Maintenance of our road system is one of the primary public goods provided by our state and local governments. It’s also a classic example of a service that’s more expensive and time-consuming the more rural and remote the area. For some services, like electricity, rural and island communities are protected from having to pay higher …
Last week, the Governor signed the “Maine Death with Dignity Act” into law. The legislation, LD 1313, allows terminally ill adults with less than six months of life expectancy to end their lives with physician-prescribed medication. To qualify, a patient must be a Maine resident, terminal, deemed competent by two doctors and have voluntarily expressed …
Nearly two years ago, in the weeks following a white nationalist gathering in Charlottesville, Va., the letters page of this newspaper was dominated by debate over the cause and meaning of the Civil War and the Confederate battle flag. Earlier that year students at Ellsworth High School stirred controversy by flying Confederate flags from their …
Governor Janet Mills last week announced her 11th-hour proposal for the state of Maine to borrow $239 million to fund a package of initiatives intended to grow the economy and address challenges facing Maine. The Legislature is scheduled to adjourn on June 19, pressuring negotiators to quickly achieve consensus and sprint to deliver the constitutionally …
Like this time two years ago, next week’s election in Bar Harbor features contentious questions related to cruise ships. One would limit cruise ship operations here by prohibiting berthing piers for large ships. The other seeks to limit a perceived outside influence of the cruise industry on town decision-making. Like this time two years ago, …
One week in, life with parking meters and kiosks in Bar Harbor seems manageable. But almost everyone still seems to be confused, especially about permit parking, which is not yet in effect. The Town Council approved changes to the town’s parking and traffic ordinance in mid-April and adjusted the policy in early May. Permit parking …
Governor Mills has directed her administration to develop a 10-year strategic economic development plan for the state of Maine to be completed by November. The Governor has tapped the Department of Economic and Community Development to lead the effort. She has emphasized the plan will be expected to recommend steps to improve statewide broadband infrastructure and …
Members of a committee studying what form a future combined Mount Desert Island middle school should take — were such a school to be created — presented the results of their work last week. Members of the group are hopeful and excited about ways to improve opportunity and equity for students in seventh and eighth …
In the wake of the massive stock market decline of the Great Recession, Governor LePage and the Maine Legislature took steps to improve the financial condition of Maine’s public pension system. By imposing a cap and rate reduction of the cost-of-living adjustment for retired state employees and teachers, the system reduced the amount of the …
Maine is a national leader when it comes to the way it runs its elections. Programs such as same-day voter registration, Clean Elections public financing and a paper record of every vote that can be relied on in the event of a recount put our state in the forefront of making sure all voters have …
