Guns N’ Roses, you could have been ours.When the Rasputin-like 1980s rockers suddenly canceled their show this week in Portland, fans like David Dean were – literally – left out in the cold. The self-professed “biggest fan and supporter” of Guns N’ Roses was heading to the show from Buckfield with his 19-year-old son when […]

Ancient Egyptians and Sumerians had phrases for it. The poet Homer and the playwright William Shakespeare described it. During the Civil War, it was known as “soldier’s heart.” In World War I, it was shell shock.Today it’s post-traumatic stress disorder, a facile title which still doesn’t quite capture the full condition. “PTSD is an overused […]

Yes Anne-Marie, there is a future for the “Littles.”Anne-Marie, of Tucson, Ariz., and her office were dedicated virtual goldfish groupies of the Sun Journal’s 2006 election project, in which five goldfish named for Maine’s five gubernatorial candidates – the “Littles” – were plunked into a tank filled with fresh water taken from the Androscoggin River.We […]

For a man who gave so much, Deputy David Rancourt’s passing is the definition of tragedy.Rancourt, a 10-year veteran of the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Department, died suddenly Saturday.Local law enforcement should be commended for its compassion, and professionalism, following Rancourt’s passing. A cadre of officers descended on his home to support his grieving family, and […]

A running joke about growing up in Maine goes like this: “You’re not a real Mainer unless, as a teenager, you partied in gravel pit.” For many, the phrase “pit party” evokes a halcyon response to “youthful indiscretions” and the perils of the teenage social scene.Lewiston youth now enjoy a stone pit of their own: […]

Red-eyed and sniffling, John Sawyer faced a feared future late Tuesday.The 32-year-old Lisbon man, father of a 17-month-old boy, had joined the Chandler Woodcock campaign one week before Election Day. Minutes after his candidate’s concession speech in Auburn, a teary Sawyer reflected on his whirlwind week.“I grew up in Maine,” he said, “I remember it […]

On the heels of a heated race for Oxford County sheriff, and an incumbent’s final gasp in the race for Androscoggin County sheriff, debate about the role of county government in Maine should be revived.County government is a Colonial leftover, rooted in medieval Britain. Colonists established counties to provide, above all, one specific service – […]

Some perplexed voters have called with concerns over Question 1, the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, as – despite all the TABOR hoopla – the controversial acronym appears nowhere on the official ballot.What voters will see is a question about limiting taxation and spending. That’s Question 1. The legislation attached to the question, and which is […]

Clean elections shouldn’t be tainted by allegations of dirty money.Last Thursday, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court – as expected – upheld a decision by the state’s ethics commission that political advertisements paid for by the Maine Democratic Party and the Republican Governors Association fell outside state’s clean election laws.The complaint was brought by Green Independent […]

When the armies of Emperor Hadrian had troubles with fierce Scottish tribes in the first century A.D., Hadrian elected to build a wall between Roman Britain and Scotland. In the empire’s most western outpost, the Roman governors of Britain felt better separating “the Romans from the barbarians.”Now Hadrian’s Wall – a stone-and-earth belt across the […]