The summer travel season that gets underway Memorial Day weekend promises to be one of the most challenging ever. As transportation patterns return to pre-pandemic levels, millions of Americans will face the familiar miles-long traffic jams and labyrinthine airport security lines. Following last summer’s chaos in the skies, with nearly 45,000 flights canceled and over […]
Ben Bragdon
Staff Writer
Ben Bragdon is managing editor of the Sun Journal. Prior to that, he was deputy managing editor for news at the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel. Ben was previously editorial page editor for those newspapers and Central Maine Sunday for more than 10 years. Before that, he was managing editor for weekly newspapers at Current Publishing in Westbrook. He began his career as a reporter at the Piscataquis Observer in Dover-Foxcroft and editor at the Moosehead Messenger in Greenville. He has a bachelor’s degree in history from Boston University.
Posted inEditorials, Opinion
Our View: Fulfilling our responsibility to those who died for our rights
Memorial Day is an opportunity every year to remember the sacrifice so many have made in the name of the freedom we all enjoy. The parades. The speeches. The flags on poles down Main Street, and placed at every veteran’s grave. It’s all so that we don’t forget that winning and defending our rights under […]
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Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Maine Compass: The rebirth of the Kennebec
You can’t see any fish, flying as we were 900 feet above the river. But we knew they were there, moving upstream to spawn. Flying over the Kennebec River was a fascinating experience and I was grateful for the opportunity to look at the watershed from above, to see and think about the efforts that […]
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Commentary: Honor, loss and perspective from a Mainer on Memorial Day
Honor. Here in Maine — especially where veterans are buried — honor means something. I recently walked Maple Cemetery in Winthrop, Mount Pleasant in Wayne, Fish in Leeds, and stopped to think about those who fell young. Memorial Day is coming, time to pause. Honor is what comes to mind too, washes over you in […]
Posted inEditorials, Opinion
View from Away: One answer to the migration crisis? Jobs
The Biden administration’s sensible new policy for asylum seekers — requiring them to submit applications in Latin American countries before arriving — seems to have preempted a wave of migration to the border, at least for now. But what about those the US has already legally admitted into the country, who are being blocked from […]
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
F.D. Flam: The spike in child mortality won’t go away on its own
For Americans under 20, an epidemic much deadlier than COVID-19 has raged over the last three years. Deaths among those aged 1 to 19 surged 20% — driven by an increase in car crashes, suicide, homicide and drug overdoses. The combined toll of behavior-related deaths on children and teens hit home after a March report […]
Posted inEditorials, Opinion
Our View: Lawmakers should use child tax credit to boost next generation of Mainers
Maine lawmakers on both sides of the aisle want to use surplus funds to get relief to the people who need it most. One way is sitting right in front of them. L.D. 1544, a bill from Rep. Mo Terry, D-Gorham, would provide extra support for low-income parents by expanding the state’s child tax credit […]
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Tom Waddell: Racism is in our roots
Last month I wrote that the source of racism in America is systemic, not individual. Since the topic spans over 400 years, one column, or even two, couldn’t adequately cover how our national laws legalized racism. So, this second column on racism in America will attempt to scratch the surface a little deeper. If I […]
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Jean Guerrero: Smartphones take a toll on teenagers. What choice do parents have?
We can’t keep ignoring social media’s harmful effects on the mental health of young people. Across the world, regardless of skin color or language, people are suffering from mental health problems that are linked to the age at which they got their first smartphone or tablet, according to a new report from Sapien Labs. The […]
Posted inEditorials, Opinion
Our View: Farmers should get whatever it takes to overcome PFAS contamination
The state has an obligation to make farmers whole for the loss to their lives and livelihood.