At the coffee shop, Lucius Flatley announced this week’s topic as sugar – the kind you eat or imbibe, not “the kind to whom you offer rides on a rainy night.” He defined sugar as either sucrose – refined beet and cane sugar – or high fructose – corn syrup. His interest was triggered by […]

In my town there was a large wood products company where hundreds of people worked. Whenever a new worker arrived on the scene, the older workers liked to tell the story of how the company president got his job. He was a young guy who went off to the university and got himself a good […]

Some of the more conspiratorial critics of Gov. Paul LePage’s sudden proposal to cut the entirety of state spending for the Maine Public Broadcasting Network argue the move is payback for a series of high-profile run-ins LePage had with MPBN reporters during last year’s campaign. It is more likely, however, that the reasons behind the […]

Some of the more conspiratorial critics of Gov. Paul LePage’s sudden proposal to cut the entirety of state spending for the Maine Public Broadcasting Network argue the move is payback for a series of high-profile run-ins LePage had with MPBN reporters during last year’s campaign. It is more likely, however, that the reasons behind the […]

In the early part of the last century, things were a lot different here in Maine. We think you’ll agree that a lot of things have changed over the last 100 years, if not improved. Long ago, all homes in Maine were heated by wood. It was a difficult procedure that involved having someone cut, […]

I have Peter Mills’ E-Z Pass. Mills is the acting executive director of the Maine Turnpike Authority. His pass allows him to ride on the toll road for free. Or it would, if he had it. Which he doesn’t, because I do. A friend of mine found the gizmo on a Portland street a few […]

LD 1203, the bill that would allow slot machine facilities to operate in Biddeford and on Passamaquoddy tribal land in Washington County without a statewide referendum, was the subject Monday of a State House public hearing. Once again, both sides of the issue had a chance to weigh in on the wisdom of expanding gaming […]

Historians may well credit Eliot Cutler with the election of Paul LePage. While that conclusion can be argued, that it can even be considered is sufficient to give pause to any thinking voter. This year, as if that 2010 performance weren’t enough mischief, Mr. Cutler seems to indicate future political ambition – again as an […]