Traffic planners say reducing four-lane highways on outer Lisbon Street and on Route 4 in Turner is a cheap way to improve safety and cut down on crashes.Maybe they’re right. By eliminating a travel lane in each direction and adding a dedicated, central turning lane, the flow of traffic would likely slow. Slower cars could […]

“What he’s done is nothing short of amazing.”That’s how Lewiston Middle School student Conroy LeBlond describes Travis Roy and the example he sets for all of us.Roy, who grew up in Yarmouth, was a talented Division I hockey player. In 1995, seconds into his first game for Boston University, he hit the boards awkwardly. The […]

For a lesson in sportsmanship, look to Fryeburg Academy.Last Wednesday, the school’s gymnasium was destroyed by fire, along with it much of the athletic equipment. Yet, on Saturday, the football team took to its rain-soaked home field, wearing donated jerseys from its biggest rival, Lake Region High School. Seventeen schools offered Fryeburg equipment. Pants came […]

In the wake of the hurricanes that ravaged the Gulf Coast, Maine has undertaken a review of its emergency preparedness, and a task force has been created to study the state’s homeland security needs.The task force will meet today for the first time and will hear from panelists representing the state’s emergency management agency, public […]

AUSTIN, Texas – The entire political world is agog: Tom DeLay indicted, Scooter Libby in danger, Karl Rove rumors abound, Miers’ nomination in doo-doo. So I’m writing about … pensions. They’re just so sexy, I couldn’t resist.Of course, the word pension is a terminal turnoff for anyone under 60 – so redolent of the blue-rinse […]

Politics makes strange bedfellows. Partisans often come together with rivals to pass meaningful legislation.In the United States Senate, no odder pair than Massachusetts uber-liberal Ted Kennedy has worked so well with arch-conservative Orrin Hatch from Utah that the latter wrote a song about the former.On some issues, however, if you walk with the ducks, you […]

The supporters of a land-conservation bond on November’s ballot officially launched their campaign last week.In reality, members of the coalition have been working to bring a new land bond to Maine voters for years. The $12 million bond, on the ballot as Question 5, would fund the Land for Maine’s Future program, which was started […]

The gasoline market may have been manipulated during the spike in prices following Hurricane Katrina, but the gouging didn’t occur on the local, retail level, according to Maine Attorney General Steven Rowe.Rowe’s office studied the rapid increases in gasoline prices for six weeks after receiving numerous complaints from consumers. The findings pointed to actions on […]

Iraqis are voting today on a new constitution. That the vote has progressed this far with support from the country’s three main religious factions is a minor miracle.Most Iraqis probably haven’t had an opportunity to read the final document. They are being asked to vote on faith for a document that could be changed significantly […]

For the utter buffoonery it exposed, Wednesday’s hearing before the state Commission on Ethics and Election Practices will go down in Maine election lore. It also could tarnish the program that provides public financing for candidates running for state office.The commission is investigating two campaigns from 2004 for the possible misuse of taxpayer money. Julia […]