The Supreme Court’s 2010 decision to allow political action committees ”“ groups affiliated with candidates ”“ to take in unlimited contributions as long as they don’t directly coordinate with the candidate is making for an expensive election season. The decision also opens the door for the independently wealthy to contribute as much of their money […]

New England Patriots fans have waited five years for this weekend’s Super Bowl rematch. They have waited patiently, sitting through a few rough seasons that included star quarterback Tom Brady missing all of 2008 with an injury. Those seasons also included the 2009 and 2010 playoffs, in which the Patriots were knocked out of the […]

“If only I had some grease I could fix some kind of a light,” Ma considered. “We didn’t lack for light when I was a girl before this newfangled kerosene was ever heard of.”  — Laura Ingalls Wilder, “The Long Winter” Winter sometimes seems to be an unbroken chain of identical days before the weather […]

Thumbs up to those involved with the decision to keep permanent state guardianship for Laurette Doyon, a former homeless woman who became a fixture in Biddeford’s and Saco’s downtowns. York County Judge of Probate Donna Bailey granted the Maine Department of Health and Human Services permanent guardianship over Doyon recently, which means the 79-year-old woman […]

Are the towns of Regional School Unit 21 made of money? The facilities committee of the RSU 21 school board seems to think so. Last Wednesday, what began as discussions for the repurposing of the former Garden Street Market building somehow grew into a plan to build an entirely new, freestanding arts center on the […]

The USS San Juan submarine arrived at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard nearly two years ago ”“ in April 2010. It was scheduled to receive a major overhaul with numerous repairs and modernizations. As the work nears an end, more than just the shipyard staff are saying their goodbyes. Biddeford has been the host community for […]

Among the strange things that happened last year ”“ and there were many ”“ perhaps the strangest was the end of the Iraq War. Did you notice it? I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t. It hardly even registered on the home front’s Richter scale. We didn’t leave in triumph ”“ that was World War […]

President Barack Obama may finally have it right ”“ about small business, that is, and its importance to our economy. Two weeks ago, he appointed the administrator of the Small Business Administration to his cabinet. This elevation of the SBA, even though it is not a department of the administration with secretarial-level status, is meant […]

Kennebunkport may have caught the withdrawal bug. At a selectmen’s meeting there two weeks ago, Vice Chairwoman Sheila Matthews-Bull said the town will likely be looking into getting out of Regional School Unit 21, as Arundel is now considering. A petition containing nearly 380 signatures was submitted to Arundel Town Hall earlier this month to […]

Joe Paterno, former Penn State football coach, died this weekend from complications with lung cancer two months after announcing he was sick. In the final eight weeks of his life, Paterno’s legacy was tarnished by his role in the Penn State scandal involving former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, who allegedly molested children, at least one […]