It starts slowly at first, a ping here, a pop there. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think someone was out there at 5 a.m. target practicing with a BB gun, or popping corn. But those particular events aren’t usually accompanied by the frantic rustling of leaves or by loud and aggressive chatter. It’s […]

The first regular session of the 126th Maine Legislature, and my first session as your state senator, is now complete. Looking back, I believe that period of time stands as one of the busiest and most fulfilling experiences of my life. Every day, as I drove down Capitol Street and saw the green dome of […]

Thumbs up to the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for doing its due diligence in finding a use for the buildings on its recently acquired Timber Point property. While there are a lot of ideas and options, thoroughly vetting all of them will hopefully lead to the best possible […]

An ordinance to place restrictions on mobile food vendors in Kennebunk is clearly aimed at the valid goal of protecting the existing businesses in the town, but we agree with some of its detractors that its provisions are overreaching. A public hearing is slated for Aug. 15 on the proposed mobile food vending ordinance, and […]

Still life: Empty clothesline, rowboats at water’s edge, marsh grasses blowing ”“ but barely. Almost nothing moves in the still life that is framed by the window of our vacation cottage in Maine. I look for the sly ripple of water, a ruffle of leaves, some sign of motion. But I am the sum total […]

The filibuster ”“ the tool used by a minority in the U.S. Senate to block action ”“ lives on, despite having had a close shave last month. And the deal by which it survived may have quietly undermined President Obama’s effort to get around the Republicans’ tactics to block his appointments to federal office. This […]

We really shouldn’t care. There’s a faction that thinks we should. In the past few weeks they’ve taken to the airwaves, print and the Internet with the breathless excitement of a small child racing to tell his parents about the frog he caught in a mason jar. The difference is that a kid catching a […]

Sen. Angus King recently joined his colleagues in Washington in getting some relief for students taking out loans to pay for college. Last week, the Senate passed the Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act by a vote of 81-18, which, according to King, will provide a long-term solution that lowers student interest rates for everyone. “Our […]

Citizens have spoken in Lyman, and we hope the board of selectmen will hear the call to put forward a question seeking permission to create a town manager’s position as soon as legally possible. However, that may be further off than residents would like. Selectmen voted recently to table a citizen’s petition to hire a […]

Americans are shifting their concerns about privacy rights. A new survey by Pew Research indicates that a slim but growing majority worry that courts are not protecting our privacy. Ever since Edward Snowden leaked the story about the multi-millions of phone calls and Internet data secretly collected by National Security Agency, the public has had […]