“Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. The key is Russian national interest.” Winston Churchill’s quote came a quarter century and two months after the start of World War I. In late August 1914, one month into that conflict, a massive Russian army was defeated at the Battle of Tannenberg. While […]

On the day Donald Trump launched his presidential campaign, he made dealing with Mexico the keystone of his speech. From then on, he continually advocated keeping Mexicans out of the U.S. and American jobs out of Mexico. Candidates promise what voters want to hear, although they may well know that keeping their promises will be […]

You’ve heard this one-million-and-one times in your life: “The movie was OK, but the book was way better.” In all but seven of these instances, the person saying this was correct. These are official statistics provided to me by the National Security Agency’s little-known subsidiary, the Banal Conversations About Forgettable Things Division. Big Brother is […]

The 128th Maine Legislature is underway, and much of my time is spent in Augusta these days. It is a true honor to once again have the opportunity to serve the people of York County and to be your voice in the Maine Senate. The Legislature is expected to be in session until June of […]

It appears that the public’s ability to participate in their local government is becoming less evident as time goes by.  At the Jan. 9 Saco City Council workshop, a non-recorded and non-televised meeting, an excellent presentation was made by GXT Green a company producing disposable shopping bags.  In addition, the workshop was loaded with other […]

On behalf of Literacy Volunteers of Greater Sanford, thank you very much to everyone who took part in and supported our Eighth Annual Trivia Night at the Town Club event on Friday, Jan. 13. We had a great turnout of 110 people playing on 15 teams. Special thanks to Marcel Blouin for being our emcee, […]

Social media is used today for every purpose (and many of the posts are not particularly prosocial). Too many of the “news” stories have been slanted so far (sometimes to the right, and sometimes to the left) as to become fake, by any reasonable standard. But Facebook is also used to announce, share, and celebrate […]

Even though my mother passed away nearly a decade ago, I still carry significant bits of her aura with me every day. Whatever attractive traits I possess are in large part due to her incredible patience and quiet, consistent role-modeling.  One lesson she taught my siblings and me: always say “Thank you” in a timely […]

A number of loyal readers and Journal Tribune subscribers have written or called the newspaper this week asking why we stopped publishing our Monday print edition. As publisher of the Journal Tribune, I’d like to clarify some of the reasons for our decision to do this. While it’s true online readership continues to grow and the newspaper […]