Maine has an unusually high number of kids who are entering school without vaccinations – and the number is rising.

This morning’s tv news story about a “dire forecast” for brick-and-mortar New England colleges has me thinking again about learning alternatives to colleges. WMTW-TV’s reporter said two New England colleges shut down recently, and four more New England colleges are closing their doors this month. The tv reporter said an “alarming number of schools are going out of business, affecting thousands of students.”

This week, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren made a bold proposal to pay off most of America's student loans, while initiating a Universal Free College plan.

In 1880 the government decided to identify citizens physically or morally defective. The result is the Federal Census Schedules for the Defective, Dependent, and Delinquent Classes. It delves into personal areas that are humiliating and in that period not usually mentioned.

On Monday, the fight over sensible gun laws in Maine was renewed as the Legislature held a public hearing on extreme risk protection orders, or the “red flag” bill.

The Piscataquis County Economic Development Council (PCEDC) seeks to stimulate long-term sustainable economic growth in our region. Whether the goal is in helping new businesses start, assisting expanding businesses, or attracting new employers; certain community assets such as access to health care, quality education and a diverse workforce, are paramount in the ability to execute on our mission and affect economic prosperity throughout Piscataquis County. Mayo Regional Hospital represents one of those key assets.

God help business owners with businesses dealing directly with the public. Last month I had experiences with employees at home improvement warehouse stores, most of which tested my patience. My experiences were also perplexing: Why did so many employees lack initiative, curiosity? How much were these employees costing business owners in money and customer relations?

Taxes are a complicated thing. You are taxed in many ways, not just on your income, and not just by one government. Indeed, American federalism guarantees that you are in fact taxed by your national government, you state government, your county government and your town government, to say nothing of the "fees" you pay to quasi-governmental organizations like licensing boards and industry funds.

For some people, it’s the menacing whir of a drill, maybe coming from the other room. For others, it’s anxiety about not taking care of themselves before the visit or fear of a painful experience.

Our new Postmaster asked me the other day, "Are you retired?" "No," I smiled at her impression of me. I was sorting my mail; some of it went straight to the trash, the rest was coming home with me.

In a previous OpEd, I described three “shocks” challenging Maine tourism’s resilience: changing climate, changing general economic conditions and changing global markets. Some disturbances are unavoidable, like warming winters, while others are uncertain, like another severe economic recession. Some shocks will have negative impacts for Maine, like less reliable snow cover, while others may be advantageous, like climate disruptions at competing destinations.

One of the least productive public debates in American society today is the debate over abortion.

Later this week, we’ll mark the first 100 days of Gov. Janet Mills’ administration. President Franklin Roosevelt used the first 100 days of his administration as a milestone to measure the progress that he had been made – under difficult circumstances – to right the ship of state in 1933.

“Heigh Ho, Come to the Fair” is an old English folk song, and the fair I’m going to tell you about is two months away. But if you’re like me, your calendar fills up and you might want to jot down the date so you don’t miss it.

Stopped in my Ford Focus last month at a long traffic light, I switched off Miles Davis “Live at the Plugged Nickel” on my MP3 player, and switched on my FM radio to a state news update of a public hearing before a Florida legislative committee.

I’ve never been all that moralistic about public officials. While I am certain that there are good people who hold public office, in my experience the truth has been that power and influence attract only the worst among us.

Democrats and progressives in Maine are ready for 2020. They are so ready. They’re so ready, in fact, that they might be having a little trouble remembering that it’s just April of 2019.

I recently wrote a column about two of the non-population federal censuses, agricultural and manufacturing, and promised I would write about other special censuses of value to genealogists. One of my personal favorites is the mortality census. Many genealogists haven’t heard of them but they can be of enormous help in finding the death date of an ancestor if that ancestor happened to die at a certain time.