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Anarchists claim victory in G-20 marches

Protestors vs. Police
Safely home after protesting for two full days, and being among the first American civilians ever attacked with a sonic cannon, two Portlanders are calling their efforts a success.

By JEFF INGLIS | September 30, 2009

Bigfoot coming to Congress Street

Venue Watch
Mainer Loren Coleman loves sharing his wealth -- the treasures collected during a 50-year career in the field of cryptozoology, which is the study of mysterious creatures (think Bigfoot, Loch Ness Monster, and the chupacabra).

By DEIRDRE FULTON | September 23, 2009

Protestors head to the G-20 summit

Global Outrage
As President Obama prepares to ask representatives of the world's largest economic powers for more money to help reverse the global recession, thousands of activists will take to the streets to protest the policies of the G-20 and its members, who are meeting in Pittsburgh on Thursday and Friday.

By JEFF INGLIS | September 23, 2009

Navigating Portland's entertainment rules

City Council
No live music after 12:15? No outdoor entertainment after mid-September?

By DEIRDRE FULTON | September 16, 2009

Snowe: A party of one

Party politics
US Senator Olympia Snowe has maneuvered herself into a position where she is the only hope Democrats have of getting a "bipartisan" agreement on healthcare reform.

By JEFF INGLIS | September 16, 2009

Prison ‘troublemaker’ confronts racism, medical abuse

Exiled
Vacillating between grit and despair — between aggressive lawsuits and suicide attempts — Deane Brown, the prisoner who in 2005 blew the whistle on the torture of mentally ill inmates at the Maine State Prison’s solitary-confinement “Supermax” unit, is struggling against prison conditions in Maryland, where he was exiled by the Baldacci administration.

By LANCE TAPLEY | September 09, 2009

Looking back to climb forward

Katrina's aftermath
It's been four years since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast. Its causes and ramifications, though, extend much farther into both the past and the future. So say Alixa Garcia and Naima Penniman, Brooklyn-based spoken-word and multimedia artists known together as Climbing Poetree.

By DEIRDRE FULTON | September 09, 2009

Your Money

Here comes the FairPoint bailout
We thought the bailouts were over. They're not. FairPoint Communications, the nightmare that has become northern New England's landline provider, is seeking tax dollars that could help it fulfill the promises made to regulators in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont when the company spent $2.3 billion to buy Verizon's systems here.

By JEFF INGLIS | September 02, 2009

Labor of Love

No rest for these union activists
Most of us will sleep in on Labor Day. Not the Southern Maine Labor Council, who will be working hard to remind us what the holiday's actually all about.

By JEFF INGLIS | September 02, 2009

Give peace a chance

Yoko Ono on why John Lennon's art remains relevant
This year marks the 40th anniversary of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Bed-In, which found the newlywed couple pontificating about peace from their Amsterdam honeymoon bed for a week. Decades later, the couple is still working together to promote social justice, with Ono publicizing exhibits of Lennon's playful, sometimes colorful, often childlike, works of art.

By DEIRDRE FULTON | August 26, 2009

Whole Foods health-care boycott gathers momentum

Human Rights Watch
Unfortunately for Whole Foods Market CEO and founder John Mackey, those who appreciate his store for the healthy, eco-friendly (read: left-leaning, progressive) lifestyle it promotes are the same citizens who support universal health care.

By DEIRDRE FULTON | August 24, 2009

Law review

Musicians hit by new tax
We know — tax-law changes are boring and probably don't affect you. Until they get confusing and apply directly to how you eke out a living here in Maine.

By JEFF INGLIS + PORTLAND MUSIC FOUNDATION | August 19, 2009

Back to basics

MENSK revisits its original purpose
Sometimes the biggest stumbling block for our fantastic ideas is a small, seemingly insignificant hurdle — a missing piece of paperwork, a logistical snafu, one degree of separation too many.

By DEIRDRE FULTON | August 12, 2009

Budget cuts

Prison staffing crisis hits perilous level
“Things are as tough at the prison right now as I’ve seen them in a long time,” state Corrections commissioner Martin Magnusson told the Legislature’s Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee on July 29. He spoke about the consequences of the staff cuts that the 915-inmate, 410-employee Maine State Prison in Warren has had to endure.

By LANCE TAPLEY | August 05, 2009

Dead like me

Tonya Hurley's high-school afterlife
"Perception vs. reality. In high school, they are pretty much the same thing." So writes Tonya Hurley, author of ghostgirl and ghostgirl: Homecoming (Little Brown), two books ostensibly written for young adults but with elements that are just as appealing to grown-ups.

By DEIRDRE FULTON | August 05, 2009

Greens see red, must seek more green

Campaign planning
In a move Maine Green Independent Party leaders say unfairly targets them, but that Maine Democrats say is simply protecting taxpayer money, the Legislature last month passed a law requiring gubernatorial candidates to raise tens of thousands of dollars from private donors before qualifying for public support.

By JEFF INGLIS | July 29, 2009

Local Sprouts dig in

Venue watch + more
For two years, the Local Sprouts Cooperative has been creating a name for itself as a sustainable and healthy catering and meal cooperative in Portland. Hanifa Washington, a worker-owner and chef, likens it to "Superman in slo-mo," saying that the organization has experienced a "steady advance" since its inception in 2007.

By DEIRDRE FULTON | July 29, 2009

Filling a legal void

Arts and the law
One thing many artists don't have a lot of is legal expertise. Another is money. And in most cases, you need one to get the other. That's where the Maine Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts comes in.

By DEIRDRE FULTON | July 15, 2009

Hot Toddy

YouTube mystery to go live in Portland
The uncredited, audio-only, blank-screen video debuted on YouTube in October 2007, but didn't start getting known until the middle of last year. Its popularity has grown steadily since: the original posting still hasn't topped even 10,000 views — and yet, it seems everybody's heard it by now. Soon, you might get to see it performed live.

By RICK WORMWOOD | July 15, 2009