Of course trans inmates need safety, too. But it’s unconscionable to use women as human shields to protect other groups, at the cost of their own safety. Believing that incarcerated males instantly cease to be a threat to women if they identify as women themselves requires an astonishing level of both naivete and disregard for the women caged with them.
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: Taxes are for raising revenues, not punishing rich people
It’s true that America’s billionaires added $1 trillion to their pile during President Donald Trump’s four years. But though the 2017 tax cuts mostly benefited the richest investors, a growing concentration of wealth has been going on for decades. So, raise taxes on these guys because they have the money and not because they are supposedly greedy or otherwise in need of moral teachings.
Mark Cayer, Jason Levesque, Michael Foley, David Rollins: Local mayors skeptical of CMP/Versant takeover legislation
A quasi-governmental takeover of Maine’s electric grid risks means higher local taxes.
Bob Neal: The Countryman: Dancing on the head of a pin
Let’s not just oppose abortion. Let’s work to continue to reduce the demand for it. Would that the Catholic bishops — is it unfair of me to note that they want to make the rules for a game that they don’t play? — had as much common sense as the Chicks on the Right.
Dan Belyea: Taking the lead on remote worker training
For people living in rural Maine, remote work represents an incredible opportunity — if they have the right training. That’s where Maine’s community colleges step in.
Leonard Pitts Jr.: Has our democracy hit an iceberg?
Well, let’s put it like this: For a representative government to function requires at least two political parties that, while offering competing visions, both occupy the same reality and play by the same rules.
This country no longer has that.
Rich Lowry: How to decimate police forces in 2 easy steps
(W)hen we need more cops in response to rising crime, we are getting fewer. This is like cutting back on firefighters while a wildfire is raging or reducing the size of the Army while it is fighting a war. No rational person would want smaller forces right now, yet the elite culture, leftist politicians, and obnoxious street protestors are conspiring to shrink them.
Gil Steward: East Auburn needs more speed enforcement
My wife and I are retired, and we often sit out by Route 4 in East Auburn and watch the traffic in the evening with our golf cart. We see a lot of nice old cars, and a lot of folks we know who drive by and blow the horn. We are between Roy’s Golf […]