At the age of 92, attorney and activist Clarence Jones reminds us of the life Martin Luther King Jr. might have enjoyed if he had been a simple church pastor or a seminary professor. Jones, a top King lieutenant and a trusted friend of the slain civil rights leader, has been blessed with longevity and […]
Op-Eds
Opinion columns from the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel.
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Douglas Rooks: There’s a reason senators don’t serve for life
The infirmities of aging have been much debated as they apply to recent presidents, but mostly ignored when it comes to the U.S. Senate, where there’s evidence of actual disability. The most prominent example is Diane Feinstein, the California Democrat who made the apparently unwise decision to run for reelection in 2018 to a fifth […]
advertisement
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Commentary: We’ve defended Trump’s 1st Amendment rights. But his latest claims about the Jan. 6 indictment are nonsense
Does the 1st Amendment shield Donald Trump from prosecution for conspiracy to obstruct the 2020 election results? Trump’s lawyer has proclaimed the indictment “an attack on free speech and political advocacy.” He says Trump thought there was voter fraud, and “as a president, he’s entitled to speak on those issues.” And the indictment by special […]
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Maine Voices: Too hot to ignore – much more action is needed to fight climate change
We need to immediately develop and implement an aggressive national, science-based climate plan, including a panel that evaluates and reports on our progress and recommends needed adjustments.
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Commentary: Conservation can help nature weather forces of change in Maine
A plan to set aside 3,000 acres of forested land in Piscataquis County will protect wildlife, jobs, recreation and more.
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Commentary: With Maine governor’s veto, farmworkers were again denied their basic economic rights
We’re concerned that the stakeholder group Mills has set up won’t give farmworkers the state minimum wage and protection from excess overtime they deserve.
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Commentary: How pickleball taught me to stop saying sorry and learn to have fun
“Find some calm, Kate,” my pickleball coach, Roland, cajoled me from across the court a few months ago. He thwacked another neon-green ball in my direction. “Do less.” “But I am not a calm person!” I shouted back, a complete understatement. I am a tightly wound, neurodivergent, people-pleasing extrovert who lives in fear of making […]
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Maine Compass: Now is the time to clean up our state’s cars and trucks
Maine should fast-track clean car standards and end the sale of new fully gas-powered vehicles in 2035.
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Commentary: COVID’s summer resurgence resists easy answers
Attributing an increase in cases to people moving indoors doesn’t make much sense. What does?
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Commentary: The shallow bipartisanship of the child tax credit
Despite the enormous toll of the COVID-19 pandemic, child poverty in the United States declined. According to the government’s supplemental poverty measure, which is more accurate than the official measure, child poverty rates dropped almost by half from 2020 to 2021. A temporary expansion of the Child Tax Credit (CTC) was a big reason why. […]