Democratic voters in Iowa will caucus next week, becoming the first to weigh in on who should be the nominee to challenge President Donald Trump in November. I’m going to let you in on a little secret that only experienced and wise political columnists know.

Who elected these people? I asked myself that question a few times working in the Maine Legislature. I wasn't being cruel. Neither was I being wholly dismissive of the legislators in question. Rather, I was thinking first about the duties, the job of being a legislator. It can take only one vote to have a majority of legislators raise taxes, end charter schools, end the definition of marriage, change the way we vote -- the opportunities for legal mischief making are endless.

Principles are pretty easy to have. It doesn't take much effort to say that you believe in things like free expression, multiculturalism, religious tolerance, a limited government, social justice or fiscal austerity.

The editorial board of The New York Times thought it was endorsing its preferred candidates in the Democratic primary for president this week.

While recently going through family photos I found the one taken the day my father left for the Army in World War II. Dad, his parents, and siblings lined up on the lawn. Their body language and faces told how sad they were. Right in the center was the family dog, Mauser. Mauser had his head toward his worried-looking people and his rear solidly facing the camera. It looked as if he wanted to stop my Dad from leaving.

It is a stark reality that on average, working households in Maine have just $2,500 in retirement account savings. As the current AARP volunteer state president, a Portland Maine resident and a former small business owner, I am very interested in changing this situation.

I find it almost comical that Scott K. Fish chose to reference Hugh Hewett in his Jan. 10, 2020 column about a modern government workforce as someone we should take to heart when critiquing civil servants. In state, local and federal government there certainly is room for improvement, but why would we seek answers from an individual who has made a living promoting an agenda that has nothing to do with the working class, instead focusing on advancing hypotheses that ignore science while willfully promoting debunked theories in order to obfuscate the truth, all under the guise his Christian faith affords him a platform to educate the public while sharing his opinions which predominantly adhere to party lines, even at the cost of him being hypocritical.

Have you ever made a suggestion to someone and been ignored, with no response? Not so the case with Will Wedge from Will’s Shop and Save. I mentioned the poor lighting at the entrance to his store and along with some arm twisting (ask to see the bruises) only a couple of days later, new lights were installed! 

The news came through first at 7:12 pm; a voice message from friend Chip Stern, driving his taxi in Brooklyn, N.Y. But I hadn't checked my phone. At 9:30 p.m. Eileen received a text message from her daughter, Leanne: "Tell Scott I'm sorry to hear about Neil Peart."

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.