For the last decade, the national Farm to School grant program has helped connect so many students in our state, and around the country, with freshly-grown local produce. The program is a win-win both for farmers, who are able to sell directly to local school districts, and for children who have access to nutritious whole […]
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 inOp-Eds, Opinion
Rep. Sheila Lyman: Seeking information and drawing our own conclusions is freedom
Requiring people to have a vaccination passport in order to travel, enter buildings, or move freely could restrict our constitutional rights to privacy, assembly, worship, and commerce. I have concerns about big government and big corporations that put their interests ahead of our own individual liberties.
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Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Peter Rubins: Muskie’s Androscoggin: To ‘B’ or not to ‘B.’ That is the question
City government, industry and environmentalists have worked for 50 years to improve the river’s quality. We are now petitioning the Department of Environmental Protection and Legislature to reclassify the river from the lowest class, C, up to Class B.
Posted inLetters, Opinion
Carol Pesti: Avoid tobacco industry’s deadly products
Maine in 2017 had the sixth-highest rate of tobacco-related cancer cases in the U.S., and the 11th highest rate of tobacco-related deaths nationwide. The tobacco industry has been preying on our kids, communities of color, the LGBTQ community, rural communities, and lower income humans for generations. The adult tobacco use rates in Maine are higher […]
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Leonard Pitts: Times these days when you simply must close your mind
I miss the days when it was possible to have a thoughtful debate on a substantive matter with a political opposite. The loss of that offers superfluous evidence that we have become a people without common goals, common facts and thus, common ground.
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Bob Neal: The Countryman: Show us what you’re doing
Accountability arises from transparency. Only if we can see what government is doing for and to us can we have accountability and then justice.
Posted inLetters, Opinion
Auburn Conservation Commission: Thanks for cleanup of parks, neighborhoods
The Auburn Conservation Commission would like to send a huge shout-out of thanks to the more than 40 people who showed up April 24 to help clean up parks and neighborhoods in Auburn. They gave several hours on a beautiful morning to help this community shine. They rolled up their sleeves, wrangled their pickers, thrashed […]
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Cal Thomas: Virginia flunks math
Instead of elevating students to standards that would help them achieve more in life, we lower those standards, sending a message that underachievement is OK.