When the levee broke, it took three weeks to find out.This is an inconsistency in the Hannaford data breach saga, as other murky details have become clear. On Friday, the source of the breach was reported: malicious software clandestinely installed on internal company computers.The number, and numbers, of compromised credit cards are also known, as […]

In Wyoming, coal keeps pockets fat. Alaska has gas and oil. Iowa is husky on record subsidies for corn-based ethanol. These states avoided the budget crises sweeping the country because of their abundant, valuable resources.If industry, politicians and, most importantly, the people embrace development of renewable energy, Maine could join them. This state has a […]

Allowing tribal governments to pursue an exemption from Maine’s Freedom of Access Act is troubling enough on its own, but its shadow grows given new, serious fraud and corruption charges against tribal leaders.Last week, two former Passamaquoddy tribal leaders were indicted on charges of misappropriating $1.7 million in federal funds. Tribal employees who learned of […]

A question about the notion of having Androscoggin County take on property assessment for all its municipalities, as proposed by some city councilors from Lewiston and Auburn: What does the county have to do with it?The goal of joint services, we thought, is winnowing two large municipal bureaucracies into a more responsive, efficient deliverer of […]

Is there a liar sitting on the Auburn City Council?Last month, every single member of the council denied having leaked the names of the leading candidates in the (exceedingly long) search for a new city manager. But a leak there was.The leak – in violation of state law that shields job applications and resumes – […]

Unlike the other proposals for casino and racetrack gambling in Maine, the plan by Seth Carey of Rumford is long on promises, but short on details. For his plan to gain any traction with voters this fall, Carey must start divulging his business model.Next week, lawmakers will review legislation permitting an Oxford County casino, a […]

If lawmakers gave the same amount of scrutiny to all legislation, as they have to ethics reform, Maine would boast the most informed, enlightened – but not necessarily efficient – representative government in all the land.We know they cannot. Some bills, for better or for worse, are seemingly passed without second thought. Others are easy […]

In a maneuver assailed as “Midnight Madness” by Republicans, legislative budget-writers last week put the fiscal punctuation on a valuable government agency: the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability.OPEGA are the bad news guys. Through their sharp nonpartisan program analyses, they find the types of things that make government look, wellbad. Like the weak […]

It was an eloquent and powerful speech. But Barack Obama’s inspirational oratory left one fundamental question unanswered, at least for this white American – although judging by the reactions I’ve been hearing on local radio, for many others, as well. A pastor is not a relative. The thing with relatives is we don’t choose them. […]

In 1993, during a time of budgetary crisis, the state created a separate and unequal class of worker. Employees with fewer than 10 years of services were hit with an increased penalty for early retirement – 6 percent for each year before age 62 – compared to those with more – 2.25 percent.Workers felt they […]