I heartily commend Rep. Jon Hinck, D-Portland, for promoting “Right to Dry” legislation in Maine, as is reported in the Jan. 29 Forecaster. We all are concerned about climate change and energy consumption as well as saving money in these tough economic times. Allowing each of us who live in clothesline-and-solar-restrictive homeowners’ associations, as I […]
Forecaster Opinion
Posted inForecaster Opinion, Portland Forecaster, The Forecaster
p-letter_doughty The end of Lifeline
Since the Forecaster published its article on budget cuts at the University of Southern Maine on Jan. 21 the Lifeline Center, a 33-year-old program for wellness and fitness has gone on the chopping block and will close next July. Five full-time and numerous part-time employees, most of them in their 40s, 50sand 60s, will lose […]
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Posted inCoastal Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Northern Forecaster, Portland Forecaster, Southern Forecaster, The Forecaster
pnms-beem-020409 You're only as old as you look
For the first time in my life, the president of the United States is younger than I am. Both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush are my rough contemporaries. They would have been seniors when I was a freshman, but I was 12 years old when Barack Obama was born. That was 1961, the year […]
Posted inCoastal Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Northern Forecaster, Portland Forecaster, Southern Forecaster, The Forecaster
pnms-frank City Council fiddles while Portland sinks
Everyone agreed that the 89-year-old Maine State Pier needed repair. Everyone agreed that Portland could not afford to pay for the work itself. The city didn’t have the revenue even before the economy collapsed. Almost everyone agreed that it made sense to have someone else repair and maintain the pier in exchange for the rights […]
Posted inCoastal Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Northern Forecaster, Portland Forecaster, Southern Forecaster, The Forecaster
pnms-reportersnotebook Midnight plane to Georgia: A series of unfortunate complaints
You’d think that after flying on airplanes for 25 of my 30 years, I wouldn’t have so much to complain about. I ventured down to Georgia this month to attend the wedding of my old buddy Scott. He and his fiancee were planning a small ceremony and asked me to strum my guitar while they […]
Posted inCoastal Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Northern Forecaster, Portland Forecaster, Southern Forecaster, The Forecaster
pnms-letter_payne Beem's choices troubling
Last week, Edgar Allen Been concluded that not only is there no real economic crisis, but that “there’s something fundamentally dishonest about the idea you can invest a dollar … and, without doing a damn thing yourself, expect it to turn into $2 or $10.” What he misses entirely is that the invested […]
Posted inCoastal Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Northern Forecaster, Portland Forecaster, Southern Forecaster, The Forecaster
pnms-newman The winter of our discontent
At the risk of inducing unwelcome flashbacks to high school English classes and the complexities of Shakespeare’s “Richard III,” I am wonder whether we are still mired in the winter of our discontent, or whether, owing to the election of President Barack Obama, a warming trend is imminent. Surely the inauguration of the president marked […]
Posted inCoastal Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Northern Forecaster, Portland Forecaster, Southern Forecaster, The Forecaster
pnms-beem Speaking of Lincoln, Kennedy, King and Obama
Barack Obama is the President of the United States today (and amen to that) primarily because he is a brilliant orator. He possesses the power and the persona to make people pay attention and to believe in what he says. He literally talked his way into the White House. So I must admit that I […]
Posted inForecaster Opinion, Southern Forecaster, The Forecaster
s-letter_beal-012309 Support Shore Road rezoning
As a resident of Cape Elizabeth in very close proximity to 553 Shore Road (directly behind the Irving station) I was very pleased that the property had been brought back to its original grandeur by the new owners and in a timely fashion. The building had been in disrepair and in very bad need of […]
Posted inCoastal Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Northern Forecaster, Portland Forecaster, Southern Forecaster, The Forecaster
pnms-beem-012109 The economic crisis is all in our heads
According to the Social Security Administration, in 1980 I had a taxable income of $24. That paltry sum must have been interest income as I was employed at the Portland Public Library at the time and, therefore, was on the state retirement system and not paying into Social Security. In 1981, however, Carolyn and I […]