On Dec. 8, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress for a declaration of war against Japan, which had carried out a surprise attack on Hawaii a day earlier. He sought to inspire Americans to fight in the new world war. “The American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory,” he […]

We are just over a month removed from the announcement of our first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Maine, and already so much has changed. We are settling into our new realities and searching for a sense of normal. From chatting with neighbors at a safe distance, waiting in lines six feet apart at the […]

As headlines across our announce that schools are “closed” due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Maine schools continue to provide educational services, social/emotional support, and nutrition, while we are unable to provide in-person classroom-based instruction during this emergency. With very little notice, leaders made extremely difficult and courageous decisions and educators stepped into new roles as […]

Giving Voice was the brainchild of Carolyn Russell, an active volunteer in our community. Ms. Russell was concerned that our community didn’t understand the depth of poverty and need, despite the affluence and culture that comes with being a college town. She also thought many in our community were unfamiliar with the safety net organizations […]

In an effort to ease the boredom of sheltering in place, I recently put the following post on Facebook: “What have you done in your life that you think none of my other Facebook friends have done? I’ll kick it off: I drank out of ‘Coloreds Only’ drinking fountains in South Carolina and Georgia in […]

For the last few weeks, I’ve written about ways that people can purchase local seafood. That has included everything from finfish to lobster to shellfish. Many people and organizations are working hard to create market solutions to keep those harvesters working at an increasingly productive time of year. It’s also important not to lose site […]

When my mother passed away, I was sleeping in the same room. We had taken her home from hospice, and her hospital bed was in the bedroom she had shared with my father for decades. The night that she died, I was able to sit with her and hold her hand and monitor her breathing, […]

It was recently announced that, in an attempt to steamroll Maine voters, CMP is moving forward with the construction of their destructive corridor project. This move, while bold, isn’t surprising in light of the fact they are doing everything in their power to disenfranchise the tens of thousands of Mainers who signed referendum petitions. I […]