however, the president must raise his vision… Read More
University of Maryland researchers are busting their buttons over their new discovery, a 65-million-year-old chunk of fossilized dinosaur dung. T rex, no less. Scientists say they already have learned much by poking around this piece of petrified poop. A congratulatory pat on the back is well deserved; a… Read More
What he could not get in one act during his first administration, President Bill Clinton is taking a little bit at a time during this one. Millions of Americans, particularly seniors, could benefit if the White House’s slow push toward universal access to health care continues. Read More
A quiet but intense debate between the state and the Coast Guard over what business, if any, the state has in enforcing safety standards for oil tankers in Maine waters has ended up on the governor’s desk. He has the difficult task of calming federal officals who prefer… Read More
To hear House Speaker Newt Gingrich tell it, the U.S. income tax code is a 350-million word, multi-volume “monstrosity” that stalks the countryside and tramples the hopes and dreams of hard-working Americans. But before the speaker and the 219 Republicans who voted last week to… Read More
Gov. King has asked the state’s high court to decide the intent of a 1993 law that automatically rolls back the sales tax. His gubernatorial challengers are pounding him from both sides, arguing either that the law is clear and needs no judicial interpretation or that the state… Read More
Two years of debate on campaign-finance reform and a schedule glaringly empty of substantial legislation this session has given the House all the time it needs to hold a clean vote on reform. House members who actually want the measure — as opposed to those who just want… Read More
Jerry Garcia neckties? Racy swimsuit calendars? Phony Viagra gift certificates? Sonora Smart Dodd would be appalled. Credited with being the mother of Father’s Day, first observed on June 19, 1910, Mrs. Dodd had in mind a solemn holiday free of the almighty dollar, designed to… Read More
Eleven hundred Maine school and library sites have computers plugged in, but the job of connecting them is not yet finished. And it won’t be until the people who run these centers of education have the training and ongoing support they need to make their high-tech investments as… Read More
In the 30,000-word (but who’s counting?) cover story in the inaugural issue of his media-watch magazine, Content, Steven Brill blasts Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr for leaking secret grand jury information to the press and then scolds the participating press for being Starr’s lapdog. Starr fires… Read More
A Supreme Court decision this week over a state funding program for legal services was not the defeat some conservative groups described, but it was a warning for states, including Maine, to be prepared to defend its legal-services programs. Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts (IOLTA)… Read More
This time, it was Virginia. This time, the 14-year-old gunchild missed his primary target and merely wounded two. This time, one more time, it did not happen here. Here’s a few things that have happened here recently in insulated, innocent Maine: A Newport middle schooler… Read More
Just as Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott was again declaring major tobacco legislation figuratively dead last week, a judge in Florida was ordering Brown & Williamson Tobacco Co. to pay $1 million, including $450,000 in punitive damages, to the family of a man whose very real and painful… Read More
When Congress passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996, e-rate, the component that would bring high-tech to the nations’s classrooms, libraries and rural health centers was hailed as a model of public/private cooperation and creativity. The Federal Communication Commission’s decision last week to slash the program… Read More