A group of Republican lawmakers from central Maine have proposed legislation that would allow the state to send Maine prisoners to correctional facilities in other states, drawing the ire of the Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition.
April 2011
MAINE COMPASS: Tired of diversions from ‘government by disrespect’
As Republican senators, we all want Gov. LePage and his administration to succeed. Yet we feel compelled to express our discomfort and dismay with the tone and spirit of some of the remarks he has made.
Fire guts second floor of Tracy’s Tavern
OAKLAND — Combustibles placed too close to a portable electrical heater caused a fire early Sunday that damaged Tracy’s Tavern, a restaurant on Kennedy Memorial Drive, according to local and state fire officials.
LePage ‘transparency’ means muzzling the media
Democracy has always been the most difficult of all forms of government since it requires the widest spread of intelligence, and we forgot to make ourselves intelligent when we made ourselves sovereign. It may be true that you can’t “fool all the people all the time” but you can fool enough of them to govern […]
Automated phone systems too time-consuming
I don’t know about the rest of you, but my big turnoff is trying to call a company about a problem and getting that recorded message we all hate to hear: “Your call is important to us.” Then you get the runaround of press 1, press 2 and so on and so on, all this […]
Engineers pin hopes on polymer to stop nuke leak
TOKYO — Engineers pinned their hopes on chemicals, sawdust and shredded newspaper to stop highly radioactive water pouring into the ocean from Japan’s tsunami-ravaged nuclear plant Sunday as officials said it will take several months to bring the crisis under control, the first time they have provided a timetable.
Taxpayer money squandered on mural stunt
Gov. Paul LePage needs to take his leadership cues from Sen. Roger Katz, R-Augusta, and Turnpike Authority Interim Director Peter Mills. Both have focused the powers of their offices to clean up financial improprieties in the Turnpike Authority without antagonizing taxpayers or wasting our money to orchestrate stunts like the governor’s removal of art and […]
Legislature should stand firm, not let LePage bully it
As a Maine resident and voter, I urge the state Legislature to do all it can to block recent arrogant threats made by Gov. Paul LePage. According to news reports, “LePage is threatening to veto the two-year state budget unless it stays very close to the measure he proposed, saying he will not budge from […]
Bury our history or celebrate our possibilities?
Gov. Paul LePage somehow believes that his anti-organized labor and benefit-slashing tactics amount to pro-business enticements. Whatever gave him that idea? Maine has received humiliating national and even international press, such as in The New York Times editorial of March 27, “He Dreamed He Saw Kim Jong-il.” It said, “[A]s Republican governors vie to become […]
Sharp implements needed to get into our purchases
Surely, I can’t be the only person who is completely dissatisfied with the packaging of the products I purchase? Who are these marketing gurus who design the package for our medicines, batteries, toys, food, hardware, electronic gear and nearly everything displayed in stores? The packages are always bright and informative. They also are completely sealed, […]