The siren’s call of easy money is intoxicating, and can make the worst ideas – like a resort casino in Oxford County – seem plausible. It isn’t, and neither are the promises made by its proponent, Seth Carey and his Evergreen Mountain Enterprises LLCWe don’t buy his claim that an “environmentally friendly” and “rustic” casino […]

Sending the dregs of Maine’s prisons elsewhere sounds great. So does opening new cellblocks and hiring more guards. These are short-term answers, though, for a problem – prison overcrowding – sweeping the country.Perhaps Maine should dust off an old solution: parole.Predictably, parole is touted by prison inmates as a miracle cure for myriad ills of […]

The only thing coming slower than climate change, it seems, is policymaking action on global warming from within the uppermost atmosphere of American government.The first crack in the federal glacier of climate change policy, however, came Monday, when the Supreme Court ruled the Environmental Protection Agency can regulate carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles. Maine was […]

In the nanoseconds after their voices fell silent on Saturday, the singers of Brahms’ “German Requiem” inside Saints Peter and Paul’s Basilica in Lewiston faced a stunned audience, until one man cried out a tremendous “Bravo!”His outburst unleashed a cavalcade of worthy applause, as the crowded basilica had been treated to a remarkable cultural display, […]

The prospect of fighter jets zipping across Western Maine skies at skyscraper height must make a hushed bank of mountaintop windmills sound pretty good, in comparison.A long-time training area for pilots, northern Oxford, Franklin and Somerset counties are under scrutiny by the Air National Guard, whose pilots want to expand their training ability by dropping […]

High school is all about peer pressure, and Lewiston isn’t immune.The city’s school district is one of the few, if any, in Maine that does not provide busing for high school students. A new proposal, to be discussed publicly April 9, would create bus routes for Lewiston high schoolers, likely as part of a comprehensive […]

About 31 years ago, when Michael Richard was a patrolman with the Rumford Police Department, Chief Stanley Wagnis “grounded” him for failing to use common sense when chasing a suspect.Twenty-six years ago, Richard was suspended for six days after an incident inside a paint store involving a handgun. Twenty-five years ago, he earned another suspension […]

On a windy afternoon, spray from Great Falls whips through the alleyway beside the Libbey Mill. The brick-and-mortar hulk shudders under the wind’s assault, as metal shards dangling from the roof creak threateningly in the quiet.Most of the mill’s windows are broken. Exposed wires drape the exterior walls in some places, near weather-beaten notices directing […]

Seven was an unlucky number in Oxford County last week – that’s how many alleged drunken drivers arrested, in a row, during the overnight hours of March 23-24.The number is horrifying, especially considering these arrests came during an “average” night, not as the result of some special police action, like an OUI checkpoint. The scarier […]

Economic critics have some regular talking points about Maine. It’s graying, for one. Too uneducated, for another. Its business landscape is too weak, as well, and fails to foster enough careers for young, ambitious people.Say something enough times and people start to believe it. This pessimism about Maine’s youth work force has certainly been infectious, […]