Following the death of a teen girl on a hayride last fall, Maine lawmakers are searching for way to tighten amusement park regulations and restrictions, to ensure similar tragedies never happen again. Recently, the Legislature’s Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee weighed testimony from one lawmaker sponsoring a bill named…
Most auto accidents – even serious ones – fade from the headlines days or sometimes just hours after they occur, after the wreckage has been cleared and traffic is moving once again. But even for those who survive these frightening ordeals, the pain, injuries and scars are something with which…
Two recent reports – one from the U.S. Energy Information Administration and another from analysis company GasBudy – predicted the lowest gas prices in a decade this summer for Maine and the rest of the country. Both indicated average gas prices would be less than $2.50 per gallon for regular…
Anytime a patron of a store lawfully enters that commercial property, he or she has a right to expect the business – and its agents – will act with reasonable care to ensure the site will be kept in reasonably safe condition. That includes making sure shelves are safely stacked,…
Impaired drivers in Maine have been wreaking havoc on our roads, causing property damage, serious injury and the loss of innocent victims. In Lincolnville, a 31-year-old crossed the center line and struck an oncoming vehicle, driven by a 58-year-old woman. The man was ejected from his vehicle and pronounced dead…
By now, most motorists have undoubtedly heard about the grave risk posed by faulty airbags, defective ignition switches and unintended acceleration. These issues and more were exposed within the last year by large auto manufacturers that later issued recalls compelling vehicle owners to have the problems fixed. In fact, there…
City health and safety regulators in Bangor are only authorized to initiate an inspection of private property when there is a complaint from either residents or landlords. That could soon change, as a proposal before city council would launch a new program providing for routine inspections of some 6,000 local…
Just a handful of days after one of the biggest chain-reaction car accidents in Maine’s history, state lawmakers are deciding whether to repeal the current seat belt law. Title 29-A, 2081 of Maine Revised Statutes require all passengers in every vehicle to buckle up, so long as there is a…
On a snowy stretch of I-95 west, 75 cars, trucks and semis kept “crashing and crashing,” leaving a mangled mass of metal and debris. In total, 17 injuries have been reported, though authorities have expressed shock no one was killed. The chain-reaction pileup was the worst officials said they’d seen…
A new report by the Maine Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program indicates the state is the No. 1 most-improved when it comes to slashing the number of potentially fatal antipsychotic medications doled out to elderly in nursing homes. That’s certainly good news. But there’s more to it. The state still ranks…