As previously noted by our colorful columnist and crime reporter Mark LaFlamme, jeers to the rapture. Or perhaps for some of us cheers to the rapture, for sparing us for another few days, at least. While some of us were skeptical, we now know for certain we still have a chance at closing out our […]
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This nation is facing a drug test
On Wednesday — nearly a dozen years after Maine voters passed a referendum to permit the use and sale of medical marijuana — Ted and Jenna Smale opened their pot dispensary in Auburn, a dispensary licensed to serve patients in Androscoggin, Franklin and Oxford counties. By any measure, the pace of legalizing medical marijuana and […]
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Efforts to diversify Maine’s electric supplies on track
An effort by Gov. Paul LePage to save Maine’s electricity ratepayers less than $5 a year is penny wise and pound foolish. It could cost Maine billions of dollars of private investment and, quite literally, thousands of jobs. A LePage-sponsored bill, LD 1570, now before the Legislature’s Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee, rolls back regulations […]
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Incident shows everyday threat of gun proliferation
The bizarre behavior of a Maine legislator should be ample evidence that government buildings need to be gun-free zones. Rep. Frederick Ladd Wintle, R-Garland, was charged Saturday with criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon and carrying a concealed weapon without a permit after an incident Saturday in Waterville. Wintle accused a customer at a doughnut […]
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Manufacturing on the rebound across the U.S.
About a year ago we wrote about a dramatic and unusual TV ad for the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee. You may remember that it featured rail spikes being driven, a locomotive racing across the skyline and a blast furnace turning iron into steel. “The things that make us Americans are the things we make,” said […]
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A look back at the week’s news
The death of young Texan Camden Hughes is tragic, and the actions that caused the boy’s death are criminal. But, mixed among the dreadful events surrounding Hughes’ death are remarkable examples of citizen involvement and tremendous police work. Hughes’ body was left on a rural road in South Berwick last weekend. After his body was […]
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Reform’s goal: Make state more business-friendly
After a bitter partisan fight over health insurance reform, legislative Democrats and Republicans came together Wednesday to pass a significant regulatory reform package almost unanimously. The new law, LD 1, was high on the Republican legislative priority list and was co-sponsored by Senate President Kevin Raye and House Speaker Robert Nutting. Their goal was to […]
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Insurance law likely vulnerable to people’s veto
There were smiles all around in Augusta on Tuesday, at least on Republican faces, as Gov. Paul LePage signed the controversial health insurance overhaul bill. But the real battle — to convince ordinary Mainers that this reform will improve their lives — has not yet begun and the ultimate outcome is far from certain. At […]
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Stop picking winners and losers in the debt debate
A handful of oil industry executives stood before Congress last week to defend $20 billion in tax breaks their companies will receive over the next 10 years. Several of the largest and wealthiest corporations in the world argued that it would be unfair to single out their industry to help balance the federal budget. And […]
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Auburn’s iPads deserve chance to prove worth
Anyone who doubts the potential for iPads to engage young minds in learning has probably not yet tried one. But even test-driving an iPad2 at the local Best Buy is unlikely to demonstrate the full learning potential of the light, slim computers. That’s why we hope the Auburn School Department can raise enough money — […]