Too often when you ask students to describe how they feel about school, their response is “boring.” Our newly adopted vision in Regional School Unit 5 states, “Learning is personalized to challenge students and explore their passions. Students choose from a variety of diverse and engaging experiences, including opportunities for active, experiential, real-world learning.” As […]

Norm Higgins, a state representative from Dover-Foxcroft, left the Republican Party in 2017 because he was fed up with the partisanship in Augusta. He finished out that term as an independent and was re-elected as an independent in 2018. Higgins, a former teacher and principal, criticized the atmosphere at the State House. Prior to the […]

The Forecaster Forum article, “Falmouth needs economic development, not housing development” by Valentine Sheldon contains numerous distortions and unsubstantiated claims. He claims that exempt housing allowed by 2016 zoning amendments have crowded school classrooms and increased our taxes. Does he offer any proof that any new students came from housing allowed by the zoning changes? […]

A lifetime ago, my Nana Beem sat in her maroon platform rocker in the front window of her Ludlow Street home in Portland and watched her favorite soap operas. I hadn’t seen the old rocking chair since Nana died in 1987 until a few weeks ago when my brother Paul, who had had it in […]

Uneasy about your job security? Nothing will make that worry be gone quicker than a toke of worry-b-gone. Because the most secure profession in Maine is marijuana dealer. Of course, selling pot for recreational purposes is still illegal in this state. But stoners who retail weed for a living aren’t concerned. The chances of getting […]

Two of my nieces are graduating from college this month, and I couldn’t be more proud. Born a week apart in 1997, Georgia and Kate are bright, hard-working, conscientious and have big plans for their futures. It’ll be fun watching their lives bloom. As an uncle who wants them to lead a happy and productive […]

Mainers deserve a senator who represents their values, not the values of of President Trump. Yet Susan Collins is doing everything in her power to protect a compromised and corrupt president. The Mueller report laid bare the president’s obstruction of justice. He offered pardons in exchange for lying to the special counsel. He directly ordered […]

On a trip years ago, I told pals, “I’ll stay by myself today while you tour Paris.” Shocked, they asked, “You won’t visit the Louvre?” Tired from the go-go-go, running here and there, I said, “right.” Without second thoughts, I said no to more busy-ness and yes to time alone. This year, I did the […]

I am a faithful reader of Edgar Allen Beem’s weekly column and I generally agree with the positions he takes, and thoroughly enjoy the columns. I am also a faithful, cradle Catholic. The point of declaring those two characteristics of mine is the basis of my comment about his recent column advocating passage of LD […]