For such a giant building, Bates Mill No. 5 is awfully easy to ignore. In the months since a city task force issued its report on the mill’s prospects, there’s been little progress deciding the big mill’s fate.Nobody should expect an instant solution to this long-standing quandary. But there are several new, pressing factors at […]

When adults enter into contracts for big ticket items, like business partnerships and homes, we hire lawyers to help us understand contract language before we sign.High school graduations are big ticket items for teens, and high school students across Maine sign participation contracts with advice from parents and teachers, an overwhelming number of whom are […]

Even more confounding than the Maine Turnpike Authority’s decision to close I-295 south between Gardiner and Topsham during the early days of summer tourist season is the notion that a rural byway, Route 201, is a viable option for travelers.Few living along Route 201 are happy with this decision, and they are justified. Even fewer […]

Maine’s lawmakers had the best of intentions two years ago when they forbid 16- and 17-year-olds from using cell phones while driving.They probably realized three things even then:First, that the law was practically impossible to enforce. Unless police happen to know the young driver, they are unable to tell a 17-year-old from an 18-year-old behind […]

We are rapidly becoming a two-tiered society, according to the director of the National Marriage Project at Rutgers University.There is an “investor class,” a group of people who build equity through education, home purchases and retirement savings plans. Then there’s a growing, “lottery class,” a group subjected to the “industrial-scale loan sharking” of pay-day loans, […]

It’s the green season, from lawns to gardens to Maine’s scenic roadsides, which makes it the best time to simply stop and recognize the marvelous mystery of nature’s design.While we need not look further than our backyards, Tuesday’s news contained some thought-provoking examples of nature’s handiwork.The 17-year cicadas – one of the most intriguing phenomenon […]

There is a single bond issue on the ballot today which, while important, is not likely the big draw for voters.The $29 million bond, if passed, will leverage another $29 million in federal funds to pay for natural resource, agriculture and transportation projects. Seems like a sound investment, but the real draw for voters today […]

The new Knox Street Park is taking shape, a colorful playground rising from a dirt lot in downtown Lewiston.This sturdy playground is rising right next door to Lots to Gardens, where neatly planted rows of vegetables are sprouting early signs of life.It’s taken more than a year for the Knox Street Park to become a […]

A little more than 10 years ago, Ross Perot warned of a “giant sucking sound” – American jobs fleeing to Mexico.The new sucking sound you hear today is of dollars flying out of the pockets of U.S. families and into the pockets of oil companies and resource-rich oil countries.In 2001, oil was $32 per barrel. […]

We have to wonder, given 2nd District candidate John Frary’s disdain for filling out campaign paperwork, whether he would have accepted such sloppiness from his students.Frary, a former college professor, has drawn threats of fines and criticism from the Federal Election Commission because he hasn’t provided bank account numbers, addresses and other detailed information required […]