Speaking of class, Bob and Sandra Bahre have donated $1 million to a scholarship fund being established in honor of retiring SAD 17 Superintendent Mark Eastman. It’s an impressive gift given in the name of an impressive educator, and one with truly lasting value to students in the Oxford Hills. Eastman, who has served as […]

“The business of Maine is going to be business,” Republican candidate for Maine governor Paul LePage told about 100 supporters last week at a rally on the steps of the Waterville City Hall. We hope LePage can maintain that message discipline over the next five months leading up to the general election. In fact, we […]

Online taunts. Punches thrown. More than four years of threats and harassment have kept alive the memory of the crash that killed Edward Little High School student Kenny Jellison. So many times, when a young person dies, family and friends join together to do something in memory of the deceased, something that helps turn pain […]

The French may have pluck, but the hard work thing continues to elude them. Facing mounting budget deficits, the government there has proposed moving the retirement age from 60 to 62. Compare that to 66 for full retirement benefits in the U.S. And that’s not the only difference. There’s the 35-hour French work week, which […]

Cartoon Annie, and slightly enhanced version. You be the judge. Annie’s eyes creeped us out Jeepers Creepers, couldn’t somebody have given that kid some peepers? You have to wonder how many newspaper readers just couldn’t get past the vacant, zombie-like stare of the people who inhabited the comic-page world of Little Orphan Annie. First created […]

Rachel Lowe is an inspiration. In eight weeks’ time, she went from sedentary to whirlwind and kept right on going. Last year, Lowe joined the YMCA’s Couch to 5K club and started training with other novice runners, with the goal of participating in the annual Y Fit Fest. She completed that event, and has kept […]

There hadn’t been an iota of favorable press on the BP oil spill in more than 50 days. Until Wednesday afternoon, that is: A commitment to create an uncapped $20 billion damage claim fund, paid for by the oil giant; An organization completely independent of both BP and the government to handle claims and administer […]

Most Mainers still have vivid memories of the great ice storm of 1998, which paralyzed a strip of North America from southern Maine through Quebec and Nova Scotia. Millions of people were plunged into cold and darkness when the storm snapped trees and dragged down power lines. Businesses were closed, shelters were opened and people […]

Quick. What comes to mind when you think of Maine? Lobsters. Moose. Rocky shoreline. Endearing accent. Vermont? Maple syrup. Cows and cheese. Massachusetts? Patriots. Revolutionary War. Cape Cod. Kennedys. New Hampshire? Hmmm. A rock that looked like an old man, until it fell down? More turnpike toll booths per mile than any state in the […]

Most parents of older children can cite a long list of dedicated teachers and counselors who inspired their children to do well in school. The educational profession is full of such people. But most parents can also recall a teacher they seriously suspected just wasn’t up to the job anymore or seemed in over their […]