Now more than ever we need heroes. Navy Capt. Brett Crozier spoke up, stood up and did the right thing. He is a hero. Crozier was relieved of command of the USS Theodore Roosevelt on April 2 after sounding the alarm that more than 150 of the crew’s 4,800 sailors were infected with COVID-19. “We […]
Forecaster Opinion
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
The Universal Notebook: Trump virus
America is suffering from a sickness that has the potential to forever change the way we live. No, I’m not talking about the coronavirus. That’s a natural occurrence. I’m talking about the Trump virus. That’s not. Watching the nightly pandemic briefings on television I get the sense that there is a huge and potentially fatal […]
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Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Here’s Something: Signs of the times are everywhere
Housebound Mainers may not know it, but there are plenty of signs of hope out there. While many have been held prisoner in their own homes under threat of $1,000 fines and six months of imprisonment by Gov. Janet Mills’ executive order banning all “non-essential” work and travel, there have been many encouraging signs – […]
Posted inForecaster Opinion
Superintendent’s Notebook: We empathize with families on remote learning challenges
As you now know, the Portland Public Schools won’t be reopening our buildings for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year. Instead, we’ll continue to deliver learning remotely through the end of the year. We based our decision on a recommendation by Maine’s education commissioner that school districts should continue remote learning to keep students […]
Posted inForecaster Opinion
Letter: Why does Collins keep giving Trump a pass?
Why does Susan Collins keep making excuses for Trump? “I think in the beginning there were times when he was speaking about what he hoped would happen rather than relying on the data and information of his experts.” She excused Trump’s ineptitude when people desperately needed correct, up-to-date scientific information. Lives are at stake! Collins […]
Posted inForecaster Opinion
Over Easy: Maine in the time of COVID-19
After weeks of shelter-in-place quarantine I imagine a lot of married couples will be taking separate vacations this summer, if summer is not canceled. The photos on the news emphasize the far-reaching nature of the pandemic – Paris abandoned, Times Square dark, China closed down, empty streets a testament to hard times still to come. […]
Posted inForecaster Opinion
Letter: Have we all lost our moral compass?
The U.S. has seen almost 10,000 deaths to date from the COVID-19 virus (250,000-plus sick), the virus the president – Donald Trump – called a hoax. A virus that would simply disappear and was perpetrated by the Democratic Party in the first place, per the president. Not to worry! That hoax that has crippled our […]
Posted inForecaster Opinion
Letter: Individual rights should be limited at this time
I agree with the premise presented by John Balentine in his column in the April 3 edition of The Forecaster (“Viral reaction ‘at the point of absurdity’”), that government rarely cedes individual rights back to individuals once assumed by the government. However, a lesson I learned in high school clearly explains why individual rights are, […]
Posted inForecaster Opinion
Superintendent’s Notebook: Learning together from a distance
Three weeks ago, I made the excruciating decision to switch to remote learning for what we hoped would only be two weeks to help “flatten the curve” or “Falcon the curve” as we say at Freeport High School. Now the time has stretched to seven weeks, with no guarantee our students will return to our […]
Posted inForecaster Opinion
Letter: No to Biden-Beem ‘normalcy’
What is normal about the pre-Trump era to which Edgar Allen Beem would return (“Biden can’t become president fast enough” March 25)? The patently unwarranted, criminal war on Iraq that took over a million lives? Its needless repetition in Afghanistan? Financing Israeli racism in Palestine? The collective white male dismissal of Anita Hill’s conscientious revelation […]