When I retired from the Bangor Daily News in October 1991 after 29-plus years with the paper, publisher Rick Warren and managing editor V. Paul Reynolds kindly invited me to continue writing my weekly Saturday morning column that had run since 1967, when I began covering the Maine Legislature as …
Articles by Kent Ward
KENT WARD
My case for a sawed-off broomstick
Early natives of the far north were said to believe that bears were another species of man, albeit a dangerous one. According to arcticwebsite.com, when the natives encountered a bear they would stop, raise their arms, slowly back off and apologize to the animal for intruding on its turf. If …
KENT WARD
Walking it back to kick the can
A favorite buzz phrase of politicians and other talking heads on cable television talk shows at the moment is the shopworn “walk it back,” which describes an attempt by someone who has made an outrageous statement to put a better spin on the deal when given the opportunity for a …
KENT WARD
Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s war on soft drinks is the food fight flavor of the week
I have pondered the possibility that my turn to buy the farm might well occur when I am driving on a narrow two-lane track in the outback and meet up with a heavily loaded logging truck that swings out of a curve, catches an edge, as we old downhill skiers …
KENT WARD
Quoting quotations for delight
I once worked summers with an older fellow who — when someone in the crew got the better of him in the horseplay that seemed to be a part of our seasonal job description in those carefree days — would hint of retaliation to come by warning us, “Remember, laddies: …
KENT WARD
Memorial Day a time to be grateful
Like thousands of young American men eager to see action in World War II, Maurice Phair of Limestone enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in May 1941 because the United States had not yet entered the war. After the United States declared war on the Axis powers later that …
KENT WARD
An old tale about true Maine grit
Nearly 50 years ago a Maine State Prison inmate escaped from the former prison at Thomaston, disappearing into dense fog and remaining at large for 11 days before state police collared him at Wiscasset. For much of that time he had been holed up in the barn of South Warren …
KENT WARD
Guidelines for aging gracefully
When I turned a year older but none the wiser a week ago, I received from a friend by snail mail a clipping of an essay by newspaper columnist and author Roger Rosenblatt that — near as can be determined by the handwritten note in the margin — was published …
KENT WARD
Anthology describes hardy breed of Bangor and Aroostook Railroad
“Griswold isn’t even a whistle-stop on the Bangor and Aroostook’s Ashland Branch anymore. The two buildings remaining, formerly occupied by railroad employees, keep a brooding vigil over the grassy clearing and the clear waters of the St. Croix swirling past on the journey to the Aroostook River at Masardis. “The …
KENT WARD
A distress call on May Day
“May is a green as no other,’’ the poet Amy Lowell wrote. It is also many other things, she suggested, including soft earth, apple blossoms “and windows open to a South wind.’’ With its welcome greening of the countryside, rebirth of baseball and days set aside to honor motherhood, endangered …
KENT WARD
On junking a tax code gone rogue
There is an idea often expressed by frustrated taxpayers after the annual mid-April income-tax-filing frenzy has abated that the ponderous federal tax code should be junked and a new one, short and to the point, be written — this one in plain English. In the words of political satirist and …
KENT WARD
Parking lot lost vehicle syndrome
When a downstate friend called earlier this week to regale me with a tale about losing his car in a Bangor Mall parking lot, it occurred to me that most anyone who has driven a vehicle for any significant length of time likely has a similar story to tell. You …
KENT WARD
The lengthy shelf life of Maine’s east-west highway
One doesn’t have to poke around in the archives of a newspaper for long before being reminded of the truth of the biblical observation that there is not a whole lot new under the sun. A case in point is the current discussion concerning a proposed privately funded east-west toll …
KENT WARD
Our exalted opinion of our own driving
In the midst of the recently expired winter, a down-river friend sent me two newspaper clippings. One was a photograph of a pickup truck perched atop a substantial snowbank as two good ol’ boys — the befuddled male driver and his passenger — stood by, presumably trying to figure out …
KENT WARD
A ‘be’ ball up high and inside
Mainers may be impressed with the spectacular grand entrance of spring, but that doesn’t mean we have abandoned a suspicion that the weather gods will somehow extract payment for their unseasonable gift of abundant sunshine and summer-like temperatures. Show me the person who, when talk turns to the run of …
KENT WARD
Life without real books, newspapers
The announcement came late last month. Mr. Paperback, the popular bookstore chain that has been a fixture in Maine for 50 years, would go out of business at the end of April because of a shaky economy and technological advances that have changed the public’s reading habits and siphoned off …
KENT WARD
Some names are game-changers
Journalism 101 teaches two basic principles of news gathering. One is that a solid news story provides readers with the who, what, when, where and why of the matter. I like to think that the late poet Rudyard Kipling alluded to the tenet when he wrote, “I keep six honest …
KENT WARD
Snowe job applicants check in
Had the lady been a Democrat, I suppose it could have been said that her bombshell announcement on Tuesday that she will not seek re-election to a fourth term in the United States Senate had come straight out of left field. But since Maine’s Sen. Olympia Snowe is a moderate …
KENT WARD
A rascal remembered by Mainers
In oral arguments Wednesday, the United States Supreme Court began the process of determining whether the First Amendment protects from prosecution under the federal Stolen Valor Act anyone falsely claiming to have received military decorations and medals. The federal law imposes prison sentences of up to a year for those …
KENT WARD
Basketball as relief from winter
For many a rural Mainer, a memorable vehicular encounter with mid-February’s first serious frost heave on the road to the village can be a reminder that soon the dismal mud-splattered snow banks of March will herald the pothole-patching interval that leads eventually to the welcome greenery of spring. We muddle …
Quimby buys oceanside campground to reopen it
Police say woman kidnapped off street in Rockland
Teen driver accused of going 146 mph on I-95 in Maine
My daughter was born a boy. Here’s why we’re just like any other Maine family.
Developer bringing one of downtown Bangor’s largest structures back to life
With drug dealer binder, LePage fails to prove his distorted, racist version of reality
What Donald Trump’s ‘Miss Piggy’ comment shows us about the sin of weight gain
Skimming through the Washington Post comment thread about our “unhinged” governor
A walk-off for Fahey: Bangor baseball coach ends impressive 16-year run
UMaine men’s basketball team adds ‘natural’ playmaker
From hospital to hall of fame: Bob McPhee’s inspiring ride
High-scoring soccer star to receive posthumous UMaine Sports Hall of Fame honor
Former UMaine field hockey standout parlays playing career into success in coaching
Moose hunt a win for Maine veterans, broccoli crops
Check out these breathtaking photos of Acadia’s night sky
Tasting event in Unity showcases ‘new and improved vegetables’
Bangor museum hosts nine artists from New Brunswick Art Bank