One morning last month I came down to breakfast to find my youngest daughter in tears at the kitchen table. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?” I asked. “When is it going to stop?” she replied, holding up the front page story about Dallas police officers being shot and killed. I had no answer for her, but, of […]

Since a relatively young age, I’ve never enjoyed birthdays and the attendant celebrations. I don’t dislike them; I just don’t enjoy them. I share this because last week I suffered through a birthday myself – the latest in a string of 57. Maybe over time it was the stale ceremonial structure, rote emotional engagement and […]

In the past few months, I have had opportunities to hear Portland’s new mayor, Ethan Strimling, and its new city manager, John Jennings, speak and answer questions. I heard the mayor at my neighborhood association annual meeting and a Republican committee meeting. I heard Jennings at a separate Republican committee meeting. Interestingly, both referenced President […]

Opposition to a pesticide ordinance in South Portland is understandable, since humans tend to resist change. However, many of these people are doing so in the misguided belief that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is taking care of us, so why do we need a city ordinance? After all, don’t they test all these chemicals […]

Many South Portland and Cape Elizabeth residents as well as tourists use state Route 77 to get to and from the Mill Creek area, across the Casco Bay Bridge to Portland, or go the other way to the wonderful beaches in Cape Elizabeth. Those of us who use this road were alerted to work being […]