Letters

Published
June 17, 2013

Letters to the editor: Dislike of panhandlers fuels ban proposal

The new Martin’s Point bridge will cost the taxpayers of Maine about $23.5 million. One of its amenities will be recreational platforms that will allow people to safely cast fishing lines into the mouth of the Presumpscot River, and everyone seems to think this is a nice idea. Cut to the argument that panhandlers should […]
Published
June 16, 2013

Letters to the editor: Dechaine in wrong place for justice

The clock keeps ticking against Dennis Dechaine — 9,104 days, or 24-plus years — for a crime that DNA taken from the victim’s thumbnail and other data, including time of death evidence, show he did not commit. The list of organizations and individuals advocating a new trial for the Madawaska native and former Bowdoinham businessman […]
Published
June 15, 2013

Letters to the editor: Anti-care expansion speech ‘offensive’

I am both appalled and disturbed by Rep. Ken Fredette’s remarks regarding his opposition to the expansion of health care benefits in Maine. As justification for rejecting health care expansion, he refers to the book “Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus,” which he claims supports his position that men think rationally, concretely and […]
Published
June 14, 2013

Letters to the editor: Orwell warned us about this

Have you read “1984” recently? A regime always on a “war footing?” Always ready to fight the enemy? Maybe we need a hard-headed businessperson to ask: What are we getting for the billions we invest in intelligence activity? Safety and security or just the illusion of it? Is it a form of guaranteed employment, as […]
Published
June 10, 2013

Letters to the editor: School activity mandate may breed couch potatoes

I was quite concerned when I read the recent article about the proposal to require 30 minutes of physical activity for children in elementary public schools (“Maine Senate approves bill requiring exercise in schools,” May 25). Students already have a certain amount of access to physical activity simply as part of recess, but in some […]

Published
May 28, 2013

Letters to the editor: Trappists a model for addressing abuse

Stunned by Paul Kendrick’s revealing commentary (“Maine Voices: New pope must stand up for sexual abuse victims, survivors,” May 13), detailing the Jesuits’ abysmal nonresponse to these issues, I was reminded of a very different experience some years ago. In 2006, I visited the Abbey of Gethsemani, a Trappist monastery in Kentucky. At that time, […]
Published
May 27, 2013

Letters to the editor: Bills will greatly advance military justice

Thank you for publishing an editorial concerning the efforts by Rep. Chellie Pingree and Sen. Susan Collins to address sexual assault in the military (“Our View: Bills offer right response to military sex abuse crisis,” May 20). Although the editorial was correct in saying that the bills move us in the right direction, I would […]
Published
May 26, 2013

Letters to the editor: Car inspections burden on poor

The majority of states don’t require motor vehicle inspections on a regular basis, but Maine does. That might not seem like much of an issue, but there is no evidence that lack of inspections leads to more traffic fatalities or injuries. Given that is the case, it’s hard to see inspections as anything more than […]
Published
May 25, 2013

Letters to the editor: U.S. welcomes law-abiding immigrants

William Slavick (“Another View: Anti-immigration column ignores 11 million in need,” April 25) misses the mark in his critique of Jonette Christian’s Maine Voices commentary (“Repackaging amnesty as ‘immigration reform’ won’t fool Americans,” April 13). As a country, we are more than charitable. We grant 1 million green cards annually, more than the next 38 […]
Published
May 24, 2013

Letters to the editor: Gov. LePage perceived truth about IRS

Less than one year age, Portland Press Herald nonpartisan journalists Steve Mistler and Bill Nemitz — the latter a perennial nemesis of Gov. LePage — excoriated the governor for the unpardonable sin of hyperbole: The governor compared the Internal Revenue Service to the Gestapo but later backed off, saying, “Maybe the IRS is not quite […]

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Letters