Sometimes, when I’m talking to my son, I become aware of my own voice and the words coming out of my mouth. I don’t always like the sound. It’s bitter to the ear. Too often, the sound I hear when I talk to him is “no.” Elias, my only son …

As some of you might know, I’ve been volunteering for U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud’s campaign for governor. He formally announced he is running last week. Come Sept. 1, I’ll be officially joining the campaign as a senior adviser. The new job creates a conundrum for the newspaper, the candidate and …

This year will be my 20th college reunion. I almost didn’t go – to college, that is — in the first place. I can’t imagine how my life might have been different. I suspect it would have changed everything. In high school, I started working as soon as I got a …

Given the choice of a deficit or a surplus, it’s much better for the state to finish the fiscal year with a surplus. But we shouldn’t blow up the party balloons or start spending the cash too fast. The state finished the fiscal year, which ended June 30, with a …

In fewer than 70 words, a legislative molehill has turned into a political tempest. That’s what has happened with LD 1503, “An Act to Ensure Student Access to Postsecondary Military Options.” The little bill, which would have little practical impact on schools, students and military recruiters, has created a firestorm, …

Earlier this week, the Portland City Council passed a new ordinance that forbids loitering in the medians of the city’s streets. The new restriction, while impacting anyone and any activity, was put into place specifically to target panhandling. Portland has a large homeless population, especially for a city its size, …

If a person works eight hours a day, five days a week, 52 weeks a year, he or she should earn enough money to afford the basics. Today, in Maine and most of the United States, it’s not even close. For a single mother or father with one child, the …

When the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the absurdly named Defense of Marriage Act last week, the lives of thousands of families in Maine instantly got better. Throughout New England, in New York, Maryland, Minnesota, Iowa, D.C., Delaware, Washington and, especially perhaps, in California thousands of loving, committed couples heard …

Caricature makes compromise impossible. Last week, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal wrote an OpEd that appeared in the Washington publication Politico that, in his mind, describes Democrats. “Because the left wants: The government to explode; to pay everyone; to hire everyone; they believe that money grows on trees; the earth is …

I’ve been mad at reporters before. I’m mad at a couple right now. I’ve been mad at one or two for several years. But you can’t just stop talking to them, not if you live and work in the public eye. And certainly not if you’re the governor of the …

Somehow, through a bitter legislative session that has seen an unprecedented level of partisan attacks, the Legislature’s Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee shows that government can work, even during a time of divided government. The process isn’t pretty. But somehow, through the smoke and heat of a long session, Democrats …

Maine has failed many of its residents. We’ve cut teachers from schools with children who need them. We’ve cut back on health care when people are sick. And we’ve made impossible choices to balance state and local budgets during times of recession and hardship. Today, things are a little different. …

The Legislature’s Taxation Committee has made a series of recommendations to help balance the state’s budget. The specifics range from a temporary increase in the sales tax, to a delay in tax cuts that were passed in 2011 but never paid for, to an overarching tax reform package proposed by …

On Sunday, during an emergency meeting of the Legislature’s Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee, Sen. Dawn Hill, D-York, did something that’s very hard. She stood up to the governor of the state, in full public view, with the cameras rolling. She held her ground, and she did the right thing, …

Right now, Maine’s hospitals and Republicans in the Legislature have hitched their rhetorical wagon to a process argument. Democrats are moving forward with a plan to pass legislation that includes a massive payout to Maine’s hospitals coupled with a plan, paid for by the federal government, to expand access to …

Ravaged by brain cancer, unable to work and living in his dead mother’s house that was falling down around him, my uncle needed help to put food on the table, to pay his bills, to get by. My mother, herself in the beginning stages of dementia, provided what support she …

Tuesday was a frustrating day. For the second straight day my email wasn’t working right. The calendar on my computer started going crazy. I found a stack of bills in a new, secret hiding place on the desk. I forgot my lunch. It was just one of those days. Then …

On Tuesday afternoon, Gov. Paul LePage announced the co-chairs of his Blue Ribbon Commission on Maine’s unemployment compensation system. He picked two men who have unimpeachable credentials: George Jabar, an attorney in Waterville and a Kennebec County commissioner, and Daniel Wathen, a former justice on the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. …

Redemption. The word keeps running through my mind as I try to digest the terror of the attack in Boston. It’s a powerful word that can mean a lot of different things – to seek atonement, or, in a religious context, salvation. It can mean the payment of an obligation, …