The Portland School Department last week proposed a series of changes to the school-year calendar that make some sense from the perspective of teaching and learning. Whether the proposed schedule changes will make sense from the perspective of teachers, staff, parents and students is another story. Among key changes being contemplated are: • Starting high […]

I think it was when my son took the bag of Goldfish and swung it wildly around and over his head. As those yellow, smiling cheddar delights flew through the kitchen air and landed on the unwashed floor; as he solemnly began tracking down every last piece of horrified snack food; as he lay on […]

Threats by corporations that they will not come to, or remain in Maine unless tax subsidies are provided are little more than a bluff. In many cases the bluff is obvious. Wood products and paper making corporations (most receiving large tax subsidies) were here long before tax subsidies were available; they will be here if […]

Thank you, Edgar Allen Beem, for writing sensibly about the U.S. health-care system. Contrary to those who claim that we have the best health care in the world, in fact we are near the bottom of the heap in nearly every measure, compared to the rest of the countries in the modern industrialized world. (Anyone […]

Edgar Allen Beem’s recent opinion piece about health insurance struck a nerve. Recent events in my own life have shown me what shaky ground Americans are on when it comes to health care and our ability to pay for it. Recently, a cancer diagnosis led me to major surgery, followed by two kinds of extensive […]

By now most of us have heard something about tar sands oil. This oil is composed mostly of clay and sand and, unlike the crude oil we use for heating, needs to be mixed with chemicals and enormous amounts of water so that it can be pumped through pipelines. In that state, it has been […]

America’s elderly population has worked hard over the years to live the American dream. These individuals have worked long hours so they could afford a nice home. Most people retire around the age of 65 and the cost of prescriptions and doctors’ visits grow increasingly expensive. Growing costs and lack of funding for elderly programs […]

I read Edgar Allen Beem’s column on ranked-choice voting, and it came as no surprise. If you read his column carefully, here is the reason for RCV: the Democrats lost last time, so they need to change the rules. The rest of the article is just spin. This is no surprise coming from the liberal […]