Even though he’s From Away, my Blue-Eyed Yankees Fan fancies himself a member of the Greater Portland Welcome Wagon. “Yeah, my girl lives up in Portland,” he’ll say whenever Maine is mentioned, regardless of the context. “She’s like a restaurant and bar freak. When wees (we) go out, she can’t go to just one place. […]
Portland Forecaster
City-wide news from The Forecaster.
Posted inCoastal Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Northern Forecaster, Portland Forecaster, Southern Forecaster, The Forecaster
Letter: McDonald-Smith needs a history lesson
Julia McDonald-Smith is long on opinion, short on substance. “An Independence Day gift from the pulpit” (The Right View, July 6) cites a priest’s homily, which, save for faulting the abortion of “3,000 innocent lives per day,” otherwise, from McDonald-Smith’s summary, appears to merely rehearse the U.S. Catholic bishops’ extended sore-loser “religious liberty” effort to […]
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Posted inCoastal Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Northern Forecaster, Portland Forecaster, Southern Forecaster, The Forecaster
The Universal Notebook: The life-changing magic of making a mess
One of my daughters is reading and mastering the rituals of “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing,” by Marie Kondo, a book that has spent 35 weeks on The New York Times Best Sellers list and sold 2 million copies worldwide. I could have written that book. Some […]
Posted inCoastal Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Northern Forecaster, Portland Forecaster, Southern Forecaster, The Forecaster
Abby's Road: Serena Williams aces the part of role model
Dear Serena, A few months ago, my daughter asked my husband and me why women are not allowed to be president of the United States. She was 6 at the time. We responded with a question of our own: What in the world led her to that conclusion? Her answer was matter-of-fact: We had just […]
Posted inForecaster Opinion, Portland Forecaster, The Forecaster
Superintendent's Notebook: Portland schools on a path of continued success
After three years as superintendent of the Portland Public Schools, I’m headed “home” to Kentucky to lead the 40,000-student Fayette County Public Schools. I consider Kentucky home because I have a personal connection to the state. My grandfather moved there in search of the American dream. He and his brother were among black Americans who […]
Posted inCoastal Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Northern Forecaster, Portland Forecaster, Southern Forecaster, The Forecaster
Letter: McDonald-Smith can't tolerate religious freedom
I wonder why Julie McDonald-Smith is so intent on insisting that our country is a Christian nation (“An Independence Day gift from the pulpit,” The Right View, July 6). Is she so insecure in her own beliefs that she needs to buttress them via relegating others to second-class citizens? Maybe she feels that would make […]
Posted inCoastal Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Northern Forecaster, Portland Forecaster, Southern Forecaster, The Forecaster
Letter: Columnist wrong about history, religious freedom
How can 250 words address the sanitized, wishful, Christianized, primary-school version of America presented by July McDonald-Smith (“An Independence Day gift from the pulpit,” The Right View, July 6)? 1 — A Judeo-Christian background has no monopoly on acting righteously. Other religious approaches, personal honor and integrity, and the Golden Rule all provide a guide […]
Posted inForecaster Opinion, Portland Forecaster, The Forecaster
Letter: Don't reduce Portland's tipped minimum wage
As a restaurant worker and Portland resident, I am disappointed to learn that it was only by accident that my city councilors raised the municipal tipped minimum wage. The truth is servers and other tipped workers are not making as much money as many assume. Servers’ national median wage, including their tips, is less than […]
Posted inCoastal Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Northern Forecaster, Portland Forecaster, Southern Forecaster, The Forecaster
Letter: McDonald-Smith 'totally wrong' on founders, religion
Julie McDonald-Smith is totally wrong in stating that “our founders were deeply religious men” (“An Independence Day gift from the pulpit,” The Right View, July 6). John Adams said it this clearly: “The government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.” Or this, from Thomas Jefferson’s letter to […]
Posted inPortland Forecaster, Southern Forecaster, The Forecaster
Portland construction, road race likely to cause traffic woes this weekend
PORTLAND — Drivers approaching the peninsula from South Portland via the Casco Bay Bridge, and those leaving the Old Port for South Portland, can expect traffic delays and detours this weekend. The intersection of High Street and York Street, and High Street between Commercial Street and York Street, will be closed from 6 p.m. tonight […]