The summer recess of Iraq’s parliament sent a worrisome signal to Americans concerned about U.S. troops bearing more than their share of the war’s burdens. So it’s up to the high-level elected officials left behind to send a different signal:They are ready to move on benchmarks designed to promote national reconciliation, including provincial elections, de-Baathification, […]

Cheap ingredients have American food makers looking overseas. But who’s inspecting these foreign goods? That loaf of Sara Lee bread on the grocery shelf in California was made with flour from U.S. wheat. But the Illinois-based food giant uses honey and vitamin supplements from China. While Paul Newman’s daughter uses California figs in cookies made […]

Diane Ray said it best. “That’s good,” the acting director of the River Valley Growth Council, said recently about a $37,520 grant to benefit the maligned River Valley Technology Center. “Now we just have to deliver.”The River Valley has been waiting three years for the center to deliver on promises of job creation, retention and […]

The last place two 13-year-old boys need to resolve their disputes is a courtroom.Cases like these are perfect for mediation. It’s the example offered by Tracy Quadro, a local mediator, when discussing a pilot program in Lewiston District Court offering mediation in protective cases. The rowdy boys were too busy beating each other up to […]

The Sunsation “Dominator” is a 32-foot, V-shaped projectile, powered by twin monstrous-cubic-inch engines capable of propelling the ton-and-half vessel at speeds illegal on most paved highways. It’s built for the ocean, the preferred transport for a climactic scene from Miami Vice.Why these vessels, nicknamed “cigarette boats,” are allowed to ply Maine’s inland waters is a […]

On Tuesday, Brian Lemay of Sabattus died almost instantly after his motorcycle and a pickup truck crashed in Lewiston. Lemay’s name was released within hours and the circumstances of that accident remain under investigation.Also Tuesday, Edward Kilgore of Paris died almost instantly after his truck was hit by a freight train near his home. Kilgore’s […]

In 1972, it was Sen. Ed Muskie’s “Canuck” catastrophe, generated by a forged letter to the Manchester, N.H., Union-Leader from a Republican operative. In 2006, it was Virginia Sen. George Allen’s “macaca” meltdown, captured in digital video by a “tracker” for his Democratic opponent.Tricks may change, but high-stakes politics stay the same. Campaigns from time […]

Residents of Maine, according to a recent survey, are uninformed about the state budget. So state government, in response, has made an online “suggestion box” for ideas from the public about efficiently managing – you guessed it – the budget.We hope good answers come forward. The woeful survey findings – less than one-third of residents […]

Aaaaah, August in Maine. The vacation month, in the vacation state.The time when minds should be trained onto warm weather recreation – golf, swimming, biking, wakeboarding, kayaking, canoeing, barbecuing, Frisbee, wiffleball … napping in hammocks. Anything but those harbingers of winter.Skiing. Snowboarding. Snowshoeing. Who cares how fun they are? Cold weather and its related activities […]

Municipal consolidation and collaboration are easy when it comes to arborists or landscapers, or non-sentient endeavors like telephone systems or building codes. Degrees of difficulty rise, however, when discussions turn toward the sensitive topic of administration, despite the great potential for cost-savings that lies within this area.Cooperative efforts between Lewiston and Auburn have reached the […]