The developer of the planned Verdante condominiums at 56 Hampshire St. in Portland (“Planned Hampshire Street condos need more Portland Planning Board oversight,”) is back asking for more concessions from the Planning Board, including one additional unit without on-site parking, bringing the number of units to 31 with only 28 parking spaces and one commercial […]

Cheers to prominent Maine Republicans, who have aptly described Gov. Janet Mills’ recently proposed $8.04 billion biennial spending plan as a disaster waiting to happen. In a recent WGAN radio interview, former Gov. Paul LePage compared Mills to an inebriated seaman on weekend furlough: “The difference between Janet Mills and a drunken sailor is that […]

Remember learning to ride a bicycle? An adult probably ran alongside you, holding the bike to keep you upright. When they let go, you may at first have wobbled or fallen. But you learned from your early mishaps, and now you can ride a bike. In an important way, learning in the classroom is like […]

In the same way that U.S. Sen. Susan Collins ignored the best evidence about the effects of tax cuts when she signed on to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, she ignored the warnings about Justice Brett Kavanaugh. With Kavanaugh’s recent vote regarding reproductive freedoms in Louisiana, we can see clearly that his […]

In response to the recent letter “Tell Beem There’s Plenty of Blame to Share,” which seems to assert that current political stalemate over a border wall is equally the fault of both political parties, it should be noted that President Trump’s message to Democratic leaders was “I will be the one to shut (the government) […]

As a veteran teacher of 15 years, I have had the privilege of meeting a wide variety of students that I have been entrusted to educate. In some cases, those individuals have been students that I have taught who could not receive vaccines due to medical issues, thus relying on others to be vaccinated to […]

It should not be surprising that former Gov. Paul LePage has left behind a mess. And not content to hang by the pool in Florida, he continues to influence Maine politics as honorary chairman of a conservative political organization, and by phoning in to a Maine talk show every Monday to critique the new governor. […]

In the grand scheme of things, what we call the Portland-Gorham campuses of the University of Maine System probably doesn’t mean a great deal except to a few thousand alumni and few thousands more who might become alumni if they can figure out where the school is. University of Southern Maine President Glenn Cummings would […]

Here’s a list of everybody who might run for the U.S. Senate in 2020, starting with those who have some chance of winning and descending into the sewage-splattered depths. 1 — Republican incumbent Sen. Susan Collins. She could be kidding about seeking another term, but if not, she’ll have plenty of money and a squishy base […]

Heavy with tender homesickness, I sit in a restaurant in a distant land once occupied by France, one where I’d expect to hear the French we learn in school. At the dinner table to my left, I hear two couples speaking the French I knew as a kid, the French of my grandparents, great aunts […]