If you think you can’t do numbers, beware. This column is about numbers. But it reveals that you are not alone; many people, including some we rely on, can’t do numbers either. We attach great importance to conclusions supported by numbers. Whether it’s about elections or employment, if there’s a number involved, we often accept […]

In Part I, I described the severe nose bleed I experienced in Florida, which required two visits to the ER and two visits to an ENT (ear, nose and throat physician). During the last visit to the ER, the doctor inserted two “rapid rhinos,” one in each nostril, to prevent further bleeding. Not fun. We […]

The retired science teacher jumped up from his hiding spot in his garden and grabbed my arm before I could escape. It happened in the mid-1970s when I was playing a game we neighborhood kids invented called “Fugitive.” Each summer night 15 or 20 of us would participate. Whoever drew the short straw was assigned […]

The long-awaited, $1 billion American Rescue Plan package submitted by Gov. Janet Mills to the Legislature has something for just about everyone. Mills would pump $50 million into fishing, farming and forest products. She’d replenish the depleted unemployment insurance fund by $80 million. Another $80 million would “jumpstart innovation,” though we could use some details. […]

Progressives in all parties should unite Douglas Rooks strikes a lively and timely chord in his column on May 6 (The Maine Idea: “Fusion voting challenges political parties to deliver”). Fusion, he argues, makes it possible for a minor party to team up with a major party at election time. Their combined votes and voting […]

In three decades in the news business, most of them spent covering government and politics, I’ve been to more than my share of press conferences. They’re part of the gig when you’re a reporter. And you just kind of learn to make your peace with them. Some of them are informative. Most are self-serving and […]