I am a registered Democrat, and I support a welcoming policy toward refugees. But I am also an economist, and I am concerned about the sustainability of Portland’s open-ended, reactive and unmanaged refugee assistance program. The recent growth in refugee applicants is consistent with what we know about the migration process – that successfully settled […]

The deluge of asylum seekers overwhelming the region is said to be from Africa, but they come more directly from Brazil, Central America and Mexico before arriving in San Antonio, Texas, from which they are being bused 2,000 miles to the state of Maine. But they are not being persecuted in Brazil, Central America or […]

As I read about the city of Portland scrambling to assist the large influx of asylum seekers, I am perplexed. Why is it that the city goes to such great lengths to help these people while other people, who were born here, including veterans, remain homeless? Shame on you, Portland, for having homeless veterans in […]

I am proud and grateful that I live in a community that rallies to support those in need. I affirm all that was said at Friday’s briefing by the governor and city officials regarding the Portland area’s response at all levels and by multiple sectors as we unexpectedly welcome weary travelers seeking respite and a […]

Re: “Letter to the editor: National Popular Vote a rebuke of our Founders” (June 14, Page A6): Why do the Portland Press Herald and other media keep publishing smokescreen arguments against state laws pledging their electors to the candidate who wins the popular vote once the number of such states’ electors totals the 270 threshold […]

Yitzhak Rabin died on Nov. 4, 1995. Robert Kennedy died on June 6, 1968. On those days, a peaceful promise was shot down. Eliot Chandler Augusta

On June 7, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” opened at Lyric Music Theater in South Portland. It was a night to remember, not only for this wonderful production but also for the professional way that an unexpected turn of events was handled. Just one hour before showtime, the production team was notified that one of […]

As a small-business owner in Bath, I am pleased to see that my state senator, Eloise Vitelli, introduced the Maine Work Credit bill (L.D. 104), an expansion of the highly effective Earned Income Tax Credit. The federal EITC helps hundreds of thousands of Mainers make ends meet. It has worked so well that 29 states, […]