Ben Bragdon

Kennebec Journal/Morning Sentinel

Latest

Published
August 28, 2023

Lisa Jarvis: Women are drinking more alcohol and it’s killing them

New data show that more U.S. women are dying from alcohol than ever before. Public health authorities need to adopt more effective strategies to help women realize when their drinking is a problem. Considering the many marketing messages pushing a “rosé all day” lifestyle, that campaign will be an uphill battle. But exposing the dangers […]
Published
August 28, 2023

Commentary: States should give rural families school choice

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott will call a special legislative session this fall in hopes of joining a national trend toward expanding families’ K-12 options via school choice policies. Opponents claim that school choice will “destroy” rural school districts, but the available evidence says otherwise. Over the last 15 years, students in rural Texas have suffered […]
Published
August 28, 2023

Commentary: The March on Washington was more than a dream

Sixty years ago, the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream turned the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom into a near-religious revival. King’s speech remains so emotionally powerful that we remember little else about that historic march and rally. That’s a shame, because the demonstration was so much more than a dream; it was […]
Published
August 26, 2023

Our View: Rural police coverage needs better coordination

State police are pulling back on patrols in rural counties, putting pressure on local and county officials and leaving communities in the lurch.
Published
August 25, 2023

Tom Waddell: Political agendas take aim at LGBTQ Americans

There is nothing wrong with being transgender. It is nefarious, bigoted religious and political agendas that cause the problems transgender people experience. Transgender and cisgender people (a person whose gender identity matches their sex given at birth) are the gender they identify as. Gender identity and sex are not the same. Sex is what you […]
Published
August 21, 2023

Commentary: The US bungled its COVID-19 vaccine distribution. Why no accountability?

Although the lion’s share of COVID-19 infections and deaths in the United States is over, Americans should embrace their inner Yogi Berra, who once observed that “it ain’t over till it’s over.” Indeed, a number of issues regarding COVID-19 remain active, including hundreds of thousands of patients potentially stricken with long COVID-19 and the mystery […]
Published
August 21, 2023

View from Away: Stop minor traffic stops. They are an excuse to randomly search cars — and can turn deadly

An enormous amount of police time and resources go into traffic patrol, in which officers pull over motorists for infractions as minor as a single nonfunctioning taillight. Traffic stops have become police surveillance tools, a pretext to search vehicles for guns, drugs or other goods that might be stolen, illicit or dangerous. Court rulings interpreting […]
Published
August 21, 2023

Commentary: For a democracy at risk, one small but significant step forward

“A house divided cannot stand” feels uncomfortably on-target at this time in our political history. To compare Abraham Lincoln’s famous words to our current political intransigence may appear hyperbolic. But the reality is that our divisions are intense and deep. Politically, there is a sense of caution in talking to friends, neighbors and family. A […]
Published
August 20, 2023

Allegations against Winslow councilors ring true

Winslow Councilor Quirion’s charge in the Aug. 11 Sentinel that some councilors are routinely meeting in private resonated with me (“Sitting Winslow councilor blows whistle on ‘secret meetings’ held at chairman’s property“). About two years ago final action on the proposed Roderick Road solar farm was on the council’s agenda. I arrived some 15 minutes […]
Published
August 20, 2023

Today’s editorial cartoon

August 20, 2023