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How I Ate My Summer Vacation — New Eateries Continue to Flood the Peninsula and Beyond

How I Ate My Summer Vacation — New Eateries Continue to Flood the Peninsula and Beyond

Summer in Maine is a short window. It’s a time to slow down, get outside and soak up the warm weather before it inevitably disappears just a few months later. It’s also a time to give your oven a rest and sample some of the newer eats that are popping up around town on a weekly basis, and there’s plenty to look forward to. Not sure where to start? Here are a handful of spots to... Read more

19-06-2017 Hits:161 Features Erik Neilson

Portland's 2017 Summer Guide

Portland's 2017 Summer Guide

Summer in Maine reminds us how good it is to be alive.   Our state is peppered with beautiful lakes, miles of epic coastline, and gorgeous mountain trails that when witnessed, makes us appreciate our paltry existence. Here, seemingly sheltered from the world and its myriad problems, many of us are lucky to breathe fresh air, drink clean water, and exist a short ways away from natural marvels. As cliche as our state motto is, life... Read more

18-06-2017 Hits:187 Features Francis Flisiuk

Columns

Hold On To Your Humanity

About a decade ago, I made a conscious decision to try and be more kind. The choice came on the heels of a particularly nasty argument I’d had with a friend from college, one where my words were so thoughtlessly cruel even I had a hard time being around myself in the following days. In the misery of my self-imposed exile, I decided that I couldn’t continue as I had been, and promised myself I’d... Read more

20-06-2017 Hits:79 Roles of Engagement Sultana Khan

  • The Safest Places To Get Stone…

    As we approach the first summer of legalized recreational cannabis use in Portland, the struggle to find "safe" places to get stoned just isn't the important business it used to be. Public use still isn't legal though, so there's still a…

  • For recreational smokers, gift…

    So if recreational marijuana is legal to own and consume, but illegal to buy, how do I get ahold of some? I sought to answer this question the day after Old Port Fest — or rather, the moment my stash went…

  • Feed Your Fantasies — How to T…

    Dear Kaylee, Do you have any tips for talking to partners or potential partners about kink/fetishes? There are things I’m interested in trying that I haven’t been able to talk to anyone about because I’m nervous about accidentally freaking someone out…

Politics and Other Mistakes

Kingdom of gettin’ it wrong

Would Mary Mayhew make a good governor? Hell, no. Republican Mayhew, who recently resigned after six years as commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Services so she could announce her gubernatorial ambitions, has an interesting resume. She’s been an active Democrat, directing a 1990 congressional campaign, working for Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton and serving as a congressional aide. She’s also lobbied for the Maine Hospital Association, which strongly supports Medicaid expansion, the exact opposite of Mayhew’s current platform. Now, she’s positioning herself as heir apparent to GOP Gov. Paul LePage. That’s not what makes her a crappy choice for governor...

16-06-2017 Hits:104 Politics & Other Mistakes Al Diamon

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News

'The City Can Do Better': Marpheen Chann's vision for a Port…

'The City Can Do Better': Marpheen Chann's vision for a Portland that's truly for everyone

Last week, the local activist and Maine law graduate Marpheen Chann announced his grassroots effort to run for Portland's City Council, representing District 5 (Deering Center, North Deering, Riverton), a seat currently occupied by David Brenerman. He's running against Kim Cook, who runs a government relations firm, and Craig Dorais, a patent attorney. As a first generation Asian-American and member of the LGBTQ community with real-world experience, Chann says he's uniquely poised to tackle some to the... Read more

19-06-2017 Hits:504 News Francis Flisiuk

  • How Fake Is This? — Three Theories on Holly Seelig…

    Last week, the Portland Press Herald published a piece by Greg Kesich calling attention to the YouTube channel “Zoon Politikon” hosted since October by Portland’s Holly Seeliger, a Green Party affiliate and member of the Portland School Board. “Zoon Politikon,” a…

  • News Briefs: No deportation for Ali, Portland gets…

    Judge posts $9,000 bail for permanent resident threatened with deportation After sitting in a New Hampshire jail for weeks, uncertain whether he’d be deported back to famine-stricken Somalia, Portland resident Abdi Ali received the first bit of good news after a…

  • News Briefs: Mayor Strimling joins climate coaliti…

    Portland joins the coalition of cities pledging to uphold the Paris agreement After President Trump stunned almost every scientist (and otherwise sensible American) when he pulled out of the Paris Climate Accord last week—which pushed for countries to reduce emissions in…

Arts

Three Art Shows You Have to See This Summer

Three Art Shows You Have to See This Summer

If your love of Maine art goes deeper than First Friday hangout sessions, check these compelling art shows on view while they're hot. 1. Selvedge at Able Baker Contemporary Curated by muralist and painter Tessa Greene O'Brien, Selvedge is a dynamic group exhibition of artists playing with the fundamental methods of making paintings, substituting new techniques and processes to the fundamental stapes of medium, support, and surface to create avenues that expand the history and tradition of... Read more

20-06-17 Hits:57 Art Phoenix Staff

  • 8 Days A Week: Decolonization Lessons, Coal Studie…

    THURSDAY 22 SOLAR OBLIVION | President Trump says he loves coal miners. He’s also said, at various points along the campaign, that he loves “the Hispanics, the Evangelicals, the Mexican people, the wounded warriors, the generals, the Saudis, the Mormons, and…

  • Summer Hits The Stage

    Once again, PortFringe has kicked off Portland’s summer of theater, and you have through June 24 to catch some of the crazy — check out last issue’s PF Roundup and this issue’s capsule reviews.    Summer usually proceeds with a measure of Shakespeare, but some…

  • Early Highlights from the PortFringe Festival

    The Fringe goes on! This year, the PF team has had the great idea to offer “first looks” at shows, written by local friends of PF and posted at http://portfringe.com/first-looks/, and here are a few of my own highlights from…

Food & Drink

The Beers of Summer

The Beers of Summer

As I type, it's almost 90 degrees. When my editor requested some summer beer reviews for this column, I nearly wept with joy. Don't get me wrong, loyal reader, I love a good chewy stout when the weather is hot, but nothing drives me to drink like warm weather. This week, I'm going to be sampling some “summer beers.” I'm approaching this from a selfish perspective. I'm not going to... Read more

16-06-2017 Hits:215 Drink Seth Levy

  • What's Red, Flemish, and Sour?

    This spring, we've taken a virtual trip to Belgium. It's been a terrific journey featuring unusual adjuncts (like coriander!), brain-blistering levels of alcohol, and startling realizations. For example, who knew tripel was so light, and so easy to drink? I'm…

  • Belgian Whites: The Most Drink…

    This season, we're taking a tour of Belgian beers. Last week, we sipped several Belgian stouts, so it's only natural that we explore the lighter side of Belgian beers: white or “Wit” beers. These lighter beers, which go by a…

  • Albanian Pastries and Smiles: …

    Coffee is the only beverage, that I have tried and failed, to give up. When sleep has been elusive, I have always attributed it to caffeine, and I don’t see the point in drinking coffee without caffeine. I have since…

Music

A Man and His Logo — Spose drops fifth album 'Good Luck With…

A Man and His Logo — Spose drops fifth album 'Good Luck With Your Life'

For the generation in and entering their thirties, self-employment is a dream. Having watched parents toil in cubicles (and factories and restaurants) during the Reagan and Clinton years was hard, not just because we didn’t get to see them, but because we knew they were so unbelievably bored as they were doing it. Today, the memories of that boredom haunt our work lives, which combined with our generation’s other merriments of more debt, more distraction... Read more

20-06-2017 Hits:47 Album Reviews Nick Schroeder

  • Release It Already: Local Albums Dropping This Sum…

    Myles Bullen - Wake Up Century (out this week) Cover art by Anna Welch.  I came up with “Hippie Hop” a while back to describe all that is Myles Bullen. He’s a peaceful lad roaming around with a heart full of love spitting positive…

  • Burn This Album — KGFREEZE's Scorching 'Scapegoat'

    Four albums into this form, bandleader Kyle Gervais (ex-Cosades, ex-Grand Hotel) has explored a lot of sounds since he began his KGFREEZE project in 2013, from R&B-meets-funk ass-wigglery to angular, incisive indie-rock. But on Scapegoat, released this spring at a trim…

  • The Long Journey of Dan Stuart — Paisley Undergrou…

    On the advent of Prism Analog's new live series, recording artists' live sets straight to tape, the Phoenix talked with Dan Stuart, the former frontman of legendary cult post-punk band Green On Red, who comes to Portland from Mexico this…

Outdoors & Sports

The Running Season Continues...

The Running Season Continues...

Army Captain Christopher Scott Cash died on June 24, 2004, when his Bradley Fighting Vehicle came under attack in Baqubah, Iraq by small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. The Old Orchard Beach native left behind a wife and two sons that day. With the help of Veterans Count Maine, the philanthropic arm of Easter Seals Military and Veterans Services, they eventually translated their grievous loss into something their running-enthusiast father and... Read more

20-06-2017 Hits:58 Sports Gabe Gregoire

  • The Start of Summer Sailing

    If you’ve ever sailed, you know the sense of freedom the open water brings. Hand on the rudder, or in larger vessels the wheel, keeping the boat true by sight or by compass, the scent of the ocean, the sound…

  • Big Bike Week Next Door

    Let it never be said that the Phoenix neglects our readers who are bikers. Some of our own contributors know the joy of twisting that throttle, picking up your feet and flying off on top of that rumbling four-stroke. And…

  • From Calais To Key West: Russi…

    Lena Faber is on the first part of an epic journey from Calais, Maine to Key West Florida depending on nothing but the power of her legs and the hospitality of strangers. Her route on the East Coast Greenway Alliance (a…

Kids & Pets

Is Our Universe an Electron In a Bigger One?

Is Our Universe an Electron In a Bigger One?

Remember when the junior high science teacher said that a lot of water got back to the ice caps and lakes and rivers when transpiration took place? Remember when it was easy to tell someone that those clouds up there are cumulonimbus, so we better head home? How about this one: How many of us have thought about subatomic particles and the enticing notion that entire universes are contained in... Read more

19-06-2017 Hits:43 Kids Gabe Gregoire

  • The Dock Dogs Are Back!

    So you like your dog. You’re keen on him. If it came down to it, he could go all Chuck Norris on somebody that was bothering your family. And athletically? The canine is prime and on time. Runs like Bolt…

  • When the "What Ifs" …

    Remember the last time you took your kids on vacation, out of state or out of the country? If your awareness of their proximity and your surroundings got jacked up to the level of a black ops reconnaissance expert, you’re…

  • Maybe Donald's Allergic?

    Our illustrious President does not have a dog. They say he’s the first in about 130 years not to own one. Why is that something he catches flak over? Because the family dog is a part of the American Dream…