It’s conventional wisdom that the 2016 Republican presidential race is at such an early stage that the polls don’t matter. They’re just a measurement of name recognition at this point, some observers say, and the only people really paying attention to the campaign are reporters and hard-core party activists. Maybe that was true in earlier […]

When God created the world, he gave us a beautiful beach. He wanted families to come and relax and enjoy themselves. He didn’t want it to be “the devil’s playground.” We have a number of establishments in town that he wouldn’t be proud of. When I moved here in 1961, our New England neighbors and […]

Well the 60-degree days are here, and just a few piles of snow still linger here in Biddeford just to remind us of the winter that we had to put up with this past year. We, the residents, were the lucky ones as we were able to snuggle up in our cozy warm homes, and […]

This past weekend I picked up Olivia, my nearly 12-year-old daughter who lives with her mother in the Midcoast region, and brought her down here to spend the weekend with me. It had been about six years since I had taken her to a Sea Dogs game, so she barely remembered anything about it. It […]

I’m sure you’ve heard the argument that if we raise the minimum wage, the cost of that raise will just get passed along to you, the paying customer. You’ll have to pay more for your hamburger, more for your clean hotel room, more for your convenience at the convenience store. I bring this up because […]

We all have our stereotypes. They circulate because each contains a kernel of truth. We’ve all known a heavy person who is jolly. But are all heavy people jolly? Heavens, no! We know heavyweight grouches. Or maybe we have love handles ourselves ”“ and we know we’re not always jolly. In the same way, “welfare […]

In America children are encouraged to set ambitious goals for themselves. When I was 10 years old my intention was to play centerfield for the New York Mets. That didn’t happen. When I was 20, I was a little more realistic. My destiny, I decided, was to become one of the Mets radio/TV announcers. That […]

At this point in the legislative session, more than a thousand bills have made their way to a legislative committee for at least a public hearing. Many bills have had a work session and been voted on, though there are still many more to be considered. I submitted several pieces of legislation this year and […]

The Hartford (Conn.) Courant, April 15: The story of Aaron Hernandez is one of waste: wasted talent, wasted future, a wasted life. His life and his victim’s. The guilty verdict returned Wednesday in Fall River, Massachusetts, in his trial on first-degree murder charges will mean, if appeals fail, that the Bristol native will spend the […]