By Brian Langley Last summer, my wife and I were relieved when people were finally able to take advantage of safe outdoor dining. Our 25-year-old restaurant, the Union River Lobster Pot, had taken a beating during COVID: part of the estimated $2.3 billion loss in Maine’s tourism and hospitality industry. Come June 2020, we were …
By Todd R. Nelson Billy Collins, the poet laureate, was on the phone. I had only just emailed him with an interview pitch. I never expected such a quick reply. I was a magazine associate editor hoping to interview Billy Collins about his new project: “Poetry 180,” his “online poetry jukebox.” He was working to …
Growing up with two God-loving conservative parents, it seemed the natural thing for me to enroll as a Republican when I registered to vote in my first election. And for years after that, as I developed a political philosophy that embraced individual liberty, fiscal responsibility, small government to the extent possible and a willingness to …
By Michael Hall I bought a new Toyota pickup truck in 1977 for $4,000. I totaled it four years later while on the way home from a friend’s wedding reception. The insurance adjuster gave me $4,000 to settle the claim. In four years, the purchase price of a new vehicle had doubled. Those were the …
By Jack Merrill Someone should point out to the media that the right whale population has shown dramatic growth from the 1990s up until the last few years, when birth rates leveled off. Without a doubt, 2017 to 2019 was a terrible time period for them but, as pointed out by California marine scientist Erin …
By Sen. Marianne Moore Recently, Governor Mills presented the State of the Budget address to the people of Maine and highlighted some of her priorities for the upcoming biennial budget that will serve state government for the next two years. Every two years, the Legislature must pass a budget so that it will be in …
By Roger Bowen “You can nudge a frog to water, but you can’t make it sink” is one of the many homespun adages that some folks blithely deliver without any awareness that it is dead wrong in its specifics yet generally captures the intent of the original, “You can lead a horse to water, but …
By Keith Kennedy Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage Foundation (PMFHF) stands firmly in its support of Maine’s heritage fisheries and small aquaculturists along Maine’s treasured coast. PMFHF is a relatively young nonprofit and has supported legislation that will protect Maine’s waters. Our philanthropy recently worked to raise money to provide COVID relief to lobstermen. Our board …
By Durin Chappe On a not-too-distant Saturday morning, after the groggy aftermath of Thanksgiving, my wife has put off leaving for her house cleaning job for as long as she can. She and my daughter have been Facetiming with my wife’s two sisters — Tita Gigs and Tita Daryang — and no one wants to …
By Michael Hall The Visigoths, a Germanic tribe living on the border of the Roman Empire, sacked Rome in 410 AD and soon they will do it again in Washington on the banks of the Potomac. Of all the times Rome was sacked, it was one of the least bloody and destructive. All the Visigoths …
American foreign policy has long exhibited a certain schizophrenia — a tension between two often opposing imperatives. One calls for a policy that embodies American values including democracy, human rights and liberty. The other advocates a policy based solely on calculations of national interest — economic benefits and national security ultimately sustained by military power. …
Last week, Maine Republican Party Chairwoman Demi Kouzounas announced a special meeting for March 13 to ponder Sen. Susan Collins’ vote to convict former president Donald Trump and consider “possible action from this committee.” The move was in response to what was called a “grassroots outcry” from Republicans “almost universally outraged” by the senator’s decision …
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