High costs force professional drivers off the turnpike and onto local roads. Prior to 1995, I regularly made trips to Chicago and vicinity utilizing Interstate 80 almost all the way. It was a long but pleasurable ride.Then the Ohio Turnpike Commission decided to raise the tolls on the section of I-80 that crossed their state. […]

The following is part of a continuing series analyzing political advertising this campaign season. Political action committee: CasinosNO!Party: nonpartisanTV ad: “More Crime”Length: 30 secondsProducer: Stevens, Reed, Curcio and Potholm, Alexandria, Va.Market: Statewide, television (similar ad on radio)Announcer: Voice of Gregory Spitzer, former state trooperVisuals: Ad stars a somber Spitzer driving a vehicle at night. The […]

The Justice Department has launched an investigation into the allegations that senior Bush administration officials leaked the name of a CIA agent to several members of the media in an attempt to discredit or intimidate political opponents.The seriousness of these charges demands a serious response, and the Justice Department and Attorney General John Ashcroft have […]

This is how you stone a woman to death.You bury her up to her neck. Then you heave stones at her head. One imagines her face slowly obliterated, her skull repeatedly broken. One imagines the process takes a long time.One finds it hard to imagine a crueler way to die.Recently, a court in Nigeria spared […]

Almost a year has passed since an ill-advised letter from the mayor of Lewiston set passions ablaze in the city and brought an unwanted spotlight onto our community. The good and the bad were illuminated for all to see.Mayor Larry Raymond asked leaders of the Somali community to discourage others from migrating to the city, […]

Envy isn’t just one of the seven capital sins.Nowadays, it’s an industry, and like all industries, reporters cover it. Of course, they don’t write about envy. They write about taxes.Taxes are never high enough or “fair” enough for the rich, or so says, for the umpteenth time, the New York Times. There, the crocodile tears […]

Democrats are fighting a Republican plan to spend $13 million to give up to 2,000 children in Washington, D.C., a $7,500 school voucher.But Democrats are not planning to filibuster President Bush’s plan to spend a fresh $87 billion in Iraq without rescinding some tax cuts for the wealthy to pay for it.There is something wrong […]

The following is part of a continuing series analyzing political advertising this campaign season. Political action committee: Think About ItParty: nonpartisanTV ad: “Benefits”Length: 30 secondsProducer: Glover Park Group, Washington, D.C.Market: Statewide, television (similar ad on radio)Announcer: Man’s voiceVisuals: Ad begins with an artist’s drawing of the attractive resort casino. From there it moves to images […]

Lewiston’s leaders have adopted a reasonable compromise on a difficult subject.On Tuesday night, the City Council, in a 4-3 vote, passed new rules that govern the use of city parks: Kennedy Park, Courthouse Plaza, Bates Mill Fountain Park and Railroad Park.There is a fine line that separates regulating the use of public spaces and the […]

Le Figaro, Paris, Sept. 23There’s so much anti-French resentment in the United States that the mere announcement that Paris won’t veto an American resolution on Iraq was seen as big news.To believe the press on the other side of the Atlantic, the Americans now have just as hard a time imagining that France isn’t their […]