By flip-flopping on its stance toward the fighting between Israel and Hizbollah, the Bush administration not only changed course in that tragedy but signaled that it is confronting its own goals in Iraq. Implied in this change is an understanding obvious enough as to be banal if so… Read More
    Monday’s letter “Act on Newt’s words” had the wrong address for Jean Hay Bright’s U.S. Senate campaign. The correct address is www.jeanhaybright.us. Read More
    This is in response to the letter “See Jewish perspective” (BDN, Aug. 7). The writer deplores innocent death in Israel and excuses Israel’s exaggerated reaction with propaganda’s repetition. The fact is that for every Israeli that dies in country 33 civilians die in Lebanon. We… Read More
    “Oh my goodness, I never said it was going to be easy,” says Donald Rumsfeld. That’s it? That’s his defense? That he didn’t say it would be easy? googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner =… Read More
    A generation ago, when crowds condemned nuclear power, I was disappointed but felt that it was ahead of its time. We had coal for electrical generation and petroleum seemed plentiful for transportation. Now we are dependent on foreign shipments of natural gas and petroleum for fuel. Read More
    When it comes to health issues, there are some where we can “wait and see” while others need an immediate and aggressive response. When the threat is to our lungs due to air pollution, we can’t afford to wait and see. That’s why the American Lung Association of… Read More
    Dear Mr. President, U.S. Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, U.S Reps. Tom Allen and Michael Michaud: One of my daughters has been living in London. That would be the city and country where they just arrested all of those guys who wanted to blow up planes flying… Read More
    AUGUSTA – Dozens of veterans and supporters gathered in the State House Hall of Flags on Monday for the dedication of a World War II plaque. The timing was deliberate. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var… Read More
    HERMON – Fire destroyed a nearly 150-year-old farmhouse on the New Boston Road on Monday, with two people fleeing the home just ahead of the smoke and flames. Firefighters and equipment from more than a half dozen jurisdictions responded to put out the fire that… Read More
    CHARLOTTE – The owners of the husky dogs accused of killing and maiming nearly two dozen sheep 10 days ago have delayed euthanizing the pets, law enforcement officials said Monday. The dogs that belong to Alan and Valerie Fenderson of Charlotte have had their rabies… Read More
    SANGERVILLE – Friends and neighbors are rallying to help a local woman and her two children who narrowly escaped a fast-moving fire early Saturday morning. With fire licking at her bedroom door Saturday, Michelle Knowlton, 30, kicked out a second story window in her Mill… Read More
    GUILFORD – SAD 4 officials met earlier this month to begin their review of the formula used to assess local education costs for member communities. Abbot municipal officials petitioned the district earlier this year for the review because the town is paying a larger per-pupil… Read More
    A building that housed a boiler at Peavey Manufacturing Co. in Eddington, which burned in a fire Sunday night, soon will be rebuilt and the boiler repaired, according to Rodney Buswell Sr., the company’s owner. The state fire marshal and Peavey Manufacturing’s insurance company inspected the building Monday… Read More
    City police arrested a 16-year-old transient who was wanted on a warrant and who briefly fled from them late Sunday night. Police recovered nearly $700 in stolen items, including an iPod and a passport stolen from a car on Westwood Road. There had been reports of car burglaries… Read More
    MACHIAS – The Auxiliary Gift Shop at Down East Community Hospital will host children’s author Suzanne B. Page for a book signing from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 16. Page, a summer visitor to Beals Island, will sign her book “The Lobster Store.”… Read More
    CALAIS – The Washington County Democratic Committee will meet at 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 20, at the Down East Heritage Museum. The group will review its summer activities and set plans for next year. New faces are welcome. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var… Read More
    NORTHPORT – The third annual Taste of Waldo County & Annual Auction to be held on Sept. 13 at the Blue Goose Center. The event, which will begin at 5:30 p.m. with the tasting and silent auction followed by a live auction at 7 p.m.,… Read More
    BELFAST – The downtown art galleries will host Art Walk Friday from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 18. Most of the 15 art galleries in downtown Belfast participate. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner… Read More
    ROCKLAND – A deep-fryer fire Sunday drew firefighters to Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers on U.S. Route 1 and kept the eatery closed all day. The state Department of Health and Human Services inspected the restaurant after the fire, city fire Lt. Dennis Camber said Monday,… Read More
    CUSHING – A zoning board decision appealed to Knox County Superior Court by developer James Tower has been dismissed. But a similar case will be heard in District Court this winter. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = [];… Read More
    ROCKPORT – A local man faces drunken driving and drug charges after a Monday morning rollover accident that sent him and his passenger to the hospital with minor injuries. Justin Fernands, 20, of Rockport and Zone Tutti, age and address unknown, were taken to Penobscot… Read More
    ROCKPORT – A Warren man was flown to a Bangor hospital with head injuries after losing control of his motorcycle at the Tolman Pond Market when a car pulled out in front of him Sunday evening. According to police spokesman Craig Cooley, Harland Edwards, 35,… Read More
    THOMASTON – A rash of speeding complaints has local police cracking down on vehicles traveling too fast. “If you get stopped, you’re getting a summons,” Sgt. Michael Janczura said Monday. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var… Read More
    UNION – In remembrance and honor of Billy Joe Van Gaalen Sr., a veteran of Vietnam who was a prisoner of war and was awarded the Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts for his service, Gov. John E. Baldacci has directed that the U.S. and Maine flags be… Read More
    MORRILL – A Swanville man was arrested on drunken driving and other charges after rolling his sport utility vehicle over on Route 131 Saturday night. Kurt R. Moulton, 29, of Swanville was charged with operating while under the influence of intoxicants, illegal attachment of registration… Read More
    CAMDEN – A Rockport woman was taken to Penobscot Bay Medical Center for observation after rolling her car over on Mount Battie Street early Monday. Lt. Randy Gagne said Michelle Bartlett, 36, of Rockport was dazed and confused after the 6:38 a.m. accident and could… Read More
    HOULTON – Potatoes, people and parade units will be abundant this weekend as the town gears up for its 47th annual Potato Feast Days celebration. The fete, which begins Friday and runs through Sunday, is sponsored by the Greater Houlton Chamber of Commerce and lauds… Read More
    Presque Isle District Court Cases May 1-31, 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 () { // Define… Read More
    SHERMAN – The building that houses the Sherman Recreational Department will be more accessible to those with disabilities thanks to a grant from the Maine Community Foundation. Jeff Packard, office manager with the Upper Valley Economic Council, said Monday that UVEC successfully obtained the $3,150… Read More
    ORRINGTON – Town selectmen on Monday added the vacant school committee seat of Nancy Snyder, who resigned last week to teach art, to the ballot of an October special election already planned to fill an empty selectman’s post. The Oct. 16 special election is scheduled… Read More
    PITTSFIELD – The Pittsfield planning board, after months of work, completed its update of the town’s comprehensive plan Monday night. Chairman Fred Raynes said that a summary of the changes has not been prepared but will be available soon. The summary and the changes will… Read More
    DOVER-FOXCROFT – Police believe a local woman who allegedly entered a home here last month to steal prescription drugs may have attempted to enter other homes in the area. Tiffany Beal, 24, was arrested on July 31 in connection to the burglary of a Bear… Read More
    HAMPDEN – Children could be crawling around on a new community playground by the end of this year, if all goes as planned by town officials. The town is accepting bids for playground equipment to be installed next to the Lura E. Hoit Memorial Pool… Read More
    CORINNA – Police hope a recent theft of narcotics from the Corinna Ambulance garage and Fire Department is an isolated incident. Someone removed a window from the municipal facility that houses both departments between Thursday night and Friday morning and took two metal medicine boxes… Read More
    DOVER-FOXCROFT – Jeffrey Keene of Eliot started Monday in his new position as principal of Morton Avenue and Monson elementary schools. Keene, one of 10 applicants for the position and one of five who were interviewed, previously served as principal of Wentworth Elementary School in… Read More
    MACHIAS – An East Machias woman who disrupted a special town meeting last year and drew four criminal charges during the evening entered pleas of no contest on the four counts in Washington County Superior Court last week. Mary Lou Geel, 42, faced three Class… Read More
    PERRY – Opponents of two proposed liquefied natural gas facilities plan an art auction that will include the works of artists from Maine and New Brunswick. The auction will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 6, at Blueberry Point, the home of… Read More
    PRINCETON – Their teachers were from the Passamaquoddy Tribe and the Penobscot Nation, and they learned about everything from medicinal herbs and healing to building a birch-bark wigwam. It was the fifth annual American Indian history and culture class, Aug. 7-13, ending at Pleasant Point… Read More
    AUGUSTA – The Augusta Police Department, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department and Maine State Police were searching Monday for a suspect in a kidnapping and gross sexual assault earlier in the day. In the early morning Monday, a juvenile female reported to the Augusta police that… Read More
    PORTLAND – During her year spent researching a book about the nation’s premier school for exotic animal trainers, Amy Sutherland observed students teaching a cougar to walk on a leash, a camel to shoot hoops and a hyena to pirouette on command. But it was… Read More
    BANGOR – The man who torched the Skowhegan State Fairgrounds seven years ago pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court to threatening to kill two presidents, a governor, a federal judge and other public officials. Charles D. Miles, 26, pleaded guilty to 11 counts, including… Read More
    The Oncology Support Foundation is hosting an Antique Appraisal Fundraiser with Kaja Veilleux’s mobile appraisal lab from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 17, in the Steam Plant Parking Lot on College Avenue on the University of Maine campus in Orono Veilleux owns Thomaston… Read More
    AUGUSTA – The state has entered into a consent decree with The Gentle Wind Project that dissolves the organization and forbids its founders from making false claims about its so-called “healing instruments,” officials said Monday. The Gentle Wind Project contended the devices – ranging from… Read More
    WELLS – Town beaches reopened on Monday, a day after shark sightings prompted city officials to close beaches to swimming. Wells Fire Chief Daniel Moore reopened the beaches after going out on the water to survey for sharks. A day earlier, a dead mako shark… Read More
    A woman placed on life support Saturday after being discovered unconscious at her Baker Road home in Union was reported in stable condition late Monday. Maine State Police would not identify the 46-year-old woman. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var… Read More
    MACHIAS – The reputation of the Machias Wild Blueberry Festival went national last summer when ESPN, the television sports network, came to town to film the blueberry pie-eating portion of the three-day event. Everything looked so family-friendly, apparently, that Arkansas Family Magazine even named the… Read More
    WERU-FM, a nonprofit community radio station, will broadcast live performances and interviews during two days of the American Folk Festival in Bangor later this month, the station said Monday. As a noncommercial radio station, WERU-FM 89.9 and 102.9 is able to broadcast live from the… Read More
    Age: 55 Home: Bangor 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]… Read More
    I’m not entirely certain when the phenomenon arrived here in Maine, but as memory serves, my first recollection of sidewalk surfing with skateboards in Bangor started about 1965. According to Wikipedia, the skateboarding encyclopedia, the hobby originated during the 1950s as an offshoot of surfing. Read More
    BANGOR – Joe Connor pulled into Mansfield Stadium early Sunday evening ready for a break from driving, eager to watch another baseball game, this time at the Senior League World Series … and on the prowl for more vegetable oil for his bright green Mercedes Benz. Read More
    PORTLAND – Portland Sea Dogs outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury has been selected as the Eastern League’s Player of the Week. Ellsbury batted .400 (10-for-25) during the week with seven runs scored, a double, two triples, a home run and three RBIs. He also has a seven-game… Read More
    MADAWASKA – Alex Martin scored three goals and assisted on the other as Van Buren opened its schoolboy soccer season with a 4-1 boys victory over rival Madawaska Monday. Ruben Hastings scored a second half goal for the 1-0 Crusaders and Keith Vallancourt recorded an… Read More
    BANGOR – The coaches and players from Bloomfield, N.J., had seen this too many times already in the course of their playoff season to be fazed by it. They were trailing in a tight game that was rapidly winding down to the final inning. Time… Read More
    BANGOR – After blowouts ruled day one of the Senior League World Series, fans were treated to a Tuesday morning pitchers’ duel that was just as good as Mansfield Stadium’s famous Ballpark Brownie Sundae. Between the three of them, pitchers Jeff Comfort and Jon Reed… Read More
    BANGOR – The scoreboard pretty much told the story for Monday night’s Senior League World Series game between South regional champ Yorktown, Va., and West champ Pearl City, Hawaii. After the third inning, Yorktown was outhitting Pearl City 4-2 but was trailing 3-1. googletag.cmd.push(function ()… Read More
    Wrong way isn’t right at Speedway 95 I have been a huge race fan of Speedway 95’s Wacky Wednesday and Saturday night races, and also have done some racing there myself in the past. I find the article about Del Merritt and Speedway 95 (BDN,… Read More
    BANGOR – The first thing you notice while talking to Bloomfield, N.J., outfielder-pitcher Rich Monroig are his eyes. His dark – well, make that dark-and-orange – eyes that look like something out of a high-end Halloween costume kit. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var… Read More