Perhaps more than any election year in my lifetime, the press has come under intense pressure and attack. Deemed the “enemy of the people,” the media is being forced to adapt to a political climate in which a significant portion of the people have given up on the idea of truth and facts.

When it comes to interpreting old handwriting most genealogists agree it’s a difficult task. I’ve done my share of puzzling over words that I’m sure were created by a malevolent clerk chuckling over the trouble he was creating for future genealogists. For example, I recently came across a word on an old marriage record that was nothing more than a series of bumps. Eventually, I was able to figure out it was supposed to be “Lincoln.”

In a book of collected letters, written by former President Herbert Hoover to American children, I was impressed with one letter to a kid who had written to the President of the United States with a question about how government can best help U.S. citizens.

Recently, I had dinner with three very informed, intelligent, politically savvy friends, all of whom -- just for the record -- happen to be Democrats. Naturally the conversation drifted toward Election Day, and the same question that I have been asked thousands of times this year, and thousands of times in each of the preceding election years, was again asked of me.

The knock on Janet Mills has never been that she’s soft on crime. In fact, during the Democratic primary, I would say that her law and order credentials were a sticking point for some of the more liberal members of the party. And they were considered a strength in the general election.

Gary Chester, starting in the 1960s, was a top New York studio drummer. One of a special breed of musicians who music producers and artists counted on to make hit records. Mostly these musicians worked inside recording studios in places like New York City, Los Angeles, Muscle Shoals, and New Orleans.

Unless you were completely oblivious, you saw what happened with political polling in the 2016 election. In a word, it was an unmitigated disaster.

With Election Day less than two weeks away, we have to talk about ranked-choice voting. When Maine voters walk into the voting booth — or fill out their absentee ballots — they will have a chance to rank the candidates running for U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives.

At first, I wasn’t sure what I was seeing. I almost dismissed it as old construction equipment left outdoors, at the side of the walkway leading to the Administration Building at Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse and Museum, just south of Daytona Beach, FL.

"We’re nearly one month away from the most important election of our lifetime." So said Democratic candidate for governor Janet Mills, via email, on Oct. 1.

A bit by happenstance, I had the chance recently to spend about 15 minutes chatting with each of the four candidates for governor. I like them all and enjoyed the conversations. But that doesn’t change the fact that I think Attorney General Janet Mills is the best option.

"I think that it is high time that we remembered that we have sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution. I think that it is high time that we remembered that the Constitution, as amended, speaks not only of the freedom of speech but also of trial by jury instead of trial by accusation.

In the aftermath of Sen. Susan Collins’ vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court — and her truly unfortunate speech and rationale for the vote — many eyes in Maine and around the country are turning to 2020, when Collins could next appear on the ballot.

The last year or so, I started digitizing audio cassettes I’ve kept since the late 1970s. Hold on to cassettes long enough, the significance of their taped content changes.

Here's a fun fact. I live in Maine's 1st Congressional District, yet I have not seen a single television ad for the campaigns of Chellie Pingree, Marty Grohman, or Mark Holbrook, the three aspirants to the southern Maine congressional seat. In contrast, I have seen what I can only assume is several thousand ads for Jared Golden and Bruce Poliquin, who are of course running in Maine's 2nd Congressional District.

In a meticulously reported and lengthy examination of President Donald Trump and his family’s financial empire, The New York Times has uncovered significant evidence of fraud and busted the mythology -- pushed by Trump himself -- of a self-made man.

There it is again. A Facebook post from someone announcing they’ve not smoked a cigarette in 365 days. We see or hear more precise variations on that theme, such as, “I haven’t had a cigarette in 10 months, 20 days, 13 hours.” Whenever I see or hear such declarations from smokers I think about helium balloons.

Serendipity sometimes happens as you research. Serendipity means the discovery of something beneficial or wonderful that happens out of the blue. This leads to the question, are you a lucky genealogist? I know several who are and I confess to envy and frustration when I hear of their moments when luck opened doors for them.