Free Republic

Nearly 12,000 Somali refugees transferred within Kenya NAIROBI, Oct 8, 2002 (Xinhua ) - Some 11,800 Somali Bantu refugees have been successfully transferred from the Dadaab refugee camp in northeastern Kenya to Kakuma camp in the northwestern Turkana District, the United Nations refugee agency said here Tuesday. The transfer, which took nearly four months to complete, is aimed to facilitate the process of resettling the refugees in the United States, said the George OKoth-Obbo, representative of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). "This challenging operation could not have been possible without the support of partners, above all the International...

It was a perfect day for a FREEP: overcast and cool. I was the first to arrive at 4:30pm for the RALLY 2002 sponsored by our friends: the Maine State Employees Association, the Maine Education Association, the Maine AFL-CIO and the Maine Council of Senior Citizens, and Starring X42 and the other Maine Rats. I set up shop with the pro life crew and their pictures. We had the perfect spot at the intersection for the entrance to the Augusta Civic Center. They all had to pass us to get into the parking lot. I got out my stuff and...

Pingree's missing ideology BY Sarason Liebler October 03, 2002 Chellie Pingree, challenger for the Senate seat held by Susan Collins, may not be willing to characterize her ideology with a succinct description, but her rapidfire declarations are nonetheless revealing. A few weeks ago, Ms. Pingree appeared before the editorial staff of Courier Publications and was impressive. She was sharp, primed to fire and proved she can get out more words per second than a 33 RPM record played at 78 speed. When questioned on her oft-mentioned ideology, though, Pingree reverted to "pol speak," letting us know that she was for...

<p>LEWISTON, MAINE -- Every week, another four or five Somali families arrive in this workaday city on the Androscoggin River.</p> <p>They are refugees from the clan-wracked ruins of their homeland on the Horn of Africa, from years of waiting in camps in Kenya. And they are migrants from their place of first resettlement in America, more often than not trekking 1,000 miles from the heat and multihued humanity of metropolitan Atlanta to this sparse, wintry, whitest of all states.</p>

Clinton visiting capital By: JOYCE GRONDIN September 27, 2002 Former President Bill Clinton will speak to Democrats Oct. 10 at Augusta Civic Center. AUGUSTA - Democrats are bringing the national party's most prominent figure to Maine to drum up support for candidates in the state's top races. Former President Bill Clinton will be guest speaker at an Oct. 10 Democratic rally at the Augusta Civic Center. The event kicks off at 6:30 p.m. "The plan is to rally at the Civic Center. It's a countdown to the Nov. 5 rally," said Carl Leinonen, executive director of the Maine State Employees...

AUGUSTA - Democrats are bringing the national party's most prominent figure to Maine to drum up support for candidates in the state's top races. Former President Bill Clinton will be guest speaker at an Oct. 10 Democratic rally at the Augusta Civic Center. The event kicks off at 6:30 p.m. "The plan is to rally at the Civic Center. It's a countdown to the Nov. 5 rally," said Carl Leinonen, executive director of the Maine State Employees Association, which is one of the organizers of Rally Maine 2002, a political action committee formed specifically for the event. Special guests expected...

<p>Prison term viewed as death sentence by pot grower By Associated Press, 9/27/2002 20:01 SKOWHEGAN, Maine (AP) An Athens man who was handed an 18-month prison term for growing marijuana says the ruling amounts to a death sentence because prison food will kill him.</p>

Here is a picture of the future of Maine under John Baldacci (Rat-ME)candidate for governor The Mama Baldacci's,Skohegan Maine John (I was partying with the babes on capital hill 2 days after 9/11) Baldacci still lists his occupation as Restaurant Manager, Mama Baldacci's, Skohegan Maine. He can't even get the grass cut.

Augusta Pig Scramble Set for Saturday Posted on: 09/09/02 19:10:42 EDT The simple pleasures afforded by Garland’s little country fair last week-end provides a down-to-earth reminder that when government becomes too bloated, it’s time for a pig scramble. That’s exactly what is planned for next Saturday in Augusta. Youngsters eager to catch a pig were given burlap sacks Sunday afternoon and it didn’t take long for the little porkers to have new homes. Saturday’s Billion Dollar March is planned for September 14th at 10 a.m. in the State House complex on the piece of land once occupied by the Department...

<p>1,100-pound bull breaks loose at Windsor Fair By Associated Press, 8/28/2002 09:06 WINDSOR, Maine (AP) A 1,100-pound bull broke free from a loading trailer Tuesday and charged through the midway at the town's fair before being corralled.</p> <p>No one was seriously hurt, but at least six people were needed to finally wrestle the bull to the ground, according to Windsor Fair Police Chief Todd Brackett.</p>

The "Billion Dollar March" is on. Saturday, September 14th @ 10:00am in Augusta Maine. Please contact Ray by email at ray@rayrichardson.com We need at least 1000 people to attend. This is our opportunity to make the leadership and the Governor realize that it is "Time to change the way Augusta does business." Ray will be setting up a page on www.strongmaineeconomy.com later today for committments of people. To put it bluntly, "It is time for concerned Mainers to put up, or quit whining about what the government is doing to them!" Please join this call to bring the Legislature back...

Another Vineyard vacation for the Clintons Their latest island getaway coincides with talk that Hillary Clinton is eyeing the Oval Office. By JAMES KINSELLA STAFF WRITER CHILMARK - Former President Clinton and his wife, U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., arrived last night on Martha's Vineyard for a long weekend. Bill and Hillary Clinton will celebrate the former president's 56th birthday on Monday in Chilmark. (AP Photo) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Clintons planned to join their daughter, Chelsea, at the summer home of Ken and Jill Iscol in Chilmark. Chelsea Clinton arrived earlier in the week at the Iscol home, which overlooks...

Wellfleet demands removal of decomposing pilot whales Town officials fret about the stench and a possible contamination of costly shellfish beds. By DOUG FRASER STAFF WRITER WELLFLEET - The heroic, but futile effort to save 57 pilot whales this week made breaking news across the country and around the world. Workers on the Wellfleet Shellfish Department boat Punonakanit tie pilot whale flukes together to make the whales easier to sink. The whales are to be towed today 50 miles north of Provincetown, to the east of Stellwagen Bank, and sunk in waters 300 feet deep. (Staff photo by KEVIN MINGORA)...

Clinton heeds advice to avoid being 'Senate show horse' HEARST NEWSPAPERS WASHINGTON - Sen. Hillary Clinton is taking a lesson from a handful of legislative giants who have risen to power by mastering the arcane minutia of Senate procedure. In a chamber that operates much as it did when John Adams presided in 1789, with starchy language and obtuse protocol, most senators rely these days on staffers and parliamentarians to translate the tedious 1,564-page Senate rule book. But Clinton has persuaded the legendary master of parliamentary tactics, Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., to conduct sessions tutoring her and other interested...

Governor Baldacci is my shepherd. I shall not want. He leadeth me beside still factories. He showeth me empty stores. He restoreth my doubt in government budgets. He guideth me to the path of unemployment. He annointeth the legislative budgetmakers, so that my tax burden runnethover my income. He giveth in to the MEA agenda for schools which teach not the three Rs. He giveth in to the enviros who maketh a National Park of my home. He giveth me jobs waiting table on people From Away who can afford vacations. Surely, poverty and hard living shall follow the Baldacci...

<p>Outhouses disappear from rural Maine landscape By Associated Press, 7/14/2002 13:49 PORTLAND, Maine (AP) The number of Maine year-round homes without indoor plumbing is declining quickly, and that means a longtime part of the rural landscape the outhouse is quickly vanishing.</p>

<p>Sally Schofield convicted of manslaughter By Glenn Adams, Associated Press, 6/25/2002 17:05 WISCASSET, Maine (AP) A former adoption caseworker for the state was convicted of manslaughter Tuesday for causing the suffocation death of her 5-year-old foster daughter by covering her face and binding her to a highchair with 42 feet of duct tape.</p>

Comments on the Maine Primary election, all invited

Access Laws Do Not Lower Rates of Teen Smoking Mon Jun 3,10:29 AM ET NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Laws that prohibit merchants from selling cigarettes to minors have not helped to reduce rates of teenage smoking in the US and should therefore be abandoned, researchers conclude. Their study found no association between laws that make it difficult for teenagers to buy cigarettes and the prevalence of smoking. There was no difference in rates of teenage smoking between communities with and without such laws, and no association between compliance with the laws and the incidence of smoking among teenagers, according...

Smoker Fumes & Fights Back Defending right to light up By GREG WILSON Daily News Brooklyn Bureau Chief Brooklyn cop Audrey Silk says she is out to arrest the tobacco police — while protecting fellow smokers from unfair taxes and the pariah treatment. Unabashed smoker and cop Audrey Silk's lobbying group has recently taken on the anti-tobacco movement with a complaint to the IRS. In her off-duty time, Silk, 37, founded Citizens Lobbying Against Smoker Harassment (CLASH) to stick up for folks who light up. The group recently served a formal complaint to the Internal Revenue Service challenging the tax-exempt...