Cheers to Thomas Page, Betsy McGrail and Doug Breunig for their combined courage and their motivated swim training for today’s Alcatraz Invitational. Depending on when you read this, the trio will be preparing, competing or have finished a challenging, 1.25-mile swim in San Francisco Bay. And they’re doing it to raise money for the YWCA […]
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Dogfighting in a modern society
On Thursday, a number of Sun Journal readers posted comments on the newspaper’s Facebook page and on our website suggesting that 24-year-old Nicholas P. Libby be fed “to the dogs.” One commenter even suggested he serve as human bait for grizzly bear fighting. That can’t really be what we want. Right? Libby was charged Wednesday […]
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Accusations fell selectmen in Sumner
What’s going on in Sumner? On Tuesday night, longtime Selectman Mark Silber resigned his post. He had been a selectmen for a steady 29 years. Seven weeks ago, longtime Selectman Glenn Hinkley resigned his post. He had served the town in various capacities for the past 40 years. Both men carried out their public service […]
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Rising poverty and lower unemployment
Nearly 23 percent of all children living in Androscoggin County are living in poverty. In Franklin County, the figure is slightly less, 21.5 percent. And, according to a recent Kids Count report, in Oxford County, it’s slightly less still, 21.1 percent. But, what does it really mean to be poor? Statistically speaking, it means poor […]
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United we stand, divided we fall
“Never forget” has become the refrain of 9/11. As it should be. We must never forget, nor is it likely we — as a nation — ever shall. We should also try to remember Sept. 11. Remember when we were united states? On Sept. 11, and for a significant period afterward, partisan politics was set […]
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A look back at the week’s news
Cheers to the convoy of Maine Department of Transportation workers who loaded up their heavy equipment and headed to Vermont on Tuesday to help our neighbors in distress. Nearly 150 MDOT workers, along with their loaders and excavators on flatbed trailers, left for a two-week stint to rebuild bridges and roadways damaged two weeks ago […]
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Medicare fraud outrageous and must be stopped
It’s like mugging grandma, then beating a taxpayer with a rubber hose. Few things are more maddening than people stealing public benefits. It’s doubly so when those people are medical professionals who could be earning a handsome living by operating on the right side of the law. Wednesday, 700 law enforcement agents arrested more than […]
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Obama plan hastens the end of Social Security
Tonight, President Barack Obama will almost certainly propose extending this year’s payroll tax cut for employees. While everyone likes paying lower taxes, working Americans should hold the applause. This is not a government “savings.” It merely hastens the day that Social Security benefits will become unavailable to those same workers. They used to say that […]
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Small company off and running after big break
Last week, we applauded several large companies that have recently helped brighten the job forecast for the Lewiston-Auburn region. But the success of those companies shouldn’t obscure the fact that most jobs in this economy are created by small businesses, some of them new and very small. Like the EllieAnna Purse Co, owned and operated […]
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Labor Day, labor dollars, labor hours
Today is Labor Day, but exactly what is it we are celebrating? New York City hosted the first, unofficial, Labor Day on Sept. 5, 1882, when 10,000 workers associated with the Central Labor Union paraded through Manhattan streets. It was an event organized by Peter J. McGuire, then-secretary of the city’s Carpenters and Joiners Union, […]