Obesity is a problem in our nation, and it’s a problem in Maine. But the USDA refuses to prohibit the purchase of soda and candy with food stamps.

Matthew Gagnon’s parents should be lauded for teaching him “not to label people, and to reject attempts at categoriz(ing) human beings.” Unfortunately, labeling and categorizing are endemic to our society.

Across the U.S. more than 40 million Americans provide care for parents, spouses, children and other relatives with disabilities or illness. Here in our state, about 178,000 Mainers care for their loved ones and help them live in their homes and communities.

As a small business owner who also represented a largely rural community in the Maine State Senate, I know first-hand the importance of access to broadband in communities like ours.

Terry Hayes, Maine’s first independent state treasurer and independent, clean elections candidate for governor, is honored to announce the support of Rep. Norman Higgins, I-Dover-Foxcroft. Treasurer Hayes will be campaigning in Piscataquis County on Friday, Jan. 19 with Rep. Higgins who represents House District 120.

It was an otherwise innocent stroll through Frank Harrison Middle School, where my oldest son goes to school, when my eye caught a display on the wall.

Give Gov. Paul LePage a break. Sure, his note to a 16-year-old who is concerned about the future of the internet was insensitive. Absolutely, he was tone deaf. And really, who doesn’t sign a personal note with a third-person job title? But the advice, despite the deeply flawed delivery, was sound.

On behalf of the 178,000 unpaid family caregivers who reside in our state, AARP Maine applauds U.S. Sen. Susan Collins for her leadership in sponsoring the Recognize, Assist, Include, Support, and Engage (RAISE) Family Caregivers Act.

After our recent visit from Winter Storm Grayson, I want to thank postal employees for making every reasonable effort throughout this storm to transport, collect and deliver the mail where it was safe to do so.

Too many Maine families are facing skyrocketing property taxes that strain household budgets. Our elderly on fixed incomes are particularly vulnerable to these increases. School budgets are often blamed for annual increases in property taxes. But there’s another reason. A tremendous amount of land and property value has been taken off the tax rolls, leaving homeowners to pick up the tab.

Despite these historic accomplishments during more than a century of powered flight, today women remain significantly underrepresented in the aviation industry. Although women make up more than 50 percent of our nation’s workforce, they represent just two percent of airline mechanics, four percent of flight engineers, five percent of repairmen, six percent of pilots, 18 percent of flight dispatchers and 26 percent of air traffic controllers.

The Piscataquis Thriving in Place Collaborative (TiP) came to life through generous funding from the Maine Health Access Foundation (MeHAF). TiP is an aging-in-place resource and referral network coordinated by the Charlotte White Center (CWC) that has grown to over 60 partners over the last four years.

In those extreme situations where children cannot safely remain in their parents’ care, youth are placed in foster care with adults who are willing to care for them while parental and child treatment needs are being assessed and issues of permanency are being resolved. The reality of this situation is that the need for safe, caring and healing homes surpasses the present capacity of licensed homes.

About 59,000 working Mainers got a raise this week when the minimum wage increased from $9 an hour to $10 an hour. For someone working 40 hours a week, the dollar will increase pay by about $2,000 a year before payroll taxes. The yearly wage for a full-time worker making the new minimum was just more than $20,000.

A short time after Christmas, Wall Street Journal writer Bob Greene caught up with US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, and asked him about a commencement speech he gave in June to his son's ninth-grade graduation ceremony at a boarding school in New Hampshire.

Medicaid expansion is the law. Voters made sure of that. But when the Maine Legislature reconvenes next week, the fight over health insurance coverage for more than 70,000 Mainers will begin anew.

Traditions are wonderful, which is why I am proud to give you my bold predictions each year. That's why in 2014 I also started handing out the Conifer Awards ---- political superlatives for the year that was.

As we look forward to the new year, one of the big challenges facing our state is growing our workforce and keeping our economy on a roll.