Bangor Daily News

Owners of $15 Million Home Face Fines for Filling in Wetlands

TOMHEGAN TOWNSHIP - The owners of a $15 million seasonal home on the western shore of Moosehead Lake could face a fine of up to $157,500 for allegedly violating federal wetland protections. Robert and Gayle Greenhill of New York, N.Y., who own more than 3,200 acres of property in Tomhegan Township, violated federal law when they filled in 1.5 acres of freshwater wetlands to expand a private airstrip and to develop a rock quarry, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

Personnel

Cuba, Ike and Aid

There's a sad irony that the hurricane which ravaged the Caribbean island nation of Cuba in recent days was named Ike. Cuba has been shunned by its superpower neighbor, the United States, since shortly after Ike - President Dwight Eisenhower - left office in January 1961. Early in President John F. Kennedy's tenure in the White House, the U.S. backed an invasion of the island which failed to overthrow its Marxist dictator, Fidel Castro. The CIA proponents of the invasion, which had been plann...

Swing State Next Door

The late Tim Russert, NBC Washington bureau chief and host of "Meet the Press," earned his status as a pundit legend during the 2000 election. Early in the evening of Election Day, Mr. Russert said the race would turn on one thing. Picking up a dry erase board, he wrote: "Florida, Florida, Florida." This year, those analyzing the Electoral College map are pointing to four potential Floridas: Colorado, Ohio, Virginia and New Hampshire. New Hampshire, the only state that borders Maine, may end ...

Palin a Lightning Rod, Pro and Con

Editorial page readers had strong opinions about Sarah Palin and expressed them at the ClickBack section of the BDN Web site, bangordailynews. com. They also felt strongly about our question about the so- called elite liberal media. A selection of comments posted at the ClickBack page follows.

Stick with Collins

As a resident of Maine's 2nd Congressional District, I have not paid much attention to the activities of Tom Allen in the southern part of the state. But now that he wants to be my senator, I have checked out his Web site. He goes to great length describing the actions of the committees to which he has been assigned. But it is interesting that there are precious few bills that he has authored and none that have become law.

Palin No Redneck

Before anyone hangs the derogatory name "redneck" on Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, remember we all live in a PC world with social rules that even Democrats are not exempt from. According to Wikipedia, rednecks are poor Southern whites who did most of the fighting and dying on both sides of the Civil War. Poor Southern whites stood to gain little from secession from the Union and were usually ambivalent about slavery. Although slaves fared far worse, many poor whites suff...

Real Family Values

What a risky choice John McCain made in choosing Sarah Palin for vice president. Only minutes into her first speech to the nation she lied twice. She told us that she said, "Thanks, but no thanks" to the $230 million for the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere." Actually she was all for the pork until Congress killed the project. Then she said she was a reformer and would fight Washington lobbyists. Wrong! As mayor of Wasilla, a tiny town of 6,500, she hired her own Washington lobbyists to get $23 mi...

Collins Collusion

It's no surprise that Sen. Susan Collins' television ads misrepresent Rep. Tom Allen's record on workers' rights. Collins has misled Mainers throughout her Senate tenure. Collins continuously distorts her voting record, supporting President Bush 85 percent of the time, while her propaganda machine portrays her as moderate, centrist and independent - blatantly false contentions.

Rocks and Hard Places

Electioneering, as manifested in the campaign promises of the candidates, brings out the disingenuousness of professional politicians. One hopes that Maine voters aren't really seduced by their propaganda. For example: Collins wants us to believe that while she will reach across the aisle in a spirit of bipartisanship, she will nevertheless "fight" for lower gas prices, affordable health, secret ballots for union workers, etc. She doesn't use the words "compromise," "negotiate" or "argue" to ...

Hillary-Palin Ticket

Sarah Palin is a breath of fresh air and just what people have been asking for, for a long, long time. Now we will see if those who have been complaining will vote accordingly. Sarah seems authentic because she is a product of the best of America, i.e. small-town, down-to- earth, gutsy lady who has her head screwed on right!

Our Guard Heroes Governor Helps Unveil Battlefield Cross Memorial in Augusta

AUGUSTA - Families of Maine soldiers who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan took turns hanging dog tags of their loved ones on a newly unveiled memorial during an emotional ceremony Thursday. The somber observance took place after Gov. John Baldacci and the adjutant general of the Maine National Guard, Maj. Gen. John Libby, unveiled the Battlefield Cross Memorial. It is a bronze, life-size representation of a rifle pointing downward into the ground, capped by a helmet with boots at the side.

Senate Hopefuls Wrangle Over Ads Third-Party Spots Fill Maine Airwaves

Employee union votes or the cost of war? These are issues that political operatives hope will help sway Maine voters to cast their ballots for either Tom Allen or Susan Collins in the state's U.S. Senate election in November.