TURNER — Leavitt Institute trustees are kicking off a fundraising effort to dedicate the Leavitt Area High School auditorium in memory of Elaine Chenard. The funds will be used to design and install signage and create an account that will assist with the ongoing upkeep and improvements to the auditorium for years to come. Chenard […]
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
Bob Neal: The Countryman: Police, in the community or of it
Over the years, this military approach to police work starts to attract not the Norm Carons of the world but the cop who screams at a lost old man, the sergeant who pumps up his crew with stark warnings. In, but not of, the community.
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Posted inConnections
Well done news for Saturday, Jan. 16
Auburn student presents at Lasell symposium NEWTON, Mass. — Naiv Luciano Velez, a Lasell University student from Auburn, presented at the university’s Fall Career Readiness Symposium in December. Velez was a member of the university’s course on Black Psychology, and helped to organize African Diaspora Day educational activities for symposium. Velez facilitated a panel discussion […]
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Leonard Pitts Jr.: ‘Let ’em up easy’?
The world is watching. It must see every single rioter who can be identified prosecuted to the maximum extent of the law. And it must see Trump held to answer for his crimes, must see him punished – or else let us never again hold ourselves up as a beacon of democracy or a nation of laws. We let ‘em up easy once before, and we’re still dealing with the repercussions.
Posted inConnections
Martin Luther King Day service set for Farmington
Farmington Area Ecumenical Ministries will hold a Martin Luther King Day service at noon Monday, Jan. 18, at Old South Church, 235 Main St. in Farmington, via Zoom. The service also will be streamed to Facebook and available on YouTube. Guest speaker will be Dr. Nirav D. Shah, M.D., J.D., director of the Maine Center […]
Posted inLetters, Opinion
Roger Michaud: Thoughts on Maine’s other deadly crisis
I read the Jan. 12 article, “2020 will likely set new record for most drug overdose deaths in Maine,” regarding the number of opioid overdose deaths over the last three quarters of 2020. In just nine months, 317 people died. With the focus and energy spent on COVID, the reality is that more Mainers died […]
Posted inConnections
Community briefs for Friday, Jan. 15
Tri-Town Penguins Snowmobile Club to meet DURHAM — The Tri-Town Penguins Snowmobile Club of Durham, Freeport and Pownal will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 19, at the Durham Masonic Lodge, Route 136. Masks and social distancing are required. New members are always welcome. For more information, contact Duncan Daly at 207-865-6188/207-713-3116 or Mike Sikorski […]
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Cal Thomas: Free speech is being tested again
The late writer Nat Hentoff, in addition to being an authority on the history of jazz, was also a fierce defender of the right to free speech. He once told me the answer to speech you don’t like is not less speech, but more speech. Banning offensive speech encourages radicals in their extremism. We no longer talk to each other. Too many read and listen only to what supports their point of view and demeans people who believe differently. This is unhealthy for a free society.
Posted inLetters, Opinion
Kevin Landry: Freedom of speech ‘under assault’
During World War I, many journalists were imprisoned for speaking against the conflict. During the 1950s, an anti-communist virulence emerged with the McCarthy witch hunt. Today, freedom of speech is under assault again. Where will this lead us? On Monday, Jan. 18, we celebrate the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. These are […]