23 hours ago

Hope of the rural community

To the Editor: The annual Fourth of July parade is over. Vendors pull out. Visiting family and friends ebb away and return to their homes. The town goes back to normal -- being quiet. We hear the news that most of America’s rural communities are doomed to decline. We hear that rural life is fading away. We hear that rural older adults as well as younger ones are hit hard by opioid epidemic. When hope seems lost, where do we find hope in the rural community?

2 days ago

A reality check

It occurs to me that I haven’t contributed a column to the newspaper in a while. That doesn’t mean I haven’t written things. I have, but thought better of it; mostly items criticizing the latest Trumpian gaffe. The echo chamber can be deafening at times. 

2 days ago

E. A. Williams cartoon — July 10, 2019

E. A. Williams cartoon — July 10, 2019

3 days ago

Challenge yourself this summer

According to the May 9, 2019, Washington Post, the continental US has just experienced the wettest 12-month period in recorded history -- and this summer seems to be a continuance of that trend.

3 days ago

Before the snow flies

It’s a phrase we’ve all heard, and we’ve all used.

4 days ago

Enjoy a slice of summer

The fair was early this year. This was mostly an issue of rides for the kids and other events that the ride company needed to address. Still, it now puts almost two months in between the end of the fair and the start of school. 

4 days ago

A salute to the Young Messengers

To the editor: For many years I have refrained from writing to the Pioneer Times for many reasons. Today, I make an exception. This is for you Young Messengers.

1 week ago

Big, bold skies

Here in The County, we have big, bold, beautiful skies, along with wonderful, wide-open views to distant hills and mountains, and, lucky for us, in thunderstorm season, our "big sky" makes it easier to spot important weather clues.

1 week ago

E. A. Williams cartoon — July 10, 2019

E. A. Williams cartoon — July 10, 2019

1 week ago

Beating boredom this summer

“I’m bored, there’s nothing to do.” It is a phrase that my wife and I simply do not tolerate in our household during the summer months. And why should we?

2 weeks ago

Plea for abandoned kittens

This has been an unusually busy week for Halfway Home Pet Rescue, and unfortunately a very unhappy week as kittens have been discovered abandoned on some country roads.

2 weeks ago

Fighting for good-paying jobs in Aroostook County

There is a lot of untapped potential in Aroostook County.

2 weeks ago

Cooking with Susie Q – Week of July 3, 2019

What an exciting time! We are planning vacations, celebrations and hopefully I will see many of you at the Agricultural Fair events.

2 weeks ago

A just choice: choose humanity

One year ago, 12 of us plus two children chanted: “End the separations, keep families together” in downtown Presque Isle. Unfathomably, this year we must chant against worse policies: “Close the child prisons.”

2 weeks ago

Disappointed in legislators who jumped on Portland’s asylum band wagon

To the editor, I just read an article regarding the bill that was passed by the [Maine] House [of Representatives] to provide welfare benefits to the asylum-seekers coming into the state of Maine.

2 weeks ago

Summer road trips rule

Weddings in June are common enough. Relatively simple affairs. There is a bride, wearing a white and dolled up into a fanciful creation of spun sugar and apple blossoms.

2 weeks ago

E. A. Williams cartoon — July 3, 2019

E. A. Williams cartoon — July 3, 2019

2 weeks ago

Murphy loves a do-it-yourselfer

If you ever doubt whether Murphy’s Law is a real thing, just plan a simple weekend project. Then you’ll see what the gods of Murphydom really think of us poor humans.