A contested nominating process is better for the challengers and for voters. Iowa caucus voters stuck their collective fingers in the eye of conventional wisdom Monday. And it’s a good thing for the rest of us.The two major political parties have intentionally front-loaded the nomination process. The idea is to wrap up the competition early, […]

There was a little something for just about everybody in President Bush’s State of the Union address.Job training, immigration reform, support for community colleges and Pell Grants, a tough stand on foreign policy and the war in Iraq, an attack on activist judges and gay marriage, bemoaning steroid use, supporting faith-based programs, and helping inmates […]

So, what did you do on Martin Luther King Day?Not much? Not a surprise.While we have rituals to celebrate other holidays – put up a tree for Christmas, watch fireworks on Independence Day, lie about losing weight on New Year’s – King Day is less a celebration than a commemoration. Meaning that while some of […]

No specifics, yet. But they’re coming and the good money says wholesale changes are in store for AMHI.The court-appointed receiver at the Augusta Mental Health Institute tipped her hand on what to expect. She says she’ll make her recommendations by March.Wrangling continues between the state and the judge who appointed Elizabeth Jones as receiver. The […]

Momentum is growing for actual implementation of a major change in the organization of state government.The governor last week received a report from the advisory council that has been working for 10 months on recommendations for the merger of the Department of Human Services and the Department of Behavioral and Developmental Services.Gov. John Baldacci has […]

Centuries ago, mankind created the greatest anti-child-poverty program in all of recorded history. It was called marriage.During the past three decades, the consensus behind this wondrously effective social program has collapsed. The result has harmed countless American children for whom there is no disaster quite like being born out of wedlock and growing up in […]

Today’s Iowa caucuses have turned into a real shooting match with a four-way rush to capture the prize.Sens. John Kerry and John Edwards have led a late charge against the perceived front-runners, former Gov. Howard Dean and Rep. Richard Gephardt. According to polls late last week, the four candidates are within 5 percentage points of […]

It’s one thing for outsiders to charge that the Bush White House has been run by master puppeteer Dick Cheney and driven from day one by ideological fetishes about tax cuts for the rich and Saddam Hussein. It’s quite another to have these charges ratified by a former Bush Treasury secretary who participated in hundreds […]

Profit may be out of the question for the Central Maine Civic Center. Lewiston, in taking over the facility, hopes to at least break even.But even that might be a stretch.As Sun Journal writer Kathryn Skelton reports today, other publicly owned civic centers have a tough time making a buck and require consistent funding from […]

Bangor Daily News, Jan. 10After professing his company’s commitment to Maine and its horsemen, Shawn Scott has sold his interest in Bangor’s horse racing track during contentious hearings about his capability to run the track and to install slot machines there. Mr. Scott has proven that he is a shrewd, if not entirely organized, businessman. […]