Guest Columns - The Herald Gazette

By Herald Gazette Editorial Board | Nov 14, 2009

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Recent Posts by Herald Gazette Editorial Board

• An education bill with serious flaws

  By Audrey Buffington - Feb 03
  The second session of the Maine 125th Legislature is busy as can be. Just the Education and Cultural Affairs Committee has so many bills that it ...
  

• The full promise of Many Flags/One Campus

  By Loren Andrews - Jan 29
  "Really?" "That's right." "You mean my kids could walk across the campus and be in a college class just like that?" "Yup." "You mean they could ...
  

• The boy

  By Bill Packard - Jan 13
  There are things that happen in life and emotions that just sneak up on you. You think you’re prepared and then out of the blue a sucker punch ...
  

• The 'quality' of life

  By Ron Horvath - Dec 28
  On “Small business Saturday” Robin and I walked the streets of Rockland to do our part for the economy going from store to store, shopping, ...
  

• Why do humans kill each other?

  By Phil Croce - Dec 26
  Why do humans kill each other? Our own species after all. We are animals, of course, and if we look at other animals and examine in what cases a ...
  
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  Prevent snow-shoveling and snow-blowing injuries

  By Joseph Scordino, MD - Dec 22
  Though the weather may be mild now, we know there are many winter months ahead of us. It is important to remember that shoveling and blowing snow ...
  

• Focus on education: 'Readers First' needs you

  By Loren Andrews - Dec 16
  You cannot learn if you cannot read. It is as simple as that. Or, as they say in the early grades: At first you are learning to read, and then you ...
  

• Drug testing: Things are upside down

  By Bill Packard - Dec 15
  Once again one of Governor Paul LaPage’s proposals is causing a big controversy. While I don’t personally care for confrontation, sometimes ...
  
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  Amazon’s Jungle Logic

  By Richard Russo - Dec 15
  This column, which first appeared in the New York Times on Dec. 12, is reprinted here with permission. I first heard of Amazon’s new “promotion” ...
  

• Fluoride and its health benefits

  By Philip W. Higgins, ... - Dec 10
  I’ll be turning 60 next month and for the most part, I feel great. I have the interest and energy to do everything I enjoy and after 32 years of ...
  

• Supporting a community trail system

  By Jeff Kuller - Nov 11
  How does a recreational trail network bring economic development to a small New England community? That was the topic of a presentation at the ...
  
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  Building new traditions, new successes, at all levels

  By Loren Andrews - Nov 07
  Hearing from students and parents across the district, this fall has been a resounding success for our two new Oceanside high schools.Oceanside ...
  

• Vote yes on Camden's fire truck proposal

  By Chris Farley - Oct 31
  On Nov. 8, the Camden Fire Department is asking Camden residents to vote yes on the municipal ballot's Question 2: Shall the Town approve the ...
  

• Same day voter registration: Case in point

  By David Lyman - Oct 29
  I have a personal relationship with the abolishment of “same day voter registration.” I’m against it; rather, I’m for reinstating it. Last fall, ...
  

• New Rockland Public Works facility a necessity

  By Tom Molloy - Oct 28
  I urge all Rockland voters to approve the Public Works Facility bond issue this November. For the past 2.5 years, the City of Rockland Public ...
  

• The hedgehog moon

  By Kendall Merriam - Oct 22
  For Phyllis The bright full moon looks down On all hedgehogs And tries to protect them Against all comers Particularly if they are ...
  

• Future of Hope Town Office in voter's hands

  By Hope Board of Selectmen - Oct 20
  The future of the Hope Town Office will rest in the hands of Hope’s voters on Nov. 8 when Question 3 asks residents if they wish to renovate the ...
  

• Remembering cancer

  By Jory Squibb - Oct 15
  Brenda and I decided to go up to Lewiston-Auburn and do the Dempsey Challenge. This is a money-raising bike ride for the the Dempsey Center, a ...
  
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  This is not goodbye

  By Donna Culbertson - Oct 14
  It was a cold, snowy day on my first day at The Camden Herald on Nov. 14, 1981. I had started going to school to become a nurse and needed to work ...
  

• Knox County bond: Do the facts support it?

  By Linwood Lothrop - Oct 14
  In just a few short weeks the citizens of Knox County will go to the polls to weigh in on a $2.5 million dollar bond for the expansion of the Knox ...
  

• A day of fog and beauty

  By Kendall Merriam - Oct 10
  For Shubhra Chand A Japanese painting closed in I cannot see the ocean One hundred yards away Yet from across the world Comes ...
  

• Spirit of Oceanside High is alive and well

  By Michael McGuire - Oct 08
  It’s working just great! Make no mistake about it, as far as the students who each day traverse the halls of Oceanside High School on Broadway ...
  

• Robert Shetterly Speaks

  Sep 29
  There are few more important issues than the role of the media in our culture. Sept. 10, 2011 I want to mention the heightened ...
  

• Knox County should not be pawn in political game

  By Brian Harden, mayor ... - Sep 24
  On Tuesday, the Maine Legislature will vote on a map that will redraw the lines of our state's congressional districts. Legislative Republicans ...
  

• Address Old County Road traffic problems now, not later

  By Rick Stuart - Sep 16
  As a homeowner on Old County Road, I am concerned about the traffic problems that have developed over the years on Old County Road, and will be ...
  

• A comedy of errors

  By Barbara F. Dyer - Sep 07
  On Aug. 24, I attended the annual meeting of the Camden-Rockport Historical Society, which I have been doing for a number of years as a paying ...
  

• What is the Teaparty?

  By Gordon Colby - Sep 03
  After listening to erroneous and uninformed commentary from many sources about the Teaparty I feel that it is incumbent upon myself to be a source ...
  

• Thoughts on filling out a two-hour-long insurance form

  By Philip C. Groce - Aug 30
  Consider that we humans are an ancient lot and genetically the same as those in the Stone Age thousands of years ago. Back then, time was noted by ...
  
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  The Commander

  By Kendall Merriam - Aug 28
  He stands at watch Like the Commander of a great ship Responsible for the forward offense Of government plans He can give directions for ...
  
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  What are you, South Dakota?

  By Jo Dondis - Aug 19
  We finally saw Arkansas in Rockport. If the fog hadn’t just lifted I would not have believed it: Pristine in black, red and gradations of blue and ...
  

• Elegy for a Blue Jay

  By Kendall Merriam - Aug 19
  For Kristen Lindquist and Sue Shane Our money cat Phyllis calls “Girl Cat” Brought us a gift And left it right in front of the Hosta ...
  
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  Personal history: Roger Cartwright, spreading joy through dance

  By Steve Cartwright - Aug 17
  Roger Cartwright, 88, died quietly at his Amherst, Mass., home on Aug. 9, 2011, his granddaughter Chelsea by his side.He was a Johnny Appleseed of ...
  

• The Second Great Contraction

  By Kenneth Rogoff - Aug 16
  Why is everyone still referring to the recent financial crisis as the “Great Recession”? The term, after all, is predicated on a dangerous ...
  

• Lack of transparency in Wal-Mart process

  By Albie Davis - Aug 15
  On July 19, a public Planning Board hearing on the economic impact of the proposed Wal-Mart superstore in Thomaston was held. I am one of many ...
  

• Snow Bowl multi-use, Nordic trail: Clarifying the record

  By Jeff Kuller - Aug 05
  I would like to correct and clarify recent information you may have read or heard about the new multi-season, multi-use trail planned for construct...
  

• Supporting local foods in the Farm Bill

  By Chellie Pingree - Jul 31
  When I moved to Maine as a teenager in 1971, big business, and big subsidies, was just beginning to define American agriculture. Instead of small, ...
  

• Sen. Snowe pursues interstate truck weight regulations

  By Sen. Olympia J. Snowe - Jul 29
  Families all across our country are enduring an extended economic downturn unlike anything we have ever seen before. Unemployment continues above ...
  

• Remembering Alice Skinner — A dynamic Maine lady

  By Pat Crosby - Jul 28
  As we all know ... life can be unsettling. So, “thank you” Alice Skinner for your insight, determination and hard work to share how to live a ...
  
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  Love, the Bus: Getting our wheels under ourselves

  By Tyler Dunham - Jul 22
  At this hour of the evening, New Hampshire's Whites look like the Carolinas' Blue Ridge. Chartreuse, our bus, made it to the heart of the White ...
  
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  Alternative lodge design for Camden Snow Bowl

  By Stephen Smith, ... - Jul 22
  The Ragged Mountain Redevelopment Association has worked hard over the past two and half years developing a master plan and raising money for the ...
  

• Ragged Mountain redevelopment success dependent on community support

  By Rick Knowlton - Jul 22
  The recreation facilities at Ragged Mountain mean many things to many people. Whether you have skied, hiked, biked, tobogganed, paddled, played ...
  

• Who is Anonymous?

  By Kendall Merriam - Jul 05
  We see it sprinkled through the New York Times Or even the Bangor Daily News People afraid to speak out Clearly by name Fearful and ...
  
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  Historic Knox Hotel gets energy efficiency makeover

  By Brooke Williams - Jun 26
  In 1978, David Twombly was driving through Thomaston and saw a for sale sign on the Knox Hotel on Main Street. “The 1915 building was about to ...
  

• Fueling summer safety

  By David McCaskill - Jun 25
  One look at the rising mercury is a reminder that summer is here, time mow the lawn and cool off when the chores are done with a boat ride around ...
  

• To the citizens of Rockport

  By Dale Landrith, Jr. - Jun 23
  I have served on the Rockport Select Board for two years and was on the Budget Committee for one year prior to my election to the Select Board. ...
  

• Constitutional amendment right tool for investment in natural resource management

  By Sen. David Trahan - Jun 17
  A few constituents have asked why I sponsored LD 563, “Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of Maine To Use a Portion of the Sales and Use ...
  

• Shaping an efficient school system that provide high-quality education

  By Dale E. Landrith, Sr. - Jun 10
  As part of his statewide tour seeking input on educational issues, Commissioner of Education Steve Bowen was in Camden on May 17 at the Camden-Rock...
  

• The Tannery property sale process and Warrant Articles 6A, 6B

  By Brian S. Hodges - Jun 10
  The voters of Camden have some important decisions to make at the June 15 town meeting, including those regarding the former Apollo Tannery ...
  

• Doris Vertz: Will work to build credibility, trust and unity

  By Doris Vertz - Jun 10
  Doris Vertz, your neighbor down the street, a lifelong registered nurse and your candidate for the Union Board of Selectmen, has listened to you ...
  

• Preserve tannery referendum. Vote no on 6A and 6B

  By Nancy Caudle-Johnson - Jun 10
  At Camden Town Meeting, June 15, voters will be asked to rescind their Nov. 4, 2008 approval (1,745 yes, 997 no) of a measure requiring that "any ...
  

• Contemplating Shakespeare on my 69th birthday

  By Kendall Merriam - Jun 05
  I do not feel old Being Jean Lawrence’s lover in Midsummer The humor, the passion, the history, the sad events Of the Bard’s imagination An...
  

• Don White: Advocate of transparency

  By Don White - Jun 04
  I am Don White, a candidate for the Camden Select Board in the June 14 election. I’m a 20-year resident of Camden, a retired sales and marketing ...
  

• Eliza Haselton: Will keep eye on budget; supports quality education, clear discipline policies

  By Eliza Haselton - Jun 03
  Last week, I watched two recent films on education in America: "Waiting for Superman" and "The Race to Nowhere." The films explored issues with ...
  

• William Chapman: Rockport at a crossroads

  By William Chapman - Jun 03
  Rockport is at a crossroads, both literally and figuratively. While we sit at the junction of most of the major roads in the Midcoast region, we ...
  

• Budgets and education excellence

  By Alexander Armentrout - Jun 01
  The 2011-12 proposed School Administrative District 28 and Five Town CSD budgets have been completed. The budget meetings for both entities will ...
  

• Dad's Memorial Day flight

  By Cathy Lickteig Makofski - May 30
  My brothers and I grew up during the 1950s and 60s in Albert Lea, Minn., population 20,000. Our family home, built in 1912, was a four-story ...
  

• Helping out the state of Maine

  By Dennis Lopez - May 23
  I realize our trusty State House is toiling away, wrestling with knotty questions, such as who can use what bathroom, whether the Whoopee Pie ...
  

• Development for Camden

  By Brian Hodges - May 23
  March 14, 2011. I’ll never forget that date: My first day on the job as Camden’s development director. After working in Maine state government for ...
  

• A typewriter song

  By Kendall Merriam - May 22
  My wife, Phyllis Bought this machine for me in 1970 or ‘71 It turned me from an amateur Onto the long road as a professional Writing all ...
  

• It happened at town meeting

  By Bill Packard - May 14
  I know that as you read this some towns have already had their town meeting, but for most of the towns, it’s a month or so away. Every piece of ...
  

• Composting. It’s not just a good idea

  By Mark A. King - May 13
  As spring approaches, chilly nights and frozen grounds reluctantly give way to warm, sunny skies and lush regrowth of native flora. During this ...
  

• From the front row

  By Andy Schlebecker - May 13
  I’ve lived in Camden since sixth grade. I’ve made lifelong friends here, started an organization here, and am now graduating from high school ...
  

• Maine. Open for Business. Drug business

  By Ann Ryan - May 09
  I am a grateful reader of your publication and always look forward to Village Soup's editorials. However, I am more than perplexed to find that ...
  
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  Spring ramble

  By Steve Cartwright - May 08
  Man's heart away from nature becomes hard — Chief Standing Bear Spring comes again, so welcome after the long winter wait. I take random ...
  

• With bin Laden's death, a sense of closure

  By Bill Packard - May 06
  I really feel the need to write this, but I don’t know how to begin. So many thoughts and feelings with no specific direction. I guess I’ll just ...
  

• Churchill responds

  By Jack Churchill - May 04
  Unfortunately, I missed the Kangaroo Court held at the Camden Select Board meeting last night [May 3]. I wasn’t invited, or even notified. That’s ...
  

• The rest of the story in Rockport

  By Robert H. Nichols - May 02
  At the April 11, 2011 meeting of the Rockport Select Board, a motion was made and approved to not renew the contract of Robert Peabody, town ...
  

• Tannery agreement does not protect Camden, Part II

  By Nancy Caudle-Johnson - May 02
  The first amended purchase and sales agreement signed with B'D' Turman'd Entertainment has holes big enough for a herd of elephants to pass ...
  

• Maine Republicans offer tax-cut package to benefit everyone

  By By: Rep. L. Gary ... - Apr 30
  Tax policy should reflect shared community values and encourage economic activity that benefits us all. The $203 Million tax-cut package unveiled ...
  

• Why you dread getting ill

  By Dennis Lopez - Apr 27
  While Europe and other developed countries enjoy free and ready access to healthcare and no danger of losing their home should they be taken ill, ...
  

• Change requires awareness; understanding results in action

  By Bill Packard - Apr 23
  OK, so now that I have everyone’s attention regarding town government, what’s next? Here’s an important thing to remember: Everyone does the best ...
  

• Littering on Harbor Park

  Apr 22
  On the Fourth of July the town of Camden is crowded with people celebrating, holding barbecues, and watching fireworks. Though these celebrations ...
  

• Tannery agreement does not protect Camden

  By Nancy Caudle-Johnson - Apr 18
  The Camden Select Board held a public hearing on April 7 at the Camden Opera House to take public comments on the first amended purchase and sale ...
  

• About Parkinson's disease

  By Gordon Guist - Apr 09
  Editor’s note: April is National Parkinson’s Awareness month. This article is intended to heighten public awareness. “You have Parkinson’s ...
  
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  The starting line

  By Cathy Lickteig Makofski - Apr 08
  ‘What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.’ — T.S. Eliot. ...
  

• To be (or not to be) determined

  By Nancy Caudle-Johnson - Apr 04
  After viewing the rather sketchy presentation by B' D' Turman'D Entertainment at the March 19 Camden Select Board meeting, I had many questions. ...
  
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  Washington snowmobilers partner with emergency network

  By Charlotte Henderson - Apr 03
  On a very cold and windy morning a few weeks ago, an intrepid crew of emergency personnel from the Washington Fire Department, Union Ambulance ...
  

• Do you know a trauma survivor?

  By Joyce Boaz - Apr 01
  Unfortunately, many people these days know someone who have been through a traumatic event. He or she could be your neighbor, a co-worker, family ...
  

• Embracing the changes

  By Ruth Anne Hohfeld - Mar 31
  The school board of Regional School Unit 13 held its 24th meeting in February; it is an infant in terms of institutional years. The members of ...
  

• 'Let us now praise famous men'

  By Jeffrey Evangelos - Mar 27
  While I was at Orono in the early 1970s, I had the privilege of learning under Maine's great historian David Smith, author of more than 20 books, ...
  

• 'You People' are still the boss

  By Bill Packard - Mar 26
  You might remember that back before the election, I wrote a piece about what I saw the Tea Party to be after going to a couple of meetings here in ...
  

• Disheartening for Maine teachers

  By John Fitzgerald - Mar 25
  I’d like to clarify some of the comments attributed to me in Shlomit Auciello’s article last week “Legislators hear from local educators." The ...
  

• Wrong way to balance budget priorities

  By Andy O'Brien - Mar 18
  As I stared out at the faces in the school auditorium, I realized it had been almost 14 years since I had seen many of them. Back then, I was ...
  
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  Angels in the Camden area

  By Barbara F. Dyer - Mar 14
  One of the nicest things that ever happened in Camden took place at the YMCA on Chestnut Street on Oct. 10, 1920. It was a meeting of compassiona...
  
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  Let’s change Waldoboro’s name to Broad Bay

  By Steve Cartwright - Mar 13
  Years ago, Broad Bay was the alliterative and attractive name of the Midcoast town known today as Waldoboro. Let’s face it. “Waldoboro” is an ...
  

• The Enchanted

  By Kendall Merriam - Mar 13
  For Paul and Morning Star A lovely winter’s day Warm for jackets and bright sun Waiting for your tales of the woods Where you go ...
  

• Time to accelerate, not pull back the throttle

  By Dan Bolita - Mar 11
  Like most citizens, I generally prefer to remain both anonymous and complacent. The unfortunate consequence of this choice is that our elected ...
  

• The sled from the Smokestack

  By Tom Crowley - Feb 26
  A true (somewhat) story about a sled and some Camden characters. Written for The Smokestack Grill on Feb. 15, 2011 after racing with the Smokestack...
  
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  Rockport Library seeks opinions

  Feb 26
  The Rockport Public Library is turning 100 years old in 2014. As members of the Rockport Public Library Committee, we, along with the staff, have ...
  
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  Stop and turn the key

  By Tom Hopps - Feb 26
  An idling car, truck or bus gets no miles per gallon and pollutes the air burning gas and money to no benefit. Idling more than 10 seconds uses ...
  

• The Camden Conference: The power of inclusion in foreign policy

  By Jory Squibb - Feb 26
  My pulse began to quicken as the Camden Conference drew near. I knew China would be center stage, a country that particularly interests me. I have ...
  

• Sticking it to property taxpayers

  By Jay Feyler - Feb 25
  Last week, Gov. LePage released his proposed budget for the next two years. As a municipal official, I was hoping that things would change from ...
  
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  Seabee, Thomaston tradesman turns 90

  By Carolyn Zachary - Feb 22
  Harold A. Achorn, Sr., a World War II Seabee who ran a flooring business for some 40 years, celebrated his 90th birthday recently with family and ...
  

• Music inspires creativity

  By Trish Jonason - Feb 22
  I am always looking for new music. New music to sing to, dance to, cook to and, most importantly, groove to with my two year-old. I'm a music ...
  

• Snow Blindness

  By Kendall Merriam - Feb 12
  For Stephanie and Phyllis Staring into the sun The view is impossible Is it because I am twenty feet above talent Painters working the ...
  

• Holy ground

  By Jory Squibb - Feb 04
  You know, first thing in the morning, the world can seem like a pretty unhappy and threatening place. With bleary eyes, you munch the toast and ...
  

• Maine gets a little wind-wiser

  By Owen Casas - Feb 04
  "The future ain’t what it used to be." Yogi Berra said that. I doubt he knew that the future would also include meeting 20 percent of our nation's ...
  

• Many Flags ready to be the five-year high school/associate degree pilot for Maine

  By Sheri Closter and Dan ... - Jan 27
  Dear Governor LePage: First of all, congratulations on becoming Maine’s next governor. These are challenging times for Maine. You have our best ...
  

• Violent exhortations have consequences

  By Anita Brosius-Scott - Jan 22
  My heart is heavy for the victims of the tragedy in Arizona. These senseless murders and the attempted assassination of Gabrielle Giffords brings ...
  

• SOS

  By Diane H. Schetky - Jan 22
  The world is tilting on an axis in need of major repairs. Glaciers and perma frost are shedding their dormant secrets. Ocean acidificatio...
  

• Remembering Martin Luther King

  By Jay Davis - Jan 17
  [Editor's note: This column first appeared in VillageSoup Jan. 20, 2003.] Forty years ago in April, Dr. Martin Luther King was jailed in ...
  

• Credit and debit cards sting local revenue

  By Steve Cartwright - Jan 16
  What if you could suddenly donate approximately $14,000 per year to the Good Tern co-op market in Rockland? Well, we can in fact do that, but it ...
  

• Writing a new chapter

  By Larry Kinney - Jan 16
  Here we are again, the beginning of a new chapter in Maine history. As someone not particularly interested in politics, I am, however, encouraged...
  
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  Poinsettia regeneration in our back yard

  By Doug Saball - Jan 11
  In the late 1980s, a study by NASA resulted in excellent news for homeowners and office workers everywhere. The study concluded that common ...
  

• The poets and the guv

  By Kathleen Fox - Jan 07
  The following is a poem written in response to an editorial by Joshua Bodwell decrying Governor LePage's decision to not include poetry in the ...
  

• I ♥ Maine poetry

  By Joshua Bodwell - Jan 04
  I must admit that I was quite surprised when governor-elect Paul LePage’s camp announced that no poetry would be read at his gubernatorial ...
  

• Reviving the West

  By Gordon Brown - Dec 27
  In 2008, at a time of financial peril, the world united to restructure the global banking system. In 2009, as trade collapsed and unemployment ...
  

• Letters to the editor

  Dec 26
  The older generationMy dear Santa,I am probably too old to be writing to you, but I am writing on behalf of many old and forgotten relatives, who ...
  

• Democracy defeated

  By Dennis Lopez - Dec 21
  Obama’s capitulation to the Republicans (in order for the unemployed to get $18 billion, the rich get $780 billion) is a stunning example of just ...
  
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  Christmas as mythology

  By The Rev. Kevin Pleas - Dec 21
  At the risk of giving it more attention than it has already gotten, and certainly more than it deserves, I can’t help responding to the billboard ...
  

• Our wet planet

  By Joe Brown - Dec 20
  An astronaut peering down on our planet from space might wonder why we call it “Earth” instead of “Ocean,” since that large blue dominating watery ...
  
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  Where was this?

  Dec 13
  In the great scheme of things, this photo is not all that old, except the fixtures within it are now practically obsolete. Do you know where this ...
  
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  Fog

  By Joe Brown - Dec 12
  My wife Bobby and I were aboard our sloop Snow Goose about halfway between North Haven Island and Rockport, the latter being our home port for ...
  

• Dear Santa

  By Ellie Busby - Dec 12
  Dear Santa:We are pretty worn out down here right now, so could you please bring back our jobs? A lot of us are older and have worked really hard ...
  
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  Water and Power: People from 'away'

  By Eva Murray - Dec 12
  We’re guilty of a mighty double standard. Mainers take enormous pride in the literal place of their birth, and don’t hesitate to point out the ...
  
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  Gateway 1: Bad for Maine, bad for Rockland

  By Ted Cowan - Dec 12
  Most people do not know it, but there is a scandal brewing over an organization being formed to draw the towns along Route 1 into a scheme to, in ...
  
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  Readers' Response

  Dec 11
  Last week, the Herald Gazette (Dec. 1) published a photo of a village church, taken sometime around the turn of the 20th-Century. Hope citizens ...
  

• Warren, time to start over

  By Bill Packard - Dec 09
  When something like what is going on right now in Warren happens, it’s just a terrible, terrible thing. There is a very real possibility and ...
  
• Dispatches

  Do you believe?

  By Irene Maxcy - Dec 07
  Editor's Note: Irene Maxcy and her husband, Richard, of Warren, recently returned from a photographic tour to the northern tundra of Canada. The ...
  

• Taxpayers: Dialing 911 costs money

  By Michael M. Monck - Dec 04
  First I would like to thank your newspaper for starting the education of the public of the behind the scenes struggles public safety departments ...
  
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  Furry friends

  By Joseph Brown - Nov 29
  Mark Twain was once quoted as saying, “If a man could be crossed with the cat, it would improve man but deteriorate the cat.” Albert Schweitzer ...
  
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  Readers' Response

  Nov 27
  Terry Economy's column, Rail Kids, has evoked memories of former Rockland residents, including those of William Pease, who grew up in Rockland and ...
  

• Now is not the time to sell out our fishermen

  By U.S. Senator Olympia ... - Nov 26
  On Nov. 18, during a meeting of the International Commission on Conservation of Atlantic Tunas in Paris, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administr...
  
• Dispatches

  Greetings from South Africa

  By Jane Lafleur - Nov 20
  Three hours on the tarmac in Portland and it began to sink in that this was going to be a long trip. But soon I was off to JFK, then Johannesburg ...
  

• Gateway 1 a tool to preserve resources and promote healthy growth

  By Don White - Nov 20
  In response to the editorial in last Wednesday's Herald Gazette titled "Uncertain times for towns", Gateway1 continues on course to form a ...
  

• Oil tank safety in the backyard

  By David McCaskill - Nov 17
  You’ve heard it from us before, but ‘tis the season to hear it again. It’s time to pay attention to your lonely and faithful oil tank hidden away ...
  
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  Ode to Maine

  By Joe Brown - Nov 13
  It was just about this time of year in 1990 when a new neighbor approached my wife and myself not long after we had moved to Rockport from ...
  

• Budget common sense

  By Garrett Martin - Nov 13
  When a family faces economic hardship, not only do they sit at the kitchen table and figure out how to cut their spending, they also try to find ...
  

• Remembering our nation's veterans

  By Senator Susan Collins - Nov 11
  “Veterans Day was established to commemorate that precise moment – the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918 – when the guns of the ...
  
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  Painting the world for Camden-Rockport Middle School

  By Alice Podolsky - Nov 06
  Recently, I caught up with Edie Caldwell, a resident of Rockport, and asked her a few questions about the renovation of the Camden-Rockport Middle ...
  

• Controlling our corners

  Nov 06
  Is a new four-way stop sign at Hope Center really the solution to a speed limit issue? On Nov. 4, the Maine Department of Transportation was at ...
  
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  Wind turbine noise: noise complaints predictable

  By Stephen Ambrose and ... - Oct 30
  Applicants and regulators should have foreseen the negative noise response from neighbors living near wind turbine sites. By their not adequately ...
  

• The progressive viewpoint

  By Dennis Lopez - Oct 30
  You don’t hear the political term “progressive” much, a descriptive fitting many more Americans than you’d guess, because our beliefs contradict ...
  

• Why do I want to be a Rockland City Councilor

  By Frank Isganitis - Oct 30
  Many people have asked me this question over the last four weeks. Some have prefaced the question with the statement, “You must be crazy.” Nothing ...
  

• 'Tea Party, I think, is you and me'

  By Bill Packard - Oct 30
  The Tea Party appears to be getting more and more attention around the country and as we always have, Maine seems to be at the forefront. There’s ...
  

• Wrong feels just like right

  By Shlomit Auciello - Oct 28
  "What does it feel like when you know you're wrong?"When this question was posed to the PopTech audience last week at the Camden Opera House, ...
  

• Larry Pritchett: Why I am running for Rockland City Council

  By Larry Pritchett - Oct 26
  I am running for Rockland City Council because Rockland people want government that gives us value for our tax dollars, builds on the strengths of ...
  
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  The Maine economy should be No. 1 priority

  By Dana Dow - Oct 25
  For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Dana Dow, owner of Dow Furniture in Waldoboro and former senator for District 20 of Lincoln County. My ...
  

• The economic significance of the Snow Bowl

  By Dan Bookham - Oct 25
  Although it’s still October I have to admit to having a hankering for snow. Maybe it’s the appearance of ski equipment magazines in the stores ...
  

• Wesley Richardson: Why I am running for Maine Legislature

  By Wesley Richardson - Oct 22
  As the State Representative for District 49 (Cushing, Friendship, Union and Warren) my name is Wes Richardson and I am running for reelection. I ...
  

• Carol Emery, Why I want to be Knox County Judge of Probate

  By Carol Emery - Oct 20
  The Probate Judge is the only elected Judge in Maine, as set forth in the Maine Constitution. Despite the fact we are elected officials, we must ...
  

• Helen Shaw: Make Maine business-friendly, stop dependency

  By Helen Shaw - Oct 19
  My name is Helen Shaw and I am running for the state house to represent the citizens of Camden and Rockport. I want to go to Augusta and pass ...
  

• Knox County Sheriff Candidate Donna Dennison: I ask for your vote

  By Donna Dennison - Oct 19
  As I thought about writing this editorial, I considered briefly responding to the accusations that have come my way during the last month of the ...
  

• Vote Mike Phillips for Sheriff

  By Mike Phillips - Oct 19
  When I started this journey 16 months ago with the Fourth of July Parade in Thomaston I had a small group of people who believed in me. As time ...
  

• Jeff Gallagher: Open personnel files and let voters decide

  By Jeff Gallagher - Oct 19
  I want to take this opportunity to thank Patricia Colling Egan of Rockport for her recent Herald Gazette Letter to the Editor (“Sheriff's Office ...
  

• Walter Kumiega: Maine lobstermen need great representation

  By Walter Kumiega - Oct 19
  If elected to House Seat 36 I will work hard to represent the interests of Maine's lobster industry. Fishing is the economic heart and cultural ...
  

• Jacqueline Spofford: Growing up in Maine

  By Jacqueline Spofford - Oct 18
  While growing up I never realized how special it was to live on the coast of Maine. When I was 13, I had the opportunity to go to Greece. I ...
  

• What the Tea Party is

  By Cynthia Rosen - Oct 17
  "Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others?" — ...
  

• Shelby Chadwick: Connected to the people of the Midcoast

  By Shelby Chadwick - Oct 16
  People often ask why I have decided to run for public office. I can honestly say it is because I care deeply about our rural towns and how they ...
  

• Joan Welsh: Jobs in the Creative Economy for the Midcoast and Maine

  By Joan Welsh - Oct 16
  As I have been going door to door talking with my neighbors and constituents the overarching theme is concern about jobs and the economy. The ...
  

• Chuck Kruger: Why I want to serve in the Maine Legislature

  By Chuck Kruger - Oct 16
  VillageSoup and the Herald Gazette have been kind enough to make space available for candidates. I thought I would cover some of the basic ...
  

• Andrew O'Brien: The reality of bipartisanship

  By Andrew O'Brien - Oct 16
  In 2008, when I was first running for the legislature, I attended a Belfast debate that stuck in my mind over the past two years. Two legislative ...
  

• Steven D. Powell: Why I am running for Maine State Legislature

  By Steven D. Powell - Oct 15
  As the Republican candidate in District 48 for the House of Representatives, I've learned a lot about the political process. If you think the ...
  

• Harold G. Perry: Why I am running for Rockland City Council

  By Harold G. Perry - Oct 15
  The reason I am running for Rockland City Council are: Provide public service with integrity, humility, family values; where freedom and ...
  

• Sarah Ruef-Lindquist: I pledge to serve faithfully, intelligently and fairly

  Oct 15
  In any election, having a choice is fundamental to the validity and integrity of the process. This November, you have a choice that voters in Knox ...
  

• Why I am running for Maine House District 44

  By Wendy Pelletier - Oct 15
  I am a conservative Republican candidate for Maine House District 44 serving Appleton, Hope, Searsmont, Liberty, Morrill, Linconville and Islesboro...
  

• Visualize Wal-Mart with a green roof garden

  By John Chandler - Oct 09
  Word is circulating that a group of concerned Thomaston citizens is opposed to Wal-Mart, but I do not think such is the case. A couple of years ...
  
• 

  Remembering Margaret

  By Joseph Brown - Oct 09
  With the midterm elections closing in on us like a January nor'easter, it seems appropriate that we remember one of the most dynamic figures in ...
  

• An open letter to Congress:

  By Wes Keep - Oct 03
  Dear Members of Congress: Most of you, maybe all, will not like this note. Probably all will disagree in your individual political stammering, ...
  
• 

  Sheena

  By Karen L. Cadbury - Sep 27
  Sheena and Glen are unemployed. They live in a small third-floor walk-up apartment on a slightly hidden side street, near factories and railroad ...
  

• Selling land to advance conservation

  By Scott Dickerson - Sep 25
  During the past few months, Coastal Mountains Land Trust has sold two properties, and expects to soon sell a third. This is an unusual convergence ...
  
• 

  Lead poisoned Megunticook loon dies

  By Kate Harris - Sep 23
  The Avian Haven Wild Bird Rehabilitation Center in Freedom, who's annual caseload runs typically about 1000 birds from 100 or more species, was ...
  

• Thomaston big-box a bigger discussion

  By Steve Ryan - Sep 23
  As public debate ensues about the possibility of a Wal-Mart coming to Route 1 in Thomaston, there is a chance that the long view may be lost in ...
  

• Rectifying egregious inequalities for Maine’s paper producers

  By U.S. Senator Olympia ... - Sep 21
  On Sept. 16, I had the opportunity join with mill workers from Maine at a U.S. International Trade Commission hearing in Washington, where I ...
  
• 

  Mammoth pumpkin grows on Pearl Street

  By Lori Van Dusen - Sep 21
  We have a friend named Phil Fowler, who lives in Camden during the summer and is an executive of a big company in North Carolina. In his spare ...
  

• Wind turbine noise: an independent assessment of sound quality

  By Stephen Ambrose and ... - Sep 19
  Stephen Ambrose and Robert Rand are members of the Institute of Noise Control Engineering. In 2009, they became concerned about the negative ...
  

• The new economy

  By Philip C. Groce - Sep 19
  After the Herald Gazette published my article (7/14/10) on the new economy, I have been asked questions concerning the political environment in ...
  
• 

  Swan Song

  By Ron Horvath - Sep 17
  Things change. That’s a constant, probably the only one. People change. That should go without saying but it needs stating anyway as humans are ...
  
• 

  Wind turbine noise, an independent assessment

  By Stephen Ambrose and ... - Sep 10
  Stephen Ambrose and Robert Rand are members of the Institute of Noise Control Engineering. In 2009, they became concerned about the negative ...
  

• Perry mails a letter

  By David Hill - Aug 27
  I have a friend whose name and location I cannot mention. He lives in a group home situation, somewhere on planet Earth. I'll call him Perry. I ...
  

• A mountain of opportunity

  By John M. Christie - Aug 20
  I've been involved with skiing and the ski industry for most of my 73 years. In fact, it has been 68 years since my mother put me on skis at the ...
  
• In Our Back Yard

  Why can't I breathe in our back yard?

  By Doug Saball - Aug 20
  You might remember the 1963 hit song by Nat King Cole: “Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer, those days of soda and pretzels and ...
  

• Ragged Mountain wind power development

  Aug 19
  It has come to the attention of several property owners and concerned citizens in the Camden/Rockport/ Hope and other neighborhoods on or near the ...
  
• 

  How soon we forget

  By Fred Hirsch - Aug 13
  Four years ago, two individuals, one a child, were killed when a train approached them and others while they were fishing on a railroad bridge in ...
  
• 

  The family reunion

  By Jory Squibb - Aug 06
  Six siblings, ages 55 to 70, surround our 95-year-old mother on a porch overlooking Lake Michigan. Late July! This must be the Squibb clan's ...
  
• 

  Dragon Cement remains an economic mainstay

  By Dragon Cement ... - Aug 05
  It is important to recognize the economic, environmental and community contributions made by local businesses such as Dragon Cement, located on ...
  
• 

  Sitting among friends

  By Jory Squibb - Jul 22
  If you examined the above picture as a stranger, you would simply see a circle of 20-somethings chatting together. But the fellow in the tie-dyed ...
  

• The new economy

  By Philip C. Groce - Jul 17
  We have been locked into what I will call the Old Economy (OE) for as long as the United States has existed. The OE went well, but recently it has ...
  

• Rockland more than entertainment side show

  By David Wylie - Jul 12
  We need to consider the potential impact of mega-ships in Rockland. We need to get behind the promotional rhetoric of the cruise industry and the ...
  
• 

  Lincolnville's welcome mat

  By Diane O'Brien - Jul 09
  The house at Youngtown Corner has traditionally been one of the grandest in Lincolnville. For generations of Youngs, including many of their ...
  
• 

  The business of berries

  By Jed Beach - Jul 01
  About this series: This is the second of a series of articles highlighting agriculture in the Midcoast. Each month, the article will highlight one ...
  

• Jobless recoveries and manic policies

  By Raghuram Rajan - Jun 27
  Monetary and fiscal policies in the United States, both in this recession and the recession of 2001, have been among the most accommodating in the ...
  

• A few last words on tax reform (for now)

  By Rep. John Piotti - Jun 19
  With a yes vote prevailing on Question 1 in the June 8 election, the tax overhaul passed by the Legislature a year ago (LD 1495) is now repealed.  ...
  

• Words as weapons

  By Marilyn Moss Rockefeller - Jun 11
  It was 8:30 a.m. on May 20. I was sitting on the first row of bleachers in the Bucksport High School gymnasium, filled with students at tables. A ...
  

• A letter from Geoffrey Parker

  By Geoffrey Parker - Jun 09
  To Rockport citizens: First of all, let me congratulate Gretchen Richards in winning this election. Her desire to serve the community is a ...
  

• Profiling — going to Grandma's goes global

  By Pat Crosby - Jun 06
  MADRID, Spain -- Oct. 30, 2000: ETA Basque terrorist group sets off bomb killing four people. MADRID, Spain -- March 11, 2000: Terrorist train ...
  

• Rockport voters: save the ball field, save the community

  By Robert Nichols - Jun 04
  On their June 8 printed ballot, Rockport voters will see a question (Article 9) that reads: "Shall the Town (i) adopt the Development Program ...
  
• 

  Memorial Day and lilacs

  By Lynda Clancy - May 31
  Maine's rugged and lovely lilac is in full bloom, a week or two early this year, but still in sync with Memorial Day. The evening air is scented ...
  

• Get informed for SAD 40's regional budget meeting

  By Bob Butler - May 30
  I'm writing this to express my views concerning the Maine School Administrative District 40 fiscal year 2011 budget. I usually attend school ...
  

• Sheriff's office needs to focus on community

  By Tim Hoppe - May 28
  There’s an outdated approach to running a sheriff’s office, and a leading-edge approach that reflects modern best-practice policing.The outdated ...
  

• I ask for your vote on June 8

  By Donna Dennison - May 28
  It is sometimes hard to believe that almost four years have passed since I was elected to my first term as Knox County sheriff. I appreciate the ...
  

• Vote no on Question 1 for Maine's future

  By John Piotti - May 28
  Note: This is a continuation of a column published last week. Question 1 on the June 8 ballot reads: "Do you want to reject the new law that ...
  
• 

  Come Boating! and Station Maine report from Cornwall

  By Muriel Curtis - May 22
  It was Malcolm's fault. He's the cox of Come Boating!'s rowing program. Malcolm is deeply steeped in the tradition of the Cornish Pilot gigs used ...
  

• Maine leads the nation offshore

  By Ron Huber - May 21
  Maine will lead the nation in the race to build truly offshore floating wind power stations. The May 11 signing ceremony of LD 1810 "An Act To ...
  

• Vote no on Question 1 for Maine's future

  By John Piotti - May 21
  On June 8, you will have a chance to help both yourself and Maine by voting no on Question 1. In 2009, after the Legislature passed the first ...
  
• 

  Come to the table; talk, listen, then act

  By Patrick Wright - May 20
  This column is the second in a series of three articles submitted by the town of Waldoboro planning and development director regarding the ...
  

• Getting the growing going earlier

  By Jed Beach - May 15
  This is the first of a series of articles highlighting agriculture in the Midcoast. Each month, the article will highlight one of the products ...
  

• Weatherization loans available for homeowners

  By Anita Brosius-Scott - May 14
  On April 1 Maine passed PACE-enabling legislation, the first step toward making it possible for all property owners to be able to afford the high ...
  
• 

  Why Waldoboro needs a vision

  By Patrick Wright - May 13
  This column is the first in a series of three articles submitted by the town of Waldoboro planning and development director regarding the ReThink, ...
  

• As I see it

  By Maynard Tolman - Apr 30
  In Rockport, approximately three years ago, Bob Duke was re-elected to the Select Board. He served previously on the Charter Commission when the ...
  

• Rockport charter

  By Bill Packard - Apr 29
  Of course everyone has their pantyhose knotted up about this Rockport Select Board member/charter amendment deal. It's the talk of people all ...
  

• Rising red tide concerns

  By Sen. Susan Collins - Apr 29
  The first red tide closure of the season hit the Maine Coast in late March, halting the harvest of some species of shellfish from Harpswell to the ...
  
• 

  The demise of a credit card offer collection

  By Tom Sadowski - Apr 28
  Hey! My credit card offers are missing! Ten years of collecting credit card offers down the drain, apparently swiped from my office. I had them ...
  
• 

  Beheaded. A metaphor?

  By Maggie Trout - Apr 20
  When Rockland received its most recent destination designation from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, accompanying the news announcemen...
  

• The Preface

  By Kendall Merriam - Apr 17
  For Shubhra Chand   We have only had a glimpse of your work it lies here in the sun of the bay still enclosed in linen I saw black and ...
  

• Devastating examples

  By Rebecca Anderson - Apr 10
  For any parent or taxpayer affected by the Rockland and Thomaston area proposal for immediate school consolidation: If we are to be concerned ...
  

• Programs for exceptional children

  By Judy Gove - Mar 26
  The Five Town Community School District and Maine School Administrative District 28 provide special education and related services to more than ...
  

• Level the playing field

  By Michael Weatherwax - Mar 12
  One of the most basic tenets of sound educational funding is that a state should work to level the playing field of educational opportunity for ...
  

• Listen to the citizens

  By Geoffrey Parker - Mar 11
  While it is very responsible and laudable for Rockport's Select Board to instruct the town manager to present a budget that shows a zero increase, ...
  

• Important economic development legislation advances in Legislature

  By Christopher Rector - Mar 06
  The Legislature's Business, Research and Economic Development Committee, of which I am a member, recently approved important economic development ...
  

• Mental health cuts devastating to community, economic health

  By Roy Hitchings and ... - Mar 05
  We write today to share concerns about proposed mental health cuts now being considered by the Legislature and the devastating impact we believe ...
  

• Coming up empty

  By Aimee Dolloff - Feb 26
  In the Gulf of Maine waters, the contrast couldn't be more striking. Crustaceans are plentiful and the lobstering industry is thriving, while ...
  

• Many Flags: good for the entire region

  By Many Flags Application... - Feb 19
  As many of you know, the Many Flags, One Campus model has been researched, discussed and refined over the past seven years. We, the Many Flags ...
  

• Camden tax increment financing districts

  By Martin Cates and ... - Feb 19
  The creation of two tax increment financing districts is the question being put before the voters of Camden at a special town meeting on Tuesday, ...
  

• A curious sort of person

  By Bill Packard - Feb 13
  I saw Lawrence Nash the other day. Remember Lawrence? He was a county commissioner for quite a while until Roger Moody beat him out. Kind of funny ...
  

• Reflections on Hope

  By Florance Merrifield - Feb 06
  In 1978, I was asked if I would be the deputy town clerk and tax collector for the town of Hope. I took the position and worked from my home. I ...
  

• Fields of vision

  By Ronald M. Horvath - Feb 05
  “Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world,” wrote William Sloane Coffin, scholar, religious leader and ...
  

• Maintaining modest estate tax promotes shared prosperity

  By Dan Coyne - Feb 05
  Amid all the end of year legislative frenzy to wrap up by Christmas, an important piece of legislation was left behind -- the federal estate tax. ...
  
• 

  From Thomaston to Camden: the Tolman Bus

  By Paul Putnam - Feb 01
  My son-in-law's father, Tom Fletcher, was born in 1900 and told me one time about seeing the first automobile to come to his town of Ravenscrag, ...
  

• When only a letter will do

  By Jeff Howland - Jan 30
  "The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone." - Harriet Beecher Stowe I recently wrote a letter to a ...
  
• 

  Woodworker uses pallets as his palette

  By Bob Holtzman - Jan 30
  Consider the lowly used shipping pallet. Where others see junk or firewood, woodworker Hugh Lane sees a handsome, functional piece of furniture. ...
  

• Toussaint L'ouverture for Haiti

  By Kendall Merriam - Jan 30
  Struck and struck again no God knows why small comfortable people living in an impecunious style taking so little of earth's provender li...
  

• Looking for name unknown

  By Sidney Caler - Jan 29
  The following arrived via the U.S. Postal Service Jan. 25, addressed to The Herald Gazette. Sydney Caler, 93, of Skowhegan would like to make ...
  

• President Obama's remarks on the State of the Union

  By President Barack Obama - Jan 28
  Madame Speaker, Vice President Biden, Members of Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow Americans: Our Constitution declares that from time ...
  

• Pingree applauds Obama's call for railroad investments

  By Rep. Chellie Pingree - Jan 28
  I was glad to hear the President focus on creating jobs and improving the economy, including a commitment to making it easier for small businesses ...
  

• Michaud calls for bipartisan effort to help small businesses after president's speech

  By Rep. Mike Michaud - Jan 28
  Many Mainers are as frustrated as I am with Washington right now. The environment is extremely partisan at precisely the time we can least afford ...
  

• Collins responds to Obama with call for green energy jobs

  By Sen. Susan Collins - Jan 28
  Tonight, the president delivered a strong message to the American people and discussed many of the challenges that are important to our country. I ...
  

• Snowe praises Obama's spending freeze proposal, call for jobs as main focus

  By Sen. Olympia Snowe - Jan 28
  Tonight's State of the Union address comes at a consequential time in our nation's history, with jobs and the economy at the forefront of concerns ...
  

• Children in the courtroom

  By Este Underdown - Jan 27
  The years for older children and young adolescents between the ages of 6 and 15 have been called the most important time in their development. Why ...
  

• Presenting a unified regional front

  By Dan Bookham - Jan 25
  One of my favorite things about chamber work is watching the wisdom of crowds and the power of groups at work. A modest dues investment by one ...
  

• Help your neighbors

  By Candice Richards - Jan 25
  It's post-holidays and I'm sure everyone is tired of hearing "would you like to donate ..." or "we are collecting ..." I can't say I blame anyone ...
  

• Fire grants for safer operations

  By Chellie Pingree - Jan 25
  When nine firefighters were recently laid off in Portland due to budget cuts, members of the local union dug into their own pockets to support ...
  

• Tipping points 1: passing out in my plate

  By Louisa Enright - Jan 24
  In May 2006, I passed out at our neighbors' dinner table from an allergic reaction to something I had eaten. The attack strengthened so quickly ...
  

• Valuable community service

  By James M. Thomas - Jan 23
  Having taught a class for the new guards at Maine State Prison for more than 10 years, I make a point of telling them that their work at the ...
  
• 

  The nature of relationships: Why relationships exist

  By Kathrin Seitz and ... - Jan 22
  Writer, producer and coach Kathrin Seitz and Marc Felix, a Camden psychotherapist and student of shamanism, are exploring this winter the phenomeno...
  

• Herald Gazette letters

  Jan 16
  School budget cuts In my letter to the editor last week for Citizens for Value in Education, I suggested that the burden placed upon the ...
  

• Cold! You call this cold?

  By Paul Putnam - Jan 10
  Years ago there was a popular radio program called “Can You Top This?” Three or four comedians would sit around telling stories, and I guess there ...
  

• Going to Mark McClellan's memorial service

  By Jory Squibb - Jan 08
  The local ice-boating community -- about six of us -- had been second-guessing ourselves: We had measured the ice thickness on Chickawaukie on ...
  

• A balanced approach will balance the budget

  By Dan Coyne - Jan 08
  With just about every state in the nation facing record-breaking budget shortfalls, no one really knows what the "new normal" will be in state ...
  
• 

  The ice is never safe

  By Richard Saltonstall - Jan 08
  The ice is never safe. There is always thin ice somewhere. I have spent most of my adult life on the ice every winter, every day I could get on ...
  

• Cries of liberty

  By Ronald M. Horvath - Jan 08
  One of the joys of reading Shakespeare is that he always has something to tell us about the human condition. Strangely enough for a man who lived ...
  

• Is sadness a disease?

  By Allan V. Horwitz and ... - Jan 02
  Sadness is one of the small number of human emotions that have been recognized in all societies and in all time periods. Some of the earliest ...
  

• The work of the collective soul

  By Ronald M. Horvath - Jan 01
  On the first day of winter all the cars arrived in the parking lot at work led by the glare from their headlights. Engines, idling for warmth, ...
  

• Working with lime

  By Paul Putnam - Dec 27
  My dad had just opened his new candy shop, Putnam's Candy Kitchen, on the Rockport bypass in March 1955 when I came home from four years in the ...
  

• Everything is a crisis

  By Bill Packard - Dec 26
  My father never got excited about anything bad. One time that I can remember he got upset with the farm team coach because the coach didn't let me ...
  

• Shipwrecks on the dark sea of humanity

  By Kendall Merriam - Dec 26
  For Jonathan Frost   The line of paintings in your gallery flash with life and danger police in helmets people in unbarred clothing rea...
  
• In Our Back Yard

  Clean a little greener

  By Andrea Lani - Dec 20
  As interest in reducing the number of chemicals in our homes has grown, so has the availability of environmentally friendly cleaning products. Now ...
  

• Where have all the flowers gone?

  By A. Charles Burgess - Dec 19
  With the recent passing of Mary Travers, I found myself digging into my now somewhat dusty memory and humming and later singing the words to this ...
  

• Season of light, and dark

  By Ronald M. Horvath - Dec 18
  On the Friday after Thanksgiving we drove home from Quincy in the rain. We had spent the day with family, including our daughter, son-in-law and ...
  

• It is up to you, Rockport residents

  By Cheryl Beveridge - Dec 16
  Rockport residents, you have an important choice to make. It is a decision that will affect your surroundings for years to come. I am speaking ...
  

• The pros and cons of single-stream recycling

  By Victor Horton - Dec 14
  Over the last few years there have been many articles in the local and national media touting single stream, or no-sort, recycling. Under the ...
  

• The cycles of economic discontent

  By Harold James - Dec 12
  The 19th Century was mesmerized by the cyclical behavior of business. The French economist Clement Juglar became famous for establishing that ...
  

• Random thoughts

  By Paul Putnam - Dec 12
  I was sitting in my leather easy chair in the living room this morning, looking out the big picture window, just watching the clouds roll by in a ...
  

• History of the start of the Hope Volunteer Fire Department

  By William P. Pearse Sr. - Dec 08
  The Hope Volunteer Fire Department was started in July 1951 after Everett Hobb's barn burned. My father, Ralph, my brother John and I were ...
  

• A holiday list for commercial fishermen

  By Lt. Jason Smilie - Dec 06
  When's the last time your fisherman tried on a survival suit? Do you have any survival suits on board for the children when they pay a visit? A ...
  

• Fear itself …

  By Ronald M. Horvath - Dec 04
  The picture is at once dark and menacing. Rain is falling outside. Colors and faces are half-hidden in shadow. The camera flashes from one worried ...
  
• 

  Where does this road go?

  By Sandy Delano - Dec 04
  Where does this road go? This is the lead in question to the classic Maine joke that typically ends with, "it don't go no where. It stays right ...
  

• To Scott Overlock: May you be well

  By Jory Squibb - Dec 02
  One of the blessings of parenting is the flow of friends our children bring into our homes. Scott Overlock -- a close friend of our older daughter ...
  

• Protecting low income households in climate change legislation

  By Nicole Witherbee - Nov 26
  Maine’s economy relies heavily on our natural resources, making us particularly vulnerable to climate change. While geologists and computer ...
  

• What’s in a name?

  By Tina Tucker - Nov 25
  What were the words of Shakespeare ... "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet?” In the context of "Romeo and Juliet," maybe. In the ...
  

• Reflections on extremism

  By Ronald M. Horvath - Nov 20
  The news was all too familiar. Another mad gunman, another massacre in a public place -- this time of our best and brightest in uniform -- more ...