Former Illinois Gov. George Ryan’s legacy looks like a twin tale of political courage and personal and professional failure.

Ryan was indicted last week on a long list of federal charges, including allegations that he illegally steered government contracts to friends and business associates, underreported his income, conducted inappropriate political fund raising and then tried to cover everything up. Ryan is the 66th person charged, according to the Associated Press, in a wide-ranging probe that has yielded 58 convictions.

If the charges prove true, they show a disregard for the law and represent a near-complete moral and ethical failure.

But in January, Ryan stunned the Illinois political establishment by commuting the death sentences of 167 convicts. “Our capital system is haunted by the demons of error – error in determining guilt, and error in determining who among the guilty deserves to die,” Ryan was quoted by USA Today at the time.

The announcement followed the day after the governor pardoned four men on death row who had been exonerated. In total, 17 innocent people have been sentenced to die in Illinois and later freed during the last 25 years.

Even at the time of his renunciation of the death penalty, Ryan was under federal investigation. Skeptics said his move reeked of political opportunism, an effort to deflect criticism.

There are two Ryans. The first is driven by what the former governor called a moral obligation to take a politically unpopular decision, to spare life. The second is accused of using his power and influence to line his own pockets and the pockets of his pals. The two are tough to reconcile.


Saturday classes


Central Maine Community College is adding more Saturday morning classes to its course schedule.

It might not seem like it at first, but it’s an important improvement that helps to address the needs of nontraditional students who make up a sizable percentage of CMCC’s students.

Sure, classes on Saturday morning remind us of those dreaded snow makeup days. But for students who must work while, at the same time, trying to upgrade their education, the additional classes create more flexibility.

For adult students with adult responsibilities, flexibility is the name of the game.


Christmas spirit


Floodwaters can’t wash away Christmas for Canton, Bethel and other communities in western Maine, struck by a difficult pattern of December weather that forced rivers out of their banks.

As many of us rush around for the last-minute gifts and the almost-forgotten essentials for holiday gatherings, we should pause, calm down and be thankful for our good fortune and remember those with less.

Even during dangerous times of Code Orange alerts, wars and natural disasters, we can, as a people, overcome.

“I went around and checked on people. It was amazing to see people saying, ‘It’s not that bad’ as they’re standing in a foot of water in their homes. They’re all counting their blessings. And people are helping out,” said Mary Dube, who was volunteering in Canton with flood victims.

It’s a good time for all of us to count our blessings.


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