AUGUSTA — Between 2003 and 2010, the state paid almost $235 million to private organizations run by legislative leaders or the spouses of high-level state officials. But because of a loophole in state law, not one penny of that spending was disclosed to the public in ethics filings. An investigation by the Maine Center for […]
Maine
Posted inOur View
Close the barn door before the elephant arrives
In many Asian cultures, the elephant is a symbol of wisdom. Moving a single elephant to a barn in Hope, Maine, would be a symbol of stupidity. Jim Laurita, a veterinarian, has built a steel building with a concrete floor on his property in Knox County and hopes to acquire Rosie, a 42-year-old circus elephant […]
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Posted inLocal & State
We’re the best at (fill in the blank here)! The ways Maine is No. 1
Maine’s hospital bathrooms are so clean. How clean? They’re nationally recognized. No dirty loos here. In the whole country, we also have the most inbound border crossings, we’re kicking more butt and we’re biggest in Malaysia. It’s like being big in Japan, but better, because it’s Maine, and we’re No. 1 in a whole slew […]
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
Maine 2011 fire deaths more than double from 2010
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The number of fire deaths in Maine more than doubled last year from the state’s record low set in 2010. Steve McCausland of the Maine Public Safety Department says the state recorded nine fire deaths in 2010. In 2011, the number grew to 23. He says the worst year for fire […]
Posted inOur View
Making voting easy and secure our ultimate goal
Elections should be won on the basis of superior ideas, not by throwing pointless stumbling blocks in front of honest voters. Mainers showed resounding support for that belief in November when they rejected a legislative attempt to outlaw Election Day voter registration. Republicans in the Legislature had overwhelmingly approved a bill killing the practice based […]
Posted inOp-Eds
Occupy movement has a point
This is the traditional week for columnists to reflect on the year past and make predictions about 2012. I’m not very good at that sort of column. What does strike me as significant is how certain events can make us re-evaluate what we thought we knew, what everyone has been saying is true but which […]
Posted inLocal Sports
Barnies finding basketball opportunity in Turkey
AUBURN — One of the first questions Troy Barnies asked when he got to Istanbul, Turkey, was where he could find the weight room. The question raised some eyebrows among his teammates and coaches. Professional basketball is big in Turkey, and the country has produced several NBA players (Hedo Turkoglu, Mehmet Okur and former Boston […]
Posted inLocal Sports
Buster knows how to sniff ’em out
The last thing any deer hunter wants is a wounded deer, but it happens — even sometimes to the most skilled hunter. The buck that Tim McClusky wounded came trotting by his tree stand from left to right, and presented a quartering away shot at about 60 yards. With his .50 caliber black-powder gun, McClusky […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Newly legal fireworks use, sales not exactly exploding
LEWISTON — For those expecting Maine to come booming into 2012 as it becomes legal to buy and use fireworks in the state Jan. 1, the new year might come with a flicker of disappointment. Despite a new state law allowing the sale and use of consumer fireworks, there is not yet a single legal […]
Posted inOp-Eds
Separating dollars and cents from some myths
By Gordon L. Weil Contributing writer Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting The end of the year is a good time to correct some myths recently in the news. 1. Unemployment has never been so high for this long. For one thing, unemployment has been much higher – about 25 percent during the Great Depression […]