In response to a recent letter by Pete Johnson I would first put forth the question, "How can one think that this impeachment process which has been going on since Trump took office in 2016 has nothing to do with the economy, unemployment or any other accomplishments of our President?"

As a general rule, I try to avoid actually watching political debates anymore. They have long since stopped being either useful or meaningful, and the media's obsession with them as some kind of important guidepost for the campaign is as disappointing as the event is predictable.

Bath Iron Works is one of the most important companies in Maine, but that doesn’t grant it immunity from basic oversight of tax programs designed for its sole benefit.

I am writing in support of Sen. Paul Davis, R-Sangerville. This letter of support for Sen. Davis is easy to write. For a number of years I was the Legislative liaison for the Maine Community College System. During my tenure the college system grew from its roots as the Maine Vocational Technical Institutes to the Maine Technical College System and finally to the community college system that serves Maine people today.

"According to a new study in [the Journal of the American Medical Association] JAMA, life expectancy at birth stopped increasing since 2010 and actually decreased in the US for three consecutive years. To put this in perspective, the last time we saw three consecutive years of declining [life expectancy] was 100 years ago, coinciding with the flu epidemic of 1918." That is the lead paragraph from a December 29, 2019 email update I received from Dr. Peter Attia with the equally attention grabbing subject line: "Why is life expectancy in the US declining?"

Welcome, friends, to the new year. And, welcome to the 200th year of Maine's existence. Our state has a very proud heritage, particularly given the nature of its official beginning. Maine was admitted as a "free state" to balance the admission of Missouri, which was being added as a "slave state."

The longer President Donald Trump talks, the more lies he tells. And now, at a time when the world may be teetering on the brink of war, the president and the U.S. are paying the price.

Newly elected British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is in the news this week for his plan to modernize the English government bureaucracy after England exits the European Union. I heard radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt was discussing Prime Minister Johnson's bringing of the bureaucracy into the 21st century, breaking bureaucratic stagnation and its disservice to the public

I have read and reread the article titled “What the Central Maine and Quebec Railway sale means for the state’s industries, economy” printed in the Dec. 6, 2019 issue of the Observer. With all certainty, increased activity and improved service and conditions on Maine’s railways is a step in the right direction for the economy of central Maine.

Commemorating a new day, at the beginning of a new year and a new decade, I stood the other day on a hilltop of a popular hiking spot and I surveyed the Atlantic Ocean to the east — I could almost see the Appalachian Trail far to the west and the lights of the cities to the south — and I thought about the past and the future of our great state.

In response to the Bangor Daily News letter to the editor, “Grandparents’ GOP” on Dec. 27: I could have written this same letter about my parents. My dad, a World War II veteran and proud American, kept up on current events through his subscription to the BDN, reading books and televised news outlets until the end. Unfortunately, his body gave out on him and he was literally on his deathbed on Election Day 2016.

With the election of Gov. Janet Mills in November 2018, Maine was able to turn the corner on the ugliness, lawlessness and cruelty of the LePage administration. Whether you agree with Mills on every issue is immaterial. The state of politics in Maine has changed and that gives me hope for the future of the United States.

Hello. Recently discovered that the Mill Café is closed at least for the time being. What about adding some curated pieces to the commercial space? I visited both Bates Mill in Auburn and Pepperell Mill in Biddeford and fell in love with the history.

The first thing I notice about Patrick McNamara's video on the LinkedIn business networking site? It is low-tech. Positioning his smart phone vertically, Mr. McNamara looks directly into his phone's camera. Sometimes we see his full face. Sometimes we see his head profiled. And sometimes part of McNamara's face is out of our field of view. Each video is just under a minute in length, with McNamara offering on each five-to-six lessons on what he calls "basic dude stuff."

Call me conservative, but I love tradition. And there is no finer tradition on these pages than the month of December, when I get to make predictions for the coming year, and -- as I'm about to do now -- I hand out superlatives for the year that was. 2019 came and went all too quickly, but there are plenty of bests and worsts to talk about. And so, we look back on the previous 12 months, and we remember. I give to you, the 2019 Conifer Awards:

'Twas the day after Christmas, when all through the House, Not a legislator was stirring, not even to grouse; The impeachment articles were delayed by the speaker with care,

The Kiwanis Community Christmas Project is truly a community-supported and worthwhile project. Starting with the Dover-Foxcroft Congregational Church, there are so many people and organizations that deserve to get big hugs for their help in making  the holidays brighter for our community's youth.

I'll start with an admission: I genuinely like Jared Golden. To be clear, I view the manner in which he was elected to Congress to be repellent and illegitimate and I think that Bruce Poliquin should be the 2nd Congressional District representative.