Maine’s low scores on the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress are worth noting, given Maine ranks 15th in the country in per pupil spending. Our fourth graders ranked 43rd both in reading and math, and eighth graders were 27th in math and 35th in reading. How refreshing it would be for the state Department […]

The United States is not an island unto itself, though the current administration’s actions on immigration, climate change, tariffs, research and foreign aid appear to reflect that view. A country does not exist in isolation. Diseases spread around the world, especially when countries are poor and lack robust health care systems. Weather is worldwide; air […]

When the Challenger spacecraft exploded shortly after takeoff in 1986, President Reagan gave a speech for the ages to lead and soothe us in our national grief. I suppose he could have railed against government bureaucracy, which was a theme of his administration, but he understood the need to rise above partisanship and rise he […]

Right out of the Project 2025 playbook, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget on Jan. 27 “froze” (illegally impounded) billions of dollars of congressionally appropriated funding for more than 2,000 programs and services: everything from Head Start to Meals on Wheels and essential veterans’ services. Chaos and confusion immediately ensued. The OMB was forced […]

After reading the letter from Dr. Frederick Holler (“Lewiston, Auburn face decrease in health care availability,” Jan. 31), I believe we need to continue this conversation as long as it takes for the right people to realize just how close we are to losing, not only the two hospitals in Auburn and Lewiston, but in […]

I write in response to the Jan. 27 Sun Journal article, “Oxford County struggling with high number of public record requests.” Transparency in government is a long-honored principal. Generally, people find such secrecy repugnant. There is a basic rule of the public’s right to petition for redress of grievances to public officials, i.e., for them […]