Pandemic sports safety starts behind scenes

Commentary

Published
March 18, 2021

Pandemic sports safety starts behind scenes

Everyone has heard or used the phrase: "Logistical nightmare." Those words have added meaning in the high school sports world as many people, despite countless logistical nightmares, worked tirelessly and successfully behind the scenes the past three months to provide a safe, memorable winter experience for student-athletes during COVID-19. It was a nearly impossible task that these unsung, mostly unseen, sports ...
Published
February 21, 2021

Say goodbye to tacky wallpaper

Wet and scrape, wet and scrape. That was the way my grandpa, a professional painter and paperhanger taught me. As a youth, I was grandpa's assistant and one of my jobs was to — with a pail of warm water and a wide paintbrush — saturate old wallpaper in order to loosen it before attempting to scrape it off. This was a miserable job and not one I would recommend to anyone. Also, the heavy saturation meant that the ...
Published
August 6, 2020

Why don't they prosecute?

Thursday July 30, 2020: Knox County Closed Cases Arthur M. Andrews, 34, Camden, domestic violence assault, dismissed. Joey Hopkins, 43, domestic violence terrorizing on June 24 in Warren, dismissed. When people ask me what they can do to stop domestic violence, I always tell them: Read the “Cops and Courts” section of your local newspaper. See how much of the crime in your community is domestic violence. And then ...
Published
July 8, 2020

Camden Herald Editorial

More will vote on town budgets July 14 A historic shift from attending town meetings in person to voting by paper ballot (at the polls and by absentee ballot) seems to be going smoothly so far. The shift to voting by paper ballot is one of the many changes Midcoast residents have seen since mid-March, when the COVID-19 pandemic changed life as we know it, at least for the present. The deadline is July 9 for ...
Published
July 2, 2020

How can we all be in this together, when we can't be together?

All across Maine's 16 counties, a state executive order that limits public gatherings to 50 people has led to changes or cancellations of the time-honored annual traditions of town meetings, parades, festivals and fireworks. One time-honored tradition happens only once in a lifetime for the individuals involved, namely high school graduation. This year, high school seniors from Camden to Skowhegan graduated in ...
Published
October 17, 2019

The power of money

Americans pride ourselves on having the best quality of life, the best political and economic system, the best future for our children. But does that mean our union is perfect? Now more than ever in my baby-boomer lifetime, it seems urgent to ask ourselves some tough questions. Why is it that many basic goods like electric power are provided by private, profit-making companies? Why are essential services like ...
Published
July 23, 2019

In invitation to learn about the local fish ecosystem

I have been truly inspired and excited by all the messages I've been receiving from community members who want to talk about fish in Camden Harbor and Megunticook Lake and River. After living most of my life in Camden, I'm embarrassed to say how little I paid attention to the world just below the surface, but it has been wonderful to start tapping into so much knowledge that exists within the community. We have ...
Published
December 6, 2018

Extraordinary and ornery

In the latter half of the 1990s and into the 21st century, I rode the ferry to North Haven several times a year to watch plays presented by North Haven Community School students, their numbers often increased by community members. In the early years, I'd walk up to the island's gym, where bleachers and canvas created a theater on the basketball courts. Later, the shows took place at Waterman's Community Center, ...
Published
November 1, 2018

In response to attack ad

Political campaigns tend to get nastier the closer you get to Election Day. This has been the case since the founding of our country more than 200 years ago. And politicians desperate to obscure their records and their extremist views will latch on to anything they believe will enrage the public. Fear is a great motivator and politicians know that if they make scurrilous claims close to Election Day it can have ...
Published
May 19, 2018

'Positive' is an attitude, not an outcome

As an adjective meaning "cheerful, optimistic or inspiring," the word "positive" describes an attitude rather than a story, event or outcome, it seems to me. Anyone who has played "good news, bad news" knows that winning a million dollars in the lottery can be followed by having a terrible fight with your family over how to divide the money, ending in acrimonious -- and expensive -- divorce. By the same token, ...

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