From Monroe Street in Mexico, where Jim McDonald lives, the drive to Town Hall in Rumford is about two miles and should take about four minutes. McDonald is Rumford’s sealer of weights and measures, a job he may lose after Tuesday’s vote upheld the town’s charter that says the sealer must live in Rumford.The charter […]

Tina’s Law needs a fresh face. Walter Gilmore Noble will do.Noble, 63, of Wilton, has achieved notorious status with police for his record of criminal driving infractions. His license has been suspended 29 times, stemming from 41 convictions for breaking motor vehicle laws.He’s now been charged with driving with an open container of alcohol inside […]

On Monday, the Legislature’s ethics advisory committee unveiled recommendations to “open” and “clarify” the state’s convoluted procedure for investigating ethical missteps by officials, stemming from last year’s disillusioning misadventure featuring Rep. Tom Saviello, I-Wilton.Saviello, the environmental manager for the Verso Paper mill in Jay, became engulfed in controversy amid allegations of peculiar horse-trading over environmental […]

Of all alcohol advertisements – buxom blond twins, wisecracking frogs, a womanizing bull terrier nicknamed Spuds – Santa’s hindparts and an 18th-century French painting are perhaps the least improper.In Maine, though, these icons on beer labels have been deemed dangerous for visual consumption. No judgment is passed on the consumption of the product, but heaven […]

Forget patchouli-soaked treatises on civil liberties, or the “stock du jour” featuring eternal jam sessions in farmers’ fields. The latest campaign to change Maine’s marijuana laws – the Maine Marijuana Policy Initiative – talks more Brooks Brothers than Birkenstock.In three towns – Sumner, Farmington and Paris – MMPI petitioners have secured a spot on the […]

George the robot is playing hide-and-seek with scientist Alan Schultz. George whirrs and hides behind a post until he’s found. Then a bit later, he hunts for and finds Schultz hiding.If that sounds childish, consider that Schultz is working his way up to teaching the robot to play Capture the Flag.What’s so impressive about robots […]

After more than 2 years of physical therapy and electronic stimulation, stroke victim Mike Marin still couldn’t open a door with his left hand. Now, thanks to a robot, Marin can open a door. His atrophied left arm isn’t completely useless anymore.Marin is at the forefront of what may seem an unlikely use for robots: […]

His name was Anthony Tucker.He was a quiet leader and trusted classmate. He was a 13-year-old with an adult’s domestic responsibility. And he was shot dead – allegedly – by his mother’s abusive boyfriend after leading his family to safety. Anthony Tucker is a hero, in every sense.His death, however, is absolutely senseless.The accused killer, […]

In 1981, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported cases of gay men with rare forms of pneumonia and cancer. Today, more than 40 million people worldwide are infected with the disease we have come to know as AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). In Maine, approximately 1,500 to 1,600 are estimated […]

It takes a village to raise a child. In Maine, it takes an island to send a child to a religiously aligned school with public funds.In March, Swan’s Island townspeople made a community decision to subsidize a neighbor’s choice to send their children to a sectarian school on the mainland and approved a “nondiscrimination family […]