It is clear the political center is shrinking. We all talk about division and difficulties getting things done in Washington. Fortunately, the Maine Legislature can still work together. Recent elections in France show we are not the only country dealing with polarization. Parties on both left and right gained seats at the expense of President […]
Alex Lear
A Maine native and Colby College graduate, Alex has been covering coastal communities since 2001. He lives in the Portland area with his wife Lauren, 4-year-old daughter Alaina, and 7-year-old bulldog Walter. He has released four CDs of original music and does occasional research work for Marvel Comics' collected editions.
Froma Harrop: Fortune favors the brave not always
I’ve seen enough Viking videos to know that the brave who don’t think things through often end up with hatchets in their skulls. And that’s what has happened to the finances of crypto “investors” suckered by a marketing campaign that preyed on their vanity and their laziness.
Francis Eanes: Protecting Lake Auburn versus solving the housing crisis is a false choice
We need to grow our city with more housing in reach of working families, but how we do that matters. We must resist the false idea that addressing the housing crisis means sacrificing clean and affordable drinking water, strong labor standards, and the working farmland and forests that make our city a desirable place to live.
Cal Thomas: Skirting the issue
A U.S. Court of Appeals has recently ruled that North Carolina charter day schools cannot have dress codes based on a child’s gender because as a “state actor,” such codes violate laws on equal protection. Under the ruling, girls can no longer be required to wear dresses.
Austin Bay: The Baltic noose the Kremlin fears
With its principle offensive ground forces fighting a dreadful war of attrition in eastern Ukraine, Russia really isn’t in a position to militarily bully and intimidate NATO nations with martial tantrums. Yet over a four-day period Russia directed physical and verbal threats of war at three small nations on the Baltic Sea.
Leonard Pitts Jr.: We can be a nation bound by the aspiration to simple values
Tuesday’s House committee hearing shrank the devastation wrought by Donald Trump down to relatable dimensions of human lives and human loss, and that was important. But just as importantly, it illuminated the stark choice forced upon us by his willingness to lie, cheat and steal his way to victory.
Rich Lowry: Don’t indict Trump
January 6 was indeed, as many people have remarked, a banana republic-worthy event, but the same would be true of a prosecution of a former president.
William Phillips: U.S. needs leaders who embrace sensible gun control
Once again we are confronted with the stark reality of violence in America. In Maine we have seen “leaders” proclaiming things like “it can’t happen here because our students feel a sense of belonging.” Wishful thinking. Our “leaders” boast about making access to firearms easier. More guns are not the solution, they are the problem. […]
Pamela Larouche: Auburn planning needs more input from residents
The Auburn Planning Board met on June 21 and assured citizens present that it would not put a McDonald’s or Dunkin Donuts on neighborhood street corners. What a relief. Then the board debated where residents’ stores should be placed … underneath living quarters, attached or in a separate building to the side. Not settling that, […]