Maine is a strange and quirky place. It’s why I love it, why I call it home. One of the things that makes me smile inside is that we manage to have such an “eclectic” mix of buildings. I don’t trust places that are too perfected, too uniform, too manicured. So I was a little […]
Lakes Region Weekly opinion
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly, The Forecaster
Through My Lens: Welcome Corps welcome news for refugee resettlement
I wrote recently about the declining population and labor shortage in Maine’s towns. In recent years, Maine has not seen a significant influx of refugees through traditional resettlement methods due to the Muslim ban and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite President Biden’s promise to resettle 125,000 refugees in the United States in fiscal […]
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Posted inLakes Region Weekly
Letter: Comments on the district’s transgender student policy
When your local school board does not want to hear from you, they make a last-minute change of venue. This is what happed to the Feb. 1 school board meeting. The policy for Transgender and Gender Expansive Students was up for a vote. A copy of the policy can be found under ACAAA on the […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Life Unwound: Are you breathing deeply or just enough?
Do you wonder if what keeps you busy distracts you from what really matters? As in, “what I want is this, so I’ll do that to see if it helps.” Sometimes I think rearranging things I can control on the outside will shift my inside world. Let’s say I want to be a better writer […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Mainewhile: Dr. Shah delivered good science with great humor
I admit it. I have been living in denial. But as we all know, avoiding a thing doesn’t actually make it go away. Whether I choose to accept it or not, Dr. Nirav Shah is leaving us for the Emerald City – Washington, D.C. When Shah joined the Maine Center for Disease Control as director […]
Posted inLakes Region Weekly, The Forecaster
Letter: Ukraine invasion drives rising energy costs
The CMP corridor would not have done a thing to prevent the drastic rise we have seen in energy costs. In fact, it would not have even been built yet. And even if it had been built, it would have only reduced electricity costs 15 cents per month for the average consumer a couple years […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Through My Lens: ESL classes should include lessons in sarcasm
Even though I am slowly improving, I often have trouble understanding sarcasm, both in face-to-face conversations and in emailing in the English language. In a 1971 study, Albert Mehrabian found that when people are trying to communicate feelings or attitudes, the message conveyed by words is only 7% of the total message, while the tone […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Mainewhile: Don’t let Valentine’s Day make you feel awful this year
Here we are at the start February, which means that the most dreaded of all annual celebrations is right around the corner: Valentine’s Day. This is a holiday which markets itself as being all about love, but in reality seems like it is just lying in wait to make you feel awful, no matter what […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly, The Forecaster
Mainewhile: Glorious snow days give us much-needed break
Oh the sweet, sweet bliss of a snow day. School children and teachers across the state had their eyes trained on the sky and their hopes pinned on the forecast, waiting until that most magical of announcements came through: no school due to snow. And on a Friday, no less. By the time you read […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly, The Forecaster
Life Unwound: Some memories are worth carrying with us
Do you have memories of childhood that still resonate today? I mean sweet ones. I know others surface, of course, but for now, I am wondering about how the good stuff of the past can inform our days today. Maybe they can brighten them or give us a hint how to live into our future. […]