I miss teaching middle schoolers. They arrived with useful future ideas. They also arrived with cliches and an openness to finding a bosom buddy; meanness and unchecked kindness; sloppy habits and meticulous order; cheating and almost severe honesty; and cruel, dismissive name calling. I once walked into class as they were making fun of a […]

I served this country because I believe in protecting people’s rights and freedoms — not taking them away. That’s why I’m speaking out now, as a veteran, and as a longtime Maine resident, about what’s at stake if the U.S. Senate passes the reconciliation bill that has cleared the House. That bill hands out massive […]

The author of a recent op-ed in these pages is struggling to teach her students about our country’s ideals (Opinion, June 1). The framework of our government is being challenged and, Tracy Fragale Henderson fears, is crumbling because of a onslaught by the executive branch. At other times in this country’s history, we engaged in […]

Thank you for the the June 1 Maine Sunday Telegram article about Margaret Chase Smith’s legacy: her “Declaration of Conscience.” I’ve read that Sen. Susan Collins looked up to Smith. I’m asking Collins to look into her heart and find her own “Declaration of Conscience.” Smith took a risk and stuck to her principles. I […]

In the pages of this newspaper, I read with dismay of school budgets rejected and of schools closed — budget after budget, school after school. What is this madness, that sweeps our state with the scythe of destruction? Our schools are: • Support systems and safety nets for parents, families and future heads of families. […]

Rachel Ohm’s June 1 article, “Legacy of Margaret Chase Smith’s ‘Declaration of Conscience’ speech lives on 75 years later,” offered such an on-point message in today’s political world. Would that today’s Republicans demonstrated Sen. Smith’s courage. There was an editorial cartoon years ago in which a lemming questions aloud the group’s leadership as he rushes […]

I was appalled to read about the death of Baxter, the Maine Department of Public Safety’s “official comfort dog” after he was left in a closed-up vehicle. The news announcement made it sound like the department was blaming the vehicle rather than Baxter’s handler. Every responsible dog owner knows, or should know, never to leave […]

Mental health. Two words that have been brushed aside in the athletic community. Two words with which almost every athlete struggles. Two words that need to be acknowledged in a community that’s supposed to be tough. The athlete who’s winning is supposed to be tough, the athlete who’s losing is supposed to be tough. But […]