For several years now the League of Young Voters has been doing the best it can to crash the traditional political scene by bringing a bunch of young people with them.

We’re roughly two weeks out from the end of the school year, and yet there seems to be no shortage of school news this time of year.

There was a card about a new book in my mailbox this morning, the typical promotional stuff most writers get here at the paper.

On first glance, "50 Ways to Leave Your Mother" is apparently just the latest in a long line of self-help, feel-good, don’t be doomed to be yourself type of books that are popular these days.

Oh man...can you feel it? People are itching for some summer, itching for that sunlight, laying out on the beach or a cool patch of grass. Drive around, people are just waiting to get out on the front stoop or yard if they've got it. And of course, there’s the army of shirtless dudes, all so ready to lose those restricting undershirts.

When Byron Hurt says he loves hip-hop, he needs you to know it’s real, from the heart and sincere. It's real in that way you tell someone you love them right before an intervention.

Whoever thinks high schools are not a microcosm for the larger world needs to take a look around. We’ve got two perfect examples of just what kind of difference young people can make in their schools and the world around them right here in Maine.

Big day today true believers – the online chat starts at noon, so make sure to stop by Pressherald.com at 12:30 p.m. for when the fun begins. Or at least what I hope will be fun.

This wet, dreary, overcast and overall morose weather is rough. Seriously, I look out the window here at Press Herald Plaza and want to put on some Ben Folds and crawl under my desk.

Today’s gotta be quick, deliberate and dirty as I am still recovering from the Phoenix’s Best Music Poll awards last night, too many Appletinis with Shannon Moss and the guys from Dead Season.

There’s a lot of bits and pieces today so let’s just get right into this:

Over the last few years we’ve seen students trying to get more of a say in how schools work. If you think about it, in some ways you almost have to ask, why didn’t someone think of this sooner?

That is a good question, isn't it? I'm suprised more of you didn't have answers to Mainetoday's query yesterday! But it is the weekend, which does require a certain amount of hanging out, so let's get to it.

Would you believe we’ve got one of America’s best bars down on Fore Street?
Any guesses? It’s not Liquid Blue or Gritty McDuff’s.
It’s Rosie’s.
Yes – Rosie’s!

And when spray-paint is outlawed, only outlaws will have spray paint, and broad tip markets, and paint tips...

Days like last Wednesday are what make my job rewarding. It was a beautiful day and the sun was finally acting the way it should and I’d just spent over an hour talking to a bunch of young writers about their lives, their stories and how they make sense of the world.

Holy freakin’ crap, there’s a lot going on this weekend! If I was an anchorman I might say something like, “Better super-size your weekend because there’s a lot going on around town! Let’s send it to Tom for the fast-cast!”

Couple of quick hits today, gotta take the blog down a few gears in anticipation of what looks to be a huge weekend.

The beginning of May can be a beautiful, yet brutal, time on college campuses. On one hand it’s all almost over, the sun is starting to come out more frequently and there is a buffet of year-end parties. Then again, there’s a round of finals, the painful book buy-back and a date with the financial aid office.

So it it's not strange with the college year winding down there’s so much going on in and around campuses.

So I’m at the gym yesterday (relax, this is not a workout run-down), minding my own business and rocking it out to “Eye of the Tiger” on my iPod when a woman comes over to the machine I’m on.