Lost in last week’s flurry of activity in Augusta, we almost missed something: the first campaign issue of 2014.

Gov. Paul LePage won his battle against Obamacare last week, successfully rejecting an estimated $350 million in federal funds for Maine over the next three years, which would have extended health insurance to as many as 70,000 people.

The Maine Legislature should be applauded for taking a small but significant step Wednesday. It stood up to the National Rifle Association.

Public discussion of teenage parenthood often leaves teenage fathers on the sidelines. Policymaking, research, media coverage and services generally focus on young mothers and the problems they face as they negotiate both adolescence and child-rearing. Young fathers, meanwhile, are stigmatized as self-centered, irresponsible and unconcerned with their children’s needs.

Corporations can hire lobbyists to fight for them and influence public policy.

Gov. Paul LePage is clear — he hates the bipartisan budget that is headed his way, thanks to strong votes in the House and Senate.

Maine is one of the country’s safest places to live — one of the five most crime-free in the United States, in fact.

Maine lawmakers will get one more chance to do the right thing when it comes to providing health care to people in need.

Rural areas with no dentists would benefit from a new kind of provider.