On Wednesday, the Senate took up a resolve that would have asked voters to amend the Maine Constitution to prohibit citizen initiatives on hunting and fishing regulations. It failed to garner the necessary two-thirds vote to pass. On Thursday the House took up the same resolve, which also failed. While we understand the intent of […]
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Pulling back the curtain on national security
President Barack Obama reassured us over the weekend that no one is sitting around listening to all of our telephone conversations. That’s good, because that would be the worst job in the world. “Hi, this is Ron at VIP calling to tell you that your car is ready. “Thanks, Ron, did you find that ‘clunk, […]
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Facts show Auburn needs more funding
Auburn is rarely considered in the same breath with Whitneyville, Northfield, Marshfield and East Machias. But those communities have something in common with Auburn: They all spent less than $8,000 per pupil to educate their children in 2012-2013. Of the 231 school districts in Maine, only 14 spent less per pupil than Auburn. Ten of […]
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A people’s vote, standing tall and a million miles
Chip Morrison may well be able to do what no man has done before. He may succeed in getting the controversial question of a Lewiston and Auburn — or Auburn and Lewiston — consolidation before voters. Morrison, president of the Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce, has taken out matching petitions in the Twin Cities that […]
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Republicans must part ways with governor
With the budget debate in Augusta approaching a climax, it is worth remembering where we started: In January, Gov. Paul LePage proposed raising local taxes to balance the state’s budget. He proposed ending the Homestead Property Tax Exemption for those under 65. A clear tax increase for homeowners. The governor proposed ending the Circuit Breaker […]
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Low-income boys at peril in new economy
Women are now the leading or solo breadwinners in 40 percent of households, according to a study released last week by the Pew Research Center. That sounded like good news — women are succeeding in the workplace and closing the pay gap with men. But, when you look below the surface, the numbers are both […]
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Our leader and his right to free speech
When Patrick Henry said “Give me liberty or give me death,” it was more than a rhetorical flourish. He was urging his fellow Virginians to form a militia and confront British rule, an act that would literally result in liberty or death for the leaders of the American revolution. In comparison, it is worth considering […]
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Maine has high rate of boating deaths. Be careful
Late Thursday night, when temperatures had climbed into the 80s and the air was summer-sticky, Paul and Arlene Duclos and their friends Ron and Lorraine Locke decided to take a little boat ride along the Androscoggin. Each couple brought along their respective family dog, one toy poodle and one Pomeranian. They hauled Paul Duclos’ unregistered […]
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Shutting the trust out of budget talks
Late last week, Gov. Paul LePage issued an order barring all of his cabinet-level executives from testifying before the Appropriations Committee as lawmakers mold and adopt the state budget. Given that Appropriations is under enormous pressure to make major money decisions in the next couple of weeks, this is a curiously poor time to put […]
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Veterans suffer due to military record keeping
Google’s mission is ambitious: to organize the world’s information and, over the past 15 years, the company has done a pretty good job. On the day before Memorial Day, it is fair to ask why after years of work the U.S. military has failed to develop a unified system to organize the medical records of […]