The decision by police in three states to use a law meant to protect citizens from being recorded without their knowledge as a means to prohibit the filming or photographing of on-duty police officers has chilling implications for both the news media and the public at large. Thankfully, Maine’s Legislature has refrained from changing the […]

We like to think drunk drivers are the exception rather than the rule. But, at 1:30 a.m., on a major Interstate? Who knows? The odds played out with tragic consequences last week when a Massachusetts State Police sergeant was killed while stopping traffic on an exit ramp for construction work. Sgt. Douglas Weddleton had parked […]

When the going gets tough, the tough … well, they hit the sack or watch TV. That’s the finding of a Labor Department report that says unemployed people generally spent their new-found free time getting more sleep or watching TV. Which, as unfortunate as it sounds, probably makes sense. No job means no income, which […]

Our crossword fans have spoken, and decisively — don’t change the daily crossword puzzle! Three weeks ago, we asked your opinion of the daily puzzle. We had received scattered complaints since the beginning of the year that the puzzle had changed, and not for the better. So, we contacted our puzzle supplier, United Media, who […]

Cheers to the Warden Service, Maine’s Marine Patrol and the U.S. Coast Guard for taking the offensive in curtailing drinking on Maine’s waterways. Operation Dry Water launches this weekend, a national effort targeting drunks at the helm. “Boating under the influence of alcohol or drugs has become the leading contributing factor in fatal recreational boating […]

Maine’s two senators have offered to cross party lines to help end a baffling Senate practice which deserves to go the way of the spittoon and smoke-filled back room — the secret hold. Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins have, along with 63 colleagues, signed a petition to ban the practice, which allows a single […]

You would like to think that some things go without saying. Like this: If your dog is stronger than you are, you shouldn’t be walking it. But no, it apparently needs to be said. It is difficult to imagine a more horrific scene for a child than seeing her beloved pet killed in front of […]

The concept that discretion remains the greater part of valor played out in living color Wednesday as the latest leader of the war in Afghanistan, Army Gen. Stanley McChyrstal, lost his command over comments he and his staff made in the presence of a reporter. McChrystal, who gave Rolling Stone magazine a month of unfettered […]

Livermore Falls Town Manager Jim Chaousis did a very classy thing Monday night. He apologized, in public, for his bad behavior following a selectmen’s meeting on June 7. A heartfelt apology can be difficult to verbalize, and doing so in public makes it tough duty. Chaousis was tired and upset when he screamed at a […]