Letters

Published
March 27, 2020

Letter to the editor: Cooperation, not accusations, needed to combat virus

I was interested in Marc A. Theissen’s March 20 column, “It’s time to practice social, economic distancing from China” (Page A7). However, I found some of his statements quite illogical. I do not believe that China is totally responsible for this epidemic. While it is probably true that their delays in reporting the viral infections […]
Published
March 26, 2020

Letter to the editor: Let’s do more to protect retail clerks

They're working long hours at public-facing essential businesses, so the state should boost their pay and give them gloves and masks.
Published
March 26, 2020

Letter to the editor: Keeping BIW open boosts workers’, community’s, state’s infection risk

Even as we are told to avoid gatherings of more than a few people, 6,800 people are being compelled to gather every day at Bath Iron Works. That BIW is allowed to remain open right now is an enormous threat to the workers, the community of Bath and the state. The Trump administration insists that […]
Published
March 26, 2020

Letter to the editor: COVID-19 just one public health battle confronting us

How do we win the battle without losing the war? Current efforts limiting social contact to slow the coronavirus spread are critically important. According to experts, they’ll be most effective if strictly adhered to for a five-week period. While focused on the immediate threat, I hope we don’t lose sight of the significant, adverse effects […]
Published
March 26, 2020

Letter to the editor: In the absence of toilet paper, a few suggestions

If I may offer some suggestions in the absence of toilet paper … Some of us are going to have to be creative if we run out of toilet paper in these trying times. For the sake of our collective water systems, please remember that only three things go in the toilet: pee, poop and […]

Published
March 25, 2020

Letter to the editor: Portland’s unused assets could benefit needy

While businesses are closed during the outbreak, hotel rooms could house the homeless, and 'cafeteria-sized kitchens' could be used as 'sterilization stations.'
Published
March 25, 2020

Letter to the editor: Don’t put ‘life as we know it’ on hold indefinitely

My Uber driver, Justin, had a stuffed animal, a sloth, wrapped around the gear stick of his car. “Someone gave it to me as a gift, and I didn’t know what to do with it, so I put it there. People comment on it all the time,” the young man informed me. For him, life […]
Published
March 25, 2020

Letter to the editor: Pandemic the result of climate crisis

It is my considered opinion that the current pandemic sweeping our country is the inevitable result of the climate crisis that is sweeping the world. In particular, I would point readers to the groundbreaking work of science journalist Laurie Garrett in the wake of her time at the Harvard School of Public Health. Her 1994 […]
Published
March 25, 2020

Letter to the editor: Building community in troubling times

I received an email from a dear friend in Switzerland telling about the challenges they are facing to maintain their sense of community as they hunker down to defeat COVID-19. What struck me most was that everyone in all communities across the country, pause and ring their bells at 7 each night to recognize, honor […]
Published
March 24, 2020

Letter to the editor: Nemitz overlooks crisis’ real heroes

Support staff who have to report to quiet law offices are at much lower risk of infection than supermarket employees, who deal with hundreds of customers a day.

Sign In:

Letters