Chapter 22: Health, Plumbing and Sanitation Article 1: General Section 3.9 Interference with collection No unauthorized person shall remove any garbage or waste or any portion of same that has been placed for collection by the department of the city. * * * Violate this long-standing ordinance in Auburn, and expect to receive a summons […]

Education Secretary Arne Duncan opened a can of worms last week by suggesting that college basketball teams with low graduation rates be banned from participating in the annual NCAA tournament. The University of Maryland got the embarrassing distinction of having the lowest graduation rate, 8 percent, of the 65 teams in the first round of […]

Perhaps the most remarkable thing after Sunday night’s passage of health care reform was the wildly — and we mean wildly — differing views of what will now result. Republicans were predicting all forms of disaster for the country and for Democrats. Plagues. Locusts. The works. The conservative Washington Times agreed that the new law […]

A recent study found that American workers are discouraged and disgruntled, and it’s no wonder why. Unemployment remains stubbornly high and those fortunate enough to have jobs find themselves working harder, longer and often for lower pay. According to a study released last week by Towers Watson, a human resources consulting firm, employees say they […]

As the legislative session rushes to a close, the Criminal Justice Committee still has time to amend laws controlling the state’s public Sex Offender Registry. Protecting the public by allowing police access to a silent registry must be part of committee considerations. The long-debated challenge of amending Maine sex offender registration laws gained new urgency […]

Jeers to whoever is in charge of security at the Rite Aid Pharmacy in Livermore Falls. Or, more fittingly, whoever is not in charge of security there. The shop has been robbed three times in six years, moving 12,000 prescription drugs, including narcotic pills, to the street. In 2004, 5,000 pills were stolen. In 2009, […]

Superintendent Judith Harvey gave a remarkable presentation to the RSU 36 school board Wednesday night, part scathing indictment of past management and a spirited defense of its new direction. Still, the board should think hard before accepting Harvey’s recommendation that it reject a federal program that could be a true game-changer for their struggling high […]

Now that health care reform has finally come down to the ugliest partisan spectacle of an ugly partisan decade, it’s fair to ask whether President Barack Obama’s notion of a new bipartisan era ever stood a chance. Tuesday, we got an insightful answer from an insider, William F. Pewen, a health policy adviser to Maine […]

Restoration of longevity pay for state workers will be paid for within the current budget in the latest proposal by Gov. John Baldacci. Outdated information was used in an editorial published Wednesday on Page A6.

Now that the state’s revenue picture has brightened ever so slightly, Gov. John Baldacci and Democratic legislators are thinking about restoring longevity pay for state workers. Longevity pay was one of several wage-and-hour cuts imposed on state employees as the full effect of the recession took hold last year. However, with the Legislature still wrestling […]