Our town has looked so beautiful this summer with an abundance of flowers on our bridges, in pots in front of businesses and gracing the front of Central Hall. I am grateful for the talented and dedicated effort of local volunteers and especially Karen Maas who has lovingly tended these flowers for all of us to enjoy

About a month ago, Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro of Texas made a controversial decision when he began releasing the names of Trump supporters that were residents of his San Antonio-based district.

It was a long, deadly weekend as gun violence claimed more lives. At least seven people are dead in west Texas at the hands of an angry man with an “AR style” weapon. Three police officers and a 17-month-old were among the 25 people who were wounded.

I find it rather offending that CMP and Doug Herling constantly try to remind people that Mainers are not paying a penny for the construction. What Herling leaves out is that Maine will pay a serious environmental cost that has never entered the calculus of CMP’s project. A 53.5 mile long, 300 foot wide clear cut crossing hundreds of vernal pools, native trout spawning beds, fragmenting the largest unfragmented forested tract east of the Mississippi River and totaling 1,926 acres of land that will remove a huge CO2 absorption capacity from the land (not to mention an additional 1,600 acres for the remaining 92 miles of corridor).

In Maine, internet access is growing. Service is getting better, speeds are getting faster and more people are getting connected every day. Expanded broadband access is creating new opportunities for Mainers. From new employment opportunities to distance learning to telehealth, and everything in between, growing broadband access is revolutionizing the way we live.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful -- and a change of pace from self-enrichment to focusing on the good of the country -- for the U.S. to host the G-7 (and 7 only)?

I don’t know why my brain works as it does; why certain ideas intrigue me. But, for as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to know how things work. Not everything, but certain things.

In my five years as your state representative the lack of high speed broadband has been a key issue and the citizens of Piscataquis County have demanded action. In response, I have worked to create a non-political broadband caucus to advocate for funding to stimulate investment in rural Maine. There have been dozens of bills introduced to include broadband in the two year budget, proposals to increase revenue and multiple bond proposals. This year the budget has included $4 million to address a multi-million dollar need.

I wanted to take a moment to respond to a recently published letter about the New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC) project written by Urgel Pomerleau. As anyone reading the letter can sense, he has true passion for the direction of our state, but I feel it is important to ensure Maine people understand the process that is in place to consider such a major climate change solution.

New York City is frequently a place where bad policy is dreamed up, but I have to admit to occasionally still being shocked to see some of the things that are proposed under the watch of Mayor Bill de Blasio.

As long was we can dream of a better day or fear our nightmares, there will be con artists and scammers looking to steal our money.

It’s time for the people of Maine to stand up and be counted. The Legislature and the governor’s office have not been forthcoming about the proposed hydro project bringing electrical power through Maine to Massachusetts and Connecticut. From Fort Kent to Kittery, every resident taxpayer needs to come forward to vote on a referendum about whether we want to allow the power companies to build a power transmission line through our state.

Maine’s North Woods is the largest undeveloped area east of the Mississippi and is the home to Canadian lynx, bear, moose, bobcats and more. This 10 million acres of undeveloped forests, lakes and rivers needs to be protected for future generations. Right now, Mainers use the land for fishing, hiking and hunting but public access to this area is not guaranteed. Acquiring more public lands would ensure public access forever.

Maine is among the oldest states in the nation -- and it’s getting older. This is something to embrace: Older Mainers bring wisdom, experience and richness to our lives.

I’m usually out of bed at 4:30 in the morning. Moving quietly downstairs into the kitchen, if I have coffee from the night before in my insulated stainless steel LL Bean mug, I take a sip. But if there’s no day-old dark coffee to sip, I brew a fresh mug.

Without specifically mentioning Deirdre Fleming (or the Portland Press Herald), John Holyoke basically disses her and her whole very well done article in his recent piece, "Catch and Release not to blame for togue population explosion.”

In June, Gov. Janet Mills proposed a package of bonds that amounted to a whopping $239 million in new debt for the state of Maine. On Monday, Mills called for a special session of the Legislature to vote on many of these bonds, highlighting the most popular and widely supported among them by emphasizing the transportation bonds.

Gov. Janet Mills has called the Legislature back into special session next week to consider a smart investment package that includes money for transportation, to boost the economy, to clean up pollution and for the Land for Maine’s Future program.