Mainers will vote Nov. 8 on three controversial statewide ballot initiatives. Question 1, which would reverse the law that eliminated same-day voter registration, is a matter of voter turnout and Maine’s integrity. An estimated 6 percent of votes in Maine’s last election were cast by citizens who registered to vote on Election Day. If Maine […]

Two local referendum questions are on the Nov. 8 ballot. Residents throughout Cumberland County will be asked if the county should borrow $33 million to renovate the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, and voters in Scarborough will decide if the town should borrow $39 million to build a new Wentworth Intermediate School. We support […]

Moving to Yarmouth in 1982 was one of the best decisions we ever made. The schools are great. There’s a real village center. A fine library. Active and engaged citizens. And the public life of Yarmouth is generally conducted with civility by reasonable people. Even folks who don’t agree with you about much of anything […]

I am not up on current affairs. “Aggressively uninformed” is more like it. It’s self-preservation mostly. Thinking about the world’s actual problems makes me want to hyperventilate, and what the media choose to report aggravates me. Everything seems to lie somewhere on the spectrum between sensationalistic and vapid. Take the coverage of Gaddafi’s death, an […]

It is dismaying to see the degree to which our national and local political scene can become polluted by partisanship and forces dedicated to disruption. The vast majority of us want to see civil discourse, rational deliberation, and solutions derived through consensus. Despite those that would attempt to paint a picture of Falmouth (and America) […]

Two weeks ago, the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, looking pale, gaunt and dazed, was led from the darkness and isolation of his confinement at the hands of Hamas, the Palestinian faction that rules Gaza, and handed over to Egyptian intermediaries. Abducted by Hamas on Israeli soil at the age of 19 and imprisoned for five […]

We all are aware of the fact that accidents do happen at railroad crossings, railroad bridges, and on the tracks themselves. One of Maine’s greatest artists, N.C. Wyeth, along with his grandson, died at a railway crossing, many years ago. Once, during a hunting trip in northern Maine, I walked along a railroad bed in […]

There are very few feelings more satisfying than watching your home team win a rival football game. The Freeport Falcons hosted the Yarmouth Clippers Oct. 22. This event was the third annual “Battle of the Bay,” and both teams had playoff considerations pending the outcome of this contest. Freeport dressed 39 players, Yarmouth just 23. […]

I would like to give my whole-hearted thanks to the Greely youth football coaches. My sons have played in the league for seven years now, and throughout that time the coaches have continually provided positive life lessons to the players. Coaches have rightly placed academic achievement before athletic prowess, stressed the need for sportsmanlike behavior, […]