Most Americans of a certain age grew up hearing the adage: “Behind every great man is a great woman,” or some variation thereof.

Dee Clarke from Portland is single mother with three children and serious health issues. She wants to work, but for years her health was a barrier to holding down a good job. Like so many struggling families, Clarke needed to turn to the state for help.

In a previous column, I related some of the facts surrounding the huge cuts in the “core” of state revenue sharing and some of the effects on local municipalities.

The kids were intelligent, inquisitive, and way ahead of me on the issues of sustainability. When Hall-Dale teacher Bob Sinclair invited me to speak to his class of juniors and seniors studying sustainability, I was very pleased.

This just in from a new Esquire/NBC News study: There are more Americans in the vast middle than on either the left or right.

THE CLOSING OF America’s national parks was among the most emotionally charged aspects of the 16-day federal government shutdown. As party leaders raced to make a deal to reopen the government and avert a default, House Republicans were accusing the head of the Park Service of trying to make the shutdown “as painful and as visible as possible.”