Americans paid their 2017 federal and state income taxes this week. Filing taxes isn’t a pleasant or easy task, but the lack of action by Democrats in the Legislature will make filing a nightmare next year.

In the last gubernatorial race, I published a series of articles reviewing the candidates for governor entitled “Through the Conservative Prism.” It is my intent to publish one overview of the Republican gubernatorial candidates under the same title. The primary race comes down to two contenders, Garrett Mason and Shawn Moody, in my opinion, and I will explain why.

About a month ago, I installed an extension on my web browser that allowed me to curate out posts on Facebook that contained certain keywords. If a word on my list was contained in a post in any way, it would no longer be displayed.

As a 17-year newsroom veteran, not counting my time writing a weekly column for the Bangor Daily News, I feel pretty confident in my ability to spot “fake” news. But when I read a story this week in the BDN about the Republican candidates for governor and their campaign contributions, I was left checking the URL to make sure that it wasn’t satire.

On a cold and windy day earlier this month, I toured the Pleasant River Bridge with Maine Department of Transportation Commissioner David Bernhardt and Milo Town Manager Damien Pickel. The bridge is now 82 years old, rusted, too narrow and well past its original design life. Together, we saw firsthand how time, the elements and collision damage have taken a severe physical toll on this bridge.

As the legislative session enters its last weeks, Democrats are sitting on their hands, hoping voters won’t notice they have avoided making the tough decisions that affect your families, businesses and wallets.

One afternoon in 1973, legendary country musician Johnny Cash was writing to his 18-year-old daughter, Roseanne, at a table in his tour bus. When he finished, Cash handed Roseanne a song list he titled, “100 Essential Country Songs.” “Here’s your education,” he told her.

Rural Maine, Small Town Maine, and Farm Town Maine, are slowly decaying into their own landscape. The greater sadness is that the factors to their demise are beyond the control of Small Town Maine. No, this is not even the tale of little communities who cannot keep up with the changing times or technologies; but instead, is the story, to often told in Maine, of bureaucratic government’s abuse, corruption, and overreach and the cowardice of those, who should, to curtail it.

In February 2017, Marco Toninelli boarded a red-eye special plane at Orio al Serio International Airport in Milan, Italy. Landing at Newark Airport in New Jersey, Marco picked up the car he rented ahead of time, and drove three-and-a-half hours through the night, to his pre-booked hotel room in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.

In 2015 Stephen and Rita Shiman of Saco received a phone call that no grandparent would ever want to experience. The caller claimed to be their grandson, who said he had been arrested after being involved in a car accident in Georgia. The caller told the Shimans not to tell anyone and directed them to immediately contact his public defender, who demanded $1,250 for their grandson’s bail.

As we wrap up this legislative session, I am making our elderly a top priority. Unfortunately, they are not a priority for Democrats.

Well, the legal battles over ranked-choice voting have already gotten absurdly messy and confusing, and the system hasn't even been used in an actual election yet.

Two weeks ago, I made an offer to all the candidates running for governor: Send me a big idea explained in 50 words or less, and I’ll share it with the world as written and without comment.

“I’m stuck in the ‘60s,” Eileen said, explaining her choice of music on her iPod and car radio. Lots of Beach Boys, Four Seasons, Motown, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and so on. Now and then — almost as if the iPod is weary of hearing the same tunes — the song rotation plays Tony Joe White’s “Polk Salad Annie,” Arthur Conley’s “Sweet Soul Music,” or Jimmy Soul’s “If You Wanna Be Happy” — some wonderful ‘60s songs that, to my ears, never grow stale.

I recently spent a morning at SeDoMoCha visiting elementary classrooms. I observed children being nurtured by exceptional teachers and learning in an emotional safe environment. I thought to myself how could anyone harm these innocent children, yet all we have to do is watch the news.

Very soon, if not already, citizens of Dexter, Garland, and Ripley will receive a letter requesting donations to support the continued work of the Dexter Public Health Association. The Dexter Public Health Association nurses have been serving those needing help free of charge, since the 1930s.

Roseanne Barr is back again, this time with a reboot of her iconic, eponymous television show “Roseanne.” It is 2018, so everything that has ever held any kind of cultural significance is being rebooted in a desperate attempt to cash in on the ever growing nostalgia industry.

If I had been advising the students who organized and led the March for Our Lives protests around Maine, I would have told them to keep the program short.