Sen. Peggy Rotundo is not prone to exaggeration or agitation. That’s why, when she raises alarm over a bill to restrict the procedure for enacting a people’s veto, we must listen.That bill, titled “An Act to Amend the Laws Governing the Enactment Procedures for Ordinances,” limits the time citizens have to petition against unwanted development […]

Perhaps Maj. Gen Bill Libby said it best: “There’s a lot we don’t know.”That’s why we’d urge Maine soldiers who trained at a Canadian military base where chemical defoliants were used not to jump to any conclusions.Agent Orange has become synonymous with a sad chapter in an even sadder war. It was sprayed over large […]

Can pork be fish? Can it be a starch, like a potato? Or can pork really be a healthy, lean meat?Well, it depends upon your definition of pork, the congressional kind.Our favorite is the $1 million Congress recently appropriated for the Waterfree Urinal Initiative. And then there’s the $500 which was appropriated for the Teapot […]

In the past week, we’ve seen two thoughtful and fair compromises worked out in private land sales to preserve and protect Maine.The first, and less contentious one, on Katahdin Lake. The second, more emotional one, on and surrounding Moosehead Lake.In each case, competing arguments of preservation and development were fully aired in public meetings, giving […]

Maine is one of eight states where an illegal alien can obtain a driver’s license. And that’s a national security loophole big enough to fly an airliner through.Tuesday, the Maine House of Representatives killed a common-sense proposal that would have required people seeking drivers’ licenses to prove they are here legally.In lieu of a national […]

Usually, we’re talking about cutting the fat out of government. Now, government wants to trim the fat from us.Obesity is costing Maine’s economy, meaning mainly its employers, $2.13 billion per year, according to a study released Tuesday.We have no idea how such numbers are calculated. In this case, they were developed by a North Carolina-based […]

Money is the crack cocaine of American politics. It provides the rush and glitter of campaigns, but it also corrupts the soul.Sunday, we learned that Democrats AND Republicans have dropped the ethical bar on their toes. The Maine Sunday Telegram reported that Republicans here also traded campaign money with another state in 2002 in order […]

Money is the crack cocaine of American politics. It provides the rush and glitter of campaigns, but it also corrupts the soul.Sunday, we learned that Democrats AND Republicans have dropped the ethical bar on their toes. The Maine Sunday Telegram reported that Republicans here also traded campaign money with another state in 2002 in order […]

Who goes 19 years without a pay raise?Maine’s governor. For the nearly two decades the job has paid the same thing: $70,000 per year.For that salary to have the same buying power it did back in 1987, the job would have to pay nearly $120,000. In real terms, each succeeding governor since Jock McKernan has […]

Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe called them “minuscule improvements.”Don MacKenzie of the Union of Concerned Scientists was a bit more colorful: “Fighting America’s oil addiction with these standards is like fighting lung cancer by smoking 49 cigarettes a day instead of 50.”He’s right.The fuel economy standards announced Wednesday for sport utility vehicles, pickup trucks and minivans […]