A Lewiston couple sat shame-faced in an Androscoggin County courtroom last week as a judge pronounced them guilty of stealing about $20,000 in housing benefits intended for the poor. The husband and wife obtained the money by claiming to have little or no income, even as they bought two apartment buildings with cash. The trial […]
Our View
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Our View: Lewiston-Auburn charter school rejected for good reason
It’s not easy to open a charter school in Maine, and the wisdom behind that arduous process was evident Monday. While the Maine Charter School Commission has rejected a host of applications for charter schools, it hadn’t rejected one yet for outright deception. But by unanimous vote Monday, the commission buried the hopes of its […]
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Our View: Still nagging doubts about virtual schools
We can only hope the Maine Charter School Commission members spoke with equal wisdom when they approved the application for the Maine Connections virtual school. It will become an online grade 7-12 school serving about 170 students who will learn from home by computer. But we have nagging doubts. In this digitized world, every student […]
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Medicaid expansion: Legislators must ask what’s best for Maine
The evidence for expanding Medicaid in Maine becomes more compelling by the day, while the reasons for not doing so become less and less so. Gov. Paul LePage’s objections lost a lot of oomph last week when two Republican senators presented a compromise aimed at addressing his concerns. State Sen. Tom Saviello, R-Wilton, and Senate […]
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Our View: No place for politics in appeals process
Last April, when allegations that Gov. Paul LePage had injected himself into Maine’s unemployment compensation appeal process surfaced, LePage’s office called the allegations politically motivated attacks meant to distract the public from more important issues. It was, as we said at the time, a predictable shift-the-blame response from his spokespeople. Thursday, after the U.S. Department […]
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A critical task of managing public records
On Tuesday, Chief Justice Leigh Saufley offered this astonishing fact in her State of the Courts address before the Legislature: Five million new pieces of paper flow into the clerks’ offices in Maine’s courts each year. They include civil and criminal filings, arrest warrants, orders of protection, divorce decrees, petitions for guardianship and adoption, among […]
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Foreign drugs: a prescription for disaster?
India’s pharmaceutical industry is in trouble — safety concerns, falsified drug test results and selling fake medicines, are just some of the “issues” facing drug makers there. Why should you care? Because 40 percent of the generics and over-the-counter prescription drugs consumed in this country come from India. Still not overly concerned? The FDA recently […]
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The bill should be killed, not the inmates
Every once in a while, an inmate escapes from a Maine jail. Escape is a felony in Maine, and if the escapee is convicted the punishment can be up to 5 years in jail and $5,000 in fines. If a weapon is used in the escape, the penalties double. Such a steep sentence is rarely, […]
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Our View: CDC employees are entitled to legal counsel
On Thursday, the Sun Journal published a front-page report on the fees to be paid to private lawyers hired to defend Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention employees in a federal whistleblower lawsuit. Attorney General Janet Mills authorized the expenditure of up to $50,000 for the firm of Kelly, Remmel & Zimmerman to represent […]
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Mark your calendar: It’s town meeting season
Voters of West Paris will assemble one week from Saturday for their annual town meeting. They are expected to elect one selectman and a water district trustee, and will consider a $1.1 million budget, which is $11,403 more than what passed last year. For the 1,812 people living in West Paris, these are important decisions […]