Alex Lear
Staff Writer
Alex Lear is a lifelong Mainer who has spent 25 years in journalism -- the first 20 as a reporter for newspapers in Damariscotta and Falmouth, then as Opinions section editor for the Sun Journal and now a digital producer with the Maine Trust for Local News. His long-running “Learics” column won first place in the Maine Press Association’s 2023 Better Newspaper Contest. He and his wife Lauren are kept young by their 9-year-old daughter Alaina. Send feedback and suggestions to Alex.
Norway Savings Bank donates $21K to 4 organizations
The bank donated $10,000 to the Maine Veterans’ Home in South Paris, $8,000 to SCORE Maine, $1,500 to the Franco-American Heritage Center in Lewiston, and $1,500 to Maine Music Society.
Auburn/Scarborough real estate firm hires Waterford woman
Brianna Roberge, who grew up in South Berwick, has since 2011 owned and operated a cleaning company specializing in business and vacation rentals.
Lewiston’s United Ambulance Service receives perfect score in reaccreditation review
The accreditation review, like the process used by hospitals and nursing facilities, is conducted every three years and includes an intensive application process and multiday onsite inspection by outside experts.
Clarence Page: A timely push-back against too much Trump-Musk secrecy deals
What is being hidden? That’s a question that Americans have been asking themselves repeatedly as the unelected Elon Musk has bragged of his DOGE teams rummaging through and slashing government departments without much accountability and highly questionable authority.
Austin Bay: Deep state and big debt: America’s self-inflicted strategic threat
The real killer: a Department of Government Efficiency post on X reported a total of $4.7 trillion worth of payments from the Treasury Department are “almost impossible” to trace because of missing account identification codes.
Chief Jason Moen: Legislators should reject Gov. Mills’ proposed cuts to child care and Head Start
These high-quality early learning programs help children prepare for school and are proven community safety strategies.
Rich Lowry: Europe deserves its humiliation
If Europe won’t spend more for the sake of its own security or the good of the alliance, it should — when its embarrassing panic subsides — at least do it out of self-respect.
Cal Thomas: No substitute for victory
When negotiating, especially with an evil adversary — Nazi Germany then and Russia’s Vladimir Putin now — the worst strategy is to make concessions before talks formally begin. And to exclude Ukraine, the victim of the invasion, at least in initial talks, is like allowing an opponent in poker to have an extra ace.
Froma Harrop: Why is Trump sabotaging the U.S. auto industry?
His tireless efforts to slow America’s shift to electricity-run transportation is a dream come true for China as it leads the world in that transition.