When we first heard it we laughed out loud: The Maine Turnpike on a historic register? You’ve got to be kidding.Well, the person who told us wasn’t, and Turnpike Public Affairs Manager Dan Paradee confirmed it Thursday. A Federal Transit Administration committee went looking for significant stretches of the interstate highway system and Maine’s Turnpike […]

“It doesn’t take a minute for a kid to disappear in water,” said Sandi Chipman of the Weld EMS.Fortunately, when 2-year-old Caleb Wenger of Manchester, N.H., disappeared last week, Sue Storer was ready.She had just renewed her CPR certification in her role as a leader of Girl Scout Troop 2217. She also remembered a key […]

Early and unexpected death is always tragic. It’s usually the job of newspapers to report the facts, leaving the emotional heavy lifting to counselors and clergy.Sometimes, people share responsibility for their fate, like the drunken driver or the reckless motorcyclist. Sometimes they have taunted death by smoking cigarettes or ignoring health warnings.But we have all […]

It is with a good degree of pleasure that we congratulate Mexico’s residents and public officials today.Make that Mexico the town, not the country.Congratulations are in order because Mexico – this week – was able to announce its town budget is not only balanced, but also holds a $200,000 surplus on the ledger.What makes this […]

Perhaps they will be remembered in Maine lore and legend as “Martin’s Marauders.”In what appears to be an arrogant breach of law, state Sen. John Martin and state Rep. Troy Jackson used a bulldozer and chain saw to reopen a road into the Allagash Wilderness Waterway on July 4.Noting the holiday, Martin told the Sun […]

Elham Salah of Auburn and a member of the Lewiston-Auburn Islamic Center had trouble speaking at the podium in Lewiston’s Kennedy Park on Wednesday. By not speaking, she actually said more than anyone else who attended the rally in support of the city’s most recent immigrants.After introducing herself, Salah identified herself as a member of […]

Here’s a piece of advice from an actual business newsletter:Is your switchboard necessary? By installing a $16,000 24-hour phone-routing system, Paxar, a $74-million Pearl River, N.Y.-based label manufacturer, replaced its two part-time receptionists, who worked 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Savings: $4,000 a year.Holy cow! $4,000 saved. That’s about 5 one-thousanths of […]

Last week, at a public hearing before the Maine Board of Environmental Protection, no one spoke in support or in opposition to removing nine Maine counties from the federal list of areas with unhealthy ozone levels. Given the lack of conversation, when the BEP votes next month to petition the federal government for removal, the […]

There is wide agreement that we – that means everyone on the planet – must identify and develop alternative energy sources. The world’s supply of fossil fuels will eventually vanish and, without alternatives, we will literally be powerless.The strongest argument against developing alternative sources is the impact these alternatives, such as wind and tidal turbines, […]

“It doesn’t take a minute for a kid to disappear in water,” said Sandi Chipman of the Weld EMS.Fortunately, when 2-year-old Caleb Wenger of Manchester, N.H., disappeared last week, Sue Storer was ready.She had just renewed her CPR certification in her role as a leader of Girl Scout Troop 2217. She also remembered a key […]