John Christie is the co-founder, former publisher and former senior reporter of the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting. He has covered local, state and national politics as a reporter, editor and publisher at newspapers in Maine, Massachusetts and Florida and holds a BA in political science from the University of New Hampshire.
Once a year, we take our inspiration from the clever folks at Harper’s Magazine, and produce, as they do, an index of “ironic statistics arranged for thoughtful effect.”
Our index, written by Editor-in-Chief John Christie, is drawn from the stories we published in the past year.
Gov. Paul LePage reversed a routine and state-approved payment to a Fairfield nonprofit that operates a charter school.
The legislature’s practice of conducting the public’s business — such as budget negotiations — behind closed doors likely violated the state’s Freedom of Access Act (FOAA).
Gov. Paul LePage inserted himself into a state law enforcement proceeding about a religious discrimination case and threatened to go to court if the legal process was not postponed, according to an internal memo.
What would it look like if campaign funds were used elsewhere? Here’s what we found.
As voters surely saw this past campaign season, there were lots of polls. They showed how one candidate was winning or another. But polls can be wrong, and they are often abused by political operatives who want to promote candidates.
The top 10 individual Maine donors to state and national political campaigns represent just .001 percent of Maine’s adult population of about one million. But that minuscule percentage represents 27.3 percent of all donations to candidates, parties and causes from contributors with a Maine address.
It’s election season, and the hyperbole machine is redlining. Endorsements, especially, are the time to lay it on thick and attempt to counter the candidate’s greatest weakness.
Just as World War II ended, the writer George Orwell was working on a novel that was to become so well-read and so prescient that its title and key phrases are still powerful expressions of the dangers of government control.
“Who Ya Kidding” this week deconstructs a popular euphemism used when big shots resign in disgrace.
Many of our stories, including some by this author, have been based on tips from readers.
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