Thumbs up to all those who are working together to give a grand welcome to Karen Rand, a victim of the Boston Marathon bombing who is moving to Old Orchard Beach. Rand’s friend, Krystle Campbell, died in the attack, and Rand was left with shrapnel wounds and lost her left leg as a result of […]

The United States is once again caught up in a case of leaked secret information. The WikiLeaks disclosure of diplomatic messages revealed that the National Security Agency collects telephone and Internet data from many unsuspecting American citizens. Both leaks publicize government actions that people could find both wrong and invasive. The leakers clearly want to […]

Voting rights are under attack again, this time at the federal level, while in Maine, the governor’s veto killed two bills that would increase transparency in campaign financing. U.S. Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, in a statement earlier this week said she was disappointed in the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling to overturn part of the Voting […]

House Republicans are scheduled to hold a closed-door meeting on the issue shortly after they return from their July 4 holiday but their approach so far has been piecemeal.

We expect, as consumers, that the products we consume are safe, due to federal and state regulations. But that’s not always the case, which is why environmental groups continue to push for improvement in the safety of products we all use or eat. Maine’s Kids Safe Products Act lists bisphenol-A, or BPA, as a priority […]

Every time I see a Starburst candy, I think of driver’s ed. I was 16 and trying to stay awake through a lecture on the proper use of turn signals when the instructor glanced at his watch and indicated it was time for a 15-minute break. I remember blinking and looking around the room like […]

Gay couples nationwide are celebrating a significant, long-sought-after victory with the Supreme Court’s decision Wednesday to overturn part of the Federal Defense of Marriage Act. In their 5-4 ruling, the justices granted gay couples more equality with heterosexual couples at the federal level. It’s a landmark decision and a huge victory for the gay rights […]

The word is officially out. After a big push to notify area families, the USDA-funded Summer Food Service Program has kicked off throughout the county and state, and local schools and nonprofits are serving up healthy, balanced lunches ”“ and breakfast at some locations ”“ to children at no cost. The program is expanding in […]

The human species is the most complex, specialized and highly evolved of all living organisms, and as such, is completely dependent upon all other life forms that came before it. The irony in that is that it doesn’t work the other way around, for no other life forms depend upon humans for their survival. No […]

On Saturday, nearly 500 people converged on Old Orchard Beach to take part in the ninth annual Cpt. Christopher Cash Memorial 5K, Walk and Fun Run. The event, which is in memory of Old Orchard Beach’s Christopher Scott Cash, who died in action in 2004 during the early stages of the Iraq war, does more […]