A recent order by the federal Environmental Protection Agency that will open a substantial portion of the St. Croix River to migrating alewives has many fans — and more than a few critics.

In an age of ethnic conflict, fatal disease and chronic malnutrition, it seems strange to stumble across figures such as this: 388,000 people die every year from drowning, according to the World Health Organization.

Some decades ago, when Brunswick Naval Air Station was still an active military facility, its Topsham Annex had a sign by the gate leading to U.S.Route 201 that said, “Caution! You are now entering the most dangerous area on Earth — a public highway.”

One of the great medical advances of the last century, the invention of antibiotics, is at risk of being lost. Increasingly, microbes are becoming untreatable.

The website Politico — which covers politics, naturally enough — reported this week about an escalation in opposition research that should concern Americans of all political persuasions.

If you’d been thinking that the Supreme Court’s ruling on President Barack Obama’s controversial health care law would settle the argument once and for all, well, think again.

Congress has only one week to prevent interest rates on new federal student loans from doubling to 6.8 percent.