On Nov. 8, voters will be making laws without public hearings, without reading the fine print, without legal analysis, without legislative review and, of particular concern, at least one of the bills is blatantly unconstitutional. Attorney General Janet Mills has provided a six-page legal opinion regarding the ranked choice voting proposal. Concerns include:  determining the […]

We need a system that works — where candidates with the best ideas, not the biggest bank accounts, have a fighting chance. You should never have to vote for the “lesser of two evils” when there is another candidate you really like. Question 5 gives voters the power to rank candidates in order of individual […]

Question 1 would make youth pot possession lawful, and that’s just the beginning In 2014, Lewiston voters were presented with a ballot initiative that would’ve “legalized” the possession of marijuana within the city. During that campaign, DC-based Marijuana Policy Project spent tons of money and littered Lewiston streets with misleading campaign signs. Without any organized […]

On Nov. 8, Maine voters have the opportunity to adopt a rational marijuana policy by legalizing, taxing and regulating marijuana for adults 21 and over. The proposed law contains strong regulations to protect kids; testing for safety and potency; and protections for employers and landlords. It also contains strong local controls so towns can decide […]

Ballot questions that will appear on the Nov. 8 referendum ballot (in the order they will appear): Question 1: Citizen InitiativeLegislation Do you want to allow the possession and use of marijuana under state law by persons who are at least 21 years of age, and allow the cultivation, manufacture, distribution, testing, and sale of […]

RALEIGH, North Carolina — When Manasi Gopala immigrated to America, she finally got the chance to row crew. As a child in India, she had dreamed of the sport from watching Olympic telecasts. Now, twice a week, she pulls a pair of oars as her scull glides along tree-lined Lake Wheeler, far from her birthplace […]

As Jon Stewart discovered during “Indecision 2000,” late-night television can be a powerful tool when the political world threatens to cave in on itself. Just as the “Daily Show’s” coverage of the chaotic Florida recount cemented Stewart’s reputation as an influential entertainer-slash-pundit, the surreal 2016 presidential election might just be Seth Meyers’s moment. Meyers, the […]

Popular author and speaker Rachel Held Evans understands why evangelical Christians have a deep aversion to Hillary Clinton. It was in the air Evans breathed as the child of conservative Christians in Tennessee in the ’90s. She grew up to vilify Clinton, she said, because, well, that’s what evangelicals did. “I was at a Christian […]

The U.S. probably will never be a European-style, multiparty parliamentary democracy. It’s not inconceivable, however, that someday it could switch to a system that might have prevented the aberrations of this harrowing election year —  ranked-choice voting.Here’s how it works. Imagine a presidential race with four candidates — let’s call them Hillary, Donald, Gary and Jill. […]

Long before they donned big feet and balloon pants for children’s birthday parties, clowns were strictly adult entertainment. As dimwitted drunks, hypersexual hooligans and mischievous miscreants, these court jesters and fools poked fun at Chinese emperors, Roman senators and medieval feudal lords.Yep, clowns were cultural pranksters long before they morphed into merry fools. They also […]