Leaders are born and made when a situation brings out their sense of humanity. And in Portland, that leader is Mayor Ethan Strimling. On the issue of immigration, the mayor is a man of his word. He stayed strong with his belief in support of immigrants. As mayor, he has carried on the Portland tradition […]

Much has been made of the asylum seekers’ plight and the efforts to help them. My question is: Why? Who decided to send them here? And who decided to accept them without public input? It is, after all, the working public’s taxes that will ultimately used to pay for all the services these people will […]

In light of federal inaction on the impacts of climate change, it is ever more important that state officials step in to ensure that their communities are protected. Lawmakers have a responsibility to take action to reduce human impacts on our planet, and mitigate the effects of climate change as much as possible. The Gulf […]

Once I was walking down the street with my mother when a disheveled, homeless person approached her. My instinct was to speed up to avoid an interaction. My mom stopped and smiled, recognizing her immediately. She was one of my mom’s most beloved patients. My mom has worked with people facing drug addiction for almost […]

It is with continuing sadness and frustration that I read letters like that from Richard Townsend (“Veterans’ needs should come before those of noncitizens,” June 19), where Mr. Townsend presents the often-repeated false choice between helping “us” and helping “them.” Pitting vulnerable groups against each other is an expression of a false dichotomy, fomented by […]

I’m reluctant to support any Trump administration posture, but here goes: Early U.S. schooling was by church-run schools, funded by taxes. When Catholic immigrants sought funds, Protestant church schools were collapsed into nondenominational, aka “public,” schools. Rather than paying for reading, writing and arithmetic but not religion instruction, the Bill of Rights was reread to […]

Maine’s recently enacted Death With Dignity law adds us to the growing list of states recognizing that end of life decisions are not the government’s to make. When a mentally competent adult has a terminal illness and only a few months to live, that individual now has significant choice on how to proceed. Some may […]