The U.S. Constitution says every American has the right to legal counsel when the stakes are high. In practice, however, the 80 percent of defendants who cannot afford an attorney are often left to navigate an adversarial criminal justice system with little more than token representation. As a result, a central tenet of our system …
Walmart’s ad slogan, “Save money. Live better.,” has at least one ardent adherent — Walmart itself. The multinational retailer is looking to save money by having its stores’ property assessments slashed. A lower assessment means a reduced property tax bill. Bingo: money saved. The push for a lower assessment is being felt in several Maine …
Hancock County’s hospitality industry faces a systemic worker shortage. Unlike other sectors, however, there’s actually an answer for the shortfall — if the federal government would just get out of the way. The H-2B visa program allows American companies outside of the agricultural sector to hire temporary foreign workers to cover seasonal boosts in demand. …
The late Capt. William L. Bullard was frugal in life and generous after death. The maritime pilot and Navy veteran died in 2017 at age 80. Included in his estate was $10 million for his alma mater, Maine Maritime Academy, from which he graduated in 1959. The money — the largest philanthropic gift the …
By Wendy Lessard Unease. That was the overriding reaction I had to reading “Councilors raise topic of reduced funding for library” in the Feb. 28 edition of The Ellsworth American. It’s an unease that has continued throughout the month of March as I’ve reread the article and spoken with Ellsworth Public Library leadership. It’s an …
It’s official. Maine’s state bird is a bird. A chickadee for sure, but whether we mean the arboreal or the black-capped chickadee, we just don’t give a hoot. LD 572 has been sent to the dead file. The bird pictured on the Maine license plate is the black-capped, so there is that in its favor. …
Charles Dickens might well have been thinking about Maine’s intertidal zone — the area between the low and high tide marks — when a character in the novel “Oliver Twist” declaimed that “the law is a ass,” but there are signs the beast may be moving. Last week, a unanimous Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled …
Medical insurance is a gamble and some people are a bad bet. There are those who receive their black marks while still in the cradle, diagnosed with epilepsy, Type 1 diabetes, cerebral palsy, a heart defect or some other condition. Even with high premiums, those babies will cost insurance companies money year after year. …
At this point in the legislative session there are 144 bills that have been referred to the Education and Cultural Affairs Committee. What could be so wrong? A small number of those bills are in the “cultural” terrain of the committee, but the large majority of them are about education. Do we really need 144 …
By U.S. Sen. Susan Collins Fifty-nine U.S. senators voted recently to protect the separation of powers enshrined in our Constitution by blocking the President’s ill-advised emergency declaration. I want to tell you directly why I believe it is so important to stand up for our system of checks and balances and assert Congress’s constitutional authority. …
