Thumbs up to the organizers and participants of two training exercises last week. Early in the week, members of Maine law enforcement gathered in Alfred to practice funeral services for law enforcement officers’ line-of-duty deaths. Those in attendance practiced how to march, handle caskets and fold flags. Later in the week in Saco, firefighters from […]

Childish. Embarrassing. Shocking. Those are the words that come to mind when one thinks of the recent behavior of Gov. Paul LePage. Regardless of whether someone is a supporter of his policies or not, it’s impossible to condone his behavior, especially of late. It’s gotten so bad that Maine is making national headlines ”“ not […]

Polls are overwhelming the political process. Politicians and the public have come to rely heavily on opinion surveys. Our belief in them has increased just when we should have become more skeptical. Two stories in the past few days prove the point. President Obama has reportedly been uncertain about reacting to the civil war in […]

After years of work and a boost in the form of a federal grant late last year, the University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center connected its first prototype offshore wind turbine to the electrical grid last week. The VolturnUS turbine is a 65-foot-tall, floating prototype that became the first grid-connected offshore wind turbine […]

There’s this episode of “Seinfeld” in which Elaine introduces Jerry to her new boyfriend, a tall, shaved-headed dude who keeps his pate bare to make himself more streamlined for swimming competitions. When he leaves, Jerry quips, in wink-wink sitcom fashion, “Is he from the future?” Cue audience laughter. In the early ’90s, a shaved head […]

The Maine House on Tuesday gave initial approval to LD 1230, a bill that would allow dental hygienists with additional training to become “dental hygiene therapists” and perform simple procedures such as extractions and filling cavities. The bill is an attempt to solve the problem of limited dental care access in rural Maine, and for […]

Please, President Obama, do not lead us into another country’s civil war, especially the one going on in Syria. Americans are tired of fighting wars in that part of the world. We have not been successful in Iraq or Afghanistan, and we are still not fully out of our entanglements in those two countries. The […]

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court heard arguments last week in a case about which bathrooms transgender youth should use in school. The Maine Human Rights Commission and the Maines family sued the Orono school district after Nicole Maines was required to use a staff bathroom at her elementary school when she was in fifth grade. […]

Sports fans are currently experiencing one of the most exciting moments in the world of professional sports. This is the time of year when fans are treated by not one, but two professional sports leagues showcasing teams that are vying for world championships: The San Antonio Spurs are playing the Miami Heat for the title […]

At first glance, it’s only grass, the lush, thick growth that forms a living carpet across our front lawns, playgrounds and golf courses. But as with all else in nature, there is a lot more going on behind the scenes than is evident at first glance. And pulling up a single grass plant provides all […]