I recently came across a chart of major epidemics in the United States starting in 1794 and ending in 1918. The author was emphasizing that many people thought to have “disappeared” from records were actually victims of diseases.

Grafton, who turns five mid-December, visited Eileen and I this Veterans Day. We had not seen each other in weeks. Our weekly day to babysit each other ended months ago when Grafton and his mom moved to Brunswick, and he started pre-K school.

In a surprise to exactly no one, Bruce Poliquin filed a lawsuit in federal court on Tuesday, challenging Maine's ranked-choice voting system. Poliquin has a duty to his campaign, the plurality of his constituents that voted for him, and to the country to file this suit, and file it exactly when he did.

There can be no question that Maine saw a blue wave on Election Day. Voters elected Democrat Janet Mills as governor, flipped the state Senate from Republican to Democratic control and expanded the Democratic majority in the state House of Representatives.

The holiday season is upon us again, which means here in the Moosehead Region we do our best to spread holiday cheer all around! To do this, the Moosehead Lake Kiwanis Club will be placing wish trees out in our community very soon.

Bruce Poliquin has won reelection to Congress to represent CD 2 by 2,000 votes. In the realms of sanity and fairness, that would be the headline, but once again, forces from outside CD 2 have conspired to work against the wishes of the voters in this District. The cycle of southern liberal arrogance continues.

Dear friends and neighbors, I want to congratulate Paul Davis for retaining Senate District 4. Despite the toxic environment on both sides of the aisle at the state and national level, I believe we treated each other with respect and civility. I wish Paul the best as you continue to serve the people in our district and want to assure you that I will work at your side to promote the issues raised by so many local residents -- healthcare access and costs, property taxes, the quality of our educational system, and economic growth and sustainability for our large rural region.

While scrolling through my photos of past trips to Baxter State Park, I realized that in years past every trip included a photo of a moose. This year, I made a half-dozen multi-day trips to the park to both the north and south ends, and not only did I not see a moose, but it was only outside the park that I even saw evidence of moose.

It’s November 7, 2018. The morning after the 2018 midterm elections, the first day of campaign season for the 2020 general elections.

Going into Tuesday's election, there were a lot of predictions. A lot of polls. A lot of prognostication. The conventional wisdom was that we would see a Democratic tidal wave across the nation from the House to the Senate to state governorships.

I would like to thank every person in Maine House District 119 that exercised their right to vote in the recent elections. I would also like to recognize my opponents, Mr. Adkins of Monson and Mr. Deertrack of Abbot for the way that they conducted their campaigns; it takes a great commitment to throw your hat into the ring in an effort to serve the public. They are to be commended.

Perhaps more than any election year in my lifetime, the press has come under intense pressure and attack. Deemed the “enemy of the people,” the media is being forced to adapt to a political climate in which a significant portion of the people have given up on the idea of truth and facts.

This isn’t about President Donald Trump, though he has become the news cycle, created a dangerous social movement and now embodies America. Democrats and Republicans aren’t resurrecting this flawed democracy. They are complicit in a partisan, fantasy game of politics that is truly dangerous to any hope of meaningful public discourse.

When it comes to interpreting old handwriting most genealogists agree it’s a difficult task. I’ve done my share of puzzling over words that I’m sure were created by a malevolent clerk chuckling over the trouble he was creating for future genealogists. For example, I recently came across a word on an old marriage record that was nothing more than a series of bumps. Eventually, I was able to figure out it was supposed to be “Lincoln.”

There has been some discussion lately about the ongoing process of Mayo Regional Hospital’s plan to enter into a new agreement with Northern Light Health (formerly EMHS or Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems). We wanted to take the opportunity to provide an update and further clarification, because we understand as the region’s healthcare provider and largest employer, our future affects many, if not all, members of the community.

In a book of collected letters, written by former President Herbert Hoover to American children, I was impressed with one letter to a kid who had written to the President of the United States with a question about how government can best help U.S. citizens.

Recently, I had dinner with three very informed, intelligent, politically savvy friends, all of whom -- just for the record -- happen to be Democrats. Naturally the conversation drifted toward Election Day, and the same question that I have been asked thousands of times this year, and thousands of times in each of the preceding election years, was again asked of me.

The knock on Janet Mills has never been that she’s soft on crime. In fact, during the Democratic primary, I would say that her law and order credentials were a sticking point for some of the more liberal members of the party. And they were considered a strength in the general election.