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.
Froma Harrop: Republicans are stuck with their assault on abortion
The senator from South Carolina [Lindsey Graham] has been reading the polls, clearly. After decades of railing against abortion and populating the U.S. Supreme Court with justices eager to ditch a right to an abortion, Republicans like him are discovering that the broader public never signed up for losing that option.
Cal Thomas: Another Irish exodus
A survey by the National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) has found “seven-in-10 young people, ages 18-24 are considering moving abroad for a better life. … Inflation is at its highest since 1984 … and mortgage rates are set to rise for the first time in 11 years.” The Irish Times reports 10,568 people, including 3,137 children, “are now categorised as homeless in the Republic.”
Austin Bay: Let’s field weapons to defeat China’s Pacific strategy
China’s threat has no one single answer. The H96, however, definitely complicates China’s war plans built on defeating big carriers and static bases.
Leonard Pitts Jr.: What do the book banners and burners fear?
If you can’t read freely, how can you ever live freely?
Rich Lowry: Senate Republicans run and hide on abortion
If Republicans truly believe that they can’t defend a 15-week ban, maybe they are right to find any excuse to try not to talk about abortion. But that path leads, ultimately, to implicit surrender.
Don Prince: Foul-language Trump flag doesn’t belong near school
Someone has chosen (as of Sept. 14) to hang a Trump 2024 flag with an obscene message across from the Turner Primary School. Our state has decided to remove obscenity and innuendo from our license plates to prevent exposing the young to foul language. It is a shame this person feels the need to expose […]
Froma Harrop: Yankee ingenuity: Ukraine’s powerful weapon
Though Ukraine enjoys enormous support from the United States and others, military experts are astounded at how its fighters jury-rigged slow Turkish-made Bayraktar attack drones to drop grenades on Russian assets. They gussied up an old Soviet anti-ship missile design by adding modern electronics. They loaded the renamed “Neptune” missiles on a truck, drove it within range of Russia’s flagship, and down went the Moskva to the bottom of the Black Sea.
Joe Mailey: Gov. Mills ‘a leader during some trying times’
I’ll vote for Gov. Janet Mills in November and I hope that others will join me in doing so. My reasons for this are simple and straightforward, as one can see. During the pandemic she made several decisions she felt were for the best for Mainers. She didn’t allow fear or conspiracies to guide her, […]