A natural reaction of frustrated taxpayers to bonds, like those on November’s ballot, is to say no more money, not until you State House slackers learn to live like the rest of us. Admittedly, the Legislature hasn’t done much lately for taxpayers to feel fatter in the wallet. School consolidation is years from realizing real […]

A century ago, the polished principal of Edward Little High School, Robert J. Sisk, was noted for his severe sartorial standards, and his long list of fashion “no-nos” for his students.No sweaters. No jerseys or flannel shirts. And no corduroy trousers, under any circumstances.“He takes considerable pride is his own personal appearance and wishes the […]

When the Board of Licensure in Medicine revokes or suspends a physician’s license in Maine for criminal or other activity harmful to patients, the public is told.When the Maine Criminal Justice Academy revokes or suspends a certification of a police officer for criminal or other activity harmful to the public, the public is also told.In […]

Jeanine Theriault is now in the hands of the Lord, but she has put the future of the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul firmly in her grasp. Her generous bequeath of nearly $1 million to the basilica should help ensure its glory is maintained for the foreseeable generations.The basilica is one of Lewiston-Auburn’s cultural […]

It’s hunting season. Did you know?Not everybody does. The fractured scheduling of Maine’s various seasons for myriad species puts hunters into woods and fields often without warning to the general public, which can spell danger for unwary outdoor recreationists who fail to don the real color of fall: blaze orange.A statewide special archery season for […]

In many ways, schools act like surrogate parents. They provide nourishment, education and transportation; monitor and correct behaviors; dispense punishment and encouragements, foster physical activity, and give medical care for a number of common injuries and sicknesses.For the most part, this role is accepted and expected, as when children enter into the schoolhouse, parents should […]

The media and the public have savaged American athletes for using steroids. The case of track and field icon Marion Jones is the most recent. Last week, she tearfully returned her three gold and two bronze medals to the U.S. Olympic Committee after admitting that she used steroids to enhance her performance. Much of the […]

Thirty-five years ago this week, President Richard Nixon signed the Clean Water Act. It was, please excuse the pun, a watershed moment for environmental protection.But, for 35 years, we’ve hemmed and hawed about how the act’s signature waterway, the Androscoggin River, is stubbornly noncompliant with its standards. We’ve spread blame among dams, ponds, oxygen, power […]

An appropriate punishment for Christian Nielsen simply doesn’t exist.On Thursday, an Oxford County Superior Court justice gave the quadruple-murderer four concurrent life sentences for the killings that shocked Maine over Labor Day 2006. Nielsen, a boarder at the Black Bear Inn B&B in Newry, took the lives of four innocents over three days for his […]

In whaling days, savvy sailors predicted with deadly accuracy where leviathans would emerge from the ocean after they sounded. Finding whales was half a whaler’s job; the other important half was knowing where it was going.The National Marine Fisheries Service could use some old whalers in its service today, to improve upon its scorched sea […]