Thank you to Sen. Collins for strengthening election security

I am writing to extend my sincere thanks to Sen. Susan Collins for securing $75 million in election security funding. Maine has a proud tradition of democracy, and it’s essential to keep our elections secure to maintain the trust of our communities. Thanks to Sen. Collins’ leadership, our election infrastructure will be strengthened, and we’ll be better protected against cyber threats.

Thank you, Sen. Collins, for using your influence and seniority to prioritize the safety of our democratic process. Your commitment to protecting our elections is a crucial step in ensuring every citizen’s voice is heard and respected.

Respectfully submitted,

Tyler Washburn,
Orr’s Island

Reckoning needed to flush out climate change deniers

I emigrated to the U.S. in 1978. I flew in with the clothes I was wearing and a heavy box of tools which, in that day and age, I carried on as hand luggage!

Those were the days when airlines published monthly magazines. On the transatlantic flight, I read an article describing how burning fossil fuels was contributing to potentially disastrous global warming. Climate change science was in its infancy and debatable. In my homeland of England, a popular science journalist with the same name — Nigel Calder — wrote an influential book predicting global cooling and a new ice age. He helped produce a film titled “The Great Global Warming Swindle.”

That was 40 or more years ago. Within a few years, the science was sufficiently detailed to be considered “settled.” The practical consequences are undeniable from Maine’s January storms to high temperature records being repeatedly broken throughout the U.S. and now Helene’s immense tidal surge and deluge of rain, leaving in its wake a broad swath of death and destruction.

There are no longer any credible climate change deniers in the scientific community and yet the Republican Party stubbornly refuses to acknowledge reality. Trump ridicules the notion of global warming as a “hoax.”

This is the same Republican Party which, in the 1970s, with bipartisan support, brought us the far-reaching and visionary National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act.

Regardless of our politics, we all need the Republican Party to accept that climate change is real and to engage in a sustained bipartisan effort to meet the increasingly difficult challenge of halting additional global warming. The only way I can see this happening is if the Republican Party is soundly defeated in November at every level from the local to the national. We need to force a reckoning upon it that is harsh enough to get it to abandon its reckless disregard of science and reality.

Time is running out in which we can do this.

Nigel Calder,
Newcastle

Let’s reelect state Rep. Allison Hepler

Let’s reelect Rep. Allison Hepler to continue to represent House District 49! It would be difficult if not impossible to find a harder working legislator.

As House chairperson of the Marine Resources Committee and member of the Agriculture Conservation and Forestry and Inland Fisheries Committees, she is at the forefront of issues so important to the district. And her work goes far beyond those committees. She is also serving her fourth term on Woolwich’s Select Board.

As a former history professor, Allison Hepler knows how to dig deep, how to collect information, how to analyze the facts and how to act to support good policy as well as make changes when needed.

Some examples include her work to deal with the challenges of bottle recycling. She worked for months with the industry, the state and consumers to develop a much better-functioning system. Allison has been the champion in this effort as well as in her advocacy to for those affected by brain injury. She also lead on a policy to protect Maine’s loons from lead poisoning. The list goes on!

Rep. Hepler is always available and responsive to constituents, but she doesn’t stop there. She actively seeks out opinions from people who are at the front lines of the issues so she can best advocate for her district and the entire state.

Having served in the Legislature with Allison Hepler, I know first hand how hard she works and how effective she is. She’s the legislator we need!

Jay McCreight, former state representative,
Harpswell

Vote for Topsham ‘rescuer’ Denise Tepler for Senate

Here is why we are voting for Denise Tepler to be our state senator. There are many things we take for granted in our daily lives, but we have learned that we can be dangerously misinformed about our public services.

Denise rescued us, and all of Topsham residents, at the time we were stunned to learn that our wonderful town, Topsham, did not have 24/7 quick-response rescue squad service. We felt this was incredibly important for everyone in town. We and our neighbors set about to correct that critical gap in our community’s protection. Surprisingly, we ran into several roadblocks. Then someone suggested we contact Denise Tepler, whose knowledge of our town’s history and politics enabled her to make exceedingly helpful suggestions as she offered crucial guidance on how to proceed to effect the change.

Thanks to Denise and to a majority of those serving on the Topsham Board of Selectmen at the time, the residents of Topsham now enjoy 24/7 quick-response ambulance service. That success making Topsham a better place to live for all occurred years ago. Subsequently, Denise served all of us competently for eight years as our representative in the Maine Legislature working on two key committees and chairing one. She knows Augusta government in and out.

Now Denise is a candidate for the state Senate for Sagadahoc County and Dresden, and it is our pleasure to commend her to the voters. We hope you will join us in voting for Denise Tepler on Nov. 5.

Eve and Ken Thorson,
Topsham