It’s always the little stuff that turns around to bite you on the backside.Case in point: A couple of weeks ago, I observed in this space that there is “different justice in this country for those who are white enough or wealthy enough to afford it.” I said this en route to a larger point, […]

The city knew the canal area would be open and should have been prepared to erect a barrier before construction started.A noticeable orange warning fence would be appropriate along the stretch of canal running perpendicular to Main Street in Lewiston.In recent weeks, the city tore down the former Spectrum Music building and leveled the property […]

There will be unwelcome visitors in Lewiston on Jan. 11.On that Saturday afternoon at the Lewiston Memorial Armory, members of the World Church of the Creator will hold a rally, anticipating they can raise enough support to drive non-whites from Lewiston. This Illinois-based group sees an opportunity to anchor its racist beliefs here.A diversity celebration, […]

The new Homeland Security Act is designed to protect us by ferreting out threats to our personal and national safety. President Bush sold the plan because safety is a top priority for most of us.But at what price?Under this new legislation, government will be able to monitor our e-mail, track our phone habits and keep […]

An interesting question has been posed by the National Environmental Trust: Is your member of Congress more interested in protecting the health of average Americans or in protecting the profits of 13 big utility companies?President Bush has already answered that question, siding with utilities.On Friday, he eased clean air standards for energy plants, allowing utilities, […]

The chance to save money on the Defense Department is here again.American membership in NATO, the consortium formed after World War II to fight the Red Empire, has been a dubious expenditure of tax dollars since the 1990s when the empire collapsed.But now more than ever, we have the opening, and the duty, to say […]

The Democratic Party’s focus on the early presidential jockeying masks a key fact: Democrats won’t get a megaphone comparable to the GOP’s until they have a candidate in the spring of 2004, and during the 16 months between now and then, Republicans can make enormous changes in the political landscape. Two issues – prescription drugs […]

Another arrow points the way in our lives these days, thanks to federal guidelines.The arrows stick out from the posts that also carry school crossing signs. Those five-sided signs, sort of an arrow shape anyway, are now accompanied by diagonal, downward-pointing arrows, pointing to the very crosswalk implied by the signs above them.The arrow is […]

A letter to the editor of a California newspaper railed against bilingual ballots because “the language of this country has been English.” The writer lived in Paso Robles and the newspaper is in San Luis Obispo. The names of these two cities suggest that the writer missed something about the linguistic landscape of the United […]

“I’m coming home, I’ve done my time.” – Dawn, featuring Tony OrlandoYou’d have to be thicker than the average cinderblock not to appreciate the logic behind the so-called Megan’s Law. If the kindly old grandfather who just moved in down the street was a sex offender with a history of preying on children, you’d surely […]