WASHINGTON – In their rivalry with other gaming interests, Indian tribes now have an advantage in political giving – they’re exempt from the overall donor limits in the nation’s new campaign law that took effect this election cycle. The tribes, which last election spread around… Read More
AUGUSTA – Efforts to preserve 16 investigator positions in the Bureau of Liquor Enforcement were all but abandoned Monday after Gov. John E. Baldacci made it clear he would insist on the agency’s elimination. Although administration officials restored 35 positions Sunday that were originally cut… Read More
AUGUSTA – While they wait for the governor’s health care reform package, Maine’s legislators will consider nearly 100 other bills aimed at making large and small changes to the health care system. While they do, it’s important, says Joe Ditre of Consumers for Affordable Healthcare, for lawmakers to… Read More
AUGUSTA – Gov. John Baldacci has come up with an additional $5.1 million for general purpose aid for education after rejiggering several accounts. Finance Commissioner Rebecca Wyke said Monday the state could capture $1 million by recalculating the debt service account; $1.9 million by merging… Read More
WASHINGTON – Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman has approved Maine’s request for federal disaster assistance to offset the losses caused by the ongoing drought, U.S. Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins announced Monday. The entire state will be eligible for disaster assistance under the designation, the senators said. Read More
ORONO – International experts in the field will speak about the state of the pulp and paper industry at a conference in Bangor next month. Speakers will include private industry analysts, paper company executives, state and federal government officials and University of Maine faculty members. Read More
WASHINGTON – In comments that echo the Bush administration’s line, Maine Republican Sens. Olympia J. Snowe and Susan M. Collins took up positions behind their president Monday night, offering at least tacit support for his goal even if they have differed in how he had reached for that… Read More
Gov. Baldacci in his inaugural speech was very adamant in pointing out that there was to be one Maine, not two. Yet the cuts in the Department of Conservation, along with similar cuts in Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, it’s the other Maine that is taking the hit. Read More
A 30-degree rise in temperatures seemed like a heat wave, when the thermometer finally abandoned the subzero weather for the luxury of merely freezing. Spring is less than a week off and it finally feels like it. Think back for a moment about the stretches… Read More
The wait for war may now be over or it may be over sometime later this week – as of Monday, President Bush had made his absolutely final, last, ultimate ending offer for Saddam Hussein to surrender and leave Iraq. It is an singular proposal, but who knows?… Read More
As the Senate prepares to consider the FY2004 Budget Resolution this week, I appreciate the editors’ characterization of my efforts to reduce the tax cut by half to $350 billion as “an encouraging start.” It’s crucial the Senate act on a bipartisan budget this year,… Read More
Please tell me lawmakers can’t be serious about banning candy and soda, and cracking down on fast food establishments. We all have to make informed choices for ourselves and our families, but what is really missing here is common sense. The obesity issue is largely… Read More
Taking care of our aging parents has become easy. We put them in a home or pay someone else to take care of them for us. I’m a home care nurse and the majority of my clients are elderly. They have many hours of being… Read More
The Feb. 24 article on a hut-and-trail system suggests that this could be a boon to the state, but it is just as likely to be a boondoggle. Larry Warren suggests that his plan is economic development. For whom? Certainly it’s not for the four seasonal employees of… Read More
Dr. Erik Steele’s column on March 4 begins, “Some things are not worth debating.” This is true when telling your child to take out the trash, but is not the case when it comes to discussing proposed state legislation. On the important issue of public policy regarding food… Read More
This is not an anti-war column, but a reality check. Violence and mayhem are the currency of war, and no one trying to come to a decision about his or her support of a war in Iraq should fail to understand what that means. If you want to… Read More
AUGUSTA – A public hearing on a bill that would add “church official” to the list of people required to report suspected abuse to the Department of Human Services is scheduled today before the Judiciary Committee. State law requires that health care providers, school officials,… Read More
I guess I wasn’t surprised to read in Monday morning’s paper that this winter really hasn’t been as brutal as we’ve been led to believe. According to the National Weather Service, the unrelenting cold that started in December, the howling winds that made our furnaces… Read More
BANGOR – A Blaine pilot who set an unofficial world record for the most takeoffs and landings from the same airport in 24 hours lost his appeal Monday of a Federal Aviation Administration order to revoke his pilot’s license. Last Nov. 23, Walter A. Mosher… Read More
PORTLAND – Maine’s largest city has begun a nonscientific statewide survey of people who have bought prescription drugs from Canada in hopes of deriving information that will spur action by the state to make drugs more affordable. The survey by Portland’s Health and Human Services… Read More
PORTAGE – The words “United We Stand” and a 600-foot-wide flag display were created Saturday by snowmobilers on Portage Lake. The flag and message were the climax of a three-day snowmobiling weekend developed and created by the Portage Lakers Snowmobile Club. googletag.cmd.push(function () { //… Read More
BOSTON – Hancock Timber Resources Group, a subsidiary of John Hancock Financial Services Inc., is selling 14 large parcels of forestland in Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and New York, Hancock officials said. Bids are being accepted on the total of 212,000 acres worth an estimated… Read More
BANGOR – The ringleaders of the Waldo County “Red Devil” heroin ring were given long prison sentences in U.S. District Court in Bangor. Robert Orchard, 55, of Northport and Russell Beldon, 39, of Brooks were arrested at their residences last May. More than a pound… Read More
MACHIAS – A Meddybemps junkyard owner has been sentenced to a year in prison and four years’ probation for violating Maine’s hazardous waste laws. Superior Court Justice E. Allen Hunter also ordered Harry Smith Jr., 62, to pay a $5,000 fine and refrain from all… Read More
CAMDEN – Faced with the highest county tax bill and little in the way of county services, Camden town officials pleaded their case to Knox County commissioners on Monday night. In 2002, Camden paid $817,109 in taxes to the county, along with $64,294 in fees… Read More
BROOKSVILLE – School committee members on Monday took the first steps to develop a community consensus on what can be done to resolve existing problems with the elementary school building. The committee invited the town’s selectmen and budget advisory committee to join it in sponsoring… Read More
BAR HARBOR – Town police evacuated College of the Atlantic on Monday and called in the state police bomb squad after the college received a bomb threat on an answering machine in the administrative office, according to Police Chief Nate Young. No one was injured… Read More
Waltham Voters decided Saturday to instruct the Select Board to do further research before committing the town to an expansion of a town-owned building on Route 179, according to a town official. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes… Read More
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, chairman of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, said the federal government will restore $1.6 million in funding for a Maine project to collect high-definition color aerial photographs of the state. “This funding is critical to Maine for its homeland… Read More
Glenwood Plantation The two permanent residents in this community will hold the annual town meeting and election of officers at 7 p.m. Monday, March 31, at the Reed Plantation town office. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes =… Read More
STANDISH – A series of earthquakes shook buildings in Standish, Limington and Buxton late Saturday night. Robert Bohlmann, director of York County Emergency Management, said he received reports of a series of explosionlike sounds. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var… Read More
FORT KENT – The University of Maine at Fort Kent Alumni Association will hold its annual meeting at 1 p.m. Monday, March 24, in the Grindle Conference Room in Cyr Hall. Items on the agenda include the election of board directors and officers for 2003… Read More
FORT KENT – Allen Shoaff, University of Maine at Fort Kent professor, will speak from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 26, in the Nadeau Hall teleconference room. Shoaff is the third speaker in a three-month speakers series being held at UMFK, the focus of… Read More
PRESQUE ISLE – The Aroostook County Action Program has funds available for the 2002-03 Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. ACAP already has issued more than $2.3 million in benefits to nearly 4,200 Aroostook County households since October 2002, according to James Baillargeon, ACAP director of energy and… Read More
CARIBOU – The Aroostook Mental Health Center’s Sexual Trauma and Recovery Service, known as StaRS, is looking for volunteer advocates interested in providing services to victims of sexual assault, sexual harassment, and sexual abuse and their friends, family, spouses or partners. STaRS is Aroostook County’s… Read More
SOUTHWEST HARBOR – The Southwest Harbor-Tremont Chamber of Commerce will present the 2002 award for Citizen of the Year for the Quietside of Mount Desert Island at the annual equinox celebration, dinner and dance on Saturday, March 22, at the Deck House in Southwest Harbor. Read More
GREAT POND – A Bangor man was arrested Saturday on charges of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicants after he demolished his car on Great Pond Road, according to police. Gerard Robichaud, 45, was driving a Ford Explorer south on the… Read More
AMHERST – The driver of a commercial dump truck Monday morning inadvertently activated the dumper, pulling down two poles and power lines on Route 9 and stopping traffic in both directions for about an hour. The accident also delayed a delivery of blood to an… Read More
BANGOR – A woman complaining of stomach pain caused an inbound international flight from Amsterdam, Netherlands, to be diverted to Bangor International Airport on Monday. The DC-10, operated by Northwest Airlines, landed at BIA at 12:05 p.m. The woman, who was from Nigeria and claimed… Read More
MOOSEHEAD REGION – A New Hampshire man was seriously injured Saturday when his snowmobile left the trail and hit a tree. Robert Cohen, 41, was airlifted by LifeFlight helicopter after the 10 a.m. accident and taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center. He was in fair… Read More
HAMPDEN – The town has four election districts but as of Monday only one location for voting, after the Town Council approve unanimously the consolidation of two polling places into a single site. The practice technically was used in last November’s gubernatorial election, when the… Read More
MILLINOCKET – Officials of the Maine Breast and Cervical Health Program are encouraging women between the ages of 40 and 64, who have no or limited health insurance, to take advantage of free women’s health screenings from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, March 25. Read More
GUILFORD – Residents opted for convenience Monday by voting to construct a solid waste facility on Blaine Avenue, rejecting an option to haul their trash to a facility just over the Dexter town line. Along with that vote at the annual town meeting came a… Read More
HUDSON – A man armed with a shovel put out a fire in Hudson Monday evening. John D. Cunningham, who lives in Hudson, was driving home just before 6 p.m. when he saw smoke coming from his cousin’s house at 786 Hudson Hill Road. googletag.cmd.push(function… Read More
PITTSFIELD – Town Manager Kathryn Ruth, who is an avid walker, knows of the dangers of errant snowmobiles firsthand. She was nearly run over by a speeding snowmobile a few weeks ago while walking on Pittsfield’s Main Street. That incident, along with residents’ complaints to… Read More
Old Town police arrested a Bangor man driving without a license Monday morning. Just before 8 a.m., Officer Stephen Boyd was at the intersection of Main and Center streets when he saw a green Saturn pass by him on Center. The car’s license plate had… Read More
DETROIT – Pittsfield Police Chief Steven Emery, who lives just over the town line in Detroit, was elected Friday to the SAD 53 board of directors. It is the third time he will be seated on the board. Emery received 2 votes, while Robin Schissler… Read More
BANGOR – Determined to maintain “academic excellence,” yet be “mindful of taxpayers’ limits,” Superintendent Robert Ervin has proposed a $34 million budget for 2004. The recommended plan, which is 2.6 percent, or $900,000 more than the current year, doesn’t call for any layoffs or program… Read More
MACHIAS – A movement to revitalize Bad Little Falls Park is picking up steam, and the committee in charge of the effort is asking for suggestions from area residents The Ollie Henderson Memorial Fund Committee says it will be host of a public workshop with… Read More
Addison Town meeting voters have raised approximately $28,000 less in taxation than they did a year ago. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i < slot_sizes.length; i++)… Read More
HANCOCK – The combined effects of projected reductions in state aid, budget increases and a smaller fund balance likely will result in a quarter-million-dollar increase in the local school appropriation, school officials said Monday. Anticipated decreases in state funding also are expected to have an… Read More
U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, on Sunday renewed her call for a “thorough and swift” investigation into allegations of widespread sexual harassment and abuse at the Air Force Academy. Snowe said it would be up to Congress to take action if academy officials do not… Read More
BANGOR – Sister Mary Norberta, president of Saint Joseph Healthcare, said she’s honored to be considered for the commissioner’s seat at the Department of Human Services, but has decided she will not pursue the opportunity. Sister Norberta’s name was put forward last month by three… Read More
BIDDEFORD – So many bodies are being donated to the University of New England that the state’s only medical school has more cadavers than it can use for its anatomy classes. The school has instituted restrictions to slow the number of donations so it receives… Read More
AUGUSTA – Green energy advocates on Monday kicked off their campaign to convert 5 percent of the state’s electricity customers to renewable power by 2008. The campaign’s rollout featured an announcement from Gov. John Baldacci that the Blaine House and several other state buildings will… Read More
SKOWHEGAN – Steven McCarron, 22, found guilty of manslaughter in December in the May 2000 death of Jenni Bemis, 20, of Newport, will be sentenced Thursday in Somerset County Superior Court. He could face up to 25 years in prison. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define… Read More
United Cerebral Palsy of Maine wants you to “dust off your duds and save the date” for its ninth annual Line Dance, which begins with registration from 10 to 11 a.m., and the dance from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 5, at the Eagles Club in… Read More
Peter Meineck participated in theater as a boy in school in England, but he never thought of going into it as a career when he grew up. In fact, as a teenager, Meineck was expelled from school and ended up entering the Royal Marines. He became an officer… Read More
CARIBOU – Twelve-year-old Molly Bouchard has stars in her eyes. Last Friday night, the daughter of Jeff and Bonnie Bouchard of Caribou claimed a semifinalist slot on “Star Search,” a one-hour CBS television variety and talent series, broadcast live from Hollywood. She sang “A Piece… Read More
Though many people consider them pedestrian, even commonplace, I’m a devotee of geraniums. Why wouldn’t I be loyal when the faithful geranium is the only blooming thing in the house now that the tired poinsettia has been relegated to the frozen compost pile out back?… Read More
Yesterday was St. Patrick’s Day. I turned up my nose at the green beer and contemplated Irish crochet instead. I wonder how many Irish immigrants came to America and found their way to Bangor using money earned by crocheting lace? That statistic, I fear, is lost in the… Read More
Dear Jim: My old gas water heater is not leaky yet, but I want to replace it with an efficient, high-output model. The kids use up all the hot water in the mornings. What should I look for in an efficient model? – Joan W. Read More
The University of Maine women’s basketball team, still stinging from Sunday’s announcement it had not been selected for the NCAA Tournament, began to refocus Monday on its next mission. Coach Sharon Versyp’s 25-5 Black Bears have begun preparations for Thursday’s 7 p.m. Women’s National Invitation… Read More
When Norris Nickerson pulled to the front entrance of the Bangor Auditorium Saturday, the Eastern Maine Class A basketball tournament director was pleasantly surprised by what he saw. It was about 12:20 p.m. – a good three hours before the girls Class A state championship… Read More
ORONO – A rested University of Maine hockey team did some drills and a lot of scrimmaging during a captain’s practice (without coaches) on Monday at Alfond Arena. They have had nine days off since being swept at home by UMass in the Hockey East… Read More
About 10 years ago, Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife staffers headed to Bingham to meet with anglers and discuss a few conservation-oriented fishing regulations. Those anglers – many who call the Bingham section of the Kennebec River their “home water” – were, by all… Read More
Ricky Craven made a prediction to his Tide Pontiac team at a meeting just after the holidays. “I told them we were going to win one of the first six races,” said Craven. “I was interested in establishing confidence and unity among the team.” googletag.cmd.push(function… Read More
NEW SMYRNA, Fla. – Mike Collar of Scarborough pitched eight innings of four-hit ball Monday and was backed by a 12-hit attack as the University of Maine baseball team posted a 7-1 victory over Fordham at the New Smyrna Complex. Collar, a junior righthander, struck… Read More
CARRABASSET VALLEY – A team of Maine skiers racked up enough points to earn the Banknorth Eastern High School Championship title Sunday at Sugarloaf Outdoor Center. The Maine skiers scored 12,217 points. Vermont was second and New Hampshire third, followed by Massachusetts and New York. Read More
PORTLAND – Laurel Drew of Thorndike captured the Gold Medal in the Class A bowling division at the Maine Senior Olympic Games in Portland, qualifying him for the National Senior Games in Norfolk, Va., in May. He will head to Knoxville, Tenn., in April for… Read More
PANORAMA, British Columbia – Colby College first-year skier Jenny Lathrop notched a pair of top-10 finishes in the slalom at the North American Trophy Series Skiing Championships last week. Lathrop was sixth in slalom March 13, and was eighth the next day, among some 70… Read More
Racewalkers from Maine garnered All-America nods and had a top finishes at meets this weekend, including Kevin Eastler’s fifth place Saturday at the 2003 Pan American Racewalk Cup. Farmington’s Eastler walked a personal-best 1:25.34 in the 20-kilometer event to help the U.S. team take first… Read More
Bangor’s Lindsey Snyder claimed eight top-10 finishes at last weekend’s 13-and-over New England Swimming Championships held at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. Snyder competed in the 15-19 age group and was fourth overall. Her top finish was a second in the 200-yard backstroke (2:06.69). She… Read More
ORONO – Tickets for UMaine’s first-round WNIT game against Creighton will go on sale beginning Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. The Bears host the Bluejays Thursday at 7 p.m. at Alfond Arena. Reserved ticket prices are $12, with $10 for adult general admission, and $6 for… Read More
HIGH SCHOOL KVAC All-Conference googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i < slot_sizes.length; i++) { if (isMobileDevice()) { if (slot_sizes[i][0] googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes =… Read More
Competing recently in Fairbanks, Alaska at the 2003 Junior Olympics, Russ Currier of Stockholm, who trains with Maine Winter Sports Center, turned in top-10 performances in three of his four races in the J2 Boys’ division. Currier’s best finish was in the 3-kilometer relay event,… Read More
CAPE CORAL, Fla. – The University of Maine softball team picked up a pair of wins Monday, blanking Lafayette 6-0 in the first game and edging Yale 3-2 in eight innings in the nightcap. In the first game, Sarah Bennis earned the win, striking out… Read More
Bangor should be proud of Tennett I would like to respond to the letter titled “Time for coaching change at Bangor” (BDN, March 11). In this letter, Mr. Bamford writes that it is time “for a change at the top of the girls basketball program”… Read More