The synopsis of Maine’s debate on school administration consolidation is posted, bullet point by bullet point, in a two-page downloadable document on the Web site of the Jay School Department.It’s an aggregate of topics raised during an April 10 community meeting on consolidation, the preponderance of which reflects concern over education quality, following the possible […]

In an editorial published April 20, Androscoggin County Comissioner Constance Cote was identified as running unopposed in 2004. She actually defeated independent candidate Bob Mennealy, 10,135 votes to 6,060. It was a reporting error.

Debate over abortion doesn’t cool, it just simmers. Now it’s boiling again, with the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision to uphold a ban on so-called “partial birth” abortions, and a controversial bill coming before Maine lawmakers to allocate public funding for abortions.In preserving the ban on “intact dilation and extraction,” the Supreme Court deviated from […]

Today, Earth Day turns 37.It’s neither old, nor does it fit a demographer’s definition of “young.” According to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control, 37 is about the middle of an American’s life, given our average life expectancy of 77 years.It’s midlife, a phrase often paired with crisis, which together are used to describe […]

Given the opportunity, wouldn’t we all vote for pay raises?It’s a part of service in the Maine Legislature, but that body seems ready to relinquish it. A bill from Rep. John Tuttle, D-Sanford, proposes creating an independent panel – the State Compensation Commission – to decide lawmakers’ wages in the future.Such oversight would rectify a […]

If residents of Androscoggin County are frustrated with leadership of county government, and want to determine fault, find the nearest mirror. There’s our culprit.The county’s commissioners, Elmer Berry, Constance Cote and Helen Poulin, were elected largely unopposed. Berry and Poulin triumphed over opponents in the Democratic primaries of 2004 and 2006, respectively, while Cote faced […]

There’s one protection-from-abuse order filed in Androscoggin County for every 151 residents.Nobody really knows why.Advocates and law enforcement officials say it stems from effective routing of domestic violence victims into the court system, and the subsequent, and easy, approval of protection orders by judges. Some say it’s because the courthouse is easily accessible in downtown […]

In the information vacuum around the shocking killings at Virgina Tech, the spotlight was on the university’s quizzical communication strategy, which employed a high-tech, low-effort approach to informing its community about an unusual double homicide: they sent an e-mail.It read, “A shooting incident occurred at West Amber Johnston (a dormitory) earlier this morning. Police are […]

On the Web site of Americans United for Change, the group attacking Sen. Susan Collins and others in television ads over funding for the Iraq war, its pitch for contributions ends with the following:“Contributions will neither be used to support nor oppose the election of a clearly identified federal candidate nor to influence federal elections.”Except […]

Today is Patriots’ Day.Marathoners are crowding Boston’s streets, and, if the weather holds, the first pitch at Fenway Park will crack into Jason Varitek’s mitt at 10 a.m. Maine is one of three states – Massachusetts and Wisconsin are the others – observing this quintessential New England holiday.Today we celebrate our nation’s beginnings, the shots […]