If Tuesday’s vote proves anything, it is that to win a hotly contested ballot issue in Maine, forget about getting votes in Bangor or Portland and focus on Madawaska, Woodland, Cherryfield and dozens of other smaller communities. Like the defeat of the Compact for Maine’s Forests last November,… Read More
Congress is after the Constitution again. The Senate recently revived its attempt to diminish the First Amendment by introducing legislation to bar flag desecration. It is a bill meant more to cause discomfort in its opponents than to accomplish anything productive. Regrettably, both Maine Sens. Olympia Snowe and… Read More
It’s not easy being the world’s policeman. Especially when the world aids and abets the bad guys. So it is for the United States and Great Britain, two nations ready and willing to put its military personnel in harm’s way to eliminate Iraq’s weapons of… Read More
There is little doubt that Cherryfield Foods’ planned cranberry bog in Washington County is a major step in the development of a new industry in that struggling region. And there is good reason to believe that the state’s new salmon conservation plan can protect Maine… Read More
When campaign finance reform got filibustered to a halt last fall, there was reason to wonder to what extent Sen. Olympia Snowe was torn between her interest in good government and the good graces of her party’s anti-reform leadership. Now, with the fate of the… Read More
Tribal leaders say they’re unimpressed by the brief the state’s lawyers filed the other day in the case against 13 unlicensed Passamaquoddy Indian saltwater fishermen. Those tribal leaders are being kind. The state’s argument doesn’t merely fail to impress, it offends. googletag.cmd.push(function () { //… Read More
When Maine got a first glimpse of its blossoming revenue surplus last summer, Gov. King said any money not saved or returned to taxpayers should be spent on one-time fixes of the things most broken. In singling out the Maine Youth Center for a $40 million overhaul during… Read More
As Maine’s revenue pie grows, so does the appetite of programs hungry for more. While this presents lawmakers with many tough decisions in the coming weeks, one plate clearly deserving a bigger slice belongs to Jobs for Maine’s Graduates. JMG, a non-profit corporation, was established… Read More
The ballot is short Tuesday. One question: Do Maine people reject or keep a law that prevents discrimination against gays in the areas of housing, jobs and credit? Simple. Decide whether homosexuals deserve the same freedoms heterosexuals have in the Maine community. The debate has… Read More
Maine electric utilities have already begun the process of downsizing to prepare for deregulation in 2000. By then, they will be far smaller transmission and distribution companies, minor players in the competitive world of energy production and marketing. So why is the Legislature considering a 60 percent budget… Read More
What to do with that big pile of money the late Aunt Minnie bequeathed to Maine — the $200 million revenue surplus — was the most eagerly anticipated portion of Gov. King’s State of the State address Monday, but perhaps the most intriguing tidbit was the part about… Read More
Despite more than a dozen attempts, no state has been able to identify and fund services it considers essential to a proper primary and secondary education. Maine is the latest state taking a run at it, with some highly encouraging signs from a committee established to identify essential… Read More
Ice Trooper: After criticizing the use of generators by the shivering, railing against the distribution of food vouchers to the hungry and describing his aborted plan for an armed takeover of an idle power plant, Paul Thompson told Washington County officials the other day he’s changing his job… Read More
All due respect to those who believe the sport is on the level, but the Big Beltway Battle of the Budget is about as legit as Wrestlemania. Democrats dropkick Republicans for favoring Big Tobacco over children, good health and education. Republicans hammerlock Democrats for spending every dime they… Read More
Lessons from the storm Much has been made of Gov. Angus King’s speaking abilities; at his State of the State speech Monday, he also demonstrated a capacity to listen. The governor has heard the economic disparity tearing at the fabric of Maine and energetically pledged… Read More
A bill before the Maine Legislature puts University of Maine System alumni on the benefactor’s hot seat: If this worthy bill passes and they still don’t give, they’ll have a lot to answer for at Homecoming. The legislation would match with state dollars every dollar… Read More
An explosion — from a bomb, a mine, coal dust? — ripped through the U.S.S. Maine as it sat in Havana Harbor off Cuba Feb. 15, 1898, killing 260 sailors and helping to set the stage for the Spanish-American War. Remember? Very few people do, making an observance… Read More
One of the most fascinating dynamics of State of the Union addresses is the effort members of Congress make to not applaud presidential proposals of which they do not approve. The sound of no hands clapping can be thunderous. Take, for example, the roughly 17… Read More
The Marine Resources Committee is on the brink of creating a lobster conservation zone around Monhegan Island and understandably uncomfortable about it. While partitioning the ocean is serious business, so is the preservation of natural resources and the communities they support — it is inevitable that lawmakers must… Read More
Maine became the fourth state Friday to resist pressure from automakers, who wanted states to agree to a deal to weaken emission standards. Gov. Angus King deserves credit for keeping Maine on the road to cleaner cars. The deal arranged by the Big Three automakers… Read More
For a state that prides itself on a “fix it up, make do, make it last” ethic, Maine’s approach to school construction, renovations and repairs seems like something foisted upon it by an alien culture utterly averse to thrift and common sense. “Let it rot, then throw money… Read More
One needn’t be a knuckle-dragging Neanderthal, a cultural Philistine or even a Republican from Guilford to have a serious problem with the state’s emergency entry into the art auction business. While rank-and-file Mainers gird for a long debate about the most wise, prudent and consenus-gaining… Read More
No one knows precisely what the potential sale of Bowater’s Millinocket mill means for the region, but anyone can see the direction we’re going in. Fewer jobs, fewer people, dying towns. How much more of a warning is needed before Maine’s leaders see that the northern half of… Read More
The Death with Dignity Act is on life-support in the Legislature and its prognosis is dismal. It may not make it this session, but the popular support for physician-assisted suicide means that it will be back. It should; this is a valuable bill that deserves passage. Read More
A recent poll of news watchers found people terrifically interested in the President Clinton/Monica Lewinsky scandal and really irritated at the press for bringing it to them. This may sound hypocritical; in part, it is. But it is also a measure of how extensively this story has been… Read More
President Clinton’s State of the Union address had hardly passed his lips before the partisans were arguing about whether it was a visionary agenda or a grab bag of giveaways, whether his warning to Saddam Hussein was a timely shot across the bow or a dud. Bicker away,… Read More
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 was hailed at the time as a landmark achievement of that Congress. As the 1998 Congress convenes this week, it may find that landmark in need of rebuilding, if not bulldozing. Here’s what the act promised: lower cable rates; lower… Read More
If a city’s library says something about its citizenry — and it surely does — the new, improved Bangor Public Library speaks volumes about Bangorites. An $8.5 million capital campaign; the restoration of an 85-year-old building; the addition of 26,000 square feet of new space;… Read More
This may be the first time states have had to fight the Environmental Protection Agency to pollute less. But Maine and 11 other states that want cleaner cars are in conflict with the federal environmentalists, who are lobbying states to accept dirtier-burning vehicles to please some automakers. The… Read More
Events around President Clinton’s alleged adulterous affair continue to grow more complicated as news surfaces about what cabinet members may have known and who might be granted immunity in exchange for testimony. But one thing got simpler yesterday when the president, properly, clearly, finally went on record to… Read More
Campaign finance reform isn’t dead, only sleeping. Sen. Susan Collins, who developed a well-deserved reputation as a crusader for the cause last summer, says it’s up to the public to shake it fully awake. Maine’s junior senator, as most disgruntled voters recall, was one of… Read More
The response was as predictable as the proposal: The commissioner of mental health and mental retardation proposes reducing the size of the Bangor Mental Health Institute and alarm bells sound around the region. Rather than having its legislators dig in once again in Augusta and once again give… Read More
Is the president a hound or, even worse, a lying hound? Is Monica Lewinsky a letch’s innocent prey or a delusional fatal attractor? Kenneth Starr — diligent ferret of fact or mud-slinger who desparately needs to make something stick? And how about that Linda Tripp… Read More
As Maine tries to keep pace with the rest of the nation on the road to prosperity, many of its children are being left behind. The annual Maine Kids Count book released this week offers details of how, in important areas, Maine children are worse off now than… Read More
No surprise that Sean Faircloth’s recent Op-ed commentary on referendums got a rousing reaction; that’s why he wrote it. The tension in a democratic republic between what the people control directly and what they delegate to representatives has yet to be entirely decided after 220 years of practice. Read More
If legislators were indeed surprised by Gov. King’s announcement Wednesday that any rebuilding of the state’s prison system must include a strong Down East component, their shock only proves that the perceived Other Maine syndrome is deep and real. An advisory committee’s vision of a… Read More
The Roe v. Wade decision is 25 years old today, and Americans are as conflicted about abortion as ever. They are, on average, certain that women should retain the right to abortion, with limits, while being deeply disturbed about the details of the abortion procedure. The conflict appears… Read More
There may well be good scientific reasons for John Glenn’s return to space in October aboard the shuttle Discovery. The effect of weightlessness upon his 77-year-old body and mind could provide valuable insight into the aging process, the information gleaned during the 10-day mission could help medical science… Read More
“What a piece of work is a man,” observed Hamlet, soliloquizing upon the noble reason and infinite faculties of the species shortly before he and his entire circle of acquaintances poison and stab each other to death. “What’s a piece of work, man?” asks Random… Read More
Congress returns to session with a problem similar to one faced by the Maine Legislature: an abundance of tax dollars and no agreement how to spend it. Unlike, Maine, however, the federal government has strict guidelines for the potential surplus, and members would be wise to stick to… Read More
The second session of the Legislature begins today with a bill that would cancel funding for liquor stores along the Maine Turnpike and another to get the state out of the liquor business altogether. We’ll drink to that. The issue is older than well-aged scotch,… Read More
Heartfelt congratulations to WVOM radio station, whose disc jockeys should be numbered among the many heroes of the Ice Storm of ’98. They have done a wonderful job handling countless phone calls and getting people the help they need while offering a little bit of storm therapy and… Read More
“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: `We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’…I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a… Read More
To know Maine is to love it, according to state tourism officials, who point out that vacation spots here rely heavily on repeat business. The challenge for the state’s Office of Tourism is to persuade more people to get to know Maine. At a two-day… Read More
Nanny state update: Georgia Gov. Zell Miller, fresh from seminar on the beneficial effect of classical music upon developing prenatal minds, asks his legislature to cough up $105,000 to provide every expectant mother with a highbrow tape or CD. Down home lawmakers engage in furious debate on who… Read More
Juvenile offenders goofing off on a Monday morning, reading magazines and playing cards. Adult inmates milling around a basketball court while the law-abiding work. A $160 million construction plan that has State House support ranging from cool to non-existent. It’s becoming increasingly clear that Maine’s… Read More
The Asian woman in the photo looks frighteningly familiar, although 15 years ago, she had blond hair and, instead of a swimsuit, wore an East German track uniform. She is one of four female swimmers from China whose careers likely are finished. Her country might face a similar… Read More
When it first surfaced last weekend, the idea of using a Navy ship to power up the stricken Downeast region was intriguing, innovative, maybe just crazy enough to work. Not crazy enough, apparently. After getting shuffled from one bureau to another, utility officials learned the… Read More
When a billionaire is mad at you, figure he can afford to stay mad, publicly, for a long time. Steve “Flat Tax” Forbes is mad at the Republican Party for a lot of things — such as its refusal to support him in the last campaign — but… Read More
One of the useful results of the 20-year debate over gay rights is that it has pulled out of the closet, one by one, all the terrible fears that could visit Maine if the state told its citizens they could not discriminate against a neighbor based on his… Read More
Don’t let the pallid, monitor-hued complexion and the spindly junk-food frame fool you. Beneath the emaciated exterior of the high-tech industry beats the heart of a truly with-it grifter. The scam — or, if you prefer, the innovative public/private partnership — announced by the White… Read More
Along with sleet and freezing rain, Maine got hit this week with an unusual effect of the storm: greed. In the end, it could hurt worse than the nasty weather. The state’s power crisis has brought out the best in neighbors. Too bad Illinois and… Read More
If every picture tells a story, the front of Monday’s MaineDay section tells the human side of natural disaster. Rich Aitken trudges across a sleety landscape of shattered trees and drooping power lines to deliver water and medicine to a neighbor. Her face showing both… Read More
The mystery of how the Terry Nichols jury could find him guilty of conspiring to blow up a building but not of intentionally causing the inevitable deaths was substantially solved in the aftermath of its deadlock on punishment — some members, one is all it takes, were less… Read More
It’s pretty much a given that any person who describes himself as “eccentric, or brilliant or near-genius” is a person to be avoided at all costs. Would that society could avoid the likes of Richard Seed. Seed, of course, is a the aptly named Harvard-educated,… Read More
The sale of most of Central Maine Power generating capacity for an enormous sum to the Florida-based FPL Group was a well-timed deal for customers’ pocketbooks. But the sale should also be a warning to lawmakers still crafting the state’s deregulation laws for electric utilities: Power companies here… Read More
The Baxter State Park Authority will consider Tuesday whether traditional uses within a recent addition to the park should be continued or whether the 2,669 acres purchased last spring from Great Northern Paper should be held as sanctuary. The short answer is that Maine should continue to allow… Read More
No sooner had Iranian President Mohammad Khatami wrapped up his unprecedented interview with Cable News Network Wednesday night when American pundits and politicians began dissecting every syllable, parsing every sentence, looking for hidden meaning in the call for improved relations between the hostile nations. Such… Read More
Schools closed. Meetings canceled. Government offices and quite a few businesses shut down for the day. An ice storm can stop folks in their tracks or place them, gracelessly, on the seat of their pants. And while it is frustrating and sometimes dangerous for those with work to… Read More
Juvenile offenders goofing off on a Monday morning, reading magazines and playing cards. Adult inmates milling around a basketball court while the law-abiding work. A $160 million construction plan that has State House support ranging from cool to non-existent. It’s becoming increasingly clear that Maine’s… Read More
Awfully nice of Anheuser-Busch to put up a $1 million prize for the first non-stop balloon flight around the world, with half going to charity. The only thing nicer, in fact, would be for those generous folks at Bud just to give the money to charity and call… Read More
The U.S. Department of the Treasury may be one of the stodgier bureaucracies, but somebody down there has a delicious sense of humor. Or a wicked mean streak. Treasury is about to mint a new line of quarters boosting every one of our grand and… Read More
Two constitutional amendments to equitably support school districts across Maine seem simple enough, but the issue is far more treacherous than it appears. Supporters of these amendments should take care: They may get what they ask for. The amendments, to be heard tomorrow before the… Read More
The start of a new year traditionally is the time to look back and to look ahead. As the Maine Legislature ponders what to do with the state’s $200 million-plus revenue surplus, it’s also a good time to look around. Maine, you see, is not… Read More
Anyone who recalls waiting in gas lines in the 1970s and the years that U.S. automakers took to decide that Americans preferred driving to waiting will be heartened by the recent news from Detroit: Large automakers plan to compete with their European and Asian counterparts to produce practical… Read More
The Department of Energy at month’s end is scheduled to begin taking the thousands of tons of high-level nuclear waste that nuclear plants around the country have been storing on-site. One problem: the DOE, despite collecting almost $14 billion from ratepayers for the purpose since 1982, has no… Read More
The disconnect between Maine dentists and Medicaid patients was no mystery. The reimbursement level was so low that few dentists felt they could afford to regularly treat these patients, putting more pressure on the minority of dentists who did. The doubling or more of many Medicaid dental rates… Read More
In his State of the State speech last year, Gov. Angus King declared war on tobacco, got a standing ovation from the Legislature, accolades from the public and, a few months later, the doubled cigarette tax he asked for. This year, much of the annual… Read More
Chief Justice William Rehnquist came as close as possible this week to scolding Senate Republicans for their foot-dragging on confirming presidential nominees to the federal courts. Properly, he also mentioned the president’s slowness in making those nominations. Both sides should consider the chief justice’s chastisement ample notice that… Read More
Though Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo has been forceful in condemining the recent terrorism in Mexico’s Chiapas state, his government’s inability to restore order there further erodes public confidence and places peaceful reforms in question. News reports this week that vigilantes have taken at least four… Read More
Gov. King’s proposed $25.6 million supplemental budget is a surprise in neither size nor scope. Given the fiscal roller coaster Maine’s been on for most of this decade, that in itself is pleasant surprise enough. With the revenue surplus projection expected to top $200 million… 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 backwards 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
When Theodore Kaczynski goes on trial Monday, he will do so amid virtually unanimous consensus — his defense team included — that he is the Unabomber, that he did in fact make and send bombs that killed two and injured two others. The where, when… Read More
The Maine Commission on Children’s Health Care presented a sensible proposal recently to provide more children with health coverage, an act that is both good for the kids and good for the state. One of the challenges for the plan, however, is to persuade families to use it. Read More
Whether a group gathering signatures for a referendum on the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes gathers enough signatures is uncertain, but at least it will allow Maine to debate the question without the distractions of the usual pro-pot fanfare. Two groups with very different… Read More
Prosecutors have sound reasons for wanting more power to decide when juveniles should be tried as adults: a rising tide of heinous violent crime committed by kids; a public made increasingly irate by remorseless repeat offenders and wrist-slapping judges. Opponents, largely defense attorneys, also make… Read More
Some encouraging news on the amount of mercury being deposited in lakes and bogs around Maine supports recent legislation in Congress that would further restrict mercury’s use. The research suggests that changes in policy toward pollutants can lead to direct improvements in the environemtn. Geologists… Read More
The top trend for 1998, according to the latest edition of The Trends Journal, printed by the Trends Research Institute, which refers to itself as the World Leader in Trend Forecasting and so ought to know, is the end of the world. The journal also lists nine other… Read More
The entire nation — almost all of the continent, for that matter — lies to the west of Maine, a state without a west-going highway. Is a study needed to detect a problem here or can Maine conclude that it ought to do something about this?… Read More
Best Gift of the Season: Barbara Cooney, award-winning author of 109 children’s books, recently donated $550,000 to the town of Damariscotta, to help it build a new library. The current building for the Skidompha Public Library, which has served the area since the last century, is too small… Read More
This is how effectively Maine can invest in itself: The Legislature last session sent $400,000 to the University of Maine for research; the university immediately used that money to leverage $2.8 million in federal grants. The only question lawmakers should have now is how much more can the… Read More
The pre-Christmas verdict for Terry Nichols was an opportunity for healing and an end to the tragedy of the Oklahoma City bombing. Instead, the families of the victims expressed disappointment and shock over the jury’s decision; instead of closure, they got compromise. Only through odd… 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
It’s hard enough watching the ambulance chasers at the U.S. Justice Department pull this fake injury publicity stunt on Microsoft. Now, a growing number of state attorneys general are strapping on the whiplash collar and hobbling around for the cameras. Emboldened by their triumph over… Read More
President Clinton is right to admit he was wrong — the length of the mission for U.S. troops to Bosnia must be based upon tasks accomplished, not the calendar. But in admitting that the 8,500 troops won’t be home by June, the president assumes a… Read More
Maine needed seven years to dig itself out of its budget hole and show a surplus in Augusta. State lawmakers seem determined to spend the windfall in the next month. For the sake of the state and its taxpayers, they should slow down. The current… Read More
Worst advice of the season: A lawyer for Christopher A. Moran of Houlton, whom police describe as a convicted child molester, advises his client that it would be all right for him to be a mall Santa Claus, even though Mr. Moran’s probation conditions bar him from having… Read More
The best thing about an advisory panel’s plan to overhaul Maine’s prison system is that it will serve as an example of how not to do it next time. We say next time because there must be one. This $160 million turkey just won’t fly. Read More
Now that Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen has been properly honored by having a school named after him, Bangor residents should thank some of their neighbors for making it happen. Their work sets a positive example for the entire city. The Bangor School Committee’s… Read More
The American University in Bulgaria, founded with the help of the University of Maine, struggles to find footing in Bulgaria’s swirling transition to democracy and capitalism. Despite some failures, it is an ambitious and noble experiment in education. Sometimes, it even works. AUBG was established… Read More
At the risk of creating an international incident, let us suggest that some of the recent media coverage of state government’s interest in a proposed gas line from Canada through Maine is a touch overheated. It may be, in fact, that the stories were cooked up from the… Read More
That rising tide of prosperity we keep hearing about has defied its cliche by leaving some boats swamped in Maine. Even though the economy is supposed to be bumping along nicely, the state’s most vulnerable residents still are struggling to keep their homes or pay for heat and… Read More
The recent spate of scandals — rape, assault, harassment — leaves no doubt the military has a long way to go in integrating men and women. The potential solution aired Tuesday, that the sexes be separated during basic and advanced training, is a step in the wrong direction. Read More
In the early morning of June 24 in Portland’s East Deering neighborhood, three unarmed young men were shot to death. Tuesday afternoon in Cumberland County Superior Court, they got lynched. By all accounts, Nickolas Patenaude, Kevin Pinette and Dana Matthews were not model citizens. By… Read More
Long accustomed to using the Endangered Species Act as a club, some environmentalists who struck out trying to get the listing for Atlantic salmon in seven Maine rivers are feeling understandably bludgeoned. The decision, announced under the State House dome Monday by Interior Secretary Bruce… Read More
Members of Congress casting about for a good piece of legislation to impress the folks back home were handed one Monday by the federal judge hearing the case against former Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy. If Congress can’t make hay out of this, it isn’t trying. Read More
Two important annoucements recently should be encouraging to farmers in Maine who have tapped into the rapidly growing market in organic produce. The decision Friday by the Maine Board of Pesticide Control that the case has yet to be made for the need for genetically… Read More
On Sunday, one Republican leader suggested President Clinton name Bill Lann Lee acting assistant attorney general for civil rights, saying the temporary connotation of that job title wouldn’t be as much a “finger in the eye of the Senate” as a full-fledged recess appointment. On… Read More
On one level, the appearance by Corrections Commissioner Martin Magnusson before the Appropriations Committee last week was just one more in a long line of appeals by department heads for a taste of the state’s $185 million surplus. But by asking for $2.2 million in… Read More
One hundred years after her birth and 47 years since her Declaration of Conscience, Margaret Chase Smith has come to represent the all that is good about political leaders. It is worth remembering today that her time in the Senate was not always easy. The… Read More