With the new municipal budget in the forecast, it’s time to back off on the taxpayers, and tell department heads to tighten their budgets. It seems, every July 1, the city wins the lottery. Brand new trucks and equipment roll into the Public Works yard like they’re going to stop making them. The pork in […]
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.
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Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Bob Neal: The Countryman: The game of theories
Some folks tell us that the basis of support for today’s Republican Party is racism. Others say, no, it’s people who have lost or fear losing jobs and status who are trending Republican as America becomes more openly and more clearly diverse. Each position is probably right. At least partly. But neither tells the entire story.
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Randy Wadleigh: Don’t hit restaurant industry while it’s down; leave tip credit alone
If the tip credit were to be eliminated, waitstaff would earn the standard minimum wage, but for most this will mean a drastic pay cut, because the median hourly earnings of waiters and waitresses in Maine can range from $21-$30 per hour. It would mean a triple-digit increase in tipped labor costs, and because restaurants operate on very tight margins that would be crippling, even under normal circumstances.
Posted inLetters, Opinion
David Katende: U.S. healthcare system is ‘completely broken’
I am a veteran and an immigrant. I love this country, I love this state. But our healthcare system? It’s completely broken. I grew up in Uganda, and during political upheaval there, I lost both my parents and one of my sisters. I had family here in Maine, and moved when I was 22. I […]
Posted inLetters, Opinion
Ellen Field: Support for pandemic relief package
I’m sure that most people who follow politics through newspapers and television news programs which employ fact checkers are aware that not one Republican voted in favor of the bill that President Biden recently signed. In spite of this fact, apparently at least one Republican is trying to take credit for it. This pandemic relief […]
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Leonard Pitts Jr.: Republicans consider ballots more dangerous than bullets
It is a startling fact, but a fact nevertheless, that we are living through the only time this country has ever tried democracy – one person, one vote. Which is to say, the 56 years since the Voting Rights Act was signed. Now, one party has decided democracy isn’t to its taste and is working to get rid of it.
Posted inLetters, Opinion
Roberta Brezinski: Finding light amid darkness
“Finding light in the darkness is a very American thing to do,” President Biden remarked in his March 11 speech. In it, he gave expression to the enormous losses we have suffered due to COVID-19. He updated us on the decisive actions being taken to combat the virus. There is a pathway to get back […]
Posted inLetters, Opinion
In rebuttal: Jan Cornelius-Knudsen: Community work has made Lewiston safer
In Mark LaFlamme’s column, “Street Talk: Roll up the windows, kids, we’re heading to Leeds” published March 8, he claims that Lewiston crime rates dropped because “drug peddlers moved into the rural areas.” His claim diminishes the role the community of Lewiston has had in targeting at-risk youth and reshaping its image. Two community organizations […]