Twice now, I’ve startled deer browsing in last year’s leaves below the porch. The first time was when I opened the door hoping to chase a squirrel from the feeder. Not only did I spook the squirrel, but a lovely doe as well. I berated myself for not thinking before opening the door, but lucky […]

Which of today’s athletes are worth admiring? Five decades ago, impressionable American boys were encouraged both openly and covertly to emulate the nation’s greatest athletes. But looking back, it seems they were duped into idolizing caricatures rather than actual human beings. Arthur Ashe was born in 1943 and grew up in a single-parent household; his […]

Millions of fans watching the Super Bowl on Sunday night were treated to one of the greatest games in National Football League championship history, as the Baltimore Ravens held off the San Francisco 49ers 34-31 at the Superdome in New Orleans. Once again, however, those same millions of fans were also treated to a less- […]

Thumbs up to all of the students, teachers and staff who participated in community activities for Maine Catholic Schools Week, which began Saturday and runs through this week. To kick it off, children at St. James School in Biddeford baked cookies and distributed the treats to local businesses, nonprofits and other organizations ”“ including the […]

Camping has much to recommend it ”“ the challenge of a new environment, a break from routine, an excuse to make s’mores. This assumes, of course, that one is camping by choice. Sometimes, camping happens. There we were, returning home from a trip, two days before Christmas. We unloaded the car, which included a cooler […]

Maine is getting a lot of unexpected, national political attention these days. It has to do with how the state votes for the president and vice president of the United States. Each state gets a number of votes equal to the total of its senators and representatives. These are votes in the Electoral College, and […]

Jim Leary, of the Leary family farm in Saco, spoke to the Journal Tribune recently about the changes in the farming industry’s landscape over his lifetime. Since he was in high school in the mid-1940s, the dairy farms in Saco have dwindled from 50 to just one today ”“ his farm. The Leary Farm is […]

Last week, during a stretch when temperatures dipped to levels not seen outside of a Russian meat locker, I started thinking about the first humanoid creatures to make that initial tentative trek out of Africa. Somewhere along the line, early humans decided to venture into cold climates, which means one of two things: They were […]

Sometimes it’s good to leave the past behind. That’s the approach Biddeford Mayor Alan Casavant is trying to take with discussions on the future of the Biddeford Municipal Airport, and we hope he has success. Few issues in Biddeford have as much baggage as this airport ”“ excuse the pun ”“ from the passions of […]

In most arenas, it’s been a long time since an American has been told, “You can’t do that because you’re a woman.” But in the military, that inequality has been the accepted reality ”“ until now. The ban on allowing women in U.S. military combat positions was lifted on Thursday, Jan. 24 by the Obama […]