Letters

Published
May 10, 2015

Letter to the editor: How can LePage alone  end relationship of equals?

As residents of Washington County, we are honored to live and work beside Native people from the Passamaquoddy Tribe from Pleasant Point and Indian Township. In 2011, Gov. LePage issued an executive order that recognized a special relationship between the state of Maine and sovereign Maine Native tribes. This order also recognized historical wrongs and […]
Published
May 10, 2015

Letter to the editor: Editorial cartoon doesn’t portray reality

On May 3, the Maine Sunday Telegram ran an editorial cartoon by Lisa Benson (Page D3). It showed President Obama beating on a broken drum labeled “Obama Economy” while the president loudly yelled “Boom! Boom! Boom!” Watching from the curb were two hapless souls holding signs that read “Help!” The implication was that the economy […]
Published
May 9, 2015

Letter to the editor: Student privacy must be safeguarded in schools

L.D. 1251, “An Act To Safeguard Students’ Personal and Private Information,” establishes data privacy practices for the state Department of Education and school districts. It prohibits the department and school districts from disclosing personally identifiable information about students without the written consent of the parents of children under 18 years of age (and the written […]
Published
May 9, 2015

Letter to the editor: Let’s honor first responders with thanks they deserve

Everyone deserves thanks for the work they do. First responders, including police officers, firefighters and emergency medical technicians, whose job it is to maintain order and protect our health and safety, put their lives on the line every day. Unfortunately, the misguided actions of a few have created a climate that adds stress and danger […]
Published
May 9, 2015

Letter to the editor: Councilor needs to support homeless

In an April 24 article (“Portland city councilors want to protect funding for dental clinic”), Portland City Councilor Jon Hinck was quoted: “If we have to choose between programs that go to homeless adults and child dental care, we’ve got to save the child dental care.” We find this comment to be not only alarming, […]

Published
May 9, 2015

Letter to the editor: End-of-life bill offers safe, compassionate choices

L.D. 1270, “An Act Regarding Patient-directed Care at the End of Life,” provides a safe, compassionate choice in the following ways: • It is not for a person with a normal life expectancy; it’s for adults at the end stage of illness who want a prescription to hasten their death. • It establishes a process to follow […]
Published
May 8, 2015

Letter to the editor: Shooter should do public service to prevent gun violence

I write as a bystander, knowing only information from the Portland Press Herald, and my opinion is based on being an 87-year-old psychiatrist and gun owner (a .22-caliber single-shot rifle with a defective bolt) who is highly concerned about gun violence. What happened at Brown’s Bee Farm in 2013 was a tragedy for two familiies, […]
Published
May 8, 2015

Letter to the editor: Bill would lead to informed decisions about vaccines

Do you know anyone who’s survived a vaccine-preventable disease, like measles or polio? Have you seen a baby suffocate from pertussis? Even 20 years ago, toddlers were dying from H. flu meningitis. Immunizations save lives. L.D. 471 aims to reduce vaccine-preventable disease by ensuring parents take part in discussion and education about the benefits and […]
Published
May 8, 2015

Letter to the editor: Some have reasons to opt against Mom’s Day gifts

With tongue in cheek, I’m completely mortified by “Dear Abby.” Paraphrasing Wikipedia, Mother’s Day was originated in 1908 by Anna Jarvis. Her primary intent was to honor her mother, who had been very active in supporting wounded soldiers from both sides of the Civil War and had created “Mother’s Day Work Clubs to address public […]
Published
May 8, 2015

Letter to the editor: Maine should invest in education, not tax schemes

In his April 30 column, “Instead of wasting money on tax scams, we should invest in ourselves,” Alan Caron asks us to imagine if the $16 million from the Great Northern scheme had been put into 1,000 small businesses in Maine. As the founder of a new education nonprofit in Maine, I can’t help but […]

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Letters