Letters

Published
September 26, 2013

Letters to the editor: Smartphones also enable rude adults

I appreciated Meghan Gaven’s Maine Voices column regarding smartphones and audience etiquette (“Misused, smartphones a tool for teaching kids to tune out live performances,” Sept. 16). However, I must insist that this is not only a problem with kids. The commentary could be totally rewritten, addressing the behavior of self-centered, ill-mannered adults. I have had […]
Published
September 25, 2013

Letters to the editor: Lobster industry should end cruelty

I was shocked at the revelations of horrific abuse of lobsters at Maine processing plants. I have been a vegetarian for many years, and at the top of my list of reasons is the inhumane treatment of most animals raised for meat. I make occasional exceptions for fish, since they lead free and natural […]
Published
September 24, 2013

Letters to the editor: Paper dings Down East at own peril

Oh, the horror of it. Down East: The Magazine of Maine enhanced a cover photograph of Route 24 by eliminating some power lines. Oh, the silliness of it. The Portland Press Herald revealed this heinous act Sept. 19 with a front-page piece of investigative journalism (“Down East magazine attracts criticism for altering photo“). At first […]
Published
September 23, 2013

Letters to the Editor: Congress Square deal favors developer

The sale of part of Congress Square Park to the new owners of the Eastland Hotel may go down in Portland’s history as one of the great mistakes, along with: 1) the demolition of Union Station; 2) the abandonment of Portland Public Market by the Libra Foundation, and 3) the failure to develop the State […]
Published
September 22, 2013

Letters to the editor: USM should keep physics major

The University of Southern Maine’s consideration to cut the degree program in physics is not in the best interest of Maine’s economy. A fundamental prerequisite for growth and commercialization in Maine’s technology sectors is a workforce adept in critical science and math skills. Cutting the physics program is particularly disturbing, since it would create workforce […]

Published
September 21, 2013

Letters to the editor: USM could help make Maine younger

In 2011, I wrote (and the Portland Press Herald published) a letter about news of declining enrollment in the University of Maine System and notably, the University of Southern Maine (“USM’s offerings unfairly overlooked,” Dec. 22, 2011). I offered a solution that would help grow the perception of USM as an integral campus of the university […]
Published
September 20, 2013

Letters to the editor: Long-term jail policy long overdue

What was the state Legislature’s incarceration policy when it became fiscally responsible for county jails? Similar to education, the Legislature usurped county control by promising funding, made it law and then failed in its fiscal commitment. Now they’ve created a committee to make credible their bandage methodology versus developing a long-term refurbishment program for our […]
Published
September 19, 2013

Letters to the editor: Nemitz derides park supporters’ views

Bill Nemitz is not expected to always say what some of us might want, but I am disappointed in his generally derogatory approach to the subject of Congress Square and condescension toward citizens who spoke of it (“Portland plaza reality gets lost in the kerfuffle,” Sept. 13). I missed the Sept. 9 hearing, but comments at […]
Published
September 18, 2013

Letters to the editor: Governor was right to resist expansion

Gov. LePage and Republicans who stood with him were right not to be suckered into expanding Medicaid. We would have had to hire more Department of Health and Human Services staff, costing about $10.5 million, and pay about $18 million to cover parents at 100 to 133 percent of the federal poverty level. And when […]
Published
September 17, 2013

Letters to the editor: Don’t let Congress slash food aid

Every day thousands of our neighbors, friends, families and co-workers silently suffer from hunger. Instead of allowing us to help them, Congress is proposing cuts to vital programs that help feed families, children and the elderly (“House Republicans plan vote on cuts to food aid programs,” Sept. 15). We can’t let this happen. About one […]

Sign In:

Letters