Maine serves as guarantor for employee credit cards? Jeers, with interest. Former Department of Economic and Community Development employee James “Jimmy” Cook was issued a state credit card with the understanding that he would be responsible for paying bills for authorized expenses. He racked up over $5,000 in travel charges, submitted reimbursement claims for that […]

Another racial milestone was reached Monday when the first African-American president made the ceremonial first pitch of the Washington Nationals’ baseball season. To be accurate, this wasn’t President Barack Obama’s first trip to the mound. He tossed the first pitch of the 2009 All-Star Game. But, with his lob — high and outside — the […]

In an inspirational ending normally reserved for Hollywood screenplays, a black man asked an angry white crowd Tuesday to forgive a white woman for distributing a racially offensive cartoon. It was an encouraging sign of how far our country has come in healing the 300-year-old wound that began with slavery in America. The Casco Board […]

There’s a fine line between impulsive and decisive, and the decision by the Auburn City Council on Tuesday night to discontinue curbside recycling for a year is an example of the former. Councilors decided to park the city’s trucks after June 30, then spend a year working on a new recycling plan to be introduced […]

We won’t say you take your life in your hands, but does it ever seem like traffic in the Twin Cities is especially hectic and heavy on Friday afternoons? It certainly seemed that way last Friday, particularly in the vicinity of the Auburn Mall. Of course, a lot of things could explain that. It was […]

“We’ve created sprawl through poor planning, both transportation and land use, and we’re going to follow that up by creating a subsidized commuter system to chase those same commuters on a free highway. That sounds ridiculous to me.” Androscoggin County Commissioner Jonathan LaBonte is absolutely correct. It sounds ridiculous because it is ridiculous. The Maine […]

Really. This is ridiculous. A company that handles federal student loans announced last week that the personal data — names, addresses, Social Security numbers, dates of birth — for 3.3 million people were stolen from its headquarters in Minnesota. Hello. That’s 1 percent of the U.S. population — completely outed!  This happens so frequently anymore […]

This is the year. It is time to revive the decaying gazebo in Lewiston’s Kennedy Park. The city has removed the gazebo stairs and boarded up access to its entrance. So, it now stands abandoned, unusable and grossly unattractive. There are multiple signs along its six sides, in English and Somali, warning not to trespass […]

Never has a more accurate headline been written: “Woman found guilty in boat crash can’t drive.” Literally, this woman cannot drive. A New Hampshire judge last week revoked the driver’s license of Erica Blizzard, who was convicted March 18 of negligent homicide for slamming her 37-foot speed boat into an island on Lake Winnipesaukee, killing […]

You’ve probably seen the bumper sticker that says, “If you think education is expensive, try the alternative.” The state’s Juvenile Justice Task Force issued a report last week showing just how expensive: • About 4,000 Maine students fail to graduate with their classes each year, putting them at a much higher risk of crime. • […]