“The meeting devolved into a shouting match between Strimling and several councilors, including a rival in the mayoral race, Spencer Thibodeau.” That quotation comes from an article in the Press Herald (“Several councilors say mayor misinformed asylum seekers about housing options” July 23). As a Portland resident, I have become weary of grown men behaving […]

After much consideration, I will not be seeking re-election to the District 3 Board of Public Education seat that I have held since 2010. I am honored and thankful to have had the opportunity to serve the people of Portland first on the City Charter Commission and then as a member of the board. Now, […]

Whether we like it or not, it is expensive to run a serious political campaign – especially for a seat in the U.S. Senate. No candidate could ever raise enough money relying solely on donations from hard-working Mainers. Fortunately, people here in Maine, and around the country, respect Sen. Susan Collins for her tireless, bipartisan […]

As an immigrant leader in the Congolese community in Portland, I am writing to express my disappointment with city councilors at the meeting on July 23, where they talked about housing for asylum seekers. What was reported in this paper is not what happened. Councilors should be ashamed to have used the asylum seekers as […]

I have a daughter who was born in Portland, raised in Portland and was educated at Portland public schools while her parents paid their very high property taxes. She is now 25 and is a certified nursing assistant. She works all the time trying to save money to move out on her own. She is […]

True story: When my daughter was four, she was playing outside with a friend. A little boy had thrown a rock at a grasshopper and killed it. My daughter became upset, and when confronted as to why he killed the grasshopper, the little boy said “I didn’t do it, the rock did!” We joke now, […]

At the end of a recent Sunday Mass, honoring America’s great Independence Day, we sang the song “American the Beautiful.” The words written by Catherine Lee Bates, included: “America! America!/ God mend thine every flaw/ Confirm thy soul in self-control/ Thy liberty in law!” Now, more than at any other time in our history as […]

The detention centers at the U.S. border were established to hold people who are trying to enter the country illegally or under dubious asylum claims. The centers are necessary to determine just who has a legitimate claim to seek residence in our country.  People detained there receive: food, water, clothing, medical attention, etc. Conditions there […]

My parents served on a military government team which de-nazified the German media at the end of WWII hostilities. I asked my father how was it that Germany, who gave us the likes of Nietzsche, Marx, Wagner, Beethoven, and Bach, could also produce the third Reich. He leaned back and said: “Imagine that the world […]