With only two days to go until the Iowa caucuses and a little more than a week until the New Hampshire primary, political junkies in the other 48 states are supposed to be consumed with jealousy.

Seventy-three years ago, a Boy Scout from Rye, N.Y., got separated from his hiking group on Mount Katahdin.

At the end of World War II, returning servicemen avoided a glutted labor market by going to college in unprecedented numbers and acquired new skills. A few years later, the result was a cycle of sustained economic expansion and opportunity and the creation of a greatly expanded and durable middle class.

Mitt Romney is zero for two when it comes to transparency in campaigning.

Just as cold weather struck the Northeast, the White House and Congress put people in danger by cutting low-income heating assistance.

Next month the Supreme Court will consider a controversy over congressional redistricting in Texas that will highlight the importance of a crucial part of the 1965 Voting Rights Act: Section 5, which requires states and localities with a history of voting discrimination to “pre-clear” changes in their election practices with the Justice Department or a federal court. In 2009 the court declined to rule on the constitutionality of Section 5, but it could return to the issue. If the court is in any doubt about the continued need for it, members should read a recent speech by Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.

Just as cold weather struck the Northeast, the White House and Congress put people in danger by cutting low-income heating assistance.

Next month the Supreme Court will consider a controversy over congressional redistricting in Texas that will highlight the importance of a crucial part of the 1965 Voting Rights Act: Section 5, which requires states and localities with a history of voting discrimination to “pre-clear” changes in their election practices with the Justice Department or a federal court. In 2009 the court declined to rule on the constitutionality of Section 5, but it could return to the issue. If the court is in any doubt about the continued need for it, members should read a recent speech by Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.

On two occasions, Maine voters have authorized medical marijuana for people with serious illnesses. This was not a vote to legalize recreational marijuana use, but an attempt to treat the herb as much like a medicine as possible.

Maine’s North Woods are a state treasure, a vast stretch of undeveloped land big enough to support wildlife habitat and the forest products industry, a leading source of jobs and wealth for the state.