Described by the Belaruskaya Entsiklopedia as the “largest technological disaster of the 20th century,” the catastrophe at Chernobyl was the equivalent of 350 atomic bombs being dropped on Hiroshima. To increase your understanding of this tragic event, I highly recommend Svetlana Alexievich’s book, “Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster.” Alexievich was honored […]

The president will now declare what many of us experience first hand, the opioid epidemic is a national emergency. Frankly, with as many as 59,000 deaths in 2016, there doesn’t seem to be any other possible description. So many dedicated people in cities and towns, faith communities and schools, families and hospitals are fighting to […]

Americans now mark the 100th anniversary of the U.S. entry into World War I. As meaningless as that war was, it served notice that the U.S. had become a world power, rivaling the British Empire. The war ran for more than four years. The massive deployment of American troops in six months in 1918 brought […]

Among America’s amazing pantheon of founders, Patrick Henry stands out for his stirring speeches and fervent commitment to liberty, virtue, and small government. The Virginia planter, lawyer, and politician strongly denounced Great Britain’s political and economic control of the American colonies and played a leading role in the movement for independence. More controversially, Henry’s love […]

For 10 months, I have worked with 16 of my colleagues in the Maine Legislature to craft regulations to govern the newly legal retail industry for recreational marijuana. Our group included Democrats, Republicans and Independents. All of us spent countless hours in good faith, hearing from experts and stakeholders about how to meet the goals […]

Every Veterans Day presents an opportunity to commemorate those who served in some faraway place long ago, many of whom paid that ultimate sacrifice. World War II offers its share of remembrances: Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941; Normandy, June 6, 1944; the Battle of the Bulge, Dec. 16, 1944; to name a few. Sadly, however, […]

Only two of Maine’s 259 high school varsity soccer teams finished 2017 undefeated and untied: the Yarmouth boys, who collected their 4thconsecutive Class B title with a 2-1 victory over Winslow, and the Yarmouth girls, who won their 2nd straight Class B Gold Ball with a 9-0 crushing of Presque Isle. Disclosure: I’ve coached youth soccer […]

Editor, State Rep. Robert Foley (R-Wells) recently shared his opinion about Maine’s decision to join four other states in increasing the legal age of sale of tobacco to 21: as a cancer patient advocate, I couldn’t agree more with his support of this new law. Tobacco is the number one cause of preventable death nationwide and in […]