As we rush through traffic, lost in our thoughts, it’s easy to ignore the scenery. If we look, though, we would see major business development in the Twin Cities.Last year Lewiston ranked first in new development projects; the Twin Cities ranked second in job creation and business investments.We can take pride in that.The business development […]

Should Moms go to war?No! this writer emphatically answered in his last column, writing about a 3-year-old’s mother now serving in the Army in Afghanistan. The column prompted Internet correspondents to ask two most compelling questions.“What about fathers?” a writer asked. “Many of the men who serve in the military that may be called to […]

The White House desperately wants you to think its big new tax cuts are good for everyone – you know, a rising tide lifts all boats and all that. After all, President Bush can’t afford to have independent voters thinking his move to eliminate the evil double tax on dividends is simply a sop to […]

A New Hampshire legislator has proposed a bill that would give any student registered to vote in New Hampshire a break in tuition at the state university. Students wouldn’t have to prove prior residency, just register to vote.This is a really bad idea that could cost UNH $75 million in lost tuition each year.If the […]

It has been over three weeks since Ripper died, but it didn’t make the news until recently.At first, his death seemed depressingly mundane. Phoenix woman goes into her son’s room one afternoon to wake him for work. Finds him dead of an overdose of prescription drugs, marijuana and alcohol.It wasn’t until days later that his […]

KABUL, Afghanistan – The U.N.-organized mass repatriation of nearly 2 million Afghan refugees last year was premature and has caused serious disruption to the country’s reconstruction process.That’s the conclusion of a study conducted by the highly-regarded Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit. The report concludes that the program to bring so many displaced persons back so […]

How can a 17-year-old be so drawn to politics yet so repelled by the thought of running for office?The answer? Seventeen-year-old Mike Boulette already has become disillusioned by the wheeling and dealing in a government that seems to strip ideals and convictions at an astonishing pace.Too often, Boulette believes, elected representatives are forced to set […]

An ignored issue in the upcoming war in Iraq, the waning war in Afghanistan, and indeed the U.S. military in general, is mothers. And not the mothers who send their sons and husbands to die.We’re talking here about mothers in the military, those dispatched overseas to leave husband and hearth behind, and most importantly, young […]

How sweet it is.America’s Golden Boy of the slopes, Bode Miller, has a penchant for breaking records. So maybe no one is surprised that Miller became the first American man to capture three medals in a world championship, and the first to win two golds.Miller swished to victory in St. Moritz, Switzerland, yesterday to win […]

QOM, Iran – The liveliest debate about the relationship between Islam and democracy is going on inside a theocracy. Inside Iran. This debate matters as America prepares to go to war with neighboring Iraq.The White House hopes the demise of Saddam Hussein will prod Arab rulers toward democracy. But if Arab regimes implode, the most […]