May the weather be fair and attendance strong at area Memorial Day observances, including Wiscasset’s at 9 a.m. at the veterans’ wall. Monday is a day off for most, and the cap on the near-summer…

It's the third full week in May and, I think, we can finally welcome spring. The calendar said spring began way back on March 20, but Mother Nature just kept on pouring on the rain and cold…

Come on, let’s see how big a man you are. How much can you drink? How much razzing and abuse can you take?  How far can we push you before you break?

Sadly,…

In addition to new buds on the trees, green grass and spring flowers, something else is making an appearance: winter trash. Once the snow melts, our ditches and other property close to the…

What are the top traffic violations that cause traffic crashes? According to the Department of Safety/Maine State Police web page on www.maine.gov, speeding is one of the top three violations…

Next Monday night, May 15, if you can, be in Stover Auditorium at Wiscasset Middle High School for voters’ first hand in the next school budget. The School Committee and administrators worked…

Last week’s column on the lack of available housing and the glut of job openings in the region prompted many ideas after being posted on Facebook, thus this follow-up.

One of the better…

The hurrier I go, the behinder I get. That old saying pretty much sums up progress in repairing our nation’s roads and bridges.It seems like no matter how much we spend, we can’t get ahead…

Take a look at our Help Wanted ads this week. There are jobs aplenty — mostly seasonal, but it happens every spring around here. Restaurants and hotels are trying to fill their staffs for the…

On Earth Day last Saturday, we were reminded that changing attitudes about our environment and renewed interest in the creatures which share our world has made a difference in the…

We’ve all seen it — trash, torn or freshly fallen — strewn in the road. It doesn’t make the prettiest village any prettier and it doesn’t do wild animals or strays any favors, either.

Birds…

Mother Nature still has time to throw us a curve and drop some more snow on us before summer, but she can’t deny that signs of spring are everywhere, including  frequent showers…

Red Sox, Celtics and Bruins. In the past couple of weeks, at least one of the Boston teams has been on cable TV sometime during the week. The Red Sox have a long way…

Some baseball is better than no baseball, unless you don’t like baseball. But as is the nature of school sports, Wiscasset high school baseball is as much about the school as the sport.

…

My email blast from Editor & Publisher arrived Tuesday morning with a listing of this year's Pulitzer Prizes for journalism (http://www.…

Good guy/Bad guy. The United States wears both hats, and has for a number of years. No matter what we do, we garner praise from some and condemnation from others. We’re hearing a wide variety of…

Another baseball season has begun.

Ho hum.

For 50 years, ever since the ’67 Boston Red Sox surprised and thrilled New England by making it to the World Series, I have enjoyed…

As soon as Old Man Winter indicates he’s loosening his grip on the Maine coast and spring is finally in the air, lobstermen will begin to rig their traps in preparation for the upcoming…

What has a New York giraffe got to do with us a day’s drive north? Nothing at all, and everything.

For weeks, the pregnant April’s antics and moods captivated online viewers around the…

I received several positive comments about last week's column regarding my disdain for long, unsupervised meetings. One of the best comments came in the form of a letter from a long ago…

It appears that it has taken the proposed changes in the Affordable Care Act to put some Republicans and some Democrats on the same side, albeit it for different…

This will leave a void. And yet, thanks to Todd Souza’s approach to leadership in his years directing parks and recreation, his departure won’t leave as big a void as it would have, had he been a…

Maine folks who favored legalizing the sale and use of recreational marijuana were probably unaware of the problems state and local authorities would be facing. What many of them supported,…

Another storm is forcing this column to be written as quickly as possible in order to get the paper sent to the printer before a possible power outage. Fine with me ... almost lunchtime anyway. I…

We’ll never really understand why folks at various income levels, but more so the very rich, feel compelled to want more and more material things. It’s just human…

One of winter’s consolations is the break from the destructive phenomenon of thunderstorms. Snow costs and is hazardous, but I don’t recall reporting on any snowstorms that electrocuted people or…

Politics can be interesting. That’s good, as long as we also take politics seriously — like “60 Minutes” does or a documentary that entertains and educates. As viewers and as citizens, it’s good…

Basketball season has come to an end for most Maine high school teams who have played their final tournament game at the Augusta Civic Center. The season-long goal, of course, is to qualify for…

Once in a while, I like to "surf the net," as the old saying goes, to come up with ideas for articles, get informed, or just to prompt a laugh or two.

One of my favorite entertaining and…

Watching the senior high school basketball players leave the court for the final time is a bit melancholy. They've played their final game, some give each other hugs and, as a fan, you remember…

I root for the underdog, the dark horse no one gives a second look, or someone whose day has passed. It’s cold out of the limelight but, fan-less and perhaps friendless, they keep going toward a…

OK, Midcoast Maine residents, let’s all admit it: We’re spoiled when it comes to dealing with serious snowfall. We’ve had it too easy of late…

Whatever happened to the national Do Not Call list? Everyone is asking these days, with many households being inundated with unwelcome telephone calls telling you you’re eligible for a low-…

Years ago, on our websites at www.wiscassetnewspaper.com and www.boothbayregister.com, I said my future plans included starting a campaign against winter. I have held off, due to the odds against…

The new traffic lights at the intersection of routes One and 27 in Wiscasset took some getting used to. Like many, I turn there multiple times a day, most days. And like many, and possibly most, I…

On Monday I had the pleasure of talking to an old friend and former competitor while watching a junior varsity girls basketball game at Boothbay Region High School.

Don Brewer, Wiscasset…

Rumble strips are becoming more common on Maine roads and elsewhere as officials make an all-out effort to cut down on accidents. Route 3 here in Maine is the latest roadway scheduled for…

Whenever another environmental issue surfaces — there’s a new one about every day — we can’t help but wonder if Rachel Carson ever really knew the impact she would…

The polls are out — most of the country doesn’t like the New England Patriots.

Listening to a sports radio…

It’s not clear yet if a majority of Wiscasset selectmen will still want to ask voters about the school department’s energy project now that the committee has again green-lighted Superintendent of…

The Women’s March on Washington last week had an impact on communities, businesses, and households across the nation with women leaving behind their usual duties to take part in the historic…

When I took this job at the newspaper back in 1987, I began collecting mementos because I had a feeling I might be here awhile. I used to have an old Bostitch…

As you get older, you tend to reflect on some of the changes you have witnessed in your lifetime, and this week we learned that something which has been around…

Let’s hope Wiscasset has an easier time filling the rental space in its airport terminal than it’s had trying to fill seats on the airport advisory committee.

Two seats have been vacant many…

Most of us here on the Boothbay peninsula feel that we dodged a bullet earlier this month when northern and western Maine got hit hard by back-to-back storms leaving behind more than two…

Besides the NCAA's "March Madness," the National Football League playoffs are my favorite sporting events to watch from my recliner. There are four games this weekend — two on Saturday and two on…

Did actress Debbie Reynolds die of a broken heart just one day after losing her daughter, Carrie Fisher? Many folks we know would say the answer is yes. We don’t know how much scientific…

For the year we left on Saturday night, here are some last shout-outs, recognizing just some of those whose choices or efforts set good examples of plowing ahead, and in some cases hopefully…

With Christmas behind us (just barely) we all turn our attention to getting the budget back on track and accepting the realization that winter is really upon us here in Maine.

…

One year ago, on Dec. 27, we lost a co-worker, Mike Scarborough, who died at the age of 59. He was my age then so it really hit home. Even though some of us only got to know Mike for the three-…