Two summers ago, I awoke with a headache. By evening, I had a fever of 104 degrees F. I felt really rotten. I had no appetite. And, when I did eat, everything tasted metallic. I couldn’t get out of bed, thinking I had the flu or COVID. Four days of this, and then my fever […]

Voting is a right, not a privilege. Question 1 on November’s ballot asks Mainers to approve three changes to election law: eliminate two days of absentee voting, make it harder to request and return absentee ballots and require photo ID. These changes may seem minor, even sensible. They are not. They raise unwarranted barriers to […]

The recent deployment of National Guard units to Washington, D.C., raises serious concerns. There’s no actual emergency, civil unrest or natural disaster — yet troops patrol peaceful streets. With crime rates lower than they have been in 30 years, the rationale is unclear. Is this just political theater, or a quiet rehearsal for normalizing military […]

I was horrified when I heard that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed to rescind a 2009 declaration that greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide are a danger to public health and welfare. The stated goal for this rollback is to remove the need for regulations and to save Americans money. The announcement did not include […]

I would like to thank the Kennebec Journal for providing excellent professional reporters in covering local news. Emily Duggan has covered RSU 38 events for a few years and I have found her articles to be both timely and accurate. She does her homework in searching out the facts of her stories. She understands the […]

When Maine Republican Sen. Joe Martin comes up for air, someone might remind him that Canadian tourism was down in Maine 28% in July, in large part due to the on again, off again tariffs, and our blatant disrespect for our Canadian neighbor’s sovereignty by suggesting it become the 51st state. In Martin’s recent letter […]

Another global spectacle by President Trump, this time in Alaska, on Aug. 15, when he stood on an actual red carpet and played acolyte and cypher to a superior negotiator, tactician and strategist, Russian President Vladimir Putin. Days before, Trump had bombasted vainglorious assertions that he’d put red line demands on Putin and, if the […]

For years, Maine’s disabled public service retirees faced a punitive and outdated policy: the MainePERS Social Security Disability offset. This offset allowed MainePERS to profit with full employee and employer contributions while paying reduced benefits for a tiny subset — those whose public service job paid into both MainePERS and Social Security and are receiving […]