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.

Businesses understand that generating more of a product than customers want is a money-losing proposition.

After almost nine years, the war in Iraq is officially over, at least for American troops.

The number of doctors — there are nearly 70,000 — and their salaries are both at all-time highs. More Canadians have a family doctor than in years past, proof that progress has been made. But access to them is among the worst in the world. How can that be?

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following editorial, among the most famous ever written, appeared in The New York Sun in 1897 and remains appropriate for this holiday season 114 years later.

A week after Hannaford supermarkets pulled suspect ground beef from their shelves, Maine consumers still have questions.

Imagine what a picture it would make for next year’s Christmas card: A new four-legged and furry family member on Christmas morning. But wait just a sugarplum minute, Santa.

Gov. Paul LePage made a rare appearance in a legislative hearing room this week and was not shy about saying that he didn’t like what he saw.