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.

Recently I had the pleasure of accompanying Senate District 4 candidate Sue Mackey Andrews while she visited homes in the Milo area. We encountered many people, some doing quite well while others faced various issues.

In just a few months, newly elected state and federal leaders will take office. Research just completed by AARP – the largest non-profit, non-partisan social membership organization both in Maine and in the U.S. – has confirmed that especially for older Mainers, the next two years will be hugely important to their future.

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.

I’ve had the pleasure of knowing and working with Sue Mackey Andrews for eight years. As a supporter of early childhood education and care, I have served on the Maine Children’s Growth Council with her and she has been extremely helpful in my organization’s work to prevent Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs).

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.

Mr. (Bruce) Dostie, good morning from the shores of beautiful Moosehead Lake as dawn is piercing the night sky, the sun is looming on the horizon ready to enhance the beauty of America’s Crown Jewel. On behalf of the community of Greenville and the Moosehead Lake region, I would like to welcome you to the Greenville school system, Union 60. A pleasure and honor to have you as our principal.

When I was a freshman in college, I got very involved, and very invested in the upcoming presidential race in 2000. Being a young, politically minded student, forming opinions and wishing to express them, I decided to try out column writing for The Maine Campus, the University of Maine's student newspaper.

Locked away. Out of sight. Out of mind. Out of luck. Kids are left in prison because there’s no place else for them to go. Men with autism are living in hospital emergency rooms, no other bed to be had. A child is locked up, gets sick and never gets better.

If your ancestor was naturalized how do you find the records? It’s important to determine where your ancestor was living at the time he was naturalized. Prior to 1906 any court could perform a naturalization ceremony. Your ancestor could have been naturalized in a municipal, county, state, or federal court, so having an idea where he lived at the time is of great importance.

Some teens are raised to know the value of a dollar, some aren’t, radio talk show host Laura Ingraham said this morning. I agree.

I am endorsing Sue Mackey Andrews for District 4 State Senator. It’s time we all vote wisely and vote for the person who can do the most for this state.

White hot rage. That's what I, a fairly devoted Catholic, felt when I read the grand jury report last Tuesday that detailed horrific abuse in six Pennsylvania dioceses -- Allentown, Erie, Greensburg, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Scranton.

Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument will celebrate its second birthday with a hootenanny this weekend. And there is plenty to celebrate.

Matthew Gagnon raised an important question in his recent column, “We shouldn’t cheer those secret recordings.” Based on Omarosa Manigault Newman’s recordings, especially those done against standing security protocols in the White House Situation room, Gagnon asked, “is that the world we really want to live in?”

Were your ancestors naturalized American citizens? Naturalization isn’t something new on our national horizon. Even in the 17th century, the English colonies required an oath of allegiance to the English crown or confirmation from a Protestant minister that the alien was in good standing with the church before he could become a citizen of a colony.