Douglas Rooks

4 posts

Douglas Rooks has covered Maine government and politics for over three decades, and has served as editorial page editor for the Kennebec Journal and editor and publisher of Maine Times. He has authored three books and is at work on a fourth, focusing on U.S. Supreme Court history.

Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, U.S. Senator George Mitchell and British Prime Minister Tony Blair pose for a photo after signing the Good Friday Agreement.

5 min

Twenty-five years later, George Mitchell returns to the site of his great mission

George Mitchell, the former Maine senator, is planning to travel to Belfast to mark the anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement he helped engineer that brought peace to Northern Ireland.

ByDouglas Rooks

April 16, 2023

4 min

Analysis: court’s pending abortion ruling threatens to divide the country

Maine presumably would keep legalized abortion, part of what could be a patchwork of laws across the US.

ByDouglas Rooks

May 8, 2022

Jeff Evangelos stands in front of the State House

9 min

Lawmaker pushes to restore parole to Maine’s justice system

Rep. Jeffrey Evangelos asks, ‘Do we believe in redemption or not?’ while seeking support to overturn a parole ban that has existed in Maine for 45 years.

ByDouglas Rooks

April 18, 2021

A wave tank is examined by researchers studying off-shore wind technology.

13 min

Building a renewable future poses daunting task for Maine

To achieve the legislated goal of decarbonizing Maine by 2050, the state must dramatically expand renewable power generation and transmission. Overcoming negative public opinion in the wake of the Hydro-Quebec corridor debate is just one obstacle in the way.

ByDouglas Rooks

November 8, 2020