The year 2020 will go down in history as one of the warmest years on record in Maine and elsewhere around the country. It is part of a larger warming trend that has taken place over the last 10 years with record-breaking conditions giving way to extreme weather conditions.
In August, the state’s nonpartisan Revenue Forecasting Committee issued a grim projection: a budget shortfall of $527.8 million for the current fiscal year and $883.2 million for the 2022-23 biennium. But in December, the committee revised its projections and the numbers, by comparison anyway, are looking up. The forecasters now anticipate a $255 million general fund shortfall this year (roughly half the original projection) and a $395.8 million shortfall for FY22-23.
What happened on Jan. 6 is almost unimaginable. Woefully unprepared, those tasked with protecting the nation’s Capitol building—and the people within—failed miserably. They left the door open, literally, and what ensued will not be forgotten anytime soon. As rioters made their way to the Capitol steps, there was little to hold them back. Sections of …
While the COVID-19 vaccination effort lurches forward nationwide, Maine is doing well with what it’s got — at least compared to other states. So far, Maine has used roughly half of the 96,475 doses it has been given. As of Sunday, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported 48,937 people in Maine (roughly …
Can you name the three branches of the United States government? If so, you are doing better than 75 percent of the population. A 2016 study published by the Annenberg Public Policy Center found that Americans’ knowledge of the branches of government continues to decline. While only one in four people can name all three …
If ever there was a year that most Americans wanted to see come to an end, it is no doubt 2020. This year has had way more lows than highs, and the highs it did have were not the kind where you wanted to excel. But good news: the year is almost over. But then what? What does 2021 have in store? This …
In addition to the health and social repercussions, the pandemic has been disproportionately hard on the careers of older Americans. Some lost their jobs, while others quit, chose early retirement, dialed back responsibilities or made other changes in response to the elevated risk of suffering the worst effects of COVID-19. A study released in October by the New …
It is hard to believe that we are at the end of 2020. It is not a year that most people will miss, and it is certainly not a year that people will want to remember, but it is (thankfully) ending just the same. The end of the year is synonymous with ‘year-end giving,’ a …
In the holiday film favorite “Home Alone,” 8-year-old Kevin (played by Macaulay Culkin) cranks up the volume on a gangster film to scare would-be bandits away from the McCallister family home. The sound of machine gun fire has the desired effect on the bad guys and the old-timey gangster delivers the movie’s signature line: “Keep …
There is a saying in computer science: garbage in, garbage out. In short, it means that if your input is lousy, your output will be, too. This also holds true for communication and the exchange of information. If your premise is flawed and built on a shaky foundation, then you will not be able to carry out a sound and …
