We applaud the decision by Maine Transportation Commissioner David Bernhardt to abandon the Maine Department of Transportation’s effort to strip property rights from Sherman Marsh landowners in order to preserve the land and, in turn, receive credits to exchange for the destruction of wetlands elsewhere in the state.

On Wednesday, Jan. 25, four members of Pemaquid Watershed Association’s Keep Pemaquid Peninsula Beautiful Committee traveled to Augusta to witness an important hearing in front of the Maine Legislature’s Environment and Natural Resources Committee. Rep. Mick Devin has co-sponsored L.D. 57, a bill to ban single-use plastic bags at all points of retail checkout in the state.

This past weekend I attended the inauguration of President Trump. I was also present while the women’s march took place the following day. Please allow me to share with you what I saw, heard, and experienced about these two historic events.

Americans are very politically divided. Of the roughly 57.9 percent of eligible voters that voted in the presidential election, 48.2 percent voted for Hillary Clinton and 46.1 percent voted for Donald Trump.

Merrill and Shirley Bailey, of Nobleboro, lost both their home and barn in a fire the evening of Jan. 10 and in the early hours of Jan. 11. The fire consumed the barn quickly and then ignited the home just after the Baileys were awakened by Devin Benner, son-in-law and neighbor, and brought safely away from their home. We are fortunate to still have them in our lives.

Tom Brady deserves the MVP award.

After a four-game suspension to start the season, Brady threw for 28 touchdowns and only two interceptions – an NFL record for touchdown-to-interception ratio.

As we look back at the headlines of 2016, the story of the year on the national level was a presidential race unlike any other in our lifetimes.

We enjoy New Year’s resolutions and the opportunity the New Year gives to symbolically clear the slate and try harder to reach our personal and professional goals.

As 2016 draws to a close, we are reminded that family and community are vitally important to our way of life. At The Lincoln County News, we focus on bringing this community the best news and professional journalism.

Every time of year has its own challenges in terms of teens using alcohol and other drugs, but the holiday season can be particularly challenging.

My wife Julie and I recently visited Fort McHenry in Baltimore where, in the War of 1812, Francis Scott Key wrote “The Star-Spangled Banner,” our American national anthem, after seeing the Stars and Stripes prevailing through the smoke after the battle. It was a very moving experience for us to be there and to witness the historical site firsthand. It was also a reminder to me of the sacrifices that my family, like most American families, has made to protect and to defend our country.

Kurt Vonnegut Jr., in his novel “Slaughterhouse Five,” makes the following observation about time:

“All moments, past, present, and future, have always existed and always will … It is just an illusion we have that one moment follows another like beads on a string, and that once a moment is gone, it is gone forever.”