When I was much younger I liked to think of myself as anti-materialistic. Of course, you don’t need much when you’re 17. Your family provides everything you need – a house, a car, three squares, etc. A few books and records, a change of clothes, and you’re good to go. As I approach 70, however, […]

Outgoing Republican Gov. Paul LePage has issued a warning that if he doesn’t like the way incoming Democratic Gov. Janet Mills handles the job, he’s prepared to run against her in 2022. We can be sure LePage means what he says, because he never makes these kinds of stupid promises without following through on them. […]

To call 2018 a challenging year for newspapers would be a major understatement. Ownership consolidations, revenue and circulation declines, rising newsprint costs, attempts to manipulate public opinion through disinformation, lies, propaganda and “alternative facts” all made this a year we’re glad to put in the rear-view mirror. At The Forecaster, American Journal and Lakes Region […]

As the Trump presidency careens out of control – government shutting down, stock market plummeting, top advisers abandoning the sinking ship of state – Donald Trump’s supporters are still convinced that unless the United States builds a wall along the southern border this country will be overrun with illegal immigrants taking their jobs, living off […]

A strange thing happened last week. I was “actively sought.” (There is another term for that, but I don’t like it, so I’m going with mine.) I was approached about taking on a new role as executive director of a very worthy nonprofit organization. I suppose it is not exactly “strange.” I have been the […]

When I worked at Current Publishing, which the owners of The Forecaster publications bought in 2015, one of the best annual traditions we had in the newsroom was seeking clarity and wisdom from the Magic 8-Ball at the start of every new year. Reporters and editors at Current Publishing’s family of weekly newspapers would come […]

Jeanne Lambrew, a Cape Elizabeth native, agreed last week to take on the hardest job in state government. The former Obama administration official and health policy expert was nominated by Gov.-elect Janet Mills to head the Department of Health and Human Services, a behemoth tasked with oversight of the crucial social service functions of state […]

Happy holidays, dear readers, and best wishes to all Maine people regardless of how they worship this time of year. These short cold days and long dark nights provide an annual occasion for deep reflection, whether upon the divine or the natural. Either way, we are reminded that this world is a miracle. Not to […]

“Illegal immigration is wrong, plain and simple.” “I voted numerous times when I was a senator to spend money to build a barrier to try to prevent illegal immigrants from coming in.” “We simply cannot allow people to pour into the United States undetected, undocumented, unchecked and circumventing the line of people who are waiting […]

Thanks to the Maine Republican Party, we are now aware of glaring flaws in the state’s electoral system, the most obvious of which is: Republicans lost a lot of elections. The failure of GOP candidates to prevail at the polls this year might be attributed to many factors. The party’s nominees could have held views […]