Farmington officers Shane Cote and Ed Hastings deserve a tip of the hat.Instead of escalating what could have been a fatal situation involving an out-of-control driver Saturday and making it worse, Cote and Hastings used a tactic too often overlooked in police work – restraint.The two, called out to check an erratic driving complaint, attempted […]

We are punishing – under Medicare Part D – people who are old, sick and confused. And, since we are a government of the people, we use “we” literally.It is the citizens of this country who are punishing old, sick and confused people for being old, sick and confused.It’s just plain wrong.We – and that […]

We are punishing – under Medicare Part D – people who are old, sick and confused. And, since we are a government of the people, we use “we” literally.It is the citizens of this country who are punishing old, sick and confused people for being old, sick and confused.It’s just plain wrong.We – and that […]

At the State House today, the western Maine towns serviced by Med-Care Ambulance will be honored as being among the first communities in Maine to be designated HeartSafe Communities.For Andover, Byron, Canton, Rumford, Peru, Carthage, Dixfield, Hanover, Mexico, Newry and Roxbury, and for Med-Care Ambulance, it’s a demonstration that health-care providers and first responders are […]

“I think I’m a lot different than a lot of people. I’m one of the most independent people. Everything I’ve been through has made me like that.”Those are the words of 18-year-old Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School senior and foster child Angelena, who prefers not to use her last name to protect her location.Angelena’s idea […]

College graduation season is upon us and, happily, thousands of Mainers have collected and will be collecting their diplomas, rewarded for their hard work.Emily Wood of Poland is among this year’s college graduation class.A student at Lewiston-Auburn College, Wood is the University of Southern Maine Class of 2006’s Outstanding Senior of the year.She is, by […]

We’re happy to report that a lawsuit against a blogger in Maine by a New York ad agency has been dropped. It never should have been brought in the first place.Blogger Lance Dutson had the audacity to criticize the contract work being done for Maine’s Office of Tourism by ad agency Warren Kremer Paino.Dutson argued […]

It will take just $2 million to purchase a 3,688-acre parcel of land for permanent preservation in Grafton Notch. That money, which was a sure thing on Tuesday, was trimmed by the U.S. House on Wednesday from the nation’s Forest Legacy Program.The parcel is terrific and, among purchases competing for funding through the legacy program, […]

Call us gun-shy. Call us skeptical. Call us concerned.But, it seems, when the state of Maine switches computer systems, major chaos often results.Soon, the Maine Revenue Services will begin installing a large new computer system to collect taxes.In this case, the state has every motivation to get things right. After all, taxes are the mother’s […]

On Tuesday, the Poland Board of Selectmen convened an executive session at a special meeting.The secret meeting was a mistake.The board, along with two auditors, the town’s financial director, the town manager and an assistant to the town manager, moved behind closed doors, citing state law that allows them to do so to discuss legal […]