It’s hard enough getting older without the prospect of doing it alone. Human connections — from small talk at the checkout to time spent with loved ones — make toughing out another Maine winter more bearable. But isolation is a problem for many seniors. Rural Maine is an especially hard place to live if you …
The opioid epidemic is claiming lives, filling jail cells, breaking up families, diminishing the pool of eligible workers and costing billions of dollars. The crisis is rightly at the forefront of discussions surrounding public health and criminal justice in Maine and nationwide. But there is another intractable substance abuse problem that dates back much further …
In 1888, after Maine’s gubernatorial results indicated for the sixth time that the Pine Tree State was a bellwether for presidential elections, a snappy saying gained currency. “As Maine goes, so goes the nation” became a strategic principle for political parties. A win in Maine’s congressional and state races was seen as a predictor of …
In a push to accelerate the wheels of justice, a state representative from Machias has proposed a measure that could give Washington County its own district attorney. The move comes at a time when prosecutors’ offices across the country are overburdened and understaffed. Washington County struggles to attract assistant district attorneys for the positions it …
The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement recently passed in the U.S. House of Representatives by an overwhelming margin of 381-41. Senate action is not likely until after the impeachment trial. Counted among the dissenters were Maine’s U.S. Reps. Jared Golden and Chellie Pingree, both Democrats. The statement released by Rep. Golden’s office explains that Maine’s freshman congressman …
Rural Mainers don’t have many choices (if any) when it comes to high-speed internet or cable television providers. It’s a difficult clientele to serve due to the small, geographically widespread population. With little ability to shop around and hefty monthly bills, many customers are frustrated. The cable television model — paying for many channels, even …
Pity the poor drafters of municipal zoning ordinances and comprehensive plans. Their work is intended to promote harmony by setting reasonable standards and balancing competing interests, and it usually does go a long way to reduce conflict. But when disputes arise, opposing sides too often are ready to throw the book at each other. Southwest …
The state’s new internet privacy law, scheduled to go into effect July 1, offers Mainers a strong measure of protection, but let us not overestimate the security it will provide. When it comes to personal data, the web is an untamed frontier. It will take federal — even international — action to help stem the …
Last month the Bar Harbor Town Council agreed to declare “a climate and ecological emergency.” The request came from a group of student activists, who submitted a resolution “on behalf of the youth and future generations of Bar Harbor.” The group asked the town “to take comprehensive action to address the causes and impacts of …
One of the characters in “Closed for the Holidays,” the play recently produced by Acadia Community Theater, is a high school student who gets made fun of because she still believes in Santa Claus. She gets something out of her belief, she argues, and it doesn’t do any harm. “Just because you don’t understand something …
