Bangor Daily News

Cafta Is Dangerous

Congress will soon be deciding on the Central American Free Trade Agreement between countries in Central America, the Caribbean and the United States. The agreement is based on the failed trade policies of NAFTA. CAFTA, an extension of NAFTA, will send more jobs overseas, drive small farmers off the land, and give corporations the ability to ignore environmental regulations, further contaminating the air and water we all share. It allows transnational corporations to undermine international l...

Pontiff's Death Evokes Sadness,Fond Memories in Mainers

BANGOR - Alexandria Jesiolowski was in Auburn on Saturday afternoon when she heard the bells marking the pope's death ring out. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland had urged pastors to toll church bells when the pontiff's death was announced. Jesiolowski, 16, of Hampden was one of about 100 young Catholics gathered at St. Philip Catholic Church to begin planning their August trip to Cologne, Germany, for World Youth Day. Pope John Paul II was scheduled to address the participants at three ...

Papal Visits to Boston, Canada Impressed, Inspired Mainers

Pope John Paul II delivered his first sermon on American soil in New England on a rainy day more than 25 years ago. "I greet you, America the beautiful," he told a cheering throng at Boston Common in the first major address of his first papal visit to the United States. "I want to tell everyone that the pope is your friend."

Bankruptcies

The following petitions for bankruptcy have been filed at U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Bangor: Brian D. Jenson, unemployed, no dependents, Waterville: assets, $1,870; debts, $120,941.

Combat Helps Portland Woman Get Memorabilia

Television memorabilia collector Gladys Mitchell of Portland considered herself a lucky "Peanut Gallery" alumna when, as high bidder in an eBay online auction, she purchased a "Howdy Doody" ceramic cookie jar for a measly $152 from a California seller. But she didn't feel so lucky when the cookie jar didn't show up. The seller, "Classic TV Collectibles" of Torrance, Calif., did not accept credit cards, Paypal or other online payment systems, so Gladys paid $152 by personal check. Four weeks l...

Pope John Paul Ii

The world mourns the passing of a remarkable man of God, a man of peace. Pope John Paul II's death brought tears of pity and pain everywhere, not only for him but for what everyone, in the Catholic Church and outside, has lost: His clarity and understanding, his strength even into his ninth decade, his fearlessness to express his faith and to inspire countless millions to faith. Karol Wojtyla became the first Polish pontiff in October 1978. He was known as an athlete in his youth and worked a...

Profiting From Kyoto

Government officials and others who are opposed to the Kyoto accords, the international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in hopes of slowing global climate change, should talk to Cathy Lee and Paul Nace. Both run businesses in Maine that are profiting, or hope to, from opportunities arising from the agreement. Their experiences belie the notion that environmental regulations are bad for business. Ms. Lee runs a company in Westbrook that is currently working with landfills in South...

Eel Protection Needed

I would like to thank Sen. Dennis Damon of Trenton for sponsoring legislation to end the harvest of female eels leaving Maine rivers to spawn in the Sargasso Sea east of Bermuda and for Friends of Merrymeeting Bay and the Coastal Conservation Association for supporting this overdue legislation. This fall my brother and I filed a petition to protect the American eels still alive under the Endangered Species Act. The female eels being targeted by harvesters in Maine are from 20 to 50 years old ...

Breathing Tax Next?

The Bangor Daily News should not have published the cartoon "Hagar The Horrible" on March 24. In case you missed it, it showed the king's tax collectors collecting a "breathing tax" from Hagar.

Movie Memories

Harriet Tilley's nice letter, "Nathan Kamen's Bangor" (BDN, March 11), brought back many wonderful memories of the Saturday matinee at the former Millinocket Theatre, The Center Theatre in Dover- Foxcroft and the Bijou Theatre in Pittsfield. I was involved in these special children's matinees from the 1940s to the 1970s. I will never forget what a wonderful experience it was for me to see and hear the children enjoy themselves at these movies.

Women Know Best

After reading Ann Luther's op-ed, "League of Women Voters: Don't privatize our security" (BDN, March 3), the one thing that jumped out at me was how differently these women of the League think than the men in Washington D.C. who are running the country. President Bush says the Social Security system is going broke and needs our immediate action. The bi-partisan Congressional Budget Office sates the system is safe for at least 20 years with no changes. Bush says we need to go $2 trillion in de...