Boston University is picked to come in second place this year … after Boston College!

Argh!

Luckily it’s a great paper, having recently hired a former New England Journalist of the Year as well as a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer to cover the Portland area. I’m all for that!

This weekend they had an interesting story about St. Croix Island, in the St. Croix river between Maine and New Brunswick, that was settled by the French in 1604 – three years before Popham Colony and Jamestown Settlement.

Check out, “An island prison: Rugged St. Croix Island brought ghastly death to early settlers“.

See, I don’t watch Jersey Shore and wouldn’t know “The Situation” if I fell over him, but this Paul LePage mural malarkey is almost as bad as reality television.

First there was a free speech claim made last week: “Federal lawsuit seeks return of mural to Labor Department“.

Then Republican state senators took a swipe at him in the press: “LePage rhetoric interferes with goals, say GOP senators“.

AND now the federal Department of Labor is getting in on the action: “US Labor Department demands refund in Maine mural dispute“.

See? Reality TV at it’s worst.

I’m glued!

What’s next?!?

Attacks on the long tradition of early and absentee voting in Maine ignore the fact that the popularity of absentee voting in gubernatorial elections has significantly increased voter turnout since at least 2002. This time around, more than 140,000 people voted early or absentee. Any move to eliminate the choice and convenience of this option will restrict voter participation, counter to the core principles of our democratic system.

So she wants non-party primaries. Which, granted, could also be seen as sour grapes; she lost the Democratic primary back in the spring.

I won’t turn this into a political blog, I promise, I just find it interesting that now both the Lewiston Sun-Journal and Bangor Daily News have endorsed Eliot Cutler for governor: “Maine needs a statesman, not an antagonist” and “Eliot Cutler for Governor“.

The Sun-Journal:

LePage is correct on the issues, but his bare-knuckle style and bully tactics will not produce the change Mainers so desperately need. In fact, his combative stance will further entrench Maine’s woes.

We need a practiced executive in the Blaine House, a person who has the skills and experience to be an administrator of progress. A person determined to improve our schools, reduce our taxes, fix our roads and vastly shrink government spending.

Cutler is that person.

And from the Daily News:

Maine has a rare opportunity to remake its government. State finances demand it. The public, increasingly aware that big changes are needed for the state to prosper, wants it.

Only one candidate for governor – Eliot Cutler – has the skills, vision and detailed plans to lead this work.

So now the Sun-Journal, the Daily News, the Press Herald, the Portland Phoenix, the York Weekly, the York County Coast Star, the Portsmouth Herald, the Times Record and the USM Free Press have all endorsed Cutler.

Wow.

But in two months there’ll be none.

Got that fun fact from this Bangor Daily News article: “State plans aid for cannery workers.”