Addressing families’ basic needs will create opportunities for parents and caregivers to succeed in the workforce, strengthening our communities, bolstering our economy, and reducing child poverty. Lifting children out of poverty today will, in turn, increase their opportunities, support their growth, and fortify Maine’s future workforce, leading to less child poverty tomorrow.

If Trump runs, he will, one assumes, blot out the sun. Everything will be about him — his record, his pronouncements, his animosities. Much of the conservative mass media will get on board, while the mainstream media — inadvertently aiding him, yet again — will be even more intensely hostile.

Signs have been a part of Middle East lore dating back to biblical times. People in the region take them seriously, which is why the signs emanating from the Biden administration are having serious ramifications.

Not that the subject has ever been easy. No, as has often been noted in this space, this country has been positively Herculean in its effort to remain ignorant of African American history. From schools trying to ban it to state laws restricting it, to textbooks telling lies about it, that history is something we have long resisted.

As Maine’s economy moves forward dramatically changed by COVID-19, the academic needs of Mainers continue to evolve and change to align with regional workforce needs and the demand for specific skill sets. Higher education has a duty to help connect talent with professional opportunity, by offering a variety of ways to train Maine’s workforce with the credentials employers trust.