From staff reports

Now that the Maine Legislature has officially sanctioned continuing pollution of the Androscoggin River, watch out.

River advocates are already discussing their next step, and that could be to enlist a national advocacy group, American Rivers, to help shine a spotlight of shame on Maine.

Some might recall that several years back American Rivers included the Allagash Wilderness Waterway on its list of the nation’s most endangered rivers. The Allagash was included not for pollution – it’s about as clean as they get – but because of access issues and the state’s failure to stick to the terms of the nation’s Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.

Well, once that list made the news, Maine got its act in gear pronto, renewing its commitment to the act and tackling those thorny access issues.

With the Natural Resources Committee scuttling state Rep. Elaine Makas’ bill to hold the Androscoggin to Clean Water Act standards, expect American Rivers to take a long, hard look at the Androscoggin.

After all, the river was the inspiration for Sen. Edmund Muskie’s Clean Water Act. Given that, it probably does deserve better than being one of only two state-sanctioned polluted waterways.

– Doug Fletcher
A honey of a caper

All points bulletin for Lewiston police: Be on the lookout for a giant bee, possibly a swarm of them, buzzing through the downtown area. Also be alert for any suspicious-looking bears or cartoon characters wandering through apartment hallways. Officers, please acknowledge.

It could be a sticky case for police, but from a journalistic standpoint, it’s sweet. A large pot of honey was stolen this week from outside an apartment door. A mailman left the gooey package in front of the intended recipient’s home, but it disappeared soon after.

My first suspect was Winnie the Pooh and maybe some of his cohorts. What do we really know about Tigger? He’s got that freakish laugh that makes me think he’s up to something.

My second thought was bees because they make honey and probably don’t like it taken from them. Plus, they’re just all-around despicable characters. Investigators should arrange a sting to capture them.

Police were not as gleeful about the report. The honey is valued at $25, and cops were out looking for the sticky-fingered culprit Wednesday night.

– Mark LaFlamme
Filibuster flood

They talked. They read from books.

And they did it for 36 hours straight.

The Bates College filibuster went longer than even its creator had hoped.

The mock filibuster started Tuesday at 11 a.m. with a reading from “14,000 Things to be Happy About.” It ended Wednesday night.

Students at Princeton University began the mock filibuster trend April 26 to protest changes proposed by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., a Princeton alumnus. Soon, college students in two dozen states were holding filibusters. According to the group’s Web site, the Bates filibuster was one of the longest running.

Nick Violi, 21, started the one at Bates. He hoped to keep it going for 24 hours.

For the first few hours he had only a handful of people scheduled to speak. Two of them were Violi’s roommates. One was the college president.

But by that afternoon, people had signed up through 1 a.m. By the morning, people had signed up through the day.

The filibuster ended at 11 p.m.

“We’re very proud of what we’ve put together. We just hope it made a difference,” he said.

– Lindsay Tice