It’s nice that Dr. Godot has a whole room just for waiting. It’s so convenient. But it makes you wonder: Would people be so patient if he called it the “Wasting Your Valuable Time Room”? Calling it a waiting room makes it sound as if waiting is the most normal thing in the world to […]

Hillary Clinton’s announcement was as inevitable as the coming of springtime ”“ and with the way the weather has been, the coming of springtime seemed a lot iffier for a while. But now it’s official: Hillary Clinton is running for president of the United States. Now that she’s answered the question of if she’s going […]

The Rutland (Vt.) Herald, April 10: Two narratives have emerged from the multitude of recent incidents in which white police officers have shot and killed unarmed black men. One is that police departments in many black communities are an occupying force, a colonial military power whose purpose is to oppress. The other is that police […]

The Portland Press Herald published an editorial on April 8, which stated that “for over 100 years, state law has allowed ordinary Mainers to put policy questions to voters at the ballot box through petition drives. The citizen initiative process is a cornerstone of participatory democracy here.” The Bangor Daily News published an editorial on […]

For the past few months, I, along with my colleagues on the state’s budget writing committee, have been examining Gov. LePage’s $6.5 billion budget. As you may remember from my previous column, the Appropriations Committee has held numerous public hearings where we heard from hundreds of people ”“ from economists to municipal officials and non-profit […]

The battle continues to cut the size of government budgets and, as a result, the size of government itself. In Maine, the proposed cuts come under the cover of tax reform. In Washington, the struggle comes more openly. The federal government is now operating under a rule called “sequestration.” That effectively places a cap on […]

It’s budget season across the state of Maine and communities are in the thick of it. It’s a difficult time of year with budget boards wondering, what services can be pared down or cut completely? How can government services be delivered more efficiently (read cheaper)? And, how high can they increase the mil rate without […]

What does it mean to live long and prosper? It’s worth thinking about as the baby boom generation heads into retirement and as their parents head into the final stages of life. More and more, people are bombarded with advice on how to stay healthy and vital. Often, it involves eating some sort of food […]

As Hillary Clinton starts her second run for the presidency, one statistic stands out: 47 percent. Mitt Romney made that number notorious by saying that 47 percent of Americans “are dependent on government (and) believe that they are victims,” and so will automatically vote Democratic. That quote helped sink Romney as a clueless rich guy, […]

There is a growing health crisis here in the United States. There are approximately 3.2 million people in this country infected with hepatitis C. Unfortunately because symptoms of this disease are not always obvious, many people go undiagnosed. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 75 percent of the people […]