Maine News for Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Portland Press Herald
Cost of Real ID challenged at hearing, as Maine worries about footing the bill
President Bush proposes providing just $200 million to cover the startup, but senators are told the tab could be $500 million.

House OKs bill to aid Acadia
The measure would allow the park to acquire more land and build a parking area for tourists on the mainland.

Washburn-Norlands fire spares center's crown jewel
The grand mansion remains, and the farmer's cottage and barn used by visitors will be rebuilt.

Contractor hired to rebuild stretch of I-295
A 22-mile section between Gardiner and Topsham will be closed while Pike Industries works on the three-month project.

Fed expected to cut rates again this week
The reduction could be the last for a while as the board tries to keep inflation from taking off.

Officials from York, turnpike share views on new toll plaza
An authority spokesman stresses that all options for the plaza location are being considered.

Northern Maine river levels rising
Officials and residents are keeping watch for floods after two days of rain amid the spring thaw.

Editorials:
Voter ID law reasonable if poor are protected
Elections will not be made more legitimate by a law that disenfranchises some voters.

Historic preservation itself warrants preserving
Planning staff cuts might be inevitable, but the benefits of a new state tax credit are vital, too.

ANOTHER VIEW: Measuring dropout rates uniformly only hides need to improve system
Substituting quantification for quality merely offers the appearance of action.

GREG KESICHRussian journalists struggle with 'interesting problems'
Reporters and editors are still groping to find their place in a rapidly changing society.

Bangor Daily News

Schools continue struggle with law
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
BELFAST, Maine - Some school districts are finding that recent changes to state law to remove financial barriers to consolidation aren’t making the process any easier.

Bangor extends talks with boat building firm
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
BANGOR, Maine - City councilors on Monday extended negotiations with a company that wants to buy a 17-acre city-owned parcel in nearby Hampden.

Flooding emergency declared in County
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
AUGUSTA, Maine - Gov. John Baldacci declared a State of Emergency for Aroostook County on Tuesday night, linking the declaration to flooding conditions, particularly in the Fort Kent and Wallagrass areas.

Ex-House candidate arrested in sting
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
ORONO, Maine - In a sting similar to those seen on TV's 'To Catch a Predator" series on "Dateline,' Orono police have charged a 44-year-old man with attempted gross sexual assault for soliciting what he believed was a 13-year-old boy.

Heavy rains prove problematic for harness horsemen
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
BANGOR, Maine - This week’s heavy rain is proving problematic for several harness horsemen who are using the stables at Bangor Raceway.

Editorials:
Tribal Gamble
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Gov. John Baldacci's veto of Penobscot Nation plans to install slot machines on Indian Island has grabbed headlines. But tribal frustration with state officials goes way beyond gambling.

Behind the Iraq News
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Back during the unpopular Vietnam war, the Pentagon ran 10-day junkets to the war zone to persuade news reporters as well as some public officials that the war was going well.

Brett D. Baber: Recognizing the rule of American law
On May 1 we celebrate the 50th anniversary of National Law Day, created in 1958 by President Dwight Eisenhower as a 'day of national dedication to the principle of government under law.'

Kathleen Parker: It's hard to woo people you don't love
In the days leading up to Pennsylvania's primary, white males — those knuckle-dragging, chaw-chompin', beer-swillin', bitter troglodytes - were suddenly the debutante's delight.

Kennebec Journal

National Weather Service issues warning for those living near the Kennebec River; 17-to-18-foot crest is expected today
AUGUSTA --The Kennebec River was expected to rise above the 12-foot flood stage in Augusta on Tuesday and continue to crest to 17 to 18 feet this morning, according to the National Weather Service in Gray.

A more perfect union?
Eight towns are making significant progress toward the development of a regional school unit, according to school officials.

(Mil)foiled again
Several Maine municipalities and organizations benefited from a tripling of grants aimed at stopping invasive plants in inland waterways.

Pellet mills retool state's aging wood industry
ATHENS -- The state's third wood-pellet mill began production two weeks ago on Route 150.

BRIEFS
AUGUSTA -- The Augusta Charter Commission meets Thursday to review the charter's rules for nominations and elections.

HALLOWELL Plan links trash, cash
HALLOWELL -- City councilors Tuesday gave informal approval for officials to develop plans to hire a single rubbish hauler and require households to pay for each container of trash they put out.

MAINE GETS 'D-PLUS' FOR ABUSE Study compares states and concludes Maine should do more to disclose information on child abuse cases
A national nonprofit agency said 15 states -- including Maine -- need "improvement" in disclosing information on fatal or near-fatal child abuse.

I-295 project detour called best option
RICHMOND -- From a podium coated in a layer of 30-year-old concrete dust, Maine Department of Transportation officials announced Tuesday that both southbound lanes of Interstate 295 will be closed for reconstruction this summer.

Editorials:
Plotting a course for the North Woods
You have a chance to help shape the future of almost half the state of Maine.

Columns:
MICHAEL S. HEATH : The cost of rejecting natural law
The gardener digging in the cool, dark earth can see that each green, tender shoot springs up in pursuit of warmth and light. The warmth and light they seek comes from another world, a world that is high above them. What warmth and light are to a young plant, human reason is to the life of man. It too comes from high above us, as does the gift of divine revelation.

GEORGE SMITH : It's a corn, corn, corn, corn world
We are the corn people. We are made of corn, surrounded by corn, totally dependent on corn. We belong to the Clan of the Corn Stalkers.

Sun Journal

Petitioners look to repeal new license legislation
AUGUSTA (AP) - Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap said Tuesday his office had received a people's veto application that could launch a referendum drive to overturn newly enacted legislation to tighten standards for getting a Maine driver's license.

Cianchette gets OK
PORTLAND (AP) - The U.S. Senate has confirmed President Bush's nomination of businessman Peter Cianchette of South Portland as ambassador to Costa Rica.

Emergency declared for Aroostook floods
AUGUSTA (AP) - Gov. John Baldacci declared a State of Emergency for Aroostook County on Tuesday night, linking the declaration to flooding conditions, particularly in the Fort Kent and Wallagrass areas.

Group protests Collins' lack of stand on Colombia deal
LEWISTON (AP) - A coalition of activist groups is calling on Sen. Susan Collins to take a position on a proposed free trade agreement with Colombia.

Editorial
Salary games
We're tired of the gamesmanship between the Androscoggin County commissioners and sheriff's office.

Christianity out of step with Jesus' teachings
James Lawson is out of step with modern Christianity.

Letters:
The high cost of high prices
This recession is caused by high prices for everything. As soon as senior citizens get a raise in Social Security, rent rates go up, the price of food goes up and so does everything else. So, we do not have any more money than before the raise.

MPBN
Congressman Allen Turns Down Challenger's Debate Request
Voters waiting for U.S. Senate candidate Tom Allen to go head-to-head with his only challenger in the Democratic primary, Tom Ledue, will be disappointed. Allen, who now represents Maine's First District in Congress, has turned down all requests for debates, including one with MPBN scheduled for May 22nd. Campaign spokeswoman Carol Andrews says none of the debates could be worked into Allen's schedule.

Major Highway Construction Plan Detailed
The Maine Department of Transportation today unveiled plans for a major construction project this summer on a heavily-traveled 18 mile southbound stretch of Interstate-295. The two-and-a-half month project from June 15th to August 30 will require the complete shutdown of southbound lanes from West Gardiner to Topsham. Traffic will be forced onto either the Maine Turnpike or Route 201. While acknowledging the construction will cause traffic tie-ups and other inconveniences, transportation officials say it's the safest and least disruptive option. Keith McKeen reports.

York Toll Plaza Dispute Drags On
In a meeting that occasionally turned heated, board members of the Maine Turnpike Authority tried to persuade about 30 residents and selectmen of York today that no final decisions have been made about a proposal to relocate and expand the York Toll Plaza. Opponents are angry about a process that they say has been one-sided and highly-charged. And as Susan Sharon reports, they're asking the board to do things: be more accountable and consider keeping the toll plaza at its current location.

PolitickerME
Bennett eyes GOP National Committeeman seat

Paul delegates promise a presence at state convention

Cianchette confirmed

Maine News for Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Portland Press Herald
For beer brewers, there is a limit
As the cost of supplies rises, Maine brewers must be aware of a new production-based tax.

Truckers call for lawmakers to act on fuel prices
At least eight drivers from Maine and their families join in the noisy protest.

Maine incomes outpaced by health insurance costs
But the nation as a whole had a bigger disparity, data from 2001 to 2005 show.

Gas prices may send blueberry profits up in smoke
Growers must burn fields, and the need for fuel is creating an early deficit.

EDWARD D. MURPHY Door's open for older Maine job seekers

Robert Baldacci forms new firm

Editorial
Turnpike panel wrestles with toll fairness, loses
It's not the members' fault they couldn't solve a problem that may have no equitable answer.

RON BANCROFT Legislature's last-minute shenanigans hurt Mainers
The only good news is that without Reps. Fischer and Valentino and their Republican colleagues on the Appropriations Committee, it would have been worse.

ADAM COTE, Special to the Press Herald
Leadership, diplomacy will get us out of Iraq
We must be as careful getting out of Iraq as we were careless getting in.

Bangor Daily News
Study lauds Maine health care solutions
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
It's no news that the cost of health insurance is out of reach for many families, but a new report from a respected national organization adds urgency to the search for a national solution.

Truckers reeling from high fuel costs rally in D.C.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
WASHINGTON - Horns blaring in a deafening fanfare, a convoy of truck drivers, including many from Maine, traveled to Washington on Monday to protest record fuel prices.

Editorial
Better Job Loss Benefits
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Despite talk of human rights, drug trafficking and tariffs, the political battle over the Colombia free trade pact is, in part, about taking care of those who are thought to lose their jobs because of increased foreign competition.

Marooned Middle Class
Monday, April 28, 2008
Some 80 percent of Americans define themselves as middle class. Though that self-assessment is most likely grossly inaccurate, it is telling.

Obama appears to take social values seriously
Beware of the campaign sound bite. Candidates live and die by clever one-liners. In Barack Obama's case, it is especially discouraging to see a candidate criticized for an off-the-cuff comment that hardly does justice to his own earlier and more careful reflections.

Kennebec Journal

New dog license law takes bite out of evaders' wallets
Hundreds of dogs in Maine communities go unlicensed every year, creating a massive amount of paperwork for town clerks, adding extra hours for overworked animal control officers and placing an extra burden on the court system.

Local doctor tells of health care beyond America's borders
AUGUSTA -- Working as a medical doctor overseas, Dr. William Alto says he has met three types of people also trying to do some good in foreign countries: missionaries, mercenaries and misfits.

Augusta traffic change weighed Study will look at Interstate 95 access issues with new cancer care center
AUGUSTA -- A major traffic study focusing on north Augusta is expected to ponder changing the Exit 113 interchange of Interstate 95 and Route 3.

Editorials:

Edging toward a farm bill
What do Caribbean trade, switchgrass, food stamps, Pacific salmon stocks and thoroughbred racehorses all have to do with each other?

Columns:

BY REP. NANCY E. SMITH : Midwives' bill is necessary and appropriate
During the 123rd Legislative session, I was actively involved in shepherding dozens of bills through the legislative process. I voted on literally hundreds more. I never imagined that the bill I sponsored in 2007 originally intended to license Certified Professional Midwives, or CPMs, would require explanation so soon after adjournment. This is one law for which I am confident the legislative process worked and the outcome was appropriate.

Sun Journal
Law changes cribbage rules
AUGUSTA (AP) - Organizations that want to host cribbage games will have a new state law to follow in July that allows them to charge higher entry fees and sets a standard annual license fee.

Blueberry growers feel pain of high fuel costs
ELLSWORTH (AP) - The high cost of fuel is being felt on more than just the state's roadways.

Saco considers residential wind turbine ordinance
SACO (AP) - Saco was the first Maine municipality to erect a city-owned wind turbine. Now it may become the city to pass an ordinance regulating residential windmills.

Hughes fined for violating Clean Election
AUGUSTA - The Maine Ethics Commission on Monday fined former legislative candidate David Hughes of Lewiston a total of $450 for Clean Election Act violations incurred during his campaign for House District 72 last fall.

Editorial
Stimulus checks are buying time
Long-awaited checks from the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 start arriving this week, either zipped electronically into bank accounts or stuffed into mailboxes in crisp, white government envelopes.

Support for children
I am writing in apprecation of Sen. Lois Snowe-Mello for her support of both the ban on the flame retardant DECA and the Kids Safe Products bills in the past year's legislative sessions.

MPBN
Weather Expected to Have Greater Impact on Tourism Than Gas Prices

Record-breaking gas prices are forcing Mainers to dig deeper into their wallets, but the escalating travel costs may hold a silver lining for the state's tourism industry. According to the American Automobile Association -- which tracks fuel prices nationally -- a gallon of unleaded gas on Monday was averaging $3.58 in Maine. But the cost of fuel is not expected to have as great an impact on the summer season as the weather will according to one toursim official. A.J. Higgins reports.

Expired Visa Progam Could Weigh on Maine Tourism

Many in the Maine tourist industry are crossing their fingers that Congress will renew the so-called H2B temporary visa program. That would allow the foreign workers Maine's hotels and restaurants depend on to return here by the time the season is in full swing. A political squabble in Congress has kept the program from being renewed, and many in the hospitality business say they're facing a worker shortage this summer. Maine's Congressional delegation is backing legislation to resolve the problem, but time is growing short. Keith McKeen reports.

Federal Government Urged to Fund Cluster Development Initiatives

Maine's boat-building industry is doing better because the boat builders talk with each other, with government, and with schools. They call it the "Northstar Alliance" and it's an example of a so-called economic cluster. Karen Mills, President of M-M-P Group, has just written a paper for Brookings, the Washington think tank, that is encouraging the federal government to get more involved in cluster development. She discussed the issue with Morning Edition Local Host Irwin Gratz.

PolitickerME

Eye on lobbying

National: Could Clinton's Pennsylvania victory be wiped out by Montana?

Maine News for Monday, April 28, 2008

Special: BDN Editorial from Weekend

Doom, gloom and taxes
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Does repeating something often enough make it true? That's what some business lobbyists and conservative activists seem to be trying with their repeated assertions about the state's bad business climate.

Portland Press Herald
Maine truckers head south to join Washington protest

Gas stations feel pinch of razor-thin margins
Some owners cut operating costs and others try to sell the business as high fuel prices change customer behavior.

Enrollment slide, energy costs to drive city's school planning
The City Council may take a step toward consolidation in a vote today tied to state aid.

New law sets standard license fee for games
The rules, effective in July, will guide veterans' groups and others who want to play cribbage.

Kibby Wind work may begin in August
But the developer says challenges such as fluctuating currency rates could stand in the way.

Editorials:

Proposals to alter NCLB would be for the better
The secretary of education wants us to know how all schools compare on graduation rates.

Genetic tests shouldn't be misused for discrimination
Their value as a diagnostic tool would be greatly impaired if people feared to take them.

Letters:
Lawmakers' 'tax frenzy' unfair

Bangor Daily News

Lawmakers explore expanding Net access
Monday, April 28, 2008
AUGUSTA, Maine - With a quarter of Maine households without relatively inexpensive broadband access, the Legislature’s Utilities Committee has asked the University of Maine System to set up a study group to look at ways to maximize the uses of its ITV system to provide access.

Lincoln: Maine truckers hoping for Capitol 'miracle'
Monday, April 28, 2008
LINCOLN, Maine - Truckers embarking upon an 800-mile journey to Washington, D.C., sought a repeat of one of the Bible's biggest miracles before they got under way early Sunday.

Hannaford offers overseas surgery option
Monday, April 28, 2008
PORTLAND, Maine - As more Americans choose to have medical procedures performed at lower cost outside the U.S., Hannaford Bros. has begun offering to employees the option of getting hip and knee replacements at a hospital in Singapore.

Hundreds of volunteers turn out for annual Acadia park cleanup
Monday, April 28, 2008
BAR HARBOR, Maine - Every April, hundreds of volunteers take to the streets and roads of Mount Desert Island, sacrificing a few precious Saturday hours to preserve the beauty around Maine's only national park.

Fuel costs worry blueberry growers
Monday, April 28, 2008
ELLSWORTH, Maine - The annual ritual of burning blueberry fields has been in full swing in recent weeks, but as growers go through the necessary process, they may be watching potential profits disappear with the thick, black smoke.

Energy expert: Earth can avert catastrophe
Monday, April 28, 2008
WISCASSET, Maine - The technology needed to reduce the use of fossil fuels is available today, but the world needs to commit to it if people want to prevent global warming.

Editorials:
Marooned Middle Class
Monday, April 28, 2008
Some 80 percent of Americans define themselves as middle class. Though that self-assessment is most likely grossly inaccurate, it is telling.

Trains Trending North
Monday, April 28, 2008
The Legislature's passage of a bill to fund an expansion of rail service could hasten the return of trains as a viable freight and passenger transportation option in southern and coastal Maine.

Katrina Bisheimer: Don't shift the cost of war to Iraqis
Sen. Susan Collins has endorsed legislation that would restrict future reconstruction dollars to loans instead of grants in an effort to make Baghdad pay for more of the costs of the U.S. combat mission and reconstruction in Iraq.

Matthew Arnett: It's time to reform medical insurance
About a month ago BDN columnist Dr. Erik Steele said it was about time we find ways to cut medical costs. Then a couple weeks later he made two suggestions, stop unnecessary blood transfusions and find a way to get the best medical practice information to physicians a lot faster.

Kennebec Journal

Section 8 clients hard hit by rising prices
WINSLOW -- Joseph Toy is grateful for the housing subsidy he gets for his small one-bedroom apartment on East Vigue Street.

New law for cribbage games
AUGUSTA -- Veterans' groups and others who want to host cribbage games will have a new state law to follow in July that allows them to charge a higher entry fee and sets a standard annual license fee.

HUNGER DISCUSSION ESCALATES
AUGUSTA -- A Blaine House dinner scheduled for May 6 will focus on the problem of childhood hunger in Maine.

Editorials:
Cybercommerce lets in thieves of 21st century
The theft of 4.2 million Hannaford Bros. customers' credit and debit card account numbers this past winter was neither the first, nor will it be the last, massive data compromise to hit Maine consumers.

Letters:

We should focus on issues that matter to families
A few weeks ago, the Maine Christian Civic League announced another voter petition drive. This should trouble all Mainers concerned about our families and children.

Film company discount better than no business
As a long-time Farmington business owner, I am alarmed and concerned to find that a project with so much potential to provide badly needed economic stimulus to Franklin County, Rusti-cator Pictures production of the forthcoming Independent film, "Tum-bledown," is being seen as requesting, rather than providing, money to our state.

Nurse practioners had to fight, just as midwives
I was surprised to see the column (April 25) against midwives by a nurse practitioner.

Please don't sign Heath's anti-gay petition
I'm writing in response to the anti-gay referendum proposed by Michael Heath and his so-called "Christian Civic League."

Sun Journal
McGowan denies he helped hunters to locate moose
AUGUSTA (AP) - Maine Conservation Commissioner Patrick McGowan says a disgruntled former state worker was the source of an allegation that he broke the law by using his personal float plane to help moose hunters spot prey last fall.

Editorial:
Wisdom among the wildness
Often, the Maine Legislature is chided for wrong decisions in the frantic, waning hours of its session. Last week, however, seven members of the Appropriations Committee showed wisdom is possible, despite wildness.

Column:

The Pennsylvania primary turned on Democratic base
Hillary Clinton's solid Pennsylvania primary victory may stem more from Democratic demographics than anything that happened in the bitter six-week campaign leading up to it.

MPBN:

Maine's Health Care Spending Second Highest in the Nation
A new state health plan released today concludes that Maine's per capita health care spending is the second highest in the nation and that Mainers rely on out-patient and emergency room services more than most other New England residents. The Baldacci administration's 2008-2009 State Health Plan identifies several factors affecting the growth of health care expenses. As A.J. Higgins reports, state health policy experts say Mainers can -- and must -- do their part to control spending.

Battle of the Woods Brewing in Northern Maine
It's shaping up to be the next big battle over Maine's north woods. And this time it's not over clearcutting regulations or a big development project. It's about fundamental priorities for planning in the 10.5 million acres that make up Maine's unorganized territories. At issue is the Land Use Regulation Commission's proposed Comprehensive Land Use Plan, commonly known as CLUP. It's been ten years since the last CLUP was adopted. And LURC staff say much has changed since then. They've identified what they see as the biggest potential threats to the region and strategies for curbing them. But as Susan Sharon reports, large landowners and some sportsman say the CLUP itself is the biggest threat to the North Woods.

PolitickerME

Wally Edge: 7 jump OFF the cliff
You have to love the end of session in the Maine State Legislature. In the final 24 hours, they raised taxes on beer, soda and health insurance.