Let's get serious: For many Portlanders, 2009 was a crap year. Shuttered restaurants and shops lined streets in the Arts District and the Old Port, gas prices soared (again), and everyone knew someone who was under- or unemployed. Crime both petty and petrifying seemed to be on the rise. The result of the November 3 vote on same-sex marriage was disappointing to 73 percent of the city; tuition rose within the University of Maine system; and swine flu relegated many of us to our couches for weeks at a time, reminding us of how the national health-care debate (debacle?) affects us individually.
But there were bright spots, too. January 20 (Inauguration Day) was inspiring and festive (remember Aretha Franklin's hat?), even for those of us who observed from 540 miles away. Medical-marijuana users and a few municipal candidates achieved victory on Election Day. And our nights out on the town were enhanced by solid new eateries, exciting arts events (Wilco on the Maine State Pier! Shakespeare in Deering Oaks Park! "Distance Don't Matter" at SPACE Gallery!). And let's not forget the Portland Phoenix's 10th anniversary (celebrated by both parties and stories reflecting on a decade of arts, entertainment, and alternative-news reporting).
Before we (somewhat gratefully) bid farewell to 2009, let's revisit some of these memories:
The Economy
It's telling that Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve (which oversees banking in this country) was chosen as Time magazine's 2009 Person of the Year. So many of America's concerns and cover stories over the past 51 weeks have been about money — who's spending it, who's losing it, where it's all gone, and when it'll come back. Certainly this was true locally. In Maine, the unemployment rate hovered around 8 percent in 2009, lower than the national average (which is at 10 percent right now) but up from previous years. Those in Cumberland County fared better than in other parts of the state (with an average unemployment rate of 6.4 percent for the year), but many young people were patching it together with disparate part-time jobs. The state legislature didn't have it any easier, as it faced a massive budget deficit and "solved" its problem by slashing education funding and services to the elderly, poor, and ill.
Related:
Crossing the line, Time to end tolerance, 21st century breakdown, More
- Crossing the line
When an increasingly conservative newspaper company fires an already publicly conservative employee for apparently offending a liberal interest group, it leaves some people scratching their heads.
- Time to end tolerance
I'd like you to think about something. Ever seen the bumper sticker: "Intolerance will not be tolerated"?
- 21st century breakdown
The office of Maine's secretary of state has been around since we split from Massachusetts in 1820.
- Ready to rumble
Last summer, the upcoming race that got most Bay State politicos salivating was the run for governor.
- Alternatives abound
The 2009 tax increases around the country.
- Nobody dies
Some things in life are essential — beer, the MLB Network, caller ID — and some things aren't — tofu, Jay Leno, the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development.
- Change? What change?
Nice to see Goldman Sachs employee Barack "President" Obama get rolled by Gen. Stanley McChrystal so we can send more troops to Afghanistan on a hopeless mission.
- A lawyer’s adventures in bad judgment
People who know Keven McKenna know he is not a stupid man. Whether or not the Providence attorney, ex-state representative, and Harold Stassen of Providence mayoral races uses good judgment is another question.
- Dropping the ball
At last, the golden moment has arrived.
- Chaos Theory
In less than two weeks, when Massachusetts voters elect Martha Coakley to the US Senate — let's not pretend that Republican state senator Scott Brown has any chance of pulling off the monumental upset — they will trigger a massive domino effect that has the state's political class buzzing with anticipation.
- Sin tax
Among other things, your editorial calling for the Catholic Church to be punitively taxed for its anti-abortion lobbying suffers from a breathtaking lack of inconsistency.
- Less
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This Just In
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