As the country looks to reverse the harmful trend of opioid addiction, the need for education and awareness around the safe use of pain treatments has never been clearer. In 2016, more than 11 million Americans misused prescription opioids. We know that many individuals who misuse pain medications obtain the prescription drug through a friend or family member. […]

Windy Wilson came in to the philosophy counter just about the time we’d finished the hash browns with chile on the side. Red, of course. Windy looked terrible. “What’s wrong, Windy?” “These here folks today …” he said. And we gulped a bit when we hear a sentence begun that way. “Folks today…” he sounded […]

The mass shooting in Florida and the inevitable pro-gun and gun control reactions are about much more than firearms and their use. The issue is really about the nature of our society and government. The NRA makes sure we don’t forget that. After every shooting, it opposes gun control advocates by saying that what they […]

Editor, As a retired school counselor at The Middle School of the Kennebunks, I have many memories of helping students deal with trauma, grief and fear after Columbine and numerous subsequent bomb threats at their school. I helped them to deal with their feelings, but I was totally unable to protect them from future harm. […]

The Maine Department of Corrections recently released a comprehensive proposal to restructure the state’s county jail system. While the proposed plan [which can be found online at Digital Maine; or email me and I’ll send you a copy] has caused quite a stir in the corrections community, it did not come out of the blue. […]

There are, at the moment, two dozen candidates for governor in Maine. It’s entirely possible that Maine’s next governor will be elected with the support of less than a third of the voters. The number and diversity of candidates should be a cause for celebration, as a reflection of the growing interest in making Maine […]

It didn’t take long after Mitt Romney announced his U.S. Senate bid for new digs at his personality to surface. As one critique goes, Romney is mismatched to America because it doesn’t dole out titles of nobility for excellent character like some Old World aristocracy. Rather, the American political system rewards plebian traits. So despite Romney’s […]

What made George Washington the most remarkable man of an extraordinary generation? He was not an intellectual giant like Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, or James Madison. Compared with most other founders, he was not well educated (he attended school for only about five years), and, unlike many of them, he disliked abstract philosophical […]

When Donald Trump announced his intention to run for president in June 2015, I was utterly unimpressed. To me he looked like just another washed-up celebrity, addicted to fame and desperately looking to pump some life into his fading brand. Orange-haired and bloated, the arrogant, self-important reality TV star came off as an abrasive, narcissistic […]

Editor, I’m writing this on the third day of 13 that I have pledged to fast, along with a large group of peace activists mostly in the Bath-Brunswick area, against a tax give-away many Maine tax payers may be unaware of.  This effects each and every one of us, throughout the state. General Dynamics Corporation, […]