Archive for ‘Opinion’

  • Small World: Our president — a pre-mid-term peak

    By Henry Precht BN Columnist We’ve had a year of his leadership now and if we’re honest with ourselves, there is only one conclusion we can reach: The presidency of Donald Trump is bad for the United States. The foundation idea of this country is not too complicated. We learned it in high school civics […]

  • Small World: Another Iranian revolution? Nope

    By Henry Precht BN Columnist By the time you read this these words, street demonstrations against the Iranian regime may have run their course and everything that might be said or written about those events is on the record. Please, however, before a war with North Korea diverts your attention, give me a small moment […]

  • Online burn permit system should be safe, free, accessible

    By Doug Denico
 State Forester 
Director of the Maine Forest Service It may be difficult to appreciate the need for the Maine Legislature to address the online burn permit system in these cold and snowy months. Nevertheless, wildfires will reoccur in Maine with the start of spring. In fact, Maine averages 500 wildfires each year […]

  • Problems on Stevens Brook also faces lakes

    By Colin Holme LEA Assistant Director A recent water quality analysis of the Stevens Brook has described troubling findings. The town of Bridgton hired engineering firm Woodard and Curran to test for E.coli and optical brighteners along Stevens Brook, which revealed both of these pollutants in the stream. This has sparked public concern, and was […]

  • Earth Notes: Saving a Dam for a Change

      By Price Hutchins The removal of a dam in Maine is environmental progress. But in one case saving a dam in Lovell preserves our local environment. The recent engineering study completed by HEB Engineers of North Conway was thorough. You can find this survey on the Town of Lovell’s web page, www.lovellmaine.us. The survey […]

  • It Dawned on Me: Okay to be Sentimental

    By Dawn De Busk BN Columnist This holiday season, I have indulged in sentimentality despite my best judgement. In other words, I’ve let myself be moved by emotions and by the sweet simplicity of community traditions instead of being shielded from holiday cheer by my usual rant against the commercialism of Christmas and so on […]

  • On my Corner: Making a point

    Editor’s note: You have probably seen him in Pondicherry Square or at the Main Hill monument — be it in the heat of summer or frigid days of winter — holding a sign regarding securing America’s borders in one hand and waving to those who pass by with the other. Why does Bob Casimiro of […]

  • Guest column: EPA budget cuts will hurt lakes

    By Colin Holme LEA Assistant Director Simply put, the lakes of Maine have benefitted from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Through the agency, funds have been awarded to fix local roads and properties that were negatively impacting our lakes, streams and rivers. These moneys have been spent by public works departments and local contractors to […]

  • Tree Talk: South wind disaster

    By Robert Fogg Licensed Arborist It wasn’t a forecast I wanted to hear. The weatherman said, “Strong south and southeast wind Sunday night into Monday.” And, here I was, preparing for a one-week Disney vacation with my wife, youngest daughter and two grandkids. Plans had been made months in advance and could not be cancelled. […]

  • Earth Notes: The Mighty Mushroom

    By Sally Chappell I intended to write about the evils of nuclear weapons, but one day in September, a mushroom started sprouting in our asphalt driveway. Over the course of the next few days, I snapped pictures of it and shared my amazement with some friends near and far. One neighbor astutely remarked that it […]