Monique Coombs

Commercial fishing is one of the most dangerous and physically demanding occupations in the United States, and the people who do it are, by every meaningful definition, industrial and tactical athletes. They work in extreme conditions, perform repetitive high-load movements, manage significant psychological stress, do all of it with little margin for error, and rarely a day off. For too long, the mental and physical health needs of the people doing that work have gone largely unaddressed. To...

Maine is so hot right now. To be clear, Mainers have known this since time immemorial. But the internet has created a slow boil over the past decade, and it seems like our pot is starting to boil over. Maine is an incredible place to live and work, and most Mainers love the good parts and even embrace the challenges, knowing we'll be rewarded with gorgeous sunsets, briny air, and crisp fall mornings. We complain about the black flies and frigid winters, but shared hardship also tightens bonds...

Most people have felt pain in some way shape or form. You twist your ankle, you sleep wrong, you bang your knee on something. After a few days, maybe a week or two, plus some icing and ibuprofen, your body heals and the pain fades. It hurts, but then it usually gets better. That's called acute pain, and it's your body doing exactly what it's supposed to do: alerting you to an injury and then feeling better once the problem is resolved. Chronic pain is different. Chronic pain is pain that...