Letters

Published
February 28, 2016

Letter to the editor: Transgender bathroom use, sex assault separate issues

In response to Ted Bennett’s letter to the editor (Feb. 15), suggesting that transgender people using a bathroom that corresponds to their identity would somehow traumatize women who have been raped, I would ask: How much does he know about sexual assault on women and their response to it? Women’s bathrooms are fitted with closed-door […]
Published
February 28, 2016

Letter to the editor: Homeless pregnant women deserve our compassion

I was concerned to learn that St. Andre Home has to end two of the agency’s primary programs: its adoption program and Starling Place (a group home for pregnant women). I would expect that these programs could be supported by both pro-life and pro-choice groups. I have noticed Gov. LePage’s presence at pro-life events and […]
Published
February 28, 2016

Letter to the editor: North Woods national park would benefit all

Growing up, I didn’t know much about Maine, but I could see dark green lines around Acadia National Park and the Allagash National Wilderness Waterway and knew that those were places I wanted to visit. The “national” status literally put them on the map. As a former chaplain and hotel employee in the national parks, […]
Published
February 27, 2016

Letter to the editor: Debate over expansion of Windham prison overlooks incarceration’s innate flaws

Given the current debates about whether or not to expand the Maine Correctional Center in Windham or how solitary confinement is utilized, I thought it was time to point out the elephant in the room that no one wants to discuss. The fact is that prisons and correctional facilities do not work. Period. They never […]
Published
February 27, 2016

Letter to the editor: There’s a good reason for reserving school activities

Suzie Edwards, the Boothbay Harbor pre-teen who thinks it’s “stupid” to reserve certain activities for high schoolers (such as singing the national anthem at state basketball tournaments), won’t think so when she herself is a high school student. (I hope.) For everything, there is a season. Charlotte Henderson Washington

Published
February 27, 2016

Letter to the editor: State can leverage quality of life to recruit workers

A recent editorial by the Portland Press Herald (“Our View: State’s full employment statistics are nothing to celebrate,” Feb. 23) pointed out that Maine reached full employment at the end of 2015 and that the state needs to do everything possible to bring more people into the workforce, including people “from away.” As the owner […]
Published
February 27, 2016

Letter to the editor: Bernie Sanders is the only candidate focusing on reality

Déjà vu all over again – another presidential election with major-party candidates skirting the critical issues. Most critical is the challenge of carbon overload to an economy based on squandering irreplaceable resources, unsustainable consumption, reckless environmental degradation and politics oriented to abetting the greed of corporate powers, even at the expense of human survival. Bernie […]
Published
February 26, 2016

Letter to the editor: Laws should also protect Portland’s landlords

It’s easy to dislike an out-of-state company that buys a building in Portland and evicts the tenants. However, AEG Holdings is providing more than twice the notice required to evict tenants, and it plans to renovate. Much of the negative press regarding landlords in Portland has criticized landlords’ unwillingness to improve their properties. So this […]
Published
February 26, 2016

Letter to the editor: Governor’s ethical standards should mirror Legislature’s

Scanning the State of Maine 127th Legislature directory recently, I came across a page titled “Legislative Code of Ethics.” Included on this page is the following: “A Maine legislator is charged with civility and responsible conduct inside and outside of the State House … .” The code continues: “To work well, government requires a bond […]
Published
February 26, 2016

Letter to the editor: Reagan court nomination plea should be inspiration.

With the unexpected loss of Justice Antonin Scalia, many in the Republican Party are calling for President Obama to cede his duty to nominate a replacement justice to the next elected president. This is being portrayed as an act of good will, in the face of a divided electorate, and in the best interests of […]

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Letters