BANGOR, ME.- A federal judge on Friday denied a request to order Maine to return a mural to a state Labor Department office where it was removed last month, causing an uproar. U.S. District Judge John Woodcock ruled that Gov. Paul LePage’s order to remove the 36-foot-long mural in late March constituted government speech, or the right of government to say what it wishes regardless of the viewpoint expressed. The judge said the government had that right because the state commissioned, approved, paid for and owned the labor-themed mural. LePage, a first-term Republican governor, had ordered the removal of the mural, saying it presented a one-sided view of history. Critics of his action sued, contending that the governor violated their First Amendment right of access to the artwork. “It is not the business of the federal court to decide what messages the elected leaders of the state of Maine should send about the policies of