We’re in …
The numbers are in. The Federal Trade Commission released its annual compendium of fraud reports from last year, and the news is shocking. Over the past three years,…
Columns
From the Maine Senate
If you’ve been keeping up with the news lately, you’ve likely heard a lot of talk about PFAS. PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a class of chemicals found in many products…
Maine needs visionary, collaborative approach to address browntail moths
After five years enduring a rain of toxic hairs from browntail moth…
From the Maine Senate
It’s important to me to know what folks in our community are struggling with, so late last year I sent out a survey to every household in my district asking you to let me know what challenges you’…
opinion
Making the decision to start a business is often the hardest part about starting one. After you make the decision to go for it, don’t wait to get started. Many…
Opinion, Bill Packard
The most important thing we all have is time. If you read this to the end, you will never get that time back. Whether my words are worth your time or not, the time is gone. The pandemic has…
On Monday, Jan. 17, Mainers celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on what would have been the Reverend’s 93rd birthday. Dr. King’s legacy is one of fighting for human and civil rights for all…
I write today with bittersweet news. I have decided not to seek re-election to the State Senate for our beloved District 13 in 2022.
Serving in the legislature for the past four years – the last…
The Maine quest for truly green power
“Sign up to stop climate change,” the mailer read: “Save the world with renewable energy.” Even simplistic sales pitches can draw in electricity consumers. Purchasing green power to accelerate the…
It’s New Year’s Resolution time. Time to make a commitment to be fraud aware in 2022. For the next 52 weeks, like clockwork, scammers will be on the prowl looking to steal our money or sensitive…
12 tips to start 2022 on sound financial footing
As 2021 comes to a close, 2022 beckons right around the corner. For many, the beginning of each year is marked with an ambitious New Year’s Resolution that fails to materialize.
Start the…
opinion
Well. I’m back. Did you miss me? That rascally Covid thing messed some things up, but here we are. Hope you’re well.
This thing has been something, hasn’t it? The virus seems to be…
From the Maine Senate
The holidays are here once again. After a difficult two years, I find myself appreciating even more deeply all that this season has to offer. The…
As the temperatures dip below freezing and the last leaves fall off the trees, winter creeps up again on Mainers each November.
Winter in Maine covers nearly five months of the year and…
From the Maine Senate
For many, this time of year means gathering with family and friends for a special meal or an exchange of meaningful gifts. But putting food on the table or presents under the tree can be a…
opinion
Whether you sold something recently, have money lying in a bank account, received unexpected income, or have extra cash burning a hole in your pocket this article will try to inform you of a few…
From the Maine Senate
With the leaves changing, it’s clear that fall is in full swing – even if some days it still feels like summer. I hope you and your family are enjoying one of Maine’s most beautiful seasons and…
opinion
Since the 1980s, American retirees have needed to rely more on their own investments for retirement, rather than employer pensions or social security income. While pension plans still exist they…
I was 18 years old when the U.S. Supreme Court guaranteed a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions in Roe v. Wade. If you’ve only known an America where abortion was safe and legal,…
opinion: Making the grid more climate resilient will take planning grounded in science and localized power generation
In the wake of Ida, a hurricane …
From the Maine Senate
Mainers take our duty to participate in our democracy seriously. Maine consistently leads the pack in voter turnout,…
opinion: Lending support to climate action
opinion: Getting to the grid of the future
The U.S. electricity grid is a dinosaur, a huge, unwieldy relic of the past. Built with an expected lifespan of 50 years, much of its infrastructure is now more than 60 years old. Its outmoded…
opinion
So why should you bother with investing? For centuries, investing in businesses has been the primary driver of wealth for individuals and families.
Investing is a tool to help individuals…
opinion: The next solar frontier
As community solar farms spring up around Maine, RISK-FREE offers of GUARANTEED SAVINGS for subscribers descend on residents – in mailers and online, and even from …
opinion: Climate predictions don’t factor in surface winds, despite indications they may be changing
Through an “abnormally dry” spring, Maine had numerous fire weather watches due to some combination of wind speed,…
opinion: Putting savings to work for the local good
The balance of deposits in Maine’s financial institutions is roughly $45 billion. That figure raises an obvious question to experts in socially responsible investing like Scott Budde, who runs …
opinion: targets for protected lands could help slow climate and extinction crises, support local food production
The ethereal refrain of the white-throated sparrow runs through memories of childhood. My own children…
opinion: Adopting clean energy requires turning away from fossil fuels
In the energy transition underway, Maine has strong assets and lingering liabilities. The Legislature and the Mills administration have set ambitious goals for reducing greenhouse emissions and…
opinion: governments will feel pinch of increasing debt well into the future
Behind almost every government action lurks a single question: How do we pay for it?
The answer seems easy: by taxes or debt. But taxes must pay off the debt, making the real question not…
For more stable future, every level of government must move quickly to reduce emissions
It was a strange scene to encounter on a January night in Maine, sitting in my car among more than 100 other parked vehicles, all populated but dark, at a drive-in town meeting.
…
age-old concept may be what Maine needs for agricultural growth
Agroforestry, an age-old concept, could provide a path to Maine’s future. Part of the …
How do we slow down this aging process?
Have you asked yourself,
…
From the Senate
Dear Community,
My name is Chloe Maxmin, and I am the new State Senator representing almost all of Lincoln County, plus the towns of Washington and Windsor in the Maine Senate. I spent the…
opinion: Much to gain – or lose
The Maine Climate Council’s 15-month process preparing Maine Won’t Wait: A Four-year…
Eva Murray
Well, it has happened: after two decades of writing about this place, and seeing people still react as though life on an unbridged, offshore island is indeed peculiar, and that full-time island…
Consider this my Christmas gift to you
I think the COVID thing might be getting to me. Not that I was ever right, but now I feel like I’m on the fringe more than ever.
Since I don’t watch the mainstream news and have sworn off…
opinion: The tide is turning
Alongside the challenges of a raging pandemic, failing health care system, struggling…
Pausing throughout your day creates space and time for reflection
Pause to Thrive
Pause to welcome the day.
Pause during your day to gain clarity.
…
opinion: how can a rural, aging and economically challenged state navigate a path to electrified transportation?
Only 1 percent of vehicles sold in Maine are electric, yet a few of those cars are already traveling the back roads and dirt driveways of Hancock and Washington counties. When the nonprofit agency…
opinion: Driving seemed inescapable until it wasn’t
Ask experts about cutting vehicular emissions — the largest source of Maine’s greenhouse gas…
Fleeing to Maine from climate disasters
What do you do when the place you call home becomes unlivable? …
opinionated at any speed
The action in pickup trucks these days seems to be in the bed, with tougher liners, 5th-wheel trailer hookups, tie-downs, storage boxes, lights, power outlets and tailgates that open gently…
Maine’s climate plan needs to address storm preparedness disparities; better support vulnerable, least prepared communities
Penobscot Falco
Classic road trips do not begin as classics. It’s not as if two guys look at each other one morning and say, “You in the mood for a classic road run?” And the other guy nods, “Sure, why not?”…
sea change column: Small wood homes yield big climate benefits
A single small home, lifted onto a foundation in Milbridge last month, could signal big housing changes ahead. Confronted with scant affordable housing and mandates to reduce carbon pollution,…
Two years ago, in 2018, I was in a movie. I thought the film would be for the memory of my dead father Marshall Green, for my need to have the world see the truth of who he had been, what he had…
The Penobscot Falcon
“Dude, come on, we’ll mop up,” said Steve Black with his signature smile.
“I’m not so sure.”—my only sensible words.
Steve Black was a burly, friendly local pool hustler and con…
sea change: The habitat of home
If you seek joy, invite a pair of hummingbirds into your life.
Ruby-throated hummingbirds share our home ground, making surprise appearances throughout the summer. Turn on the garden hose…
