Rita Dube told the Sun Journal she often talks to a carved image of the blessed Virgin Mary above the stage at the Franco-American Heritage Center. Today, as Dube retires from her job as executive director of the Center — and on her 70th birthday — we hope Mary whispers a well-deserved “thank you” to […]
Our View
Posted inOur View
Righting the imbalance in Maine courts
If there was a possibility you might serve a single day in jail, wouldn’t you want a lawyer protecting your rights? Of course. Anyone would. But, as we reported on Sunday, when it comes to the process of seeking a protection-from-abuse order, legal representation is not guaranteed and, for those without lawyers, the consequences of […]
advertisement
Posted inOur View
Governor, find a spot for the mural
We supported Gov. Paul LePage when he opted to remove a mural that emphasized labor strife from the lobby of the Labor Department. Better, we felt, would have been a more neutral mural celebrating how skilled labor and visionary leadership built this state’s industrial base together. LePage had the mural secretly removed last year, resulting […]
Posted inOur View
Time for swindler to start paying back
A Norway woman who cheated taxpayers out of about $4 million in Medicare money is out of jail after about a year and a half. This is after being originally sentenced to three and a half years behind bars. Dawn Solomon is now on “supervised community confinement,” which basically means she cannot leave town without […]
Posted inOur View
New leaders cutting costs at Housing Authority
Many had marveled over the years at the extremely high average cost of building Maine State Housing Authority units. Marvel no longer, thanks to the insurgent board members and new director of the Maine State Housing Authority who have been busy cutting those costs down to size. Several board members had loudly complained last year that […]
Posted inOur View
In Maine, no real deterrent for poaching
The Maine Warden Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services and the Pennsylvania Game Commission conducted an intensive four-month investigation into poaching activities in Maine and Pennsylvania in the fall of 2010, resulting in criminal charges filed against six people. During the course of that investigation, officers documented as many as 400 crimes committed in […]
Posted inOur View
Big tobacco forced to admit years of deceit
You may recall the news story about the judge who imposed an unusual sentence on a woman for passing a school bus on the sidewalk. The offender was ordered to stand at a busy intersection in Cleveland with a sign that said, “Only an idiot would drive on the sidewalk to avoid a school bus.” […]
Posted inOur View
Restraint law needs tweaking by Legislature
There’s a reason adults must supervise children. Because, as all parents know, children are impulsive and sometimes do stupid things — even to each other. Ideally, when that happens a well-meaning adult can quickly step in and keep a dangerous situation from becoming worse. Yet a year after the Maine Department of Education adopted new […]
Posted inOur View
A standard of care for all in Auburn
In Montgomery County, home to some of the toniest neighborhoods in suburban Washington, D.C., there is a strict property maintenance code. If, for example, a homeowner embarks on an exterior renovation project, such as an addition, “the owner must complete each exterior surface, including windows, wall siding, and roof within one year after the building […]
Posted inOur View
Culture wars really heat up over Christmas
Several readers were upset by a headline that accompanied two photos Tuesday, “Holiday trees move into place.” Holiday trees? Those are Christmas trees, they told us in no uncertain terms. And that’s how easy it is to find yourself in the middle of a “War-on-Christmas” minefield. This debate goes back decades, and it contains several […]