Froma Harrop: Biden knew full well to resist DC’s softer criminal code

What's President Biden up to? His motive could be simple opposition to a law that reduces punishments for serious crimes. It could be to seem tough-on-crime at a time when public disorder has become a potent campaign issue. It could be both.

Austin Bay: Time for the Taiwan porcupine to bristle

The arc is clear. Beijing's military aircraft regularly and provocatively crosses the Taiwan Strait median line (the middle of the 110-mile wide strait). Communist China has become more belligerent and in the not-so-distant future will attack Taiwan and provoke a major war in the western Pacific.

Robert McCarthy: And now … the rest of the story

Censure (of Lewiston Mayor Carl Sheline) was not our first choice by a long shot. In response to the mayor’s continued disregard for the authority of the city administrator, repeated attempts to unilaterally commit city resources and general refusal to follow any rules, we were left with no choice but to voice our disapproval.

Paul Mills: Maine elects a president: Marty Rogoff and the 1976 Jimmy Carter Campaign

Chief Jason Moen: Supporting pre-K expansion and Maine’s child care workforce are important community safety measures

Law enforcement will tell you that it’s far better to keep kids away from crime in the first place, rather than to try and reform those kids after they become involved with the criminal justice system.

Rich Lowry: Our Dickensian border policy

The New York Times details how so-called unaccompanied minors end up "in some of the most punishing jobs in the country." The Times found: "Twelve-year-old roofers in Florida and Tennessee. Underage slaughterhouse workers in Delaware, Mississippi and North Carolina. Children sawing planks of wood on overnight shifts in South Dakota."

Cal Thomas: A different narrative on Jan. 6?

Fox News host Tucker Carlson recently aired on his show portions of the Jan. 6, 2021 video footage he received from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Carlson claims the previously unseen video shows a broader picture than the narrow one crafted by the House Select Committee.

Bob Neal: The Countryman: Eventually, the dominoes will fall

Instead of mouthing the Russian line as if they were Fox “News” commentators, Maine Republicans, not to mention national Republicans, ought to be supporting the defense of Ukraine. Even if it’s only by passing a sentiment of the Legislature.

Cal Thomas: Read his lips: more new taxes

Taxes need to be cut, not raised, to deprive the Washington beast of revenue it wastes. Spending should be substantially reduced, bureaucratic, dysfunctional and unnecessary government agencies eliminated, and as much misspent money recovered as possible.

On beautiful country trails, fights over e-bikes can get ugly

Matt De Young, a mountain biker, finds it ironic that many of his fellow mountain bikers use the trail-degradation argument to oppose e-bike access to trails. For years, he said, mountain bikers were accused of "tearing up the landscape."