In the last gubernatorial election, I voted for Eliot Cutler after concluding that Libby Mitchell wouldn’t defeat Paul LePage and that Cutler had the best chance.

I had reservations over Gov. LePage, based on his campaign. Unfortunately, he has fulfilled my reservations and then some, especially his negative rhetoric, bullying tactics and his simplistic black-and-white world.

So here we are now. Prospective candidates’ names are being floated.

According to recent polling, Gov. LePage would defeat any challengers in a three-way race. It’s not difficult to understand. He has a strong core of 33 to 38 percent support while the rest of us, approximately 60 percent or more, support anyone else.

Mr. Cutler’s challenge is whether to put Maine first or himself.

I would urge him to put Maine first and run as a moderate Democrat and go before the voters in a primary. If he has the support he believes he has, then he should prevail. If he doesn’t, then the Democrat who beat him would have a much better chance of defeating LePage.

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If he chooses himself and bypasses the primary, then LePage has a much greater chance of being re-elected.

Cutler often cites Angus King as an example of an independent winning. King always has had a tremendous amount of good will. Cutler doesn’t enjoy that. Prior to the last election, most people never heard of Cutler.

Mr. Cutler has put us 60-plus-percenters in a bind. I believe he would make an excellent Democratic candidate, could win the primary and then could easily defeat LePage.

We can’t afford another four years of LePage, whose goal appears to have Maine morph into something like the Southern states, governed by one of his tea-party colleagues.

So, Mr. Cutler, for the sanity of us 60-plus-percenters, who long for practical and pragmatic soluctions to our significant issues, please do not be an accomplice to another LePage victory.

Roger Beeley

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Scarborough  

American Legion Post 56 needs help to stay afloat

I’m writing to enlist the support of our friends and neighbors for American Legion Post 56 of York.

A few years ago, we decided to construct a new post. Our vision was to provide a place for our veterans that would also serve the community as an affordable venue for all types of celebrations and gatherings.

We decided to construct a new building with a handsome exterior that would fit well with historic York, and an attractive, spacious interior where our neighbors would be proud to hold their functions.

Well, our vision was realized. Our new post was built. It is a place we can all be proud of.

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Unfortunately, during the building process, the Legion was swindled out of nearly $1 million by the original contractor, Ryan Byther.

We won in court and obtained judgments of nearly $1.5 million against Mr. Byther. However, we have yet to receive payments on these judgments and are in danger of defaulting on our mortgage.

We did not expect to have to ask for help because our reasonable expectation was that the post would be self-supporting.

It is still our hope and expectation that we will become self-supporting, but now we need a little help from our friends to get back on our feet.

We want our post to continue to be an asset to the community. Many worthwhile and valuable events take place here, including police and hospital seminars, charitable fundraising events, Red Cross blood drives, firemen’s and Marine annual balls and the Relay for Life.

For whatever help people are able to give, the veterans of American Legion Post 56 thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

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Robin Greene

commander, American Legion Post 56

York

Governor’s points about laptop choice are ill taken

Regarding the laptop decision (“Maine laptop choice leaves schools relieved, confused,” April 30), the governor is missing the point when he says it is “important that our students are using technology that they will see and use in the workplace.”

The goal of the Maine Laptop Initiative isn’t to train workers, but to use technology as a tool in all areas of learning.

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In addition, it seems short-sighted to assume that the technology students learn to use today will be, as the governor said in his news release, “the same technology and software they will see in their future careers.”

Has he noticed how quickly technology and software are changing? It’s extremely doubtful that the technology of today will be the technology of tomorrow.

Karen M. Martel

Saco

Arthritis should be part of Maine agency’s mission

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention helps fund research and support for patients and their families.

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It addresses many diseases, including cancer, asthma, heart disease and diabetes. A crucial disease that is not discussed in terms of funding research and helping to support patients is arthritis.

Arthritis is one of the leading causes of immobility. It affects one in five adults and more than 300,000 children in America. It has limited the daily activities of more than 21 million Americans — anywhere from being unable to hold a hairbrush or write down notes, to being as serious as losing all motion in their joints.

Without the state of Maine’s acknowledgment and support, a cure will never be found.

Several doctors across the country are still unaware that children can even develop arthritis. Without acknowledging and educating that this disease exists, a cure will never be found.

I was diagnosed with juvenile arthritis as well as ankylosing spondylitis at the age of 15. I am an online advocate and have created a Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr blog, “Arthritis and Me,” to help reach out to fellow arthritics who are losing hope in their search for a cure.

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention has more than 100 health topics that it helps raise awareness of and support for, including bedbugs and exposure to cellphone radiation, but a crippling disease such as arthritis is not one of them. It is unacceptable for such a prestigious and reliable agency to avoid this critical chronic illness.

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The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention should help raise awareness of arthritis and give it the same amount of thought and consideration as all other diseases. Only by educating others will a cure for this crippling disease be found.

Sarah Ashley Avery

Lebanon

 


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