With the increasing likelihood that any Tom, Dick or Harry has a handgun stuck in his belt, we support arming Maine’s Forest Rangers as an unfortunate but necessary step to protect their safety. A bill to do so was sidetracked during the last legislative session when Gov. Paul LePage appointed a 10-person task force to […]
Our View
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Let’s spell out what it means to red-flag a bridge
Maine has a bridge problem. New England has a bridge problem. The nation has a bridge problem. Red flags, lots of them — 86,413 countrywide in fact — are waving, according to the federal National Bridge Inventory. A red-flagged bridge means that a federal inspection has determined it to be either “structurally deficient,” in which at […]
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Riverview’s most dangerous patients must be moved
Forensic patients at Riverview Psychiatric Center in Augusta are “running the show,” according to an employee who works there. This employee, who recently spoke to the Sun Journal on the condition that we not use a name for fear of retaliation, said “the most violent, sociopathic and antisocial clients are in a hospital setting where […]
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Septic Social clarification
An editorial that ran in the Tuesday, Sept. 10, edition of the Sun Journal did not specify that the Androscoggin Valley Soil and Water Conservation District was a collaborating partner with the Auburn Water District, Lake Auburn Watershed Protection Commission and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, for the Septic Social workshop, held Saturday, Sept. 7, […]
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Ride system: State’s contract leaves few options
Legislators had a dramatic demonstration Wednesday of the state’s new transportation system for MaineCare clients. Rep. Matt Peterson, D-Rumford, picked up his cell phone during a legislative committee hearing and dialed the number provided to some MaineCare recipients. As Peterson held his cell phone to the microphone, the number rang once and a recorded voice […]
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Hospital deal has one goal: Move money
While we await final arguments by both sides, nothing heard in five hearings changes our original position that the exclusive deal worked out between MaineHealth and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield is ultimately meant to simply move money from here to Portland. The state’s largest hospital system and its largest insurer can say they […]
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Everything and nothing septic about this social
If you think there’s nothing social about septic systems, then you don’t know your — ummm, let’s rephrase that — you have a lot to learn. A lot. And if you had attended the “Septic Social” put on last Saturday by the Auburn Water District, Lake Auburn Watershed Commission, you’d know that and much more, […]
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Sick of bad news? Here’s a cure
Lewiston City Hall, a prominent fixture on our daytime skyline, will soon make an even more spectacular appearance at night. Electricians started installing 36 LED lights Thursday and Friday that will illuminate the main tower and its two mini-towers. Workers will return later this month to finish the job. City Hall will join two other […]
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In January, we start giving up millions
Suppose, just suppose, other states were receiving millions of dollars in federal aid to help support their doctors and hospitals, money that was unavailable to us in Maine. We’d be sore about that. Outraged would be more like it. But that is exactly what will begin happening on Jan. 1, 2014, when the federal government […]
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Today’s holiday honoring workers is well-earned
If you are a working man — or a working woman — today we pay tribute to you. As a nation, we depend on workers to pave our streets, grow and ship our food, stitch our clothes, build our electronics, repair our cars, clean our schools, transport the goods we consume, build our homes, care […]