Bangor Daily News

Unions: Mill Deal Pending Millinocket Facility Open Until Next Week

MILLINOCKET - The Katahdin Avenue paper mill, which was due to cease production today, will stay open until at least the middle of next week and could return to a biomass-fueled plant as early as April 2009, union officials said Monday. Katahdin Paper Co. LLC officials announced Aug. 26 that the mill would close on or about Sept. 2 because of a lack of work orders - a point workers dispute - and the burgeoning cost of heating oil, the mill's sole source of heat. The last orders will be finish...

Labor Day Traditions Honored in Brewer

BREWER - Labor Day is not to be thought of as just another day off from work, but as a day to honor and respect those who do the work, Eastern Maine Labor Council President Jack McKay said Monday. The labor council, in conjunction with Food AND Medicine, celebrated solidarity Monday with a press conference and four hours of food and music.

Shipping Rules Flounder

Federal regulators are finally moving ahead on years late, watered-down rules requiring ocean vessels to slow down in some areas to avoid hitting right whales. One of the best aspects of the rules, released last week, is that they are meant to be studied to ensure they are working. This is undercut, however, by the fact that no money has been set aside for research and monitoring. Similar problems plague rules that require lobstermen to use a new type of line between their traps to avoid enta...

Still No Exit Plan

A pending secret security agreement with Iraq is so full of conditions, uncertainties and disagreements that it is impossible to know what it means for the end of the U.S. occupation and the move to Iraqi control. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki now demands a fixed withdrawal date, and Parliament Speaker Mahmud Mashhadani says the lawmakers will not pass the agreement. The muddled situation more and more recalls Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's misleading statement a few days before ...

Obama Not Right

Barack H. Obama's campaign has centered on the slogan, "Change you can believe in." But will his change be good for America? Before they vote this fall, Americans should demand to know more about Obama. They need to be aware of his radical liberal agenda - higher taxes, government-run socialized health care and bigger government.

Collins Supports Vets

Many letter writers have expressed an opinion regarding the United States being involved in Iraq and Afghanistan. No matter what one's opinion is, Sen. Susan Collins has consistently co-authored and sponsored improved benefits for veterans of this generation. These veterans' benefits are a very major action by which the nation as a whole can look forward to very positive growth. She is sponsoring a G.I. Bill for those she has named "The Greatest Generation of the 21st Century." I do not belie...

Clinton-Obama Ticket

I was very disappointed that Hillary Clinton was not chosen as the Democratic nominee for president. She's smart, astute and very articulate, has met with many foreign leaders, so she knows the world well. She has a great resume where Barack Obama is very limited. Had the ticket been Hillary Clinton as president and Barack Obama vice president, I would have accepted it because she would had been a great tutor for him. He has much to learn. After all the years that Hillary Clinton has served t...

Missed Opportunity

I was appalled by the chairman of the Maine Democratic Party and his speech at the Democratic National Convention. While other states claimed to be "the state that other states rally around in times of great diversity" (Maryland), or "home of the fiercest defender of the Constitution" (Connecticut), the chairman in prime time said only: "The sun comes up in Maine first in the nation. And we feel very honored to be - to have that as our singular, whatever, privilege." It is unclear exactly wha...

Collins Good for State

I'm writing in support of Sen. Susan Collins. She is good for Maine. She has helped Maine families by supporting tax cuts in Washington, D.C. She opposed adjourning for the Congress break and said: "Our nation is in an energy crisis. There is nothing more important that Congress should be dealing with now. I am profoundly disappointed that Congress will take this August break without acting on the comprehensive energy legislation that is needed to combat high energy prices, provide increased...

Gandhi and Kittens

Late one evening, I almost ran over two kittens. They were abandoned in a wooded area with no houses around for miles. It took some time but I caught them. I looked for others as best as I could, given the late hour and the heavily wooded area. I hope these were the only two. Their cries of fear will haunt me for a very long time. The kittens were about 6 to 8 weeks old. They did not ask to be born. These were innocent and defenseless creatures.