The Human Rights Campaign – one of the most influential national organizations working to advance/protect the rights of GLBT people – announced its “Year to Win” election-mobilization campaign yesterday. Part of the initiative includes endorsing candidates in 14 “targeted Senate races,” and assisting those candidates with get-out-the-vote efforts and fundraising.

Without endorsing a precise timeline, retired US Army general John Johns appeared with Maine Congressional District 1 candidate Chellie Pingree this afternoon to support the Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq. The plan mirrors many of the (largely ignored) recommendations issued by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group in 2006.

In honor of Earth Day, I’d like to assess my eco-progress over the past year – things I’ve successfully implemented/changed, and areas for improvement – using criteria from about a year of Going Green columns.

-- My first official column dealt with trash – and I vowed to produce less of it. Certainly, I’ve become a diligent recycler, I remember my reusable mug much more often, and I pay more attention to excess packaging on new purchases (so as not to create more garbage).

On the heels of several reports that returning service members are reporting high levels of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, Maine Congressman Mike Michaud announced yesterday that he would hold a congressional field hearing in Sanford this Monday to discuss veterans’ health issues. (Sanford Town Hall, 919 Maine St.

For decades, Maine has had an innovate (and unique) system for proportionately distributing its electoral votes; the National Popular Vote Bill would have gone a step further by strictly tying electoral votes to the people’s will.

There are a few things you should know before the weekend begins, in addition to the impending return of Granny's Burritos, which we told you about earlier today:

News: The unionized employees of the Blethen Maine Newspapers had previously said they were considering trying to buy the papers (the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram, the Augusta-based Kennebec Journal, and the Waterville-based Morning Sentinel).

The reports are true – much-mourned Granny's Burritos will be revived, in the space formerly known as Uncle Billy's Resto-Bar. Owners Chris Godin and Jonathan St. Laurent are teaming up to resuscitate Granny’s, which closed suddenly in December.

“We’ve had a tough winter here,” admits Uncle Billy’s owner and local restaurateur St.