Maine News Headline Animator

Maine News

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Maine News for Thursday, June 12, 2008

Portland Press Herald
Back to the city?
Mainers are making life changes that could bring urban sprawl to a crawl.

Average cash price for heating oil in Maine hits $4.60 a gallon
For the first time, the survey is conducted in a nonheating season.

1st District race, Pingree vs. Summers, looks to be a tossup
Election 2008: As the Democrat, Pingree has the district's voting history on her side.

Pingree's decisive win no surprise to her campaign
The Democratic winner took 44 percent of the vote, losing only in York County.

U.S. Senate race might gain independent candidate
Election 2008: Herbert Hoffman might siphon votes from Democrat Tom Allen in a race against incumbent Susan Collins.

Kittery Trading Post bags Maine's moose hunt lottery
The outdoors store will host this year's lottery, which will go to L.L. Bean in 2010.

Voters award Democrats Innes and McLaughlin a surprise: A tie
Election 2008: The state is expected to conduct a recount in House District 107.

Maine doctors part of electronic records project
Keeping computerized files could mean up to $29 million to 100 practices over five years.

Saltwater anglers could lose 'freedom'
In an effort to manage U.S. fisheries, Maine and 23 other coastal states would have to require licenses.

Super Wal-Mart breaking ground in Sanford
City leaders say that the store will help revitalize the downtown and draw other retail investment.

New Hampshire joins Maine, other states in emissions fight

Metro Portland 'a solid economy in some ways'
But the area has potential that isn't being fully tapped, a new Brookings Institution report suggests.

Editorial
1st District race shapes up as a real choice
Chellie Pingree and Charlie Summers both strongly represent their parties' base.

Dangers of unused drugs getting more attention in Maine
A limited mail-in program and local 'take-back' events help prevent misuse or abuse.

ELISA BOXER-COOKNew Maine law keeps poisons at bay
No longer will we have to buy baby and children's products without knowing what they contain.

Letters
Drug disposal program doesn't go far enough

Bangor Daily News
Tribe's tidal study wins energy grant

PLEASANT POINT, Maine - The Passamaquoddy Tribe's efforts to someday harness the energy-producing power of tidal and ocean currents and turn it into electricity took a step forward this week after the federal government awarded the tribe a $120,000 grant, tribal environmental officials said Wednesday.

Severe storms hammer northern Maine

FORT KENT, Maine - Thunderstorms moved through the area on Tuesday evening and toppled trees, downed power lines and caused damage in parts of Aroostook and Piscataquis counties.

Orono: Brain injuries' effect on troops topic of forum

ORONO, Maine - Traumatic brain injury, affecting an estimated 15 percent of American troops who have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, is widely considered the 'signature injury' of the current military conflicts.

Editorial
The Libya Problem

Libya's strongman leader, Col. Moammar Gadhafi, was an international pariah in the 1980s and 1990s. He now has reformed and given up his terrorism and his nuclear weapons program, but Bush administration efforts to patch things up have run into difficulties.

Lobster Line Revisited

The decision by the National Marine Fisheries Service to delay a rule mandating that lobstermen change their rope to avoid entangling endangered Atlantic right whales gives the agency more time to fine tune the requirements.

John Frary: The change the public is seeking
Simple charity demands recognition that professional politicians regularly face problems the rest of us do not. Charity requires us to cut them some slack.

Anne Perry: Disposing of prescription medication
As a nurse practitioner and House chair of the Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee, I am delighted to hear about the early success of the Safe Medicine Disposal for ME pilot program.

June 12 Letters to the Editor

Kennebec Journal

AUGUSTA Silsby will vacate House seat
AUGUSTA -- Rep. Kim Silsby, D-Augusta, said this week she will not seek re-election to her Maine House of Representatives seat because she needs to spend more time with her family.

SCHOOL DISTRICT PASSES KEY TEST
Voters in five municipalities overwhelmingly approved a proposal to unite the administration of four different school districts, marking one of the first successful efforts in the state to consolidate school districts under a 2007 state law.

AUGUSTA Council to discuss mill site's future use
AUGUSTA -- A committee studying what to do about the abandoned American Tissue mill recommends the city take the riverside property through tax foreclosure, demolish the buildings on site and seek redevelopment proposals.

Attack victim to watch graduation via link
PITTSTON -- Nicole Guerrette, critically injured along with her father in a home invasion last month, will be watching her fifth-grade class graduate today via laptop computer from her hospital room.

Feds want to license saltwater anglers next year
The federal government wants the nation's saltwater anglers to be licensed starting next year as part of an effort to get a more accurate count of recreational fishermen and the amount of fish they catch.

Fort-to-fort canoe expedition is Saturday
Canoers and kayakers on Saturday will push off from Fort Halifax in Winslow, paddle 17 miles down the Kennebec River and end their journey at Augusta's Old Fort Western.

Editorial

No time for victors to rest We need, expect real solutions to our very real problems
Here are some of the latest results from the Gallup organization, which has polled American attitudes on just about everything for the last 70 years:

JIM BRUNELLE : Maine voters stand solidly with familiar candidates
Here are some random thoughts about Tuesday's balloting in Maine:

FELICIA KENNEDY OF SOUTH CHINA WORKS AT THE MAINE : Erskine Academy's Don Poulin Retiring headmaster helped students believe in themselves, their dreams
I went to an Erskine Academy awards ceremony recently and watched headmaster Don Poulin at the lectern. I marveled at the presence of this man, his demeanor unchanged from when I first knew him.

DAN BILLINGS : Government coffers lure some with poor ethics
Politics in Maine has a reputation for strong ethics and a lack of corruption. This reputation has been enhanced by people like Sens. Margaret Chase Smith and William Cohen, who made national reputations by standing up to abuse of power in their own party.

Letters

Some questions about Maine road repairs
* Why is there construction and delays on I-95 South, when the Maine Turnpike Authority wants us to use that as an alternative route to I-295 South? Couldn't one southbound route be construction-free?

Uniform building codes will help Maine save energy
I am writing to praise Rep. Nancy Smith of Monmouth for her work on energy efficiency during this past legislative session. Maine had been the only state in New England and one of 10 nationwide that did not require new homes to meet minimum energy performance standards.

Mainers should continue to respect people's privacy
I have been hoping the day would never come, but it's here. My local newspaper has become the National Enquirer, or maybe it's just People.

Sun Journal

Maine House race ends in deadlock
YARMOUTH (AP) - A recount is expected for a Democratic House primary race in Yarmouth that ended in a tie.

Legislative races take shape for fall
AUGUSTA (AP) - Unlike the Primary Day voting for Congress, being well-known didn't always guarantee success in Tuesday's nomination contests for the Legislature. But mostly it helped, according to unofficial returns.

Voters pick familiar faces in Maine 1st District race
AUGUSTA (AP) - In the end, Democratic and Republican voters went with familiar faces and issues rather than unseasoned challengers and ideology in primary contests for southern Maine's 1st District congressional seat.

Voters won't OK ballpark sale
OLD ORCHARD BEACH (AP) - Old Orchard Beach voters have given a thumbs down to a proposal that would have allowed the town to sell its aging baseball park.

Maine man apologizes for racial threat after plea
AUGUSTA (AP) - A 75-year-old Brewer man whose threats of violence prompted the Bangor chapter of the NAACP to cancel last year's Kwanzaa celebration has pleaded guilty to terrorizing and offered an apology.

Editorial

Debt culture now rooted in U.S. economy
We are rapidly becoming a two-tiered society, according to the director of the National Marriage Project at Rutgers University.

Hate-speech complaint battles free-speech ideal
At its best, Western civilization has fostered freedom of speech and of thought. But Canada has a better idea.

MPBN

Maine's Democratic and Republican Parties Gear Up For Next Phase of the 2008 Election
"We've had our differences, but we're all friends now" - that was the message today from Maine's Democratic party as members put on a display of unity after wrapping up the primaries last night. Following a keenly watched, and at times divisive, six-way contest to represent Maine's 1st congressional district in November's election, the five losing candidates showed up to throw their weight behind winner Chellie Pingree. Meanwhile, Julie Ann O'Brien, executive director of Maine's Republican Party, says the GOP is unified behind Summers. And Bowdoin professor of Government Chris Potholm says Charlie Summers' relatively moderate stance means he's well positioned to build the party's base of support. Tom Porter has the full story.

Upsets of Well-Known Candidates Raise Questions About The Electorate's Desire For Change
They may have been lost in the glare of the spotlight on Maine's 1st Congressional District races, but yesterday's primary produced several upsets in state House and Senate races. A few well-established candidates were vanquished by youthful newcomers to state politics who may have been riding a wave of change ushered in by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. As A.J. Higgins reports, the state's light voter turnout also clearly helped some candidates, but hurt others.

Government Proposing National Registry For Saltwater Anglers
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service today announced a plan to require all saltwater anglers to enter their names and contact information in a national registry. The proposed registry would go into effect in 2009, and NOAA says it would allow the government to better survey anglers about their fishing habits. As Anne Ravana reports, the registry would also include people who catch anadromous species, including striped bass, salmon and shad, that spawn in rivers and streams and spend their adult lives in saltwater.

Renewed Interest In Burning Coal As Alternative To Heating Oil Has Some Environmentalists Concerned
Even with temperatures nearing 90 degrees in some locations today, many Mainers have their minds on where soaring heating oil prices might wind up next fall. The scary prospect has scores of homeowners focused on fuel alternatives. Firewood is in short supply; wood pellets are gaining in popularity. As Keith McKeen reports, even coal is making a comeback.

Pingree Prevails in the First District Demrocatic Primary
In the crowded field of Democratic candidates vying for Maine's First Congressional District, the victory went to the only woman in the six-way primary and the person with the most name recognition and the biggest campaign war chest. Chellie Pingree says she is looking forward to the next five months. As Susan Sharon reports, Pingree says she'll stick to the themes of her primary race: restoring the middle class and changing the status quo in Congress.

PolitickerMe
The biggest loser

Ellsworth American
Rolling Past the Pumps

Consolidation Law Not Affecting All Areas as Dramatically