BANGOR – Tim Martin stood behind his 7-year-old son, Jacob, as the color guard leading the Memorial Day parade approached Davenport Park. “Put your heels together like this,” Martin, 35, of Bangor said as he demonstrated. “Now, put your hand over your heart to salute… Read More
Alayna Treadwell, 6, is learning more than her ABCs at Center Drive School in Orrington, and what she’s learning will help her survive and lead a healthy adult life. Alayna was 4 years old when she was diagnosed with Type I diabetes, which occurs when… Read More
WASHINGTON – President Bush, marking Memorial Day with a speech paying tribute to fighting men and women lost in war, signed into law Monday a bill that keeps demonstrators from disrupting military funerals. In advance of his speech and a wreath-laying at America’s most hallowed… Read More
FREDERICTON, New Brunswick – One of the most familiar symbols of rural life – the mailbox with a flag at the end of a country driveway – could soon become just a memory. Canada Post is reviewing the way it delivers mail to rural areas… Read More
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. – A company called NH Tidal Energy Co. is proposing to produce electricity using the power of tides in the Piscataqua River. The proposal filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission calls for 50 to 100 turbines to be submerged in the river… Read More
When Kevin and Debra Onnela moved to their 1,500-acre mountaintop spread in Lempster, N.H., 27 years ago, a homemade windmill provided all the electricity they needed – and more. “The batteries would just be hissing,” Debra Onnela said recently outside her house. “We’d go in,… Read More
Mounting world outrage over abuses at the U.S. detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is reaching a climax. The most recent criticism has come in a lengthy review of U.S. policies by a United Nations panel of human rights officials that condemned the treatment of terrorism suspects and… Read More
Americans have become used to reading about corporate accounting scandals. But, when the company involved operates under a government charter that gives it special benefits, the question of how these types of schemes continue takes on added importance. The answer isn’t more regulations but tougher enforcement of those… Read More
This is the time of year that graduates receive unsolicited credit card offers. Many will use them without giving thought to how they will repay the debt. In the meantime, however, the users will enjoy a “great economy.” The card companies will want to be repaid and will… Read More
The commentaries by Tom Weber (BDN, May 2) and Ralph Pettie (May 12) about our national anthem have been read with great interest. As I was considering the policies and actions of government, business and many individuals, I remembered a 1957 recording that might give inspiration for a… Read More
Why is it that the state is putting more and more restrictions on the fishing industry? Right now seafood is a hot commodity; people everywhere are eating it. But if the government keeps making it more and more difficult for the fishermen to fish, how is the general… Read More
I have been enjoying the columns written by April Forristall, a May 2006 University of Maine graduate and a former intern at the Bangor Daily News. Internship opportunities provided by local employers such as the BDN are greatly appreciated by the staff at the UMaine Career Center where… Read More
Hearing my new CD by Neil Young, “War,” my thoughts revert to my adolescence and young adulthood in the ’60s and ’70s. As a contemporary of Presidents Clinton and Bush II, googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = [];… Read More
As a Lincolnville resident for the past 12 years, I have watched with increasing alarm as our total property taxes have gone up and up. Over the past two years alone, the property tax amounts have increased by 9.2 percent and 11.5 percent. At the same time, the… Read More
A fifth-grader from Rye, N.Y., who summers on Mount Desert Island, recently asked me: “Do you think that it is a good idea to have homework assigned on vacations?” His mother had read “The End of Homework,” a book Etta Kralovec and I co-authored. His teacher had asked… Read More
CONCORD, N.H. – Mosquito-borne illnesses such as Eastern equine encephalitis and West Nile virus are changing the way summer camps operate and sending camp directors scurrying for advice on how to protect their young charges. “It’s kind of scary to think of camp changing and… Read More
CALAIS – Mary Barnard watched quietly Monday as a flag that has flown at her son’s base in Cape Liberty, Baghdad, Iraq, was raised at the city’s park on Main Street by her other son, Marc Barnard, as part of Memorial Day ceremonies. That flag… Read More
ST. GEORGE – A new Maine State Prison honor guard is on a mission to polish the image of corrections officers. And shine it did Monday at the St. George Memorial Day parade. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes… Read More
Members of Maine’s congressional delegation say they doubt Congress will clear any immigration overhaul this year. After weeks of debate and negotiations, the U.S. Senate passed an immigration bill last week that is far different from the measure passed last December in the U.S. House. Read More
MEXICO – The parents of a Maine Army National Guard member serving in Iraq have erected a life-size, GI Joe-garbed replica of their son as a show of support for him and his unit, which lost two men to a roadside bomb earlier this month. Read More
Mainers paid tribute Monday to the nation’s war dead at the close of a sunny Memorial Day weekend that ushered in the state’s summer tourism season and showed that tourist towns in coastal York County were back in business after this month’s devastating floods. Small… Read More
CORNVILLE – The sole survivor of a weekend crash that killed three people has been too unstable to be interviewed by police, a Maine State Police official said Monday. A sport utility vehicle passed some motorcycles on East Ridge Road shortly after 8 a.m. Saturday,… Read More
GREENVILLE – An upgrade is planned for the Moosehead Sanitary District’s aging wastewater treatment and collection system. A public hearing was held recently when trustees explained the district’s plan to borrow $380,000 from a state revolving loan fund to replace the two main pumps. googletag.cmd.push(function… Read More
DEXTER – Four people were arrested after police were called to break up a weekend fight, the police chief said Monday. The fight occurred at a Grove Street apartment. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner… Read More
CHARLESTON – Inmates at Mountain View Youth Development Center’s Helping Hands program have maintained cemeteries, cut brush and cleaned up after vandals their own age. Now area officials hope the center will move its “responsive” justice program up a notch. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define… Read More
CALAIS – The police chief and city were soundly criticized in a review conducted recently by the Maine Chiefs of Police Association. Chiefs from the Hampden, Freeport and Buxton police departments conducted the review in March. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes =… Read More
DOVER-FOXCROFT – A local furniture manufacturer has made display space available in its showroom for the Maine Highlands Guild. Along with Moosehead Manufacturing Co.’s products and its new line of furniture called J. Wentworth, the company’s store offers an assortment of guild offerings from handbags… Read More
MILLINOCKET – You could quite easily – and quite happily – gain a few pounds sampling the products lining Carla Portwine’s new storefront on Aroostook Avenue. You will find sumptuous gift boxes filled with venison sausage, sparkling cider, maple syrup, white granola, granola with cherries… Read More
BAR HARBOR – The man whose motorcycle crashed Sunday afternoon on Crooked Road remained in critical condition Monday at a Bangor hospital. Erik Wright, 27, of Ellsworth failed to make a turn with his Honda 600, skidded onto the shoulder of the road and struck… Read More
Waldo County Superior Court, Belfast Cases May 2-4, 2006 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 () { //… Read More
LINCOLN – Imagine dragging two 1,000-pound and somewhat rambunctious animals through thick woods in the middle of a very dark and mosquito-ridden night and you’ll know what David Slomienski endured early Monday. Slomienski, a Lincoln firefighter, and Lincoln police Officer Shane Hughes worked for about… Read More
Hermon High School HERMON – Principal Brian Walsh has announced honor parts for the Class of 2006 at Hermon High School. Graduating ceremonies will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 10, at Bangor Civic Center. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes =… Read More
Nicholas Oppedisano, 39, of Bangor was arrested Saturday and for the third time since 2003 was charged with assault after allegedly spitting in the face of his longtime girlfriend and pulling her by the hair, Bangor police said. Officer Rob Angelo arrived at the couple’s… Read More
PORTLAND – A Norway man who claims he was shot 18 times by Lewiston police officers after he used a hammer to damage police cruisers says his constitutional rights were violated. Vince Berube contends in a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Portland that the… Read More
PORTLAND – The Maine Turnpike Authority collected millions of dollars more in tolls than it had projected in the first year of using the new E-ZPass electronic toll collection system. The authority released a 50-page report Thursday analyzing the first year of using E-ZPass from… Read More
The format for the Ellsworth Rotary Club’s largest fundraiser has been revamped, reports Terry Carlisle, who promises the annual auction will be a “fast-paced evening with hundreds of items available in both silent and live auctions.” The event is from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday,… Read More
TOPSHAM – A state energy conservationist and a race car driver drove the same 30-mile loop in southern Maine to prove that how you drive can result in dramatic changes in gasoline mileage. It’s no surprise that switching to a more fuel-efficient vehicle can bring… Read More
CALAIS – Traffic was a problem at the border again Monday as Americans returning from their weekend trips to Canada found themselves waiting up to 45 minutes to get through U.S. Customs. Still, that’s down from last weekend when some tourists complained of two-hour waits. Read More
PRESQUE ISLE – A 5-year-old Presque Isle girl was injured Sunday afternoon when she ran onto the roadway into the path of a pickup truck. The youngster, who lives on the Chapman Road, attempted to cross the road to go from googletag.cmd.push(function () { //… Read More
AUGUSTA – Maine cities and towns in 11 counties will have to wait until next year to get all the money owed them by the state for their share of repairs and cleanup funds from the floods of April 2005. Under the president’s declaration, Androscoggin,… Read More
Those who love textiles and wish to expand their knowledge about them may want to attend the Textile Arts Symposium 2006 on Thursday, June 22, to Sunday, June 25, at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Mass. The event will showcase the museum’s extensive textile collection. Read More
Ashley Emerson may be an inch under 5 feet, but she knows how to be tall. High heels, long dresses, swept-up hair and sparkly jewels all help lengthen her appearance, but it’s a powerful soprano voice that makes her tower above the rest. So much so that the… Read More
Tax season may be over, but who ever stops thinking about taxes? They aren’t just for April. Look at your pay stub. Have a glance at your restaurant, clothing or grocery receipt. Take a minute to read every line of your cell phone bill. Taxes show up everywhere… Read More
Walter Spear sees things a little differently from most people. When he looks at a discarded chunk of water main, he sees a chimney pipe. In his eyes, a rusty crane boom becomes a stand for that chimney. And then there’s the weathered old lobster… Read More
LEWISTON – The splint on Eliot Potvin’s left wrist was seen by some at the Wallach Tennis Complex over Memorial Day weekend as a possible sign of vulnerability. But for the Hampden Academy junior, it was merely another source of motivation. googletag.cmd.push(function () { //… Read More
ORONO – The University of Maine baseball team was California dreamin’ Monday, but the Black Bears still erupted with cheers and applause when they found out they’re headed south – to Chapel Hill, N.C. UMaine, fresh off Saturday’s come-from-behind victory over Stony Brook in the… Read More
PORTLAND – Mike MacDonald still seems genuinely surprised that anyone would want to interview him. Even when a recent road trip with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats brought him back to his home state to play Portland, the Camden native wasn’t figuring on much hoopla… Read More
When Wiscasset Raceway and Unity Raceway decided to eliminate their pro stock classes due to low car counts caused by the high expense of running a pro stock car, a void was created. But Pro All-Stars Series founder and president Tom Mayberry formed an Outlaws… Read More
Thoughts this week turn to an annual theme, with a twist, if you will, centering around commitment to athletics and smart decisions by young people on the highways. This has been traditionally the time of the year when I mount a soapbox and preach to… Read More
FORT WILLIAM, Scotland – Adam Craig of Corinth and Bend, Ore., finished 23rd overall Sunday in the International Cycling Union’s fourth World Cup mountain biking cross country race of the season. Craig was timed in 2 hours, 23 minutes, 12 seconds, more than six minutes… Read More
HIGH SCHOOL at Bates College, Lewiston 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… Read More
PRESQUE ISLE – Travis Brooker singled twice, doubled and drove in three runs to lead Presque Isle past Mount Desert Island 10-6 and Derrek Belanger added three singles and four RBIs for a 12-2 victory in the second game as the Wildcats swept a high school baseball doubleheader… Read More
EAST MILLINOCKET – Rick Stewart had three run-scoring singles to lift the Dexter Tigers to a 6-3 high school baseball victory over the Schenck Wolverines Monday. Stewart had a two-out base hit that broke a 3-3 tie in the fifth inning and another to spark… Read More
EAST SULLIVAN – Reegan Brown scored on a fielding error in the top of the 11th inning and Catie Cravens pitched a four-hit complete game with 11 strikeouts to lead Ellsworth to a 4-3 high school softball victory over Sumner Monday. Sabrina Jellison had a… Read More