Bangor Daily News

Loggers' Continued Work Stoppage Blamed On Baldacci, Irving

FORT KENT - Northern Maine loggers and truckers participating in a work stoppage against Irving Woodlands didn't return to work Thursday because the company and Gov. John Baldacci wouldn't agree to stipulations sought by the workers on Wednesday night. Thursday was the 18th day that some of them had stayed away from work on Irving Woodlands.

Racino Firms Decry Tribes' Slots Offer Representatives Say Plan Too Late

BANGOR - Representatives of the gambling corporations attempting to bring slot machines to Bangor Raceway sharply criticized a competing proposal from two Maine Indian tribes. The plan unveiled Wednesday by the Penobscot Nation and Passamaquoddy Tribe came too late, spokesmen from Capital Seven LLC and Penn National Gaming Inc. said Thursday. Maine voters already have spoken, the gaming officials said.

Eastern Hires Firm to Sell Mills Company to Find Suitor for Failing Lincoln, Brewer Facilities

BANGOR - A Connecticut firm is being retained to sell bankrupt Eastern Pulp and Paper Corp.'s two mills, and interested companies already are calling to find out more about the papermaker's operations. Negotiations between lenders and Eastern Pulp officials yielded the decision to secure Fisher International, an investment consultation company, to ready the mills for sale and to market them to possible suitors. The company would provide detailed financial and operational information about Eas...

House Approves Sunday Hunting Bill Allows for Small Game Only

AUGUSTA - A limited Sunday hunting bill was approved by the state House of Representatives on Thursday, a first step toward banishing one of the state's last remaining "blue laws." The bill, sponsored by Rep. Monica McGlocklin, D-Embden, would allow hunting on Sundays in the state's far northwestern corner, but only for small game, which includes grouse and rabbits.

Correcting the Record

Dirigo Health Could Aid Economy

Per person, $5,440. For the whole country, $1.6 trillion. That's what we paid for health care last year. If that sounds like a lot, it's probably because it is.

Supreme Court to Hear Appeal of Blueberry Suit

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court has scheduled oral arguments for the appeal of the class-action lawsuit against three of the state's wild-blueberry processors. Lawyers for both sides will make their presentations Feb. 13 at the court in Portland.

Farmers Plot Organic Food Ventures

UNITY - Unity area producers are hoping to create a regional identity that will open up niche markets as consumers turn more towards local farms and producers for their food. In the wake of mad cow disease, strong opinions on genetically engineered foods and biosecurity issues, locally grown food has taken on a new and growing prominence in the marketplace. A 2003 survey by the Maine Department of Agriculture revealed that 95 percent of those polled preferred locally grown and produced food.

Baldacci Wants Dairy Farmers to Show Use of Panel's Ideas

AUGUSTA - Gov. John Baldacci wants to see some concrete evidence that Maine's dairy farmers are taking the recommendations of his 2003 Dairy Task Force to heart before he seriously considers a long- term dairy support program, his top aide said Thursday. Richard Davies said, "It's not like it's one on one - if you don't do this, you don't get that. But the governor wants to see evidence that dairy farmers are implementing the methods proposed by the task force."

Mutual Fund Troubles

Scandal recently has rocked the $7 trillion mutual fund industry, and it's only the beginning. Chief executives of three fund companies have left their jobs abruptly. Other officers have quit or have been forced out. Many of the departures involve special treatment for certain big investors. They were permitted to engage in late trading and rapid buying and selling known as "market timing," practices prohibited for ordinary investors. These maneuvers made big money for the favored few, at the...

Questions and Answer

To suggest that I was misinformed on the details of the state's lease of the wholesale liquor business implies that my colleagues and I did not ask any questions about this new policy. Nothing could be farther from the truth. We asked plenty of questions and always received the answer that this was a revenue-neutral proposal - verified by the governor on tape during an MPR broadcast. This budget assumption that the liquor lease will not cost the state money is not the only one that has proven...

Lousy Landfill Deal

The Old Town landfill deal is a lousy deal. This region does not need to bear the burden of another huge landfill. Hampden is already a depository for waste from all over Maine and out of state. Another dump will only serve to put greater stress on human health and the environment, and ultimately could hurt business by having the stigma of another dump associated here. Gov. Baldacci has tried to make this a quiet deal and keep people in the dark. Casella was chosen to operate the landfill bec...

Sports Dome Reinflated

On behalf of the management at Maine Sports Complex, I wish to pay tribute to the tremendous actions of so many eastern Mainers who came to our assistance in time of need. Rapid accumulation of snow during the storm of Dec. 15 impacted on the side of the dome, which had been weakened by vandalism. The weight of 18-foot snowdrifts caused the dome to deflate. The repair crew from Ontario reviewed the situation and ordered new fabric from its Canadian base to be delivered overnight. During the ...

Future of the Unborn

How easy it is to be concerned about the reduction of students in our schools and the state's educational budget without realizing the big picture since the infamous Roe v. Wade decision of 1973, which was based on a lie that the majority of our Supreme Court judges at that time were not smart enough to recognize or care about. How can we possibly think that school enrollment would be up when more than 43 million babies have been killed in the womb since that time? How can we possibly think t...

Correction

Learning From Error

Engineered Materials of Maine represented a major part of the future economy of the region. Its recent closure was a dismal sign. But instead of reason to give up hope, the failure was a demand for reassessment and it was evidence that much more work must be done to yank this part of Maine out of its economic decline. It can start by reviewing what went wrong with this promising business and what might make a better version successful next time. Engineered Materials, based in Bangor, was to m...