For a few days, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows landed squarely in the national spotlight as Maine became the second state with a decision denying Donald Trump a place on the March 5 primary ballot. For all the ire it aroused, Bellows’ written decision is straightforward and matter-of-fact. She concluded about the events of Jan. […]

THE CONVERSATION — The year 2023 proved to be an important one for space missions, with NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission returning a sample from an asteroid and India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission exploring the lunar south pole, and 2024 is shaping up to be another exciting year for space exploration. Several new missions under NASA’s Artemis plan and Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative will […]

Latchkey kids. Slackers. Caffeine lovers. Grunge. That’s how a lot of people have referred to Generation X, the 46 million Americans, like myself, who were born between 1965 and 1980. We were a generation that has been perennially pegged as cynical, self-indulgent, aimless, contrarian, and often peripheral when it comes to life and other everyday […]

In 2016, 81% of white Christian Evangelicals voted for Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton. In 2020, 80% of white Christian Evangelicals voted for Trump over Joe Biden. How could millions of people who purport to follow the teachings of a man as humble as Jesus Christ support a man as heinous as Donald Trump? Maybe […]

Donald Trump got the Supreme Court he wanted. He will now discover how it will make its way between solid conservatism, political partisanship and the historical opportunity to determine the presidential election, possibly costing him a return to the White House. The Court’s reputation is at stake. This moment recalls the Court having picked the […]

Most of us look forward to the holidays – anticipating warmth and cheer in the company of family and friends, with good food and the fun of giving and receiving. At The Gathering Place, we seek to provide that atmosphere and experience for our guests. As December brings us the shortest days of the year, […]

“Just when you think it’s safe to be a jerk on the roadway…” Motorists in many cities have grown accustomed to the likelihood of having their license plate photographed if they exceed the posted speed limit and/or run a red light. (Sadly, other motorists are shocked — shocked, I tell you — every single time […]

I recently met a woman via email who had the very good taste to compliment me rather lavishly on a column I wrote. She really, really liked it. Her name is Barbara Stanley, and I applaud her reading skills and of course her great mind. But what interested me even more was her name. The […]