Thumbs up to the expansion of the Biddeford ArtWalk, which has been expanded into Saco and officially rebranded as the Biddeford+Saco ArtWalk. The Biddeford artwalk began in 2007. Planned for the last Friday evening of each month, it’s a self-guided tour that brings visitors into downtown businesses and galleries to see various forms of artwork. […]

The old Hollis High School and Bar Mills School have been saved from demolition, thanks to the concerted efforts of a few concerned citizens, and we’re glad to see their hard work has paid off. The Maine School Administrative District 6 School Board voted Monday, March 18, to lease the old Bar Mills School to […]

You may have missed it, but we recently celebrated World Happiness Day. To celebrate, the United Nations published a study on happiness in most countries in the world. That may sound like a waste of money, but one of the findings suggests that the study may serve a useful purpose. The World Happiness Report concluded […]

Gov. Paul LePage is once again refusing to order bonds that could put many people back to work through construction and improvement projects statewide, in an effort to force his plan to pay off the state’s hospital debt through the Legislature. LePage even admitted last week that he was holding the $104 million in bonds […]

We get attached to the silliest objects. In the comics, you always see Linus clutching his blanket protectively, shielding it from Snoopy’s prying muzzle. I can’t admit to being a huge fan of “Peanuts” ”“ every time I read a strip with no dialogue that ends with Charlie Brown crying on a pitcher’s mound, I […]

As a nation, we’re not eating a healthy diet. The American Way has come to include copious amounts of food ”“ often of the greasy, fatty variety ”“ and we’re paying for it with our lives. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control figures from 2009-10, more than 35 percent of U.S. adults were […]

It is March and the Maine House of Representatives has been busy sending bills to the various 13 committees of the Legislature. We have not voted on too many issues as actual roll call votes, so pretty much the new legislation has been either passed or not under the hammer.  There have been threats of […]

A bill submitted by state Sen. John Tuttle, D-Sanford, this session that would seemingly make it easier for schools to have single-gender classes, was killed Tuesday ”“ and rightfully so. Federal law, particularly the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution as well as Title IX, prohibits limiting classes in public schools by gender ”“ […]

Every human interaction, no matter how brief, can potentially impact each of its participants. Occasionally, a chance meeting can alter one or more lives, for better or for worse. On rare occasions, an everyday individual can, through a variety of coincidences, experience such an encounter with a stranger who has achieved a degree of renown. […]

Seeing something special in nature requires acknowledging the power of contrast. Something unusual leaps suddenly and without warning from the landscape, or upon closer scrutiny, a particularly interesting surface or shape takes form that stands out from everything else around it. In such cases, nearby shapes and surfaces often provide a framework for the special […]