In 2010 I toured The Boat School in Eastport, Maine. Modest looking from the outside, inside, the wooden boats in varied building and repair stages were impressive. Even non-woodworkers would appreciate the blend of craftsmanship and practicality of this Maine continuing tradition of building work boats to use on the ocean.

The Democrats have sworn an oath and probably just plain swore ... a lot, in light of the economic rebirth of the state of Maine and its even brighter future on the horizon. They have vowed to undo all of the policies of Gov. LePage and return Maine to Democrat policies, which are debt, poverty, and unemployment. Janet Mills has the plan to obstruct any forward motion this state has toward independence and turn us back to the perpetual state of dependency.

Let's just be honest here. Politics has now so infected the entire Brett Kavanaugh nomination debate that it is virtually impossible for anyone on either side of the debate to listen to anyone else.

The truth will come out about Judge Brett Kavanaugh. And I mean the whole truth — about the way he has treated women in the past and about his views on critical issues likely to come before the U.S. Supreme Court.

When Maine voters elected Angus King as governor in 1995 they also elected a new Republican majority to the Maine Senate. I heard state Sen. Beverly Bustin — who was, at the time, a senate Democrat leader -- tell a group of people gathered in Maine’s State House that the new GOP senate majority was an aberration, a flaw in the electoral process. The election that year was clearly a case of mistaken identity.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Janet Mills this week released an action plan for the Maine economy. The plan includes 19 action items, specific recommendations for improving the state’s economy and spreading prosperity into rural areas.

For nearly a year now, we've been living in a different era. That era is the "me too" era, where women across this country are standing up and making their voices heard, taking some power back after generations of silent abuse that women all over America have experienced.

I know, it has been a long time since my last Senior Matters column, years in fact. Sorry. And much has changed, including I am now a retired “senior” myself, The Commons at Central Hall has opened and people are enjoying her beautiful spaces for dancing and quilting, connecting and thriving.

All genealogists rely on indexes to locate family members in databases such as the census. It saves browsing through hundreds, if not thousands, of names or documents.

Songwriting with soldiers? Earlier this week I was looking over Amazon’s digital album deals. It’s a habit of mine. Results are generally feast or famine. Either Amazon has little or no album deals of interest or Amazon has many album deals of interest. September started as a famine month. Nothing much in my three preferred album categories: jazz, country, classical.

It seems in a moment, a second, our nation has been turned upside down. What was once called right is now called wrong. What was once freedoms to be cherished and defended are now archaic abuses better regulated by the government.

Congratulations! You have been told to be outraged about the nomination of Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, and you've now taken the logical next step: you wish to lobby a U.S. senator to get them to also be outraged, and vote against him.

Gov. Paul LePage, limping toward the sunset as Maine’s chief executive, disguises his policy prerogatives with a veil of fiscal discipline. But peak behind the mask and it’s clear he’s animated by meanness and vindictiveness.

After driving up and over a few hills, around a few turns, the young forest opens ahead and the white steepled Washburn-Norlands Living History Center Meeting House appears. The closer we get we see how badly the Meeting House needs painting. From steeple top to skirtboard, window frames, doors, exterior decorations — the last applied coat of white paint is cracking, peeling, or missing. Patches of gray sun-bleached clapboard are everywhere.

Everywhere you look, they're dropping like flies. Incumbent Democrats are being defeated left and right in primaries, typically losing to young, often diverse, hard-core liberal progressives.

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan may play the part of the earnest Boy Scout on TV, but when it comes to real life he falls far short, particularly when it comes to telling the truth.

Summer is waning quickly and people are returning from vacations, something many look forward to each year. Did your ancestors do the same? Packing up and leaving home for weeks was a luxury most of our ancestors couldn’t afford, though many would try to do something relaxing if they could.

“It is a little bit of a dog whistle to call something a scam. But this truly is a scam,” said Stop The Scam campaign manager Ben Gilman. We were talking about Question 1, which voters will see on Maine’s November 2018 general election ballot.