Maine is one of several states pushing the federal government for a sweeter deal under the Affordable Care Act.

The last time we had divided government in Maine was 1991, and we remember what happened. State government shut down for 16 days in a dispute about workers’ compensation insurance, which at the time was the most expensive in the country.

Is the Central Intelligence Agency getting an honorable discharge from the drone war?

But something seems wrong with the math here. If such a large proportion of Americans favors a weapons ban — and an even bigger majority, 65 percent, backs banning high-capacity magazines carrying more than 10 rounds, according to a January poll by Washington Post/ABC — why the dearth of congressional support?

If Maine corrections officials are embarrassed, they have good reason.

They’re small, inexpensive and capable of feats that once belonged to the realm of science fiction — and they’re here to stay. The advent of drones is one of the most significant technological advances of our time.

Federal health officials warned recently that the nation’s hospitals and nursing homes are increasingly at risk from deadly new strains of drug-resistant bacteria that can’t be treated with even the strongest antibiotics.

Ask police chiefs — we asked ours — about the need for background checks on gun buyers. They will tell you universal background checks would reduce the number of guns ending up in the wrong hands.

The apprehension of a Nepalese man who tried to cross our southern border illegally last November near McAllen, Texas, makes the very unsettling point that border security could be a life-and-death matter for our citizens.

Some horrific events over the past few months, including the shooting of a Pakistani schoolgirl and the rape and murder of a young Indian physiotherapy student, should have been an alert for the world to unite in preventing violence against women.