Guest Column: Wood pellets: An opportunity to lower heating costs and support Maine’s forest products industry

Sen. Collins discusses the economic opportunity inherent in sustainable biomass energy. A native of Caribou, Maine's senior U.S. senator has held her seat since 1997. A Republican, she is Maine's longest-serving member of Congress. 

Concluding my first legislative session representing you

Shipwreck and gold – Part 2

Soon after the rescued survivors of General Grant returned to civilization, the irresistible siren-song began about golden treasure just sitting there waiting for whoever was quick enough, bold enough and competent enough to grab it. A series of search and salvage attempts were soon launched. The first happened in March 1868 within two years of the wreck and just months after survivors arrived in New Zealand. The ...

Ignoring history…

That sage quote about being doomed to repeat mistakes when we ignore history can also apply to gardens. Yes, when it comes to growing things, we often do learn as much from our mistakes and disasters as we do from our successes. But so too we can get caught up in the business of the season, setting up and planting our gardens, that we sometimes lose track of the importance of history — even our own garden's ...

Pardon my harsh letters

My wife and I are in a stage of parenting where we can't get away with spelling words aloud around the kids anymore. Our son is a great reader and can sniff out a secret-parent-spelling code faster than you can spell i-c-e c-r-e-a-m. Because of this, we use a language where we spell out words, except that consonants are pronounced with their letter plus the sound “ong” at the end of them, while vowels are just ...

Time to curb cash bail

Being poor is expensive. Driving an old clunker means frequent trips to the mechanic. Delayed medical care can prove both pricey and life-threatening. And a minor run-in with the criminal justice system can land people in jail because they cannot afford to pay for bail. A 2015 report from an intergovernmental task force found a steady increase in the number of pretrial individuals being held in Maine's county ...

Letters, June 10

Part of the solution You are part of the solution by displaying the window installation that highlights DV here in Waldo County — thank you. Meredith Bruskin Swanville Public power good for ratepayers As Maine considers public ownership of our electric utilities, here are some things to consider. About one in seven electric customers in the U.S. get their power from publicly owned entities. Ten percent of ...

Cheaper than a doctor's bill; night watch needed; a remarkable display

June 13, 1845 People in our cities, who are preparing for their summer pleasure jaunts, will find Belfast to be at least one of the most beautiful places in New England, with a splendid bay, a thousand islands, good fishing, fine scenery in all directions, and an invigorating atmosphere. Cits who are pent up between hot brick walls, and surrounded by the dust and confusion of crowded streets, will find a trip to ...

The day of the cipher

“We don't have politicians anymore, today we just have ciphers,” Pat Caddell lamented in a big-think piece on what ails America's political parties. I helped him write that in 2012. What he meant by “cipher” was a zero, an interchangeable digit, like a rapper or a poet in a slam, the one who steps into the circle for a moment to recite a few lines before the next turn. By the time he died 18 months ago, the truth ...

All containers, great and small

Read any book on container gardening and you'll see anything that can hold soil will pass for a container. This makes container gardening a wide-open territory, and it encompasses everything from hen-and-chicks growing in a worn-out boot, to elaborate systems of raised beds. They're all containers. Containers also range from the commercially available kind, such as EarthBoxes, to homemade devices of every ...