Protests calling for change in how Maine and other states police the black community took a surprising and disturbing turn last week as protesters in Portland turned their ire toward the widely respected city manager. Portland Mayor Kate Snyder and other members of the Portland City Council came to the defense of City Manager Jon […]
Lakes Region Weekly opinion
Posted inForecaster Opinion
The Universal Notebook: Who was that unmasked man?
This pandemic is twisting us all into ethical knots, one of the knottiest of which is whether and when to wear a face mask. Masks have come to symbolize the partisan divide in this sick society of ours. One day last week, I stood in line at Home Depot in Topsham. The majority of the […]
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Posted inLakes Region Weekly
Letter: Vote for high speed internet for all
As the father of two, I know how important it is for my kids to have access to high speed internet. All children in Maine are completing their school year from home due to the coronavirus pandemic. As a parent, I’m responsible for making sure they complete their classes, stay in touch with their classmates, […]
Posted inForecaster Opinion
The Universal Notebook: Play ball!
Among the things I miss most because of the pandemic is baseball. It’s June. I should be watching high school, college, minor league and major league baseball live and in person, but instead I am watching World Series reruns and the Korean Baseball Organization playing in empty ballparks. Baseball is my favorite sport. I wasn’t […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Lakes Region Weekly, The Forecaster
Letter: Vote for high speed internet for all
As the father of two, I know how important it is for my kids to have access to high speed internet. All children in Maine are completing their school year from home due to the coronavirus pandemic. As a parent, I’m responsible for making sure they complete their classes, stay in touch with their classmates, […]
Posted inForecaster Opinion
Here’s Something: It was the best, worst of weekends
Thank goodness the SpaceX Dragon capsule made it safely off the ground to successfully dock with the International Space Station last weekend. If not for that monumental achievement, the weekend would have been one of the most tragic and depressing in American history. Similar to the opening line of Charles Dickens’ “A Tale of Two […]
Posted inLakes Region Weekly
Letter: Reader shocked by anti-Trump Beem column
I have been writing letters to the editor and reading others’ letters and columns for almost 60 years now. It has been interesting and enlightening to see how others view issues that I have formed a strong opinion on. When I read “The selfish minority” column by Edgar Allen Beem in the May 8 issue […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
The Universal Notebook: Conspiracies ‘R’ US
The appeal of conspiracy theories is that they allow frightened people to dismiss unpleasant realities and weak people to feel superior, as in they know the real story. Lately, the same tinfoil hat brigade that peddled the evil idea that the Newtown school massacre didn’t really happen has been pushing a couple of other malevolent […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Here’s Something: Pandemic worth writing poems about
We’re all having trouble coping with the health and economic ramifications of the coronavirus, but some are having more difficulty than others. Of course, there are the folks getting sick and dying. At last count in Maine there were about 75 people who have succumbed and about 1,900 who have contracted the disease. Then there […]
Posted inLakes Region Weekly
Letter: U.S was founded on individual liberties, not collective values
Mr. Beem’s article “The selfish minority” (May 8) is probably the most outrageous of his many outrageous articles. In addition to his customary Trump bashing, he has managed to castigate everyone of a conservative viewpoint. He says he is only writing about a minority of people, but then says “Trump supporters are not really conservatives.” […]