A landmark agreement between the Penobscot River Restoration Trust and PPL Energy Corp. to sell, remove and bypass three hydroelectric dams is a blueprint for efforts for improving river habitats.Last week, in an announcement in Old Town, the trust revealed it raised $25 million to buy the Howland, Veazie and Great Works dams through a […]

The ability to seize assets of drug traffickers is lucrative for police, justified by the simple, eye-for-an-eye principle of using forfeited drug proceeds to support drug investigations.Earlier this year, the Sun Journal issued Freedom of Access Act requests to 25 area law enforcement agencies for records regarding their collection and expenditure of forfeited items and […]

Reader Jack Milo called Monday with another historical note about the McDonald’s in Lewiston:It brought Joe Graziano to Maine in 1966.Graziano was the first manager of the restaurant on Lisbon Street. Right after his McDonald’s years, Graziano opened his iconic Graziano’s Casa Mia in Lisbon in 1969.He was chairman of the state’s athletic commission and […]

Where is the outrage? Where are the protests?A historical building in Lewiston is being torn down!OK, we’re joking. But one of the city’s notable sites is slated for demolition: McDonald’s on Lisbon Street, near Exit 80 of the Maine Turnpike. This fast-food restaurant is also a historical landmark.It is McDonald’s No. 810, the third in […]

One couldn’t have predicted the next Cold War could possibly start over something like women’s gymnastics.The International Olympic Committee is looking into whether China has intentionally fabricated the ages of several women’s gymnasts, whose excellence on mats, bars and vaults have repeatedly spoiled American gold-medal hopes.Rumors of age-tampering circulated prior to the Olympic Games, when […]

The Oxford County casino campaign is a mess.Its spokeswoman quit after not drawing a paycheck since June, according to state filings. Pat LaMarche didn’t leave quietly, though, and called her employment “professionally objectionable” and “ethically impossible” to continue.“I believe the greatest asset a person has is his or her word,” LaMarche said in her parting […]

Now here’s something to applaud.A group of Maine Army National Guard soldiers were convoying on Route 2 through Rumford recently when a car accident occurred nearby. A bad one, too; one car slammed the rear of another, causing injuries to both drivers.So the Guard snapped into action. Some of them directed traffic, while others attended […]

At first look, the agreement between Casella Waste Systems and Waterford had our heads scratching.Why would the waste company agree to transport recyclables somewhere – Lewiston – it could not?Then again, we thought, why shouldn’t they?Importing recyclables from nearby communities like Waterford is a far cry from out-of-state waste, which was the concern during the […]

The Lewiston and Auburn city councils have approved $20,000 to study whether passenger flights should fly from A-L airport.While the idea seems conveniently tantalizing, the cities must be wary of pursuing a service dependent on a controversial government subsidy to offset the high costs of its operations.The subsidy is called “Essential Air Service.” It supports […]

Today, the next committee to tackle energy issues convenes its first of five meetings in Augusta. This is the aptly-named HEETForce, or Heat and Energy Emergency Task Force, assembled by the leadership of the Legislature.(Admittedly, this group has the slickest acronym of all the state energy and heat-related committees so far.)Some 13 lawmakers will serve […]