Maine’s consumer-owned utilities: Fewer outages, lower costs For years, I have checked on Maine’s 10 electrical utilities after every storm. It always amuses me that CMP’s expensive efforts to restore power are seen as newsworthy, while other Maine utilities’ complete lack of outages is rarely reported. Disasters are exciting. There is drama in damage and […]

While I fully agree with Alison Hepler’s support of the strike at BIW (“BIW strike affects everyone in the community,” The Times Record, Aug. 5), I am concerned that the strikers are, for the most part, not wearing masks as they shout out their grievances and are not practicing social distancing. Even though they are […]

I’ve had the good fortune to work on my own, out of my house, since 1989. The arrangement suits me well. As an introvert, I don’t need — or want — a boss breathing down my neck or colleagues constantly interrupting me (unless they have a good ribald joke to share). At one point in […]

It’s summertime and the walking is easements. Okay, that’s a sorry mauling of an old lyric, but yesterday’s woods-walking (and a few small remaining burr-claws) call it up. For those of us affiliated with the Brunswick Conservation Commission, high summer is a time to get outside and see how some of the town’s conservation easements […]

The U.S. is engaged in a national debate about how to deal with monuments to Confederate leaders, enslavers and other historical figures with complex, and often racist, histories. As a scholar and practitioner of organizational communication, I often find myself in the middle of similarly protracted conflicts, working to get people with very different views […]

When I dive into the water, I sometimes get water up my nose and rushing into my ears. My ears sometimes crackle and my sinuses feel like they’re going to pop. That’s when I wish I were a seal or a dolphin that can whoosh into the water effortlessly with a streamlined entry. I love […]

A friend of mine can’t for the life of him understand why some Americans are clamoring to replace capitalism with socialism. Born in Vietnam, he was a young boy when he and his family barely escaped that communist nation amid gunfire. America welcomed his family among thousands of Vietnamese refugees. His father, now in his […]

As divisive as politics is today, most people long for an increase in bipartisanship and civility. Many elected officials and candidates talk about how they want the same, but all too often it falls to the wayside under the political pressures of a campaign or the allure of political ego boosts and intra-party status. With […]

When a medical emergency strikes, the only thing you care about is getting to the nearest and best doctor and hospital for treatment. When seconds count, the very last thing on your mind should be whether or not you’ll see a doctor or receive care that your insurance company considers “out-of-network,” sticking you with the […]