Maine voters are sending a message. As soon as Central Intelligence Agency code experts manage to translate it into English, we’ll let you know what it is.
Take Cape Elizabeth, for example. In a June 10 referendum, the town rejected the school budget. On the same ballot, Cape voters were also asked to indicate if they were opposing the spending measure because it was too high or too low. Sixty

On July 16, a woman in Gorham was doing her laundry in her washing machine. The load included the usual assortment of clothing, as well as an eight-foot reticulated python.

I know what you’re thinking. Nobody washes an eight-foot python in a washing machine. Pythons get washed in a python tub. Or maybe they have python washes, like car washes. What I know for

 

We’ll find out Thursday, July 17, whether those opposed to higher taxes on beer, wine, soda and insurance premiums have gathered enough petition signatures to force a referendum to repeal those levies. This past week, leaders of the People’s Veto campaign expressed confidence they’d submit well over the required 55,000 names needed to block the tax hikes and put the issue on the November ballot.

If you were miserable this past week, I’m sorry, but I’m not going to let sympathy for your plight get in the way of rubbing your face in my good fortune. I’m sure you’ll feel better after being forced to learn how much happier you’d have been if you were me.

I celebrated the 4th of July by having a late lunch at J’s Oyster on the Portland waterfront, where my wife and I watched a tourist eat her first lobster (“Ooo, it has eyes!”) and the

I’m starting off this week’s news roundup with all the important artistic, scientific and intellectual news, but I want those of you with short attention spans to know that later in this column there’s stuff about PHOTOS OF NAKED WOMEN. I’m not the type to exploit the story about PHOTOS OF NAKED WOMEN by putting it first, ahead of many more significant items, in a blatant attempt to suck in more readers. That wouldn’t be in the Down East tradition. Rather, it would

The trailer on Route 1 in Wiscasset lacks pretension. But it doesn't lack for attention. Red's Eats has been the focus of local and national news stories for more than 30 years. In part, that's due to the excellent lobster rolls and fried clams. But a lot of it had to do with Red, himself. Allen "Red" Gagnon liked to talk to people. He made his customers feel like

Let's start with the first odd word. I promise we'll get to the fish and sex in a minute.

The word is "anadromous," which if I'd had to guess, I'd have said meant a kind of bread or else somebody that it's hard to tell if they're male or female. It could also have something to do with those mechanical things in "Star Wars." Maybe, it's all three.

"Gosh, C-3PO, this delicious loaf of bread you baked makes me wonder, are you a boy robot or a girl robot?"

As it turns out, it's

I admit I lack empathy for lobsters. When it comes to considering their feelings, I tend to categorize the tasty crustaceans with crab grass, black flies, politicians and other lower life forms. I just don't care about their problems. As far as I'm concerned, the only difference between lobsters and the others is that I wouldn't eat a politician, even if I was really, really hungry.

I don't believe I'm the only Mainer with this attitude. Most of us couldn't be bothered listening to a lobster's

If you live in Maine, you never really forget about winter. A good part of every summer is spent preparing for the next cold season. But this year seems different. There's a sense of desperation in the air. Getting the wood in, a casual enterprise in most Junes, has a sense of urgency. And even with prices topping $230 a cord for green wood, normally frugal folks are ordering extra.

"People get scared