A task force has been created by Gov. Paul LePage to look at how to successfully implement a five-year high school program in the state. His vision, which samples concepts from the North Carolina school system, would give the opportunity for students to take college courses alongside high school level classes through the curriculum. This […]

The $3 million grant program to weatherize homes by the Maine Green Energy Alliance had been in the headlines lately for all the wrong reasons. The group was investigated by the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability, which released a report in August to the state legislature’s Government Oversight Committee. The report concluded that […]

After 11 years, “squaw” will no longer appear in the names of public places in Maine. Despite the mandate more than 10 years ago, signed into law by then-Gov. Angus King, it was just this summer that the U.S. Board on Geographic Names approved name changes for half a dozen locations in Aroostook County that […]

In a country with a functional political system, Rick Perry’s presidential candidacy would be laughed out of the room. I mean, really. This is the 21st century, right? It’s the information age. Is it reasonable to take seriously a candidate who doesn’t believe in evolution, is contemptuous of even the possibility of climate change, and […]

There must be bipartisan collaboration to jump start job growth, and the president has taken the lead with his proposed American Jobs Act. But the questions remain, would it work and can we afford it? Small business owners still doubt that it will help them create new jobs. None of the previous stimulus projects of […]

Poetry is a unique literary art form that could use some good press, and fortunately, that’s just what Maine’s Poet Laureate Wesley McNair has in mind. For too long, poetry has been suffering from an image crisis. Certainly, there are many people who appreciate poems and regularly go back to their favorites for inspiration. But […]

It’s an exciting time for downtown Biddeford. The arts community has taken up residence, the mills are once again teeming with life, Heart of Biddeford is regularly hosting events, and several restaurants and other shops are thriving. Best of all, discussion has moved on from complaining about the trash incinerator and trying to run it […]

Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life. — Rachel Carson I took a walk in the woods yesterday along the path I blazed last fall, only to find it strewn with the debris of the most recent storm. So I picked fallen branches up […]

In 2001, several days after the 9/11 terrorist attacks rocked the United States, Major League Baseball’s New York Mets honored the victims and the heroes of that day by wearing baseball caps with logos of the New York City fire and police departments. On Sunday, the Mets planned to wear the hats again to recognize […]

Those unable to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. And those to whom it is likely to be unkind often hastily write their own unique and revised version(s) of it. That, along with the eagerness of its author to turn a profit, explains the recent release of “In My Time,” the reminiscences of […]