Opinion

The View From Away: Even in Canada, the break room is a battleground

It’s finally sinking in that I'm in Toronto for a real job, with a workday, coworkers and an office. The people are nice. The office environment is friendly. I’m still getting used to showing up at the same place every day and being on time, but it is almost liberating to have ...

Mike Langworthy • Opinion •
Monday, April 15, 2013 at 11:40 am
The Universal Notebook: The right-wing attack on Bowdoin College

So a propaganda organization funded by an ultra-right-wing billionaire has determined that Bowdoin College is too liberal for its tastes. That’s news? It is, according to ultra-right-wing Bowdoin grad and retired Portland Press Herald editor M.D. Harmon, who has been dining ou...

Edgar Allen Beem • Opinion •
Monday, April 15, 2013 at 9:30 am
Superintendent's Notebook: Plenty of volunteer opportunities in Portland schools

Priscilla Krasnow, 86, volunteers nearly every weekday in the fashion marketing class at Portland Arts and Technology High School. The students call her Mama K. If they arrive in a bad mood, she quickly changes that. “Our students love her,” says Tina Mikkelsen, PATHS’ co...

Emmanuel Caulk • Opinion •
Monday, April 15, 2013 at 8:50 am
Letter: Citizens deserve to be heard in Augusta

The Legislature used to allow more fairness and less manipulation in their public hearings than they do today. Citizens were asked to leave their name and copies for the committee when testifying, but proponents and opponents were treated fairly as to time allotted. Recently I went to the ...

• Opinion •
Monday, April 15, 2013 at 8:40 am
Letter: Accept federal funding to expand MaineCare

As a cancer survivor and volunteer for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, I urge the Legislature to accept the millions of dollars of federal funding being offered to Maine to increase access to health coverage through MaineCare, our state’s Medicaid program. Hard-wor...

• Opinion •
Monday, April 15, 2013 at 8:30 am
Letter: Despite Beem's belief, we thrive on competition

I often wonder if resident guru, now prophet, Edgar Allen Beem rereads his pieces, wishing he could hit “delete.” Please read his last, egotistically dubbed "

• Opinion •
Monday, April 8, 2013 at 12:10 pm
The Universal Notebook: Be it ever so humble ...

My grandmother lived in the same house in Portland for 47 years. I have now lived in the same house in Yarmouth for 31, far longer than I have ever lived anywhere in my life. I’ve been thinking about all the houses I’ve lived in – about 20 by my count – as Carolyn and I st...

Edgar Allen Beem • Opinion •
Monday, April 8, 2013 at 12:00 pm
Policy Wonk: Contrary to right-wing opinion, the world is not flat

The refusal to accept hard facts, truths that stare us in the face, has become the hallmark of the political right in the nation, and in Maine. The insistence by right-of-center political leaders (Gov. Paul LePage is one among many) on policies that ignore facts and truth is stifling the U...

Orlando Delogu • Opinion •
Monday, April 8, 2013 at 11:20 am
Abby's Road: Trust is the fuel of family travel

Traveling with young children is like living in a suspended state of self-assessment. It is like being stuck in a question mark. It is like pressure-testing the line between drama and comedy. Are we having fun right now, or are we being played for fools? Last weekend, my husband and...

Abby Diaz • Opinion •
Monday, April 8, 2013 at 10:20 am
Forecaster Forum: LePage budget fails communities, students

It is time to stand up for our values. As Mainers, we highly value education, responsibility and fairness. Along with many others, we believe that our state budget needs to reflect these shared values. Our budget should support working families and create pathways to success for future generation...

Sen. Anne Haskell and Rep. Matthew Moonen • Opinion •
Monday, April 8, 2013 at 10:00 am