How frightening would it be to realize your 22-month-old had fallen through an apartment window? Three stories off the ground? We can’t imagine, but it is abundantly fair to say that David O’Connor is one lucky little boy. It is also fair to say his parents are greatly relieved that he suffered no more than […]

There are some things you just don’t want to see, one of them being a full-grown man taking a bath in a public fountain. Yet, there he was last Friday morning, a bather in the Courthouse Plaza fountain. The man told a Sun Journal photographer that he alternates between that plaza and Festival Plaza in […]

When a large dog attacked and killed a small one on a leash being walked by a child three weeks ago in Lewiston, we called it “horrific.” Sadly, it’s happened again and we can’t think of a better adjective. Sunday in Livermore Falls, a 20-pound terrier on a leash being walked by three teens was […]

If you’ve been to West Virginia, you probably remember similarities to Maine: vast natural beauty, small towns, friendly people. It’s also a place where good jobs are tough to find and people in its most rural corners scramble to eke out a living. Maine and West Virginia also share a similar problem — seriously underfunded […]

Praise publicly; criticize privately. That’s a piece of employee management advice that has been around forever, and the Auburn City Council would do well to heed it. At a very perplexing council meeting last week, members failed to get enough votes to go into an executive session to discuss City Manager Glenn Aho’s review. Two […]

There are two definitions for “syllogism” in Webster’s Dictionary. The first is for a deductive argument with a major and minor premise followed by a conclusion, as in: “Every virtue is laudable; kindness is a virtue; therefore kindness is laudable.” Makes perfect sense. The other definition is for any subtle, specious or sneaky argument. The […]

The Jay School Committee is considering a policy requiring its members to hold votes in public, and specifically prohibiting votes by secret ballot. How curious, since state law already requires that. Does the committee truly need to enact a policy to require members to abide by state law? We certainly hope not. Maine’s Freedom of […]

It’s probably easy for Mainers to understand the agony of the people on the Gulf Coast affected by the BP spill. We simply need to close our eyes for a minute and imagine oil washing up on Old Orchard Beach, Popham Beach and along the rocky shores of Acadia National Park. Or recreational fishing for […]

Jeers to members of Maine Earth First! who disrupted the transport of a wind turbine bound for Kibby Mountain on Tuesday. When these activists — commonly referred to as eco-terrorists — stage a protest against industry, the victims are the people who work for these companies, like the truck driver who was stopped. Not only […]

Auburn Councilor Dan Herrick wants to know exactly what the Dempsey Challenge brings to taxpayers. That’s a good question. The second-term councilor objects to an estimated $2,800 in costs Auburn expects to incur for police and Public Works employees to monitor and control traffic during the run/bike event. He is joined in his objection by […]