I saw the Facebook posting by chance as I was browsing aimlessly during a break from cooking on the day before Thanksgiving. Many people, of course, already were chatting about the things they were thankful for and the dishes they were preparing for the next day’s… Read More
First, know this as we continue down the painstaking path toward the next gubernatorial election: Gov. Paul LePage most likely doesn’t care what you think about his decision to pay nearly $1 million to a Rhode Island consulting firm to examine Maine’s welfare system. Read More
I heard the news that Democratic gubernatorial candidate and U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud was gay a week before it was officially announced by him to the media. I was sitting in a doctor’s waiting room. The elderly gentleman seated beside me said so. Journalists… Read More
Earlier this week I sat in the driver’s seat with a set of keys in my hand with no idea how to start the car I had just rented. My husband was standing outside waiting for me to pull it forward just a bit so he… Read More
For 35 years Don Saunders has had teenagers shaking in their sneakers. They have feared him like no other adult. For thousands of teenagers it was Saunders and Saunders alone who stood between them and the freedom they daydreamed about during countless algebra classes. Read More
One must be careful when launching into conversation with Bangor City Councilor Joe Baldacci about his latest cause. I did so one recent evening and now I’m set to be serving up spaghetti next week. Looking beyond government coffers to keep things afloat is… Read More
What strikes you first when you arrive at Dam Camp is the camouflage vinyl siding that nearly makes the structure disappear into the pine and birch forest that surrounds it. The siding is appropriate. The owners appreciate their privacy and seclusion, hence their location, eight miles in from… Read More
This week found me hunting for hot dogs — free hot dogs that is — and lunches — free lunches of course — and well, pretty much anything else our generous business community would slide my way. I did pretty well. I have 10… Read More
I discovered this week that campaign signs are popping up. I noticed it when I stepped outside of our house to cut a few hydrangeas from the bush in front of our house and found one posted in the yard. It wasn’t in our… Read More
A few observations from Thursday night’s forum of the six men running for the three seats open on the Bangor City Council. 1. There are six men running. That’s fine of course, but notable just the same. Two women, Pat… Read More
A decade or two ago in the midst of a very nasty argument with a former supervisor, I seem to recall threatening to quit my job and it’s possible I called him a bad name — to his face, of course. In that particular instance it… Read More
If you think that your son or daughter isn’t the type of kid who would ever die from using drugs, then I suggest you take a look at the online obituary of 20-year-old Olivia Rotondo. She was a junior at the University of New… Read More
Governor Paul LePage had a tough childhood. Were you not aware of that? If not, then you certainly haven’t been paying attention for the last four years, the first while he was campaigning for governor and the last three while he has been in… Read More
The folk festival has always caused a fuss. Fuss, fuss, fuss. The original dreamers, among them former BDN arts reporter Alicia Anstead and former Bangor Mayor John Rohman, started it back in the year 2000. They caused a fuss when they teamed… Read More
My first Facebook message of the day on Friday came at the uncivilized hour of 6 a.m. “I thought for sure the next reality show in Bangor would be about you and yours,” it stated. Only off-the-wall early morning radio show hosts can get… Read More
“What’s Bangor’s secret?” a retired gentleman from New Jersey asked my husband and I earlier this week as we chatted over Belgian waffles topped with strawberries and cream. We paused for a moment considering the right answer. His question was a valid one upon… Read More
If calling two killers ‘evil’ is wrong, I’ll gladly ride to hell with retired detective Brian Strout
In a story earlier this week, newly retired Maine State Police Detective Brian Strout recalled his 25-year career, spent mostly investigating the state’s worst crimes and interviewing vicious killers. In the article, written by BDN reporter Judy Harrison, Strout called a couple of the… Read More
Let me tell you about the T-shirt I saw on a guy in downtown Bangor recently. Or let me try to tell you as best I can given that this is a family newspaper. In large letters it said “DRUNK?” Beneath that… Read More
Why at a time when we are crying for real truth in the media are we so terribly offended when we actually get it? Clearly we are angry because Rolling Stone Magazine’s attempt to get us to face or at least understand the truth has been… Read More
Sometimes speaking up pays off, and in at least one case in Bangor, it has. Last fall, neighbors along Webster Avenue North felt like hostages in their homes. One afternoon, a woman in the late stages of pregnancy lay writhing in the middle of… Read More
