Walter Perry is an upstanding South Paris resident who cares deeply for the well being of our community. As a teacher he is well aware of many of the issues we face, and he has a lot of experience working with many people toward positive outcomes. Walter has practice with listening for understanding and skills […]
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.
Bob Mennealy: We’re all in pandemic fight together
A year plus into this pandemic, with over 570,000 Americans dead because of it, I’m still astonished that some Republicans in the Maine Legislature are crying “poor me” about the small loss of their civil liberties — i.e., mask requirements — rather than joining the fight for the greater good against the pandemic. Have they […]
Cal Thomas: The Infernal Revenue Service
No civilized society should force its citizens to go through this annual torture.
Rosanna Boyce: Treatment, not jail, needed amid opioid crisis
Maine’s leaders have never suggested arresting and criminally charging people who test positive for COVID-19 and locking them up in jail. Why is this? Could it be that no physicians, epidemiologists, or public health experts have recommended criminalizing COVID-19 as a way to address the pandemic? Can one imagine Maine’s Department of Public Safety saying […]
Robert Pelletier: City overspending has been long ignored
I’m writing in response to Robert Reed’s letter (“Reject Lewiston school budget, overspending,” May 7). As a former city councilor, he knows the kind of overspending going on in all of the city departments. Overspending has been an ignored subject for years. Public Works does not need over $1 million worth of vehicles and equipment […]
Kathy Jacques: LD 1622 a ‘common sense solution’ for workers
More than 230,000 Maine workers have no access to a retirement savings program through their employer, and working households in Maine average only $3,000 in retirement savings, according to information compiled by Maine’s Senate Majority Leader Eloise Vitelli. One in three Mainers age 65 and older rely on Social Security as their only source of […]
Froma Harrop: Biden’s economic agenda may be more Truman than FDR
Biden seems to be summoning his inner Harry Truman and bringing back the third player. In assuring a stable and happy middle class, the market has a job to do, but so does government.
Jennifer Hogan: Mainers don’t need 160% APR loans
These loans extract wealth and cause lasting damage to household financial security and on communities.