Bangor Daily News

Snowe, Collins: Vote for Brown Signals Americans' Discontent

Maine's two U.S. senators say the election in Massachusetts on Tuesday of Republican Scott Brown to the U.S. Senate is an indication of widespread dissatisfaction among Americans with the handling of comprehensive health care reform legislation. In a statement on Wednesday, Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe said the election in Massachusetts was "unsurprising, given the American public's increasing and legitimate frustration with the political events unfolding in Washington."

Changes in Sex Offender Law Due High Court Sets Revision Deadline

AUGUSTA - State lawmakers reopened the books on Maine's controversial sex offender law on Wednesday in the wake of a recent court ruling questioning the constitutionality of aspects of the registry. Late last month, Maine's highest court gave the Legislature slightly more than three months to revise a 1999 state law requiring certain sex offenders to essentially re-register with police every 90 days for the rest of their lives. The court said applying that lifetime requirement retroactively w...

Small-Business Loans Increase in Maine

AUGUSTA - The Small Business Administration's Maine District Office said there was a "dramatic increase" of 167 percent in the number of guaranteed loans made to small Maine businesses in the first quarter - which ended Dec. 31 - of federal fiscal year 2010 compared with the same quarter a year ago. The number of businesses whose loans were guaranteed by the SBA in the recent quarter was 187 compared with 70 a year ago.

Island Falls Workers Eligible for Assistance

ISLAND FALLS - The 37 workers at National Starch and Chemical Co. who lost their jobs when the plant closed last June are now eligible for Trade Adjustment Assistance, U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe announced Wednesday. The Department of Labor also amended its initial TAA certification to include workers leased from Page Employment who worked at the Island Falls plant.

Personnel

Bangor Chamber Honors Hoteliers

BANGOR - A couple who have given generously to area medical, educational and youth causes - including a $2 million pledge to a cancer treatment center - received the Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce's most prestigious award Wednesday night during the organization's annual awards dinner. Danny and Carla Lafayette of Hampden received the Norbert X. Dowd Award in recognition of their contributions to Greater Bangor's economy and quality of life during a sell-out event at the Bangor Civic Center...

The Big and Small of Wind

Wind energy development in Maine has long been about reducing energy costs and dependence on dirtier, imported sources of power. With a second large federal grant, the University of Maine is helping position the state to take advantage of another part of the equation - developing wind power components in the state, which could lead to new jobs here. Earlier this month, it was announced that the U.S. Department of Commerce had awarded the university $12.4 million - the campus's largest ever co...

Massachusetts Message

It would be easy to read too much - or too little - into Republican Scott Brown's win to fill the Massachusetts Senate seat long held by Democrat Edward Kennedy. Mr. Brown campaigned on an anti-Obama, anti-big government platform and erased a 30-point deficit to win Tuesday's special election. His victory, however, may not be as much an endorsement of Republican obstruction of health care reform, economic stimulus and other policies as a signal that voters are uncomfortable with how Democrats...

.Comments

Bill addresses ATVs on Maine private land I think that the property of the landowner should be respected. Many ATV riders do not respect or even ask permission to ride on the property. This bill gives game wardens more power to enforce the law that is already there for trespassers.

Happy Talk Vs. Truth

A year ago, if we had read in the paper that employers were hiring again, health care legislation was proceeding without a bump, and Afghanistan was a nice place to take your kids, we would have known we were being lied to. We recognized that the problems Barack Obama inherited wouldn't go away overnight. During his campaign, Obama clearly said that an economy that took eight years to break couldn't be fixed in a year, that Afghanistan was a graveyard of empires, and would not be an easy vent...

Use Honest Language

In response to Peter Rees' letter (BDN, Jan. 16-17), I would respond that embryo and fetus are words that describe various stages of the life of a human being - just like the words child, adolescent, and adult do later. A human egg like a hen's egg is only an egg if it is unfertilized - but whether we are talking of hens or humans, a life that has begun is not just potential - it is in an early stage of being what it is becoming - a chicken's a chicken, no matter how small.

Health Insecurity

A year ago, I left a career in California to return to Maine, because this is truly my home. I knew that finding work in Maine would be challenging, and I made sure that I had enough savings to see me through the transition. What I didn't count on was the cost of health care. My COBRA health insurance coverage will run out in April. For the first 10 months of the coverage my employer paid 60 percent of the cost, but now it is entirely up to me to come up with $630 a month.