Here’s a look at what several in our online community had to say about letters to the editor and stories in the news over the long holiday weekend. Regarding a letter to the editor by B. Wilner on the disappearance of America’s middle class Crystal Ward of Lewiston wrote: “Just what is Obama “plowing over” […]
Maine
Posted inOur View
Toy program overwhelmed by generous people
“Hope Haven in need,” said the headline in Friday morning’s Sun Journal. It seemed certain, with only two days before Christmas, that some children would not be getting gifts. As a newspaper, we write a lot of stories like this throughout the year, and we are never surprised at the way this community opens its […]
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Posted inOur View
New EPA rules mean fresher air, fairer utility rates
Gov. Paul LePage has correctly complained that Maine’s higher-than-average electric rates drag down our state’s economy. While Maine has the lowest rates in New England, we are still far higher than Southern and Midwestern states that burn coal to produce electricity. One of the reasons these plants operate so cheaply is that they export their […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Water main break erodes street
LEWISTON — A water main break near 51 Pleasant St. eroded part of the street and flooded some yards with as much as 3 feet of water, Sgt. Joseph Bradeen said early Tuesday morning. “It appears there may be some street cave-ins,” he said. The water department was on scene to stop the flow, while […]
Posted inBusiness, Local & State, sj-web
Maine log home maker lands contract in China
OAKFIELD, Maine (AP) — A log home manufacturing company in northern Maine has won a contract to build homes for a new real estate development in China. Katahdin Cedar Log Homes in Oakfield will supply cedar log-home kits to a Chinese real estate development company for a new lakeside development in southwest China. Company President […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Talking money with the Maine Lottery’s point man
HALLOWELL — The folks come in red-faced. Some look worn, as if they tried and failed to sleep. One guy filled out his official claim form with the enthusiasm of a diabetic at a candy counter, stoic until presented a few minutes later with a check for $35,000. A dim smile spread across the man’s face […]
Posted inRiver Valley
Warm Maine winters no picnic at the beach for beech
So, I’m driving into work on Christmas Eve morning, not marveling at how light the traffic is on Route 2 in Carthage, Dixfield, Mexico and Rumford. Or keeping an eye peeled skyward for a glimpse of reindeer pulling a sleigh. No, I’m scanning roadside woods at 45 mph, looking for signs of beech bark disease […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Sunday paper on Saturday
Keeping with longstanding tradition, there will be no newspaper Sunday so Sun Journal employees can enjoy Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with their families. Instead, we have moved up publication of our bigger, better, more colorful Sunday paper by a day. So, larger paper today; no paper tomorrow. We will return to our normal publication […]
Posted inOp-Eds
Ranked choice a good thing for Maine
When it comes to voting, there haven’t been many useful innovations, but Maine just may have found one. When Portland decided to elect a strong mayor with full-time salary, it also went with a “ranked choice” voting system. In use in San Francisco and abroad, ranked choice allows voters not just to pick one candidate, […]
Posted inLocal Sports
College roundup: Bates gets buffaloed
By Sun Journal staff DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The Bates women’s basketball team led all but 6:28 of regulation time, but Buffalo State surged back to send the game into overtime, where the Bengals prevailed with a 69-67 over the Bobcats in their second game of the Daytona Beach Shootout. Buffalo State (9-1) outscored Bates […]