I attend Falmouth Long-Range Planning Advisory Committee meetings, and listen with dismay. I read op-eds in The Forecaster, and I scratch my head. Contrary to the assertions of proponents, the town’s 2016 rezoning does not reflect the will of many residents who live in the RA Zoning District, and it doesn’t align with the 2013 […]

In 2012, when Maine passed legislation requiring proficiency-based diplomas for all public schools, Falmouth began the daunting task of implementing the state’s new requirements. Proficiency-based education or standards-based reporting radically changes the way student achievement is assessed and reported. These grading and reporting changes have resulted in confusion for students and parents regarding academic performance. […]

I credit John Balentine for recognizing the seriousness of climate change and the inadequacy of fear as a motivator. However his claim that technology alone will solve the problem that technology created is dubious. We need an array of solutions. Not all conservatives are throwing up their hands. The eminent conservatives of the Climate Leadership […]

User fees are appropriate. But fees collected for one Yarmouth purpose should never be used for another. That’s inappropriate. The Yarmouth Town Council acted inappropriately when establishing a “sewer fee.” They fooled Yarmouth residents. Will the council and town manager fool the residents, again? This is simple. The Transfer Station needs improvements potentially costing $770,000. […]

I’m still chuckling over John Balentine’s column about using “tech to save the world.” I can’t decide if Balentine is ignorant, hypocritical or perhaps he just struggles with common sense. Maybe it is all three. Balentine warns that the left is using fear to support the Green New Deal, while at the same time he […]

Regarding the news story about the victim of an attempted robbery that took place on April 2 on Washington Avenue in Portland, I am appalled that the victim fired two shots at a fleeing perpetrator on a busy city street. The victim of the attempted robbery has the right to defend himself but the suspect […]

“When you are a famous poet in America,” John Ashbery once observed, “you are not famous.” Unlike most everything else in America, including many other art forms, poetry is incorruptible. Poetry won’t make you rich or famous. Poetry is enriched language. It is its own wealth. Poetry is what language aspires to – freedom from […]

Last week, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minnesota, awkwardly but factually spoke publicly about Muslims in the United States being recipients of racial targeting after 9/11. FBI data backs that up. Congressman Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, used Twitter to attack Omar, implying she doesn’t care about 9/11. Who had the outraged representative stood up for with his […]

In every referendum campaign, there are two sides: people who want change and people who don’t. That’s more complicated than it appears. In line with traditional ideological definitions, it would be simple to characterize the forces for change as liberals and the opposition as conservatives. But in today’s screwy political climate, that’s not always the […]

It seems any discussion of climate change is accompanied by much doom and gloom. Liberals and socialists in our government use fear of climate change to convince us our capitalism-based economy will wreck the world in 12 years if we ignore the greenhouse gases building up in the atmosphere. Conservatives, skeptical of what’s causing temperatures […]