PORTLAND

Faith-based taxation
Trickle-down is triumphant - BY LANCE TAPLEY

Maine Beer Mavens tackle craft brews

Beyond the boys’ club
Beyond the boys’ club

By: LAURA MCCANDLISH | May 23, 2013

Give me an F

Politics + Other Mistakes
I was educated in Maine public schools. Here's what I learned:

By: AL DIAMON | May 23, 2013

Obama missed mark at Bowie

Diverse City
When Michelle Obama delivered a commencement address to the class of 2013 at historically black college Bowie State University, something went awry.

By: SHAY STEWART-BOULEY | May 23, 2013

Pingree crusades against military sexual assault

Not In Our Name
Amid a seeming epidemic of military sexual assault — the Pentagon estimates that such incidents have increased 35 percent over the past two years, while at least two military officials assigned to sexual assault prevention units have themselves been charged with inappropriate sexual conduct — Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, a Democrat from Maine, is pushing President Barack Obama to "take further action to confront this crisis."

By: DEIRDRE FULTON | May 23, 2013

Congress Square's controversial facelift

Urban Development
The fate of Congress Square Plaza, the hardscaped half-acre on the corner of Congress and High streets, is back on the table, with city officials and downtown stakeholders weighing a new proposal from the hotel developer that wants to buy and build on it.

By: DEIRDRE FULTON | May 23, 2013

Robert Stillman returns with the Archaic Future Players

Station Wagon ride with John Fahey
For a guy who plays the saxophone the way people talk about, Robert Stillman is an awful good drummer. And keyboard player. He does a fair bit of impressive composition, too.

By: SAM PFEIFLE | May 23, 2013

Breaking up the band

Wax Tablet
Why did Jesse Gertz break up Glass Fingers, his one-horse electro-hop noise jam, to start LEVERET, another solo project?

By: PORTLAND PHOENIX MUSIC STAFF | May 23, 2013

Wallace Shawn’s dialogue in Lorem Ipsum's mouth

You keep using that word
Pedestrians passing the window of Rose Contemporary gallery last weekend might have wondered what several leering, expensively dressed people were up to inside.

By: MEGAN GRUMBLING | May 23, 2013

Nostalgic memoir celebrates Drinking with Men

Raise a glass
Every few years, the bar cars on Metro-North Railroad's New Haven line (which leads from New York City's Grand Central Station into Connecticut) become endangered by modern-day Puritans who believe commuter trains are inappropriate venues for after-work cocktails. Can you imagine?!

By: DEIRDRE FULTON | May 23, 2013

Jack Sell displays his results at 3 Fish

Abstract experiments
You might look at John R. Sell, a Gray resident and part-time Downeaster, as a painter with a secret.

By: NICHOLAS SCHROEDER | May 23, 2013

Joe Farren’s countrified second release

South by southeast
It's been more than five years since Joe Farren's last record, a debut number on which he showed off his multi-instrumental chops and riffed on Americana themes.

By: SAM PFEIFLE | May 23, 2013

A jazz piano take on old-time roots

Snow falling on cedars
Tom Snow is a guy who's been around a bit. You'd have to try fairly hard not to have come across his jazz piano performances in and around Maine over the last 20 years. You make some friends that way.

By: BY SAM PFEIFLE | May 23, 2013

Maine Women’s Fund awardees are building a new world

Change-makers in our midst
On the surface, they have little in common: An unassuming entrepreneur in her late 50s, an accomplished 38-year-old photojournalist, and a trio of energetic teenagers. But these women do exhibit several shared traits. They are plucky and passionate, clever and unpretentious. They are Mainers. And all five will be honored next Thursday, May 23, at the Maine Women's Fund's annual Leadership Luncheon, which honors those who are making life better for women and girls in this state and beyond.

By: DEIRDRE FULTON | May 16, 2013

PMA show highlights MoMA’s influence

Defining the canon
It's a peculiarly American irony that the same man who basically invented the advertising model for the business of broadcasting radio and later television would have amassed a significant collection of modernist art.

By: KEN GREENLEAF | May 16, 2013

Watch your backs, useless people

Poll numbers
Poll numbers

By: JEFF INGLIS | May 16, 2013

Immigration by the numbers

One Cent's Worth
After many false starts, a convergence of public sentiment and political will has sped the country to the brink of comprehensive immigration reform. In purely economic terms, it's a no-brainer — one of those rare instances where a moral imperative neatly aligns with our national self-interest.

By: MARC MEWSHAW | May 16, 2013