Archive for ‘Opinion’

  • Earth Notes: Where are we going?

    By Alice Darlington So much has changed in the last 30 years and at such a rapid pace, that I wonder where we are going as humans, Homo sapiens. Is the technology we are continually inventing and incorporating into our lives changing us into a species more machine-like than human? What will we be like […]

  • Earth Notes: Experiencing the ‘Breeding Bird Atlas’

    By Mary Jewett In June, Jean Preis told you about the Maine Breeding Bird Atlas project. For those of you who didn’t read her piece, or forgot the information, here is a brief rundown. The Atlas is a five-year project to update our knowledge about birds that are breeding in Maine. A similar project was […]

  • Small World: Good, bad, fake and rejected news

    By Henry Precht BN Columnist After weeks of ignoring the problem while a woodchuck nibbled away at my freshly emerging vegetables, I armed a Have-A-Heart trap with peanut butter, carrots and parsley and set it out. The result: two squirrels and a skunk captured, along with another skunk pacing and fuming about in sympathy. All […]

  • On My Corner

    By Bob Casimiro One day last week as I was holding my “Secure Our Border” sign at the red light at Pondicherry Square, a lady lowered her window and asked: “Have you traveled overseas?” A loaded question, for sure. I answered, “Yes” as the light turned green and she sped off. I would have told […]

  • Earth Notes: The Perils of Climate Change

    By Peter Bollen “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has,” — Margaret Mead In 1970, after serving in the military, I was a newly enrolled freshman in college. A new course was introduced in the curriculum — Environmental Science. I […]

  • Uppermost House: The annual drive

    By S. Peter Lewis BN Columnist Long about now each year, my wife Karen and I do the same thing that we’ve done for so many years that I can’t even remember when we didn’t do it; although it had to have been before 1982, the year we got married. A few days either side […]

  • Small World: Winning and losing at diplomacy

    By Henry Precht BN Columnist I hope you’re paying attention — taking notes, maybe — because Americans are being treated to a series of free lessons in good and bad diplomacy: What works for peace and prosperity and what threatens us with loss of lives and treasury. I refer, of course, to our promising dealings […]

  • On my Corner

    By Bob Casimiro My recent trip to the southwest was as much about the weather as my participation in border watch activities with the all-volunteer members of Arizona Border Recon. While the purpose of the trip was a weeklong exercise on the southern border, the weather was, with one notable exception, uncommonly cold and a […]

  • Small World: Syria, a short geopolitical quiz

    By Henry Precht BN Columnist Q: Is there a connection between President Trump’s personal troubles and the air strike on Syria? A: Officially, only on page one of the New York Times (unless proven otherwise before the News goes to print). Leading the left hand column is an article about the president’s personal lawyer entitled, […]

  • Small World: Strangers at the Gate

    By Henry Precht BN Columnist Let’s give a bit of time this morning to the continuing political issue of immigration. Although I am not aware of a particularly strong reaction to an influx of foreigners in the Bridgton area, it is certainly a source of agitation for other communities around the nation. Immigrants steal our […]