I was shocked and saddened to read that MaineCare Medical Director Dr. Dora Anne Mills was “relieved of her duties, effective immediately” last week. Dr. Mills has served the people of Maine for over 15 years as director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention to promote health for all Maine citizens.

She has worked tirelessly to deal with public health threats from Lyme disease to H1N1 to teenage pregnancy and tobacco use, highlighting and addressing childhood obesity 10 years before the issue gained national attention.

All of her co-workers and colleagues can tell you of her many midnight e-mail messages; she seemingly never slept. The results she achieved are a source of pride for everyone connected to public health in Maine.

Those same people have been pleased that she was about to bring her scientific rigor, communication skills and passion to the difficult challenge of managing MaineCare.

Dr. Mills has been lost at precisely the time when she is most needed. During her tenure she has worked effectively with multiple governors and political leaders of all stripes through multiple budget cutbacks. She is a public leader who makes decisions based on the facts and the welfare of Mainers, not based on a narrow political agenda.

Paul H. Campbell

Bailey Island

The governor’s firing of Dr. Dora Mills can only mean one thing: She must have been doing something right.

Janice David

Farmington

Season of Lent time to protest war at BIW

Lent is a time to repent, to reconsider, to change our minds and begin again, to turn away from temptation, to stop continuing the business of our lives if what we are doing perpetuates violence. It is time to call for an end of the building of Aegis guided missile warships at Bath Iron Works.

We continue our vigil for disarmament beginning on Ash Wednesday, March 9, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and continuing on all the Saturdays of Lent (March 12, 19, 26, April 2, 9, 16 and 23) across from the Bath Iron Works administration building on Washington Street.

The Pentagon has recently awarded General Dynamics, Bath Iron Works’ owner, a contract to build three new guided missile destroyers that will cost more than $3.5 billion apiece. This new class of destroyer is called the DDX-1000 Zumwalt Aegis destroyer. It is designed to fight a nuclear war.

At 14,500 tons, they are 50 percent larger than the current Arleigh Burke class of Aegis destroyers that the Navy claims are “the most formidable ships ever put to sea.” These Zumwalt Aegis guided missile destroyers are being built with stealth technology and increased missile capacity.

These ships, along with the other Aegis destroyers, are a key part of the ballistic missile defense system, otherwise known as “Star Wars.” The building of these warships is a crime against humanity.

Real security is found, not in building warships and Star Wars systems, but in loving each other as we try to heal the wounds on our Mother Earth and in sharing our resources justly.

We will then find a way to use the facilities at Bath Iron Works to build something that promotes life.

Maureen Kehoe

Hope

Bills to clear snow, use lights can improve safety

This is a response to Kyle Bailey of Gorham, who wrote a Feb. 15 letter regarding L.D. 283 and L.D. 246, about clearing snow off vehicles and using lights during the day (“Why won’t lawmakers leave us alone?”).

Kyle’s last sentence — “Don’t touch my truck” — indicates that his vehicle is of utmost importance to him. How can we assure more safety in protecting his vehicle? Unfortunately, during the winter season, many drivers don’t manage their time properly to clear their vehicles of frost and snow before heading off to work.

Recently, a crash was reported in the news as due to poor visibility, as the driver only had a “peephole” to look through. I’m sure that Mr. Bailey wouldn’t appreciate driving down the road and having snow and/or ice fly off the vehicle in front of him, causing damage to his truck and/or personal injury to him.

The reason for daytime running lights is our safety. Always-on DRLs were first offered in 1995 by a handful of domestic and foreign cars, pickups and SUVs. Today they are standard on all GM, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, Saab, Subaru, Suzuki, Volkswagen and Volvo models. Nearly all published reports indicate DRLs reduce multiple-vehicle daytime crashes.

AAA teaches students in its driver improvement course to turn on their lights if their vehicles do not have DRLs. They preach “see to be seen.” In AAA’s policy manual, they urge the National Highway Transportation Committee to recommend to all vehicle manufacturers to include interlocked daytime running lights as standard equipment on all new vehicles.

Please don’t blame Rep. Jane Knapp and the Republicans for these two bills, as she submitted them to the Legislature at the request of her constituents, which is how many bills get submitted.

I do agree that the $500 fine is excessive. However, in the process, most bills get revised in committee and I expect that the $500 fines will be adjusted and/or eliminated.

David and Phyllis Kent

Gorham

Toll plaza shouldn’t be rebuilt without new system

In regards to the column (“Report on turnpike pointed out ways to improve operations,” Feb. 15) written by the chairman of the Maine Turnpike Authority, Gerard Conley Sr. about the findings of the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability: He mentioned the MTA has started the permitting process to update the York Toll Plaza by submitting a detailed and exhaustive report long ago to the Army Corps of Engineers.

In the meantime, he said, citizens who want “open road tolling” on the turnpike are stuck using the poorly situated and antiquated toll plaza. He neglected to mention that the Army Corps of Engineers rejected the report months ago and the MTA has not resubmitted the report.

Also, the people of York do not want open road tolling — they want All Electronic Tolling, which is safer, takes up less space and can be constructed in the same footprint as the present toll barrier.

The toll plaza in Hampton, N.H., has been experimenting using open road tolling — a combination of cash lines and E-ZPass lanes. They have had one fatality and numerous accidents due to the confusion that a mixture of lanes can cause.

New Hampshire began with open road tolling as a means to get to All Electronic Tolling in the future.

The MTA needs to think again, and the residents of York will continue to push for AET.

Barbara Matthews

York

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