Articles by Brian Chicoine

Scrolling through my “X” (aka Twitter) and Facebook feeds, I’ve been reading a lot of posts of people commenting about how everything has gone up, especially within the last two or so years, but that individual salaries haven’t gone up. This of course is something that we hear about a lot – cost of living rising but not salaries, at least not at a pace to counter the cost of living increases, and many people do not get an annual Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA).  READ MORE

As I thought about this as well as other institutions and landmarks that have been physically lost and relegated to our memories, I thought about how just having memories doesn’t always serve us well. Unless we step in and save documents, repurpose buildings, or at least share our knowledge with the next generation, the memories will eventually die. I am a firm believer that we need to understand the past to successfully navigate the future so we do not want to lose these things. If we don’t know about the past, we’re likely to repeat the bad.  READ MORE

I was listening to the radio the other day and the song, “The Heat is On” by Glenn Frey came on. Aside from really liking the song – and being instantly transported to a time when my biggest concern was looking cool in my parachute pants as I strutted down the street – I thought about how hot it has been.  READ MORE

Today we are just divided. If I do not agree with you then I’m {insert name here}. Some say that we act like children. I disagree…in my experience, children do not naturally hate and usually do not learn that nasty trait until they are older. READ MORE

Manchester is distinct in many ways, and it’s that distinctiveness that makes it special. It is my hope that the company selected to develop branding for our city, (North Star Place Branding of Jacksonville, FL), does it justice by not only holding community-wide events, such as the one recently held at the Rex Theatre, but that they actually go into the various neighborhoods to experience our distinctiveness for themselves. READ MORE

Lately, I have known a few people who have had to utilize the “social safety net” because of sudden job loss or other situations where the ability to afford basic necessities for their families became a major struggle. (It doesn’t help that the cost of living has increased across the board). READ MORE

Last week I was reading about how a former mayor of Cranston, Rhode Island, is running for the 2024 Republican nomination for president. Within the article were the words “long shot.” So I started thinking about why he was labeled as a long shot. Shouldn’t he have as good of a chance as any to become president of these United States? READ MORE