The ease with which way too many Americans deal with unpleasantness simply by dismissing it has spread so widely that it has earned a name. Cancel culture.
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.
Posted inLetters, News, Opinion
Jim Lamson: Don’t discriminate against non-union workers
It appears the Legislature in Augusta is looking to discriminate against 87.1% of Maine construction workers who choose not to join a union, and is asking the taxpayers to pay for it. Currently there are numerous bills before the Legislature — including LD 1231, LD 1656, and LD 1633 — which all have similar objectives. […]
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Posted inLetters, Opinion
John Reeder: Bates alumni should be polled about security
Seeing what is going on at Bates College by students requesting to defund Bates security, I would be curious to find out what a poll of previous graduates would have to say about it. I wouldn’t be surprised if, in retrospect, they felt safe, secure and well-protected during their time at Bates. John Reeder, Lewiston
Posted inLetters, Opinion
Chantel St. Laurent: Treatment, not incarceration, needed for recovery
I am a person in long-term recovery, celebrating five years. I am a mother of two young children. I am a full-time student at the University of Southern Maine, graduating this year with my bachelor’s and planning to get my master’s. I work two jobs, including as a certified alcohol and drug counselor. I see […]
Posted inLetters, Opinion
Steve Child: McCarthy needs to ‘stop drinking Trump’s Kool-Aid’
What is wrong with U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy? Why wouldn’t he want to know what went wrong with that very disturbing and violent attack on the foundation of our democracy? Maybe it’s the conversation he had with the former president that he doesn’t want repeated. We had the 9/11 Commission that investigated foreign terrorists, but […]
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Cal Thomas: The Republican dilemma
The Republican establishment may hate Donald Trump, but they would be hard-pressed to deny how effective his policies were, pre-COVID-19. The 74 million people who voted for him is a formidable number. Whatever some may think of his personality — and I deplore how he demeans others — no one can credibly deny he was more successful than any modern Republican president.
Posted inLetters, Opinion
Elaine Makas: Support for Lewiston’s school budget
There will be a special election Tuesday, May 25, to approve the Lewiston school budget that was developed by our School Committee and approved by our City Council. Members of both groups have spent countless hours researching, reviewing, and discussing this budget, but Maine law requires a citywide vote for its final approval. Unfortunately, this […]
Posted inLetters, Opinion
Jan Martin: Restraint, seclusion are necessary tools in schools
As a school psychologist who spent 30-plus years working in clinics and public schools with our most behaviorally challenged students, and who spent years training others in de-escalation and nonviolent crisis intervention and restraint, I sincerely hope a bill is never passed that prohibits restraint and seclusion in schools (“Bill would end use of student […]