The license plates of residents of Washington, D.C., now read “End Taxation Without Representation.” This is because the 700,000-plus residents of D.C. pay federal and local taxes and yet have no voting representatives in the U.S. Congress, where all local legislation, including the annual budget, must be submitted for approval. Washington, D.C., has more residents […]

If there is just one characteristic that defines Mainers, it’s probably a love of the outdoors. Whether hunting, fishing or just sitting outside, spending time in and near nature is an honored Pine Tree State tradition. Between agriculture, fishing and tourism, it’s also a critical element of our state’s economy. Maine’s already seen evidence of […]

Davis Hartwell’s June 16 Maine Voices column is a shining example of white racism and dog-whistle politics. Rather than engage with real issues facing people of color in Maine, he cries “critical race theory!” and blames Black people for speaking in their own defense. Mr. Hartwell indicates that he is ending his career as a […]

The recent response by industry and business groups to the legislation reducing packaging is backward. There is a dire need for industry to take leadership to reduce and remove unnecessary plastics and packaging. It has been proven that recycling plastics is largely a farce. Plastic particles are now present in every ecosystem and in every […]

Where to begin with Davis Hartwell’s misguided opinion piece (Maine Voices, June 16)? The fact that he makes academia a bogeyman, rather than a system to enlighten? That he reappropriates the term “critical race theory” as slang against white people, thereby naming as victims a group that constitutes 94 percent of the Maine population? That […]

I am writing this, not so much for lobsters in pain, but to analyze what we perceive to be fact or opinion. Peter Pressman wrote a letter, published June 18, about lobster pain. He used words naming the lobster’s anatomy to give validity to what he wrote. His conclusion was based solely on the lobster’s […]

Portland Charter Commission member Nasreen Sheikh-Yousef’s comments calling City Manager Jon Jennings a white supremacist are wrong and misguided. I am also an African American, who worked closely with him for nine months as an intern in the executive department in 2019. In my time there, never did I once think or have any reason […]