The pandemic has complicated our lives in many ways. Like virtually everything else, paddling while complying with safe distancing guidelines is a difficult challenge. Shuttles are particularly problematic. The Penobscot Paddle and Chowder Society canceled all trips until further notice. Although paddling is an excellent source of exercise, the decision was made out of an […]

A week into our second monthlong stay-at-home order, and it’s hard to get away from the news stories about COVID-19. It has affected our everyday life, personally and professionally, in a way that I’m not sure any of us were ever prepared. The articles from our Giving Voice column have illustrated how Tedford Housing, The […]

In mid-February, I got a text from our Bowdoin host student Juan Magalhaes, a native of Brazil, who was spending his junior year at the London School of Economics. He wondered if we’d ever been through something like the coronavirus scare. I told him that we had had no experience with any pandemic. A few […]

Bath area businesses and BIW work together to stay viable, operational and safe As local restaurant owners, we want to express our appreciation to Bath Iron Works for enabling the creation of a win-win partnership that has provided meals for its employees while keeping local business and our employees working during this difficult time. When […]

The final field exercise in Marine Corps basic training was the one time men and women recruits trained together. The task was to carry heavy ammo cans across a rope bridge. A young man was in charge. A young woman trainee suggested to him how to move the cans without a person having to bear […]

As we shelter at home, many of us have valued even more our ability to get outside and enjoy Maine’s open spaces. With human contact limited, there can be extra time for exploring new places on your own or gathering at a distance outside with the people we are missing most. In Maine, we are […]

The other day, I saw a sizable pigeon taken by a much smaller hawk. It sat atop its prey for a bit, as if figuring out what to do with such a heavy prize, before becoming airborne sufficiently enough to transport it into the woods a short distance away. All that was left of the […]

Although largely unnoticed by mainstream media, something significant has happened with the rise of COVID-19: the marginalization of older Americans. Scorn for elders is now on full display. Some blame them for the shelter-in-place guidelines. Some even say they should be offered up as a sacrifice for the good of the country. But the coronavirus […]

Take a deep breath. Feel that? Insulin to a diabetic is as necessary as that air you pull into your lungs. I am the parent of a teenager who was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes two years ago. It gobsmacked us. We spilled out of the hospital bleary-eyed with a fast tracked “diabetes education,” two […]

I get why everyone has been so focused on Trump’s recent insanity spasm about injecting bleach. But we need to remember these riffs and fulminations are ultimately distractions from the substantive havoc he continues to wreak. At a time when we need good government most – with over 61,000 dead and counting – the Trump […]