”¢ Thumbs up to the Old Orchard Beach Conservation Commission for their work to construct and install a new kiosk at Blueberry Plains. The new structure provides information about this unique public walking trail and also includes a blackboard for people to leave messages. With its lowbush blueberries and sandy trails, this property is a […]

With so many homeowners and businesses making greener energy choices, private utilities ”“ along with big oil, gas, coal, and nuclear companies ”“ see the writing on the wall. Unlike some other denizens of the fossil-fueled set, this gang isn’t beating oil wells into solar panels, retiring nuclear reactors, or embracing wind and geothermal power. […]

Murrieta, in southern California, attracted a lot of TV cameras last month when protestors blocked three buses carrying illegal immigrants to a processing center. The crowds bristled with racially tinged hostility. “What kind of criminality will happen?” demanded a demonstrator. One woman wore a shirt bearing the legend, “If You Can’t Feed Them Don’t Breed […]

I went to Walmart a couple of Sundays back, for my usual monthly stop. I thought I would try something, an experiment of sorts. I put on my “LePage our Governor” T-shirt and my “Misiuk for Congress” pin and off I went. I was hoping that somebody would approach me, perhaps spark a conversation. Maybe […]

Southern Maine Health Care has started to implement what officials there call “telepsychiatry” during hours when staffing is low or the emergency room is dealing with high volumes of patients. The hospital’s Biddeford Medical Center has the only inpatient behavioral health unit in the county, and it only has 12 beds. Liza Little, SMHC’s director […]

Genetically modified crops like soy and corn, which are present in almost everything we eat, and cotton ”“ cottonseed oil is found in many of the foods we eat, also ”“ have been engineered to contain toxic pesticides to enable them to withstand the huge amounts of herbicides that are applied to farm fields. In […]

Since when is an entire ecosystem considered collateral damage to feed the craving of a world that can’t wean itself from oil? That will be the case if the U.S. Geological Survey goes ahead with plans to map the continental shelf off of the eastern coast of the U.S. with sonic blasting. Besides finding the […]

This column will be slightly different, as I would like to mention that some days are shaped by simple pleasures. The special event, “One Huge Celebration,” recently hosted by the Biddeford & Saco Chamber of Commerce, flowed with pleasure, laughter, delightful conversation and good cheer. August is member appreciation season for the chamber. This year’s […]

Every time I go through a toll booth that requires I pay some odd amount ”“ $2.25, $1.75, whatever the case may be ”“ I fork over a crumpled wad of singles and await my change, which usually comes in the form of quarters. Obsessive compulsive disorder demands that I place these quarters face-up inside […]

The Ballpark in Old Orchard Beach is a tremendous asset that has been underused for many years now. While it’s host to the Raging Tide summer collegiate baseball team, the town-owned site is only rarely used for other events, such as the Woofstock event for dogs and their owners. The town should embrace the ballpark […]