President Obama has promised a new jobs initiative, and the GOP race has been shaken up.

Public art has two components, and only one of them is art. What Portland’s Public Art Committee appears to have learned from the Tracing the Fore fiasco is that if you don’t listen to the public before committing to an installation, you will have to listen to it after the fact, and you may not like what it has to say.

Somehow, a shrug of the shoulders and an ‘I didn’t know’ excuse aren’t quite enough.

We have seen the Republican plan to redraw Maine’s two congressional districts, and we have seen the Democratic plan. We would like to see one more.

Before next week’s public hearing on the issue, we hope that both sides can come together and compromise on a plan that could win the endorsement of the redistricting commission and have a realistic chance of getting two-thirds support from both houses of the Legislature when it convenes for a special session next month.

That is not the only way this process could end, but it is the best way. It would be much more desirable than lawmakers failing to agree and sending the issue to the courts for resolution. And it would be far better than the Republicans using their majorities in the state House and Senate to change the law that requires a two-thirds vote on redistricting questions so they could force their map through on a partisan vote.

Forgive the people who run the nation’s public schools if they show a lack of patience when it comes to waiting for Congress to get its act together and rewrite No Child Left Behind. The school reform law is about to get chaotic and someone needs to do something soon.

If Congress won’t act, the administration should give states waivers from sanctions . . .

Obesity and diabetes are two of the dangers that come with the intake of too much sugar.